The job of a voice actor, particularly in the anime world, is not easy. They have to go through every emotion and portray it exactly like the characters in the series. This was experienced by Natsuki Hanae, the voice actor for Tanjiro Kamado in one of the most popular anime and manga series, Demon Slayer.
Hanae has voiced a lot of characters in the anime industry, like Ken Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul, Korai Hoshiumi in Haikyu!!, Vanitas in The Case Study of Vanitas, Gremmy Thoumeaux in Bleach, etc. But he has earned the most recognition because of his portrayal of Tanjiro, as it is probably his best performance as of yet.
Hanae once revealed that he had developed a legitimate fear while filming Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba—The Movie: Mugen Train because of the intensity and depth of emotions in the movie. He was afraid that he and the other voice actors might lose their voices.
Natsuki Hanae Was Afraid While Filming the Demon Slayer Movie
In an interview with Anime News Network in 2021, Hanae talked about how portraying Tanjiro in the movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba—The Movie: Mugen Train differed from voicing the character in the television series. Hanae spoke up about his biggest worries while portraying Tanjiro in the first Demon Slayer film.
Hanae stated:
“The recording process definitely had a different feel compared to the television series―I was concerned that everyone might lose their voices, since we all recorded with so much seriousness and intensity.”
According to the voice actor, the movie was much more intense and emotional than the series. Because of this, they had to add more depth and pressure while voicing the characters. This led to Hanae thinking that all the voice actors might lose their voices after the movie.
The Mugen Train arc is one of the most emotional narratives in Demon Slayer, and it carries a lot of heartbreaking scenes, especially the death of the Flame Hashira, Rengoku Kyojuro.
Natsuki Hanae Wanted to Show Tanjiro’s Emotions Through His Voice
Despite his concern about losing his voice during the film of the Mugen Train arc, Hanae wanted to do his best while portraying Tanjiro. As Mugen Train was one of the biggest turning points for Tanjiro in the Demon Slayer series, Hanae wanted to express Tanjiro’s emotions as best as possible through his voice-acting.
Hanae stated:
“There were numerous battle scenes with lots of background noise, and Tanjiro had his voice raised the whole time. There were also many scenes where he was going through a roller coaster of emotions, so this time I prioritized showcasing those emotions in my acting.”
Hanae revealed that because of the multiple battle scenes in the Demon Slayer movie, Tanjiro was always shouting and screaming because of the emotional impact of such battles. Expressing such emotions for the entirety of the movie is certainly difficult, but Hanae did a good job with Tanjiro and gave one of the best performances of his career, making the Demon Slayer movie the highest-grossing animated film of 2020.
You can watch Demon Slayer on Crunchyroll.
