Brave Sorcerers and Legendary Exorcists: Talking With “Jujutsu Kaisen’s” Anne Yatco and Kaiji Tang

2020 introduced many new and exciting anime series to audiences and without a doubt Jujutsu Kaisen has quickly become of the most popular hits. The shonen series digs into a ghoulish world of demonic Cursed Spirits and the exorcist sorcerer that hunt them down and maintain the peace. Yuji Itadori, an unassuming teenager, inadvertently becomes a crucial figure in the war between human and demon after he consumes the cursed finger of feared monster, Ryomen Sukuna. Jujutsu Kaisen features exciting battles and terrifying beasts, all of which make it a highly addictive new series.

Jujutsu Kaisen’s recent English dub on Crunchyroll has brought the series an even larger audience. An incredible job has been done with the anime’s casting and the dub performances easily rival those of the original series. Nobara Kugisaki is a budding sorcerer who has already shown tremendous potential alongside Yuji, while Satoru Gojo is an expert sorcerer and a teacher at Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. We got the opportunity to speak with Anne Yatco and Kaiji Tang, the talented voice actors behind Nobara and Satoru, about their experiences with the exceptional new anime series.

Daniel Kurland: Jujutsu Kaisen has turn into one of the year’s biggest anime, but it already had a large reputation as a manga. Were you aware of the series at all before you became a part of it?

Anne Yatco: I hadn’t read the manga before the anime started airing, but I was definitely aware of its popularity. And when I got the audition for Nobara, the first three episodes of the sub were already out, so I was able to watch ahead and get a better sense of the character (and the series) for my audition. After watching those first couple of episodes, I was really excited about the show!

Daniel Kurland: This anime and the genre in general tend to feature more powerful male characters, but Nobara fights that stereotype. Talk a little on how Nobara is treated like an equal here and doesn’t get excluded from the action.

Anne Yatco: One of the best things about Nobara is that she refuses to see her gender as any sort of handicap or weakness. She is a woman and a badass jujutsu sorcerer! From the moment she’s introduced, she carries herself as equal to Yuji and Megumi, and they treat her as an equal in return. She won’t back down from a fight, and hey, she might even pick one or two fights herself!

Daniel Kurland: A large portion of Jujutsu Kaisen takes place in high school, which conveys a lighter side of the series. Does it help to explore that side of Nobara and highlight her innocence?

Anne Yatco: Definitely! This show gets really serious, really fast. So the lighter and comedic moments are there both to break up the tension periodically and to remind the viewer that these are teenagers fighting evil curses. Also, it’s in these slice-of-life moments that we can see the developing relationships between the main characters. There’s a really fun dynamic between Nobara, Yuji and Megumi, and it’s great when it gets showcased in those lighter moments.

Daniel Kurland: Jujutsu Kaisen operates as both an action and a horror anime, which reflect different sides of Nobara. Does this mix of genres add anything to your performance?

Anne Yatco: Definitely! I’ve also gotten to voice a couple of minor characters in the show, like the boy that Nobara saves in episode 3, Tadashi’s mom in episodes 4 and 6, and the family restaurant waitress in episodes 5 and 6. And with those characters, I really got to play into the horror aspect of the show!

Daniel Kurland: There are so many unusual characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, but is there anyone in particular that had your favorite look or someone else that you’d like to voice?

Anne Yatco: I think all the character designs in Jujutsu Kaisen are fantastic. But what really stands out to me is the animation. MAPPA has truly done an amazing job bringing this series to life! And I don’t think I’d want to voice any other character but Nobara. She’s my girl!

Daniel Kurland: Nobara is a character who fights on the side of good, but there are also plenty of evil spirits in Jujutsu Kaisen. Do you have any preference when it comes to the morality of the characters that you play?

Anne Yatco: No preference at all. Evil characters are really fun to play too! Chewing the scenery, monologuing about their evil intentions…maybe this is just me putting it out to the universe that I’d like to play a villain…

Daniel Kurland: Do you know what lies ahead for your character? Are you the type to read the manga and research your character or does it make more sense to go in blind?

Anne Yatco: I do! As an actor, I like to be as prepared as I can before any performance. In voiceover, however, the reality is that sometimes you’re given very little knowledge beforehand! But with Jujutsu Kaisen, I’ve been able to watch ahead with the subtitled episodes, and I even had time over the holidays to read the manga. Oh man, it’s fantastic, and I can’t wait to see how upcoming arcs get animated!

Daniel Kurland: What’s been the most interesting thing to understand about Nobara once you’ve started to play the character?

Anne Yatco: Her complexity. Nobara is so confident and self-assured. She knows she’s talented, and she’ll fight to the very end. But she also has moments where she’s completely silly, as well as the rarer, tender moments. All of those qualities are part of who Nobara is. And getting to navigate these shifts in her personality is such a treat.

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Daniel Kurland: You’ve said in the past that you sort of fell into voice acting and that it wasn’t always your plan. Now that you’ve been at it for over a decade have you noticed anything different with how you approach roles and the types of performances that you give?

Kaiji Tang: I really have come to appreciate the nuances of the job. There’s always a better angle on a read, there’s always a better perspective on a line. Voice over after all is just storytelling. How best to tell the story at hand with only your voice is a skill that has endless evolution and being a part of that is exciting. I’m a competitive gamer at heart and I’m now looking at the frame data of reads if you will. I want to keep challenging myself and deliver higher quality characters for the folks who spend their valuable time and money on these products.

Daniel Kurland: Jujutsu Kaisen has become one of the biggest anime of the past year, but its reputation as a manga is even more immense. Had you read the series at all or had any preexisting familiarity with it before your audition?

Kaiji Tang: I had only heard about how awesome the manga was before receiving the audition. It took very little digging to find all the research I needed for the character. The fan reaction to the series has been heartwarming. Any time a horror series gets attention is great in my book. I’m hoping the world of curses continues for quite a while yet.

Daniel Kurland: Satoru is very much a mentor to the other sorcerers in the series. Talk a little about the level of responsibility that falls on him and what’s fun about playing a character with this level of notoriety.

Kaiji Tang: What’s entertaining about Satoru as a character isn’t his strengths. It’s his very blatant weaknesses. His arrogance influences his every interaction and through that arrogance, so many bad decisions are made. Yes, he’s a mentor, but he’s just not that great at it. Instead of steering these kids toward a path that would best benefit them, he places them on the path of his own ideology and ends up risking their lives over and over for said ideals. I think the character is interesting not because of his overpowered abilities, but for his very real weaknesses as a human.

Daniel Kurland: There’s lots of occult activity in the anime, but Satoru also spends a lot of time teaching at high school. Is it helpful to have that lighter slice of life material to balance the show and Satoru?

Kaiji Tang: There’s great levity in Satoru’s trolling expertise and it’s always a delight to see the crew interacting with each other outside a curse hunting situation. Some of my favorite moments are just them trying to decide which sushi restaurant to go to after a mission. It brings this nice balance to an otherwise fairly dark show.

Daniel Kurland: Jujutsu Kaisen caters to action fans, but there’s also a ton of love shown towards the horror genre. Is that a fun dynamic to incorporate into Satoru?

Kaiji Tang: Oh absolutely. I am a huge horror fan. I’m looking forward to seeing where the lore of the world ends up. I’m fascinated by the concept that negative human emotions manifest these terrible monsters and the sorcerers’ workload is affected by things like seasonal depression. I need an episode of them handling Valentine’s Day or a Christmas episode, to be honest.

Daniel Kurland: Do you know what lies ahead for your character? Are you the type to read the manga and research your character or does it make more sense to go in blind?

Kaiji Tang: I absolutely know what lies ahead for Satoru Gojo. It’s gonna be a ride.

Daniel Kurland: This anime has a large cast of both sorcerers and demonic spirits and Satoru is definitely one of the more honorable characters. Does it make a difference to you if you voice characters that are good or evil?

Kaiji Tang: I don’t think I have a personal preference! Very rarely will you encounter a villain who thinks of themselves a villain. Each one generally has a reason they’re acting in such a way where they think themselves either the hero or in the right. It’s finding that perspective that character has and diving into it as honestly as possible. Satoru is convinced his world view is the correct one. In his and our eyes, he’s a good guy. In the eyes of those cursed spirits who think they are the true heirs of the earth, Satoru is a villain. Just depends on where the eyes and mind fall on the perspective scale.

Daniel Kurland: Who has your favorite look or design out of all of the different characters in Jujutsu Kaisen?

Kaiji Tang: Panda is Panda but Panda is not Panda. Panda.