Selected Without Auditioning: Q&A with Ryukishi Voice Actress Ohara Sayaka – All Anime Expo 2024 Announcements

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Ohara Sayaka, the voice behind popular characters such as Beatrice in Umineko – When they cryErza Scarlet in Fairy taleand Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moonsent her fans into a frenzy when she came on stage elegantly dressed as Beatrice. She bowed serenely, as befits a lady like Beatrice, before cheerfully greeting the crowd that had gathered to see her at the official Ohara Sayaka Q&A panel, presented by Manga Gamer. Joining her on stage was Ryukishi07the author, artist and creator behind Umineko – When they cry And Higurashi: When they crywho also had a panel the day before.

The pair chatted about how Ohara was chosen for the role of Beatrice, saying that she was chosen directly by Ryukishi and his team. “I was very lucky that I was chosen directly without an audition!” Ohara said. She joked about jumping into the project without any context: “I thought, oh, it could be a supporting role, like a mother role or a big sister, but when I opened Pandora’s box, I was surprised that it was a huge lead role.” She went on to talk about the visual novel’s shocking twists: “I thought, oh, what a good-looking and elegant female character… I came into it without much idea of ​​the plot, but I was very honored to work with many of my Voice Actor Senpai. But then I looked at Beatrice’s role and thought, ‘Hey… wait a minute… why am I not in that much at the beginning? Hey, wait… why… why are so many of these characters dying out?’ Meanwhile, all the senpai were saying, ‘Wait, wait, why am I suddenly dead? Why are we dying out?'”

Ryukishi interjected that it was his staff who initially insisted on considering Ohara for the role of Beatrice. He had visited their website to listen to her voice samples, and thought, “Most of her roles before Beatrice were very motherly, very ethereal. I thought she would be very well suited to the elegant role, but is it really OK to play the more devilish and crass side?” But his staff assured him that she was up to the task, and now he is very grateful for their recommendation. “As you can see, her role was perfect, and I’m very proud that she hit the nail on the head for Beatrice.”

When talking about the duality of Beatrice, Ohara said that her previous roles usually revolved around just one personality. She joked that she once told the journalist in a previous interview that she hoped to play a character with multiple personalities one day. “When I got this role, I was very happy and surprised because Beatrice doesn’t just have two personalities, but many personalities inside her! I’ve played so many personalities in Beatrice that I’ve lost track.”

Ryukishi added that most of his characters usually have 20 reference illustrations of emotions. “Looking at Beatrice, I think I’ve created almost 100 emotion illustrations. So I think there must be maybe four or five different personality types in Beatrice.”

Ohara credited her ten years of experience as a voice actress with being able to play Beatrice, saying that she got the role at the right time in her life. “Being able to portray Beatrice in this role was a very educational and learning experience for me, as I learned how many different personalities one person can have… I was able to play Beatrice because I had that experience at the time. I can say from the bottom of my heart that I was really happy to have been chosen to play Beatrice at that particular time in my life, and I am grateful to Ryukishi for that opportunity.”

Ryukishi added that Ohara’s acting experience was also able to influence the other actors, especially Ono Daisuke, who voices Battler. “Her acting was also able to express his experiences.” Later, when answering a fan’s question about her most memorable moments in the recording booth, Ohara said there were two emotional moments – one was during an emotional recording session of the Valentine’s Day episode where she was crying and snot was running out of her nose. And the other was a scene near the end where she had to act alongside Daisuke. “That scene was very memorable for me and Ono Daisuke. It brought tears to his eyes too. Even after all these years, he can still remember that moment. He still remembers the day and time and the weather and all the background details when he recorded that role.”

She also said that Beatrice was very demanding on her vocal cords because the role had such a wide vocal range. “She goes from cute and sweet to very loud and crass to very aggressive! It was a big challenge, but I’ll probably never get another role that pushes me to my vocal limits again!”

One of her biggest challenges? Hiding spoilers from her fellow actors. “I had to fend off all the questions from the other voice actors! Even though I knew the ending, I couldn’t give anything away. They were always looking for spoilers! I really had to keep myself under control.”