As YOUR FORMA intrigues with its dense, mysterious universe, actors Toyonaga and Saito talk about what makes this series so captivating. From the outset, director Takaharu Ozaki chose not to immediately explain the basics of this futuristic world, preferring to plunge the viewer into the action and let the story gradually reveal its secrets.
On the occasion of the episode 4 of YOUR FORMA, we had the pleasure of chatting with Toyonaga and Saito. Interviews with the staff and cast will be published on AnimeTV following episodes 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 13.
Official Trailer:
To start off, could you both tell us what you think makes Your Forma such an intriguing series?
Toyonaga: When we first started working on this project, Director Takaharu Ozaki told us, “We won’t explain the world of Your Forma or what the Amicus are right away. Instead, Episode 1 will begin just as a ‘so this is the kind of world we live in’ format of storytelling.” When I first heard him say that, frankly I thought, “But will our audience understand the story if we start that way?” However, when I watched the dubbed footage, even though the story just moves forward without explicitly spelling things out and explaining all the special lingo, the viewer’s questions get answered at the same pace as the mystery unfolds, which I think feels really satisfying to watch. Before I knew it, I was completely drawn into the story. A kind of cathartic feeling comes from solving the mystery, which I feel is the most intriguing part of Your Forma. The story feels like some kind of western police drama, don’t you think?
Saito: I think overexplaining the story would have cheapened the depth of the setting. It leaves some mysteries as mysteries at the start and then allows them to be explained naturally as the plot develops, which I think suits the world of Your Forma. The original story’s setting is pretty grounded in reality and is good at making this sci-fi world feel convincing for the reader. There’s a lot of difficult sci-fi terms in this universe, but I imagine viewers will react, “Oh, that word probably means this” while watching the show and hearing all the terms in the context of the story. Like I said earlier, there will probably be a lot of people who go, “Wow, this show is hard to understand”, when they start watching it, but once you get absorbed into the world of Your Forma it becomes easier to follow along. Then the more you dig into the plot, the more interesting this grounded, well-written story gets, and I think that’s what makes it such an intriguing series to me.
Can you tell me how you reacted after reading the script at first?
Toyonaga: If I’m being honest, I just thought, “This is so complicated!” (laughs). I didn’t read the original novel this time, and thought I should stick with the script instead. However, the character I voice, Furman, doesn’t talk about his goals or ideals at the start at all, so I had to ask about what kind of character he was when first working on the anime. When I showed up to work on Episode 1, Director Ozaki gave me the explanation of, “To put it simply, he’s the bad guy”, but I didn’t know what his actual motives were. Every week when I would receive a new script to read, it felt like I was chasing Furman along with Echika and Harold, and it made the experience so much more fun.
Saito: I also reacted like “Wow, this is so complex!” (laughs). I started working on this series by memorizing all of the special sci-fi terms one by one, but my character Lexie really has a lot of complicated lines…
Toyonaga: And what’s more, you had to play the kind of genius character who says complicated things like it’s no big deal right from the start, yeah?
Saito: Exactly! And further, the things geniuses say don’t always match what they feel, so I always have a difficult time playing them! Lexie had quite a few lines that made me wonder, “Are these really her true feelings?” when I first read them, so I had to ask Director Ozaki a lot of questions. In addition, Lexie’s lines are also really long, so I especially had to be careful of my cadence, confirm the meaning of all these difficult words, check technical aspects like where to cut the line, and more, so I could be sure I had all the information I needed at hand.
What kind of impression do you have about Lexie and Furman? Was there anything in particular you were conscious about while playing them
Saito: Lexie is pretty scary, isn’t she? I don’t think she’s someone I’d like to be friends with (laughs). While recording for the anime, I asked Director Ozaki, “Does this character hold any positive feelings for Furman and the Amicus robots she’s created?” He answered bluntly, “No.”
Toyonaga: Lexie says something like, “I’m only interested in Furman’s face”, right?
Saito: Of course, since she would never dare to bring it up, I didn’t include it in the performance, but when I heard that, even I thought, “So scary!” while voicing her (laughs). Furthermore, Director Ozaki wanted a performance that was like threading a needle through these terrifying parts of her personality, which also made me go “So scary!” while voicing the lines (laughs). In contrast to Lexie, I feel like Furman is the kind of character that is easy to empathize with.
Toyonaga: That’s right. Since Furman’s reasons for his extreme crimes were based on truthful, honest ideals like, “The RF Model Black Box cannot be used for evil, so I have to stop Lexie”, I think he comes across as a very human character who has a strong sense of ethics. Of course, his way of handling the situation wasn’t right. Though while recording their conversation in the research facility, I also found myself sympathizing with Furman, thinking “Cyber-Inspector Echika, what are you hesitating for? Aren’t you torn about losing Harold??” (laughs). I think Furman is the perfect foil for Lexie, since he’s the kind of researcher who makes his moves based on feelings, not just logic.
Saito: You know, at the start of Episode 4, there’s a flashback scene with Lexie and Furman isn’t there? I thought that scene was definitely from Furman’s memory. It was drawn with such a warm, soft feeling, and although I made Lexie’s performance a bit more suggestive, I’m pretty sure that whole memory was only as seen from Furman’s point of view. In Lexie’s mind, I’m positive that was just a one-off memory to her, nothing special. To Lexie, wanting to use Furman’s face for her RF Models is no different than if she had gone, “I like pink, so I’ll make them pink.”
Toyonaga: Furman really can’t catch a break…
Saito: Lexie refers to the RF Models as her “beloved sons”, but I think that too holds a different meaning for her than it does for us. Maybe for Lexie a “beloved son” is on the same level as a “the brilliant result of my hard work”.
Toyonaga: Love sure does take many different forms.
Were there any particular lines or scenes that left an impression on you?
Toyonaga: The tense scene in Episode 4 where Echika wavers between uploading the data and deleting it left a real impression on me. Furman had just shot Lexie in the leg, and she’d shot him in the abdomen. The difference in where they chose to shoot really shows how much the kindness level differs between the two of them.
Saito: Lexie absolutely shot him with the intent to kill.
Toyonaga: Definitely. It felt like a perfect showcase of both humanity and cruelty.
Saito: For me, it also has to be the scene from Episode 4 we were talking about earlier. The lovely scene at the start of the episode where the two of them are sitting under a tree. My impression of Lexie and that image of her was completely different and it really threw me off. The Lexie in my brain would display her memories as a colorless greyscale video. That’s why when the curtain is finally pulled back and she’s exposed, I thought, “Yes, yes, that’s the Lexie I know!” (laughs).
Also, I have to bring up the last part of the first half of episode 4, where Lexie is explaining about the RF Models and Laws of Respect, because it really left an impact on me. It’s a hugely important aspect of their world she’s talking about, but she seems totally indifferent to that fact. The emotional gap between the flashback scene and this one is huge, and I was terrified by the portrayal. If you ask me, I think Lexie is the most robotic character in the whole show. She may be a human, but she doesn’t have much humanity to her. I find it very ironic.
Could you share any memories from the recording sessions?
Saito: It had been so long since I got to work with Toyonaga-kun for real on a series like this! And we haven’t had a conversation like this in hmm, maybe 20 years or so? This makes me so happy.
Toyonaga: I was also happy to get to work with you again. I was like, oh, long time no see, Chiwa-san! (laughs) Which could not be more different from the characters we play.
Saito: We’ve both really grown up, haven’t we? (laughs) Your Forma is a serious work, but the atmosphere of the set was very bright and fun. We all just kept repeating our shared worry of, “The lines are too difficult, I can’t say them”, and encouraging each other the whole time (laughs).
Toyonaga: That’s right, we kept tripping up over saying names like “Harold” or “Cyber-inspector Echika”, but nobody got mad at each other over mispronunciations (laughs). I would often turn to Aya Endo-san (voice of Chief Totoki), and exclaim, “I can’t say this word at all!” or “What is even going on here?”
From Episode 1 to Episode 4 Lexie and Furman are often at odds with each other, but for you two, as voice actors, is there anything you’re jealous of the other about?
Saito: All I feel is jealousy.
Toyonaga: No, no, that’s my line! Chiwa-san’s acting for Lexie, with a flowing, aloof manner of speaking that has just a hint of venom, is just amazing! I think her rather sadistic nature is something Furman didn’t notice, but I did, so secretly I thought, “Being able to include that kind of nuance is just too incredible! I love it!” Lexie is very aloof, but I could feel Chiwa-san’s voice actress spirit shining through, like she was saying, “It would be boring if Lexie was ‘just’ aloof.” It was really fun to work with Chiwa-san’s Lexie over the course of making this series.
Saito: Thank you. I think the thing I’m most jealous of Toyonaga-san is how fragile he can make his voice sound. Perhaps it’s due to the quality of my voice, or my own boldness, I don’t know, but it’s hard for me to voice someone delicately dying. That’s why I’m so jealous of Toyonaga-san, who can sound fleeting, weak, and like he’s actually on the verge of death. I think if we were to describe ourselves in terms of music genres, I’m like a samba (laughs). And I think Toyonaga-san would be ballads, or maybe jazz?
Toyonaga: How easy to understand (laughs). But I think the opposite is also very true. I’ve always thought that the kind of guy who has a shadowy side to him like me could never be a bright and cheery figure the way Chiwa-san is. However, I think it’s thanks to our differences in personality that we were able to give Lexie and Furman, who are also complete opposites, such a compelling dynamic.
Saito: That makes sense. After all, you need light to have a shadow!
By the way, if you two could dive into someone’s memories like Echika, whose memories would you want to see?
Toyonaga: I want to try Brain Diving into our director and audio director. Even though they can verbalize with “I want the scene to feel like this” it’s hard to actually understand exactly they want from our performance, right? If I could share a brain with them at those times, then I could completely understand what they want from me in seconds, and our recording sessions would go smoothly.
Saito: Good point! Personally, I think I would like to have an actor-to-actor Brain Dive. For example, we’ve all had thoughts like, “I want my performance to go like this, but I might ruin the whole scene if I try”, right? At times like that it would be great fun for you and your fellow performer to have a mutual mental exchange of “How far should we take this performance?” and “I want to try doing it like this.”
Toyonaga: Yeah, that would be great!
Saito: Also, I think it would be useful for times where we’re figuring out who’s mic’d up for what scene. When you’re a new voice actor you don’t really know how to handle the microphone work, so I wish I could just share my knowledge with newcomers like that. It would go so smoothly! Because whenever I try to explain it using words, I have a hard time making the other person understand what I’m talking about. I would like to show them how it’s done and be on the receiving end of a Brain Dive in that case.
Thank you so much. And finally, do you have a message for the fans looking forward to the upcoming episodes?
Saito: The first four episodes answered the question about what exactly Amicus are, but the upcoming episodes will focus on what Echika and Harold will choose to do with their new knowledge. In other words, the story is going to heat up from here on out, and I hope everyone who watches it enjoys!
Toyonaga: The story will be focusing more on the partnership between Cyber-Inspector Echika and Harold, so the world Your Forma takes place in will become even richer in detail going forward. The first four episodes really built up the atmosphere and story, so viewers, please cooperate with Echika to help her with the investigation!
RELATED: INTERVIEW: YOUR FORMA Anime – Kana Hanazawa Talks About Her Role
Streaming platforms:
- North America: Samsung TV Plus
- Central and South America: Bandplay, Anime Onegai
- Europe, Middle East, and Africa: ADN, aniverse, Anime Generation, Anime Key
- Asia: Bahamut, MyVideo, CHT, Hamivideo, Bilibili, TVING, Wavve, Watcha, U+tv, SK Btv, Genie TV, Home Choice, D’LIVE, SKY LIFE, B’flix
CAST:
Echika Hieda (CV.Kana Hanazawa)
Harold W. Lucraft (CV.Kensho Ono)
Bigga (CV.Nao Toyama)
Ui Totoki (CV.Aya Endo)
Ivan Lukich Fokine(CV.Nobuhiko Okamoto)
Darya Romanovna Chernova(CV.Ayaka Nanase)
Lexie Willow Carter (CV.Chiwa Saito)
Benno Kleemann (CV.Yuu Hayashi)
Sozon A. Chernov(CV.Jun Fukuyama)
Lexie W. Carter(CV.Chiwa Saito)
Raissa Germaine Robin(CV.Hisako Tojo)
Kazimir Martinovich Shubin(CV.Tomokazu Sugita)
Kupriyan Valentinovich Napolov(CV.Koichi Yamadera)
STAFF:
Original Work: Mareho Kikuishi
Original Illustrations: Tsubata Nozaki
Director: Takaharu Ozaki
Series Composition & Script: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Character Design: Chikashi Kadekaru
Music: Tatsuya Kato
Animation Production: Geno Studio
Production: Project YOUR FORMA
Official synopsis:
In 1992, a pandemic of viral encephalitis shook the world. The medical technology that saved humanity evolved into “Your Forma”—an invasive information device implanted into the brain. In this world where every sight, sound, and even emotion is recorded, investigating major crimes means diving into the collective data, a job reserved for special detectives called “Electronic Investigator.”
Echika Hieda, a prodigious “Electronic Investigator” assigned at an astonishingly young age, stands isolated by her exceptional talent. Her newly assigned partner is Harold, a blonde, blue-eyed humanoid “Amicus.” Together, this unrivaled duo will expose every hidden secret.
©2025 Mareho Kikuishi/KADOKAWA/Project YOUR FORMA
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