The Re:ZERO: Starting Life in Another World anime is celebrating two things this summer: the adaptation’s 10th anniversary and the return to our screens with the second part of Season 4. Anime Trending had a chance to chat about these milestones with two very important individuals: Yusuke Kobayashi, who voices Subaru Natsuki, and the singer behind the anime’s most famous theme songs, Konomi Suzuki.
Season 4 of the anime brought new troubles for Kobayashi’s character, as he navigates a completely new and unique situation alongside his comrades. The season’s first cour brought us some of the best voice acting performances to date, and we were curious to learn more about them. This is also the first time that the opening theme song is a duet: Konomi Suzuki got to collaborate with the American singer-songwriter, Ashnikko, a collab that resulted in a unique but very catchy song.
Congratulations on the 10-year anniversary of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4. Kobayashi-san, how has your dynamic with your other fellow voice actors evolved over the years?
Yusuke Kobayashi: It’s sort of hard to answer, but basically, I do feel that our relationship is slightly different than other shows. Season 1 especially was very hard for all of us because a lot of us were sort of new and we were put into these extremely difficult roles, but I’m very confident that we got through it very well. Now, looking 10 years later, we do talk about how hard it was back then. Everyone in this cast is so passionate and cares so much about their work.
Kobayashi-san, your performance in the 11th episode of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4 has been praised by many viewers and fans of the series. How did you prepare for the impactful, emotionally charged scenes that this cour had a lot of?
Yusuke Kobayashi: For this cour, of course, the big thing is his memory. So his ugly side very much comes out, because it’s very much from when he was first here. I really wanted to act that part out to the full extent. I was very passionate about making sure that came through in my acting.
In Episode 11, after having his memories lost, he finally sort of figures out what he wants to do, but he still isn’t going to accomplish anything, and by the end of the episode, I didn’t particularly want to make him look cool. I sort of wanted to make sure that he still comes off as not elegant, and I wanted the viewers to feel some anxiety while they’re watching it — he’s still imperfect.
Do you feel that Subaru’s relationship with Emilia has grown over the past cour?
Yusuke Kobayashi: I can’t really say that it grew, because of the situation — especially because of the strain, it actually sort of got worse. Especially in Episode 11, where Emilia is trying so earnestly and so hard to get through to him. And of course, everything that she’s saying, the one person who wants to hear all of this is Subaru, but he can’t even hear it.
Emilia’s interaction with Subaru has not really changed since the end of Season 2. It has very much stayed supportive, kind, and sweet. No matter what happens to Subaru, no matter how Subaru acts, Emilia is such a very good person, very sweet. So yeah, I can’t say that their relationship deepened, but I guess that’s how it is.
Suzuki-san, Re:ZERO: Starting Life in Another World Season 4 is the first time you’ve had a featured artist on the opening song. What was it like working with Ashnikko? How did they influence the final version of the song?
Konomi Suzuki: First of all, I felt a lot from it. I got so much from it. Ashnikko actually happened to be in Japan at the time, and that’s when we actually first met. Then we started talking about doing the song. Ashnikko asked if they should sing in Japanese or not, and I personally feel that Re:ZERO often starts with my voice in the opening. I really wanted them to sing that part of the song, so you’re hearing someone else. With that change, it was more impactful.
When you hear my voice, it’s still very strong — when I sing, it’s very forward and powerful. With Ashnikko-san, it’s still very strong but sort of in a different way; it’s sort of spicy. With “Recollect,” there is more of a spicy or gravelly feeling, and Season 4 takes place in the desert, so it sort of fits. And it was magical as well.
The fandom always anticipates OPs with much excitement; when the first opening came out, did you expect it to be so well received? Did you think you would become somewhat of a cornerstone of the anime’s music identity?
Konomi Suzuki: When I started with Re:ZERO, I was only 19 at the time. I had just started living on my own, so I really didn’t pay attention to exactly how big the series was. But it seemed very cool, so I was very happy to do a song for it, and then when it went out to the world, I realized just how big this whole series was.
Re:ZERO is obviously very popular around the world, and I think that’s a big reason why we, as people involved in the series, get called to these events. Honestly, I still can’t believe it at times. It feels sort of surreal that so many people want to listen to our songs, and I believe that is very much Re:ZERO’s power. I really feel blessed to be a part of this series.
Suzuki-san, how has your own growth as an artist over the last 10 years shaped the way you express Subaru’s journey through your music today?
Konomi Suzuki: Basically, whenever I get to work on a Re:ZERO title or song, I feel sort of like it’s fate. For example, with Re:ZERO in the beginning, Subaru was like, “Yeah, I’m in an isekai, this is really cool.” I also felt sort of the same way: “Yeah, I get to do an anime song, this is really cool.” We both shared this very pure feeling.
Every time I do a Re:ZERO song, it feels like a very important time in my life. When I did “Realize,” it was at a very hard time in my life. I injured my throat and even had to have surgery for it, but I really wanted to fight through. And with “Realize,” I started a company at the time, so I wanted to do my best with that. All these songs come at very important times in my life, and I think that’s sort of like fate. Also, Subaru was fighting with a team the whole time, and I was also working hard with a team, so I think it’s very much linked.
Even for “Recollect” for Season 4, I believe the theme was very much about proving myself. In the anime song scene, I wanted to put my name out there even more and become even more known, and of course there was also the collab that came out with it. So I’m always very shocked at the timing, because it’s always so fateful in my life when I get to do these Re:ZERO songs.
What has surprised or moved you most when hearing directly from overseas fans about Subaru’s story and how the anime impacted them?
Yusuke Kobayashi: I think one of the first things I noticed is that Japanese fans and foreign fans feel very differently about the characters and the series at times, especially with Subaru, because there are parts of him that Japanese fans don’t instantly like.
I’ve learned that American fans definitely see the series differently, and that Subaru is more popular overseas than he is in Japan. Seeing these different reactions from various parts of the world is very fresh and interesting. I see that everyone enjoys this series differently in their own way. So I feel like my world itself is getting bigger as well.
Konomi Suzuki: A couple of weeks ago, I had a concert in Canada, and there were so many Re:ZERO cosplayers. I invited them to be the dancers for my performance, and half of them were Subaru cosplayers. I can tell that he’s very much loved.
Re:ZERO: Starting Life in Another World Season 4 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
