GAME UPDATES / 2026.08.21

Interview: Taihi Kimura, Yuuki Yamamoto, and Kazuki Ura of The Vermilion Mask

First of all, I would like to thank Kimura-san, Yamamoto-san, and Ura-san for taking the time out of your busy schedules to answer our questions! We greatly appreciate your time!As a little bit of background on those we…

First of all, I would like to thank Kimura-san, Yamamoto-san, and Ura-san for taking the time out
of your busy schedules to answer our questions! We greatly appreciate your time!

As a little bit of background on those we are interviewing, Taihi Kimura voices Peru D’Arrest,
Yuuki Yamamoto voices Sonarue Maywood, and Kazuki Ura voices Mok Sharib in the anime The Vermilion Mask, which is currently airing on Crunchyroll! The Vermilion Mask is a show about masks that grant power to those who wear them. There are mask makers throughout the world, and Peru is the apprentice of Gaston, one of the three legendary mask makers; however, he seeks to destroy his master’s masks rather than collect and preserve them!

You can check out our First Reaction to Episode 1 of The Vermilion Mask here: https://www.theouterhaven.net/anime-first-reaction-the-vermilion-mask/

With that being said, let’s jump into the questions!

The Outerhaven: What do you think makes The Vermilion Mask so appealing and exciting?

Kimura: The story starts as a journey of atonement. It makes you think it might deliberately steer away from the classic hero’s journey, but then there’s real emotional growth, and each character has a path they walk, and I think that’s really cool. As a story, it makes you want to root for Peru. What he carries feels closer to something that belongs on the villain’s side than the hero’s, but at its heart he’s still a classic hero, and I really love that about it.

Yamamoto: For me, it’s that even though it’s a battle series, there’s this really deep theme of forgiving and being forgiven running through it. That theme of forgiveness shows up in the relationships between the characters, too.

Ura: That’s exactly it.

The Outerhaven: How about the visuals?

Yamamoto: The visuals are seriously cool, too. The world itself is just so cool, and everything that’s been released so far, starting with the key visuals, looks incredibly cool. At the same time, Sona being cute is definitely one of its charms (laughs). Together with Kero-chan, right?

Kimura: When you line up the character visuals, Sona has a real elegance to her.

Yamamoto: I love how her intelligence, her cleverness, has been worked into her design, too. Along with Kero-chan, I think Sona is something like the icon of this series. The script even had directions like “in a cute way,” so I figured that’s the kind of character she is, and I kept that in mind a little while performing her.

Ura: She clearly comes from a good upbringing.

Kimura: Visually, for me, it’s got to be the masks. The way masks are used differs from country to country. In Daruma’s country, the Japan-like one, they put masks on objects, whereas we wear them ourselves. The worldbuilding is incredibly detailed.

Kimura: And like we were saying earlier, within all that worldbuilding there’s Sona’s cute side. She is constantly eating the local food everywhere they go (laughs). The footage we see during recording isn’t finished yet, but I heard that in the final version they’ll show food that fits each country’s culture, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Yamamoto: We heard it was very purposeful.

Kimura: Right. They wanted to give it a road-movie feel, too.

Yamamoto: Apparently Sona’s “munching time” is intentional (laughs). So she’s probably eating something in every episode.

Kimura: Peru and Mok will be talking, and in the background she’s just eating the whole time (laughs).

Ura: These two have already covered a lot, but what I find really interesting is that it isn’t a simple good-versus-evil story. Everyone carries some kind of sin. So there’s no one without scars. Everyone is carrying something, and none of them are in a position to talk about ideals. Even so, they hold on to their pride and the things they care about and push forward toward the light, and that makes you really want to cheer them on. I think that’s one of the great things about this series.

Visually, what I really love is that putting on a mask brings about a change, both in how the character looks and in who they are. So it’s like getting two characters in one (laughs). On top of their normal state, they show you a completely new side of themselves when they’re masked. You start imagining what a character would be like in a mask, or, if they already wear one, what they’d be like in a different one. I really enjoy imagining all of that.

Kimura: Apparently every single mask has its own separate effects. Even within episode 1, the Spider and Cat masks look totally different, which is so exciting.

Yamamoto: I heard they differ depending on the material, too. The staff changed everything depending on whether a mask is made of wood or clay.

Ura: That’s amazing. I can’t wait.

The Outerhaven: What are some of the things about your characters that you find interesting, and how did your impression of them change as you performed them?

Kimura: At first, Peru is a total bundle of responsibility. He’s crushing himself under the feeling that he “screwed up.” So at the start, it really is about atonement. Peru acts out of a feeling of “forgive me, help me.” But then he meets Sona and Mok… Peru is still a young man, so his heart grows and his goals shift. What began as atonement gradually turns into a firm conviction, after meeting all kinds of people and seeing all kinds of things, that “I can’t let anyone else go through this ever again.” That’s what makes you want to root for him so much.

Ura: It really does make you want to root for him.

Kimura: You just want to tell him, “Hang in there.” I think his strong sense of responsibility is both his flaw and his charm.

Yamamoto: As we mentioned earlier, Sona’s story starts with her stealing Peru’s mask, so at first I watched thinking, “This girl does some pretty bold things.” But from partway through episode 1 into episode 2, you learn her backstory: she’s actually a princess, her father and mother were killed, and her place in the world was taken from her. That’s when I thought, “I see, this isn’t something she does lightly.” Even that first act of stealing isn’t just stealing. There’s that backstory behind it, and she has to survive the here and now no matter what. I could really feel her resolve that she has to keep living, even if it means stealing, and I thought she was a character with a lot of depth. Every single character has a real story and real depth, and I find that really appealing.

Ura: I wanted to talk about these two a bit, so I’ll start with them (laughs). When I auditioned, I read the original manga too, imagining my first impressions of the characters and which parts would be hard if I were the one playing them. I felt one of the hard things about Peru is that because he’s carrying something so heavy, how he carries it is the key. As a performance, you could easily make him self-absorbed or push him in a gloomy direction. But if you do that, people stop wanting to root for him, and he risks becoming a character you can’t empathize with. I watched thinking that balance must be really difficult, but Taihi-kun carries that heavy burden, takes all of it on his shoulders, and keeps moving forward, with an intensity that’s different from simple hot-bloodedness. Thanks to that, I think the role of Peru has gained a lot of depth.

Sona doesn’t fight directly very much. In terms of the series’ big moments, the flashy battles tend to stand out, but in the conversations in between, with only a few lines, Yamamoto-san is really skilled at bringing out her presence and essence as a character. Her performance really carries that refinement, that good upbringing, so that’s what I’d like to highlight… I’ve been wanting to say that today. There was no room to say it during my solo interview earlier (laughs).

As for Mok, when I was performing him for the audition, I felt he’s a character where the balance is really tricky. If he jokes around too much, he just becomes a goofball, but if you play up his calm, collected side too much, it shows through, and there are moments where the character feels off. I gradually built up those fine details myself, with help from the direction I received, and little by little I became able to put into words what he really cares about. Having played him, I’ve come to like him even more. I can’t talk about that part yet because it would be a spoiler, but there’s a line of his I really love. I’d be happy if everyone came to love that line too.

Kimura: You can’t say it, but it’s so cool.

The Outerhaven: Everyone has voiced many characters in several different anime series. How challenging is it to find unique voices for each character that you play?

Kimura: I might not really “create” voices much. Rather than building a voice, I think about how big this guy is, what he holds in his heart… Before the voice, I think about things like his body size and his inner self. “Is this guy high-strung? If he’s high-strung, the ends of his sentences would be stiff.” That sort of thing. I think about who he is, and I figure I just need to bring that with me. I don’t think it’s “he’s ripped, so he gets this voice.”

Ura: Even ripped characters can have a high voice.

Kimura: Exactly. There are guys with big muscles that have high voices, right? And the opposite happens too. There’s a whole range. So rather than the voice, I look at the character and think really hard about what kind of guy he is.

The Outerhaven: Do you approach a role from the inside?

Kimura: More or less, yes. I take that to the studio and ask, “How’s this?” Then they might tell me, “Try it a little more like this.” I come up with the character myself, bring it to the studio, and we build it together. That’s how I do it.

Yamamoto: Same for me, I think. I don’t really create voices. Ultimately, it’s all my natural voice. If it’s not a voice I can actually use, I can’t act with it. Of course, I’m the type people often tell, “Your voice is pretty different from role to role,” but that’s not me forcing anything. It’s more like the high end and the low end of my own range. Even if at first I think, “Maybe it’s this kind of voice,” in the end it comes back to my natural voice.

Kimura: I totally get that.

Yamamoto: It settles back into my natural voice. Even with tape auditions, I’ll start out thinking of something a bit different, but as I keep going, it ends up…

Kimura: What matters is this, right here (the heart). In the end, as long as the soul comes through.

Yamamoto: Exactly. So I don’t really create voices, but like you said, the way I use my voice changes depending on what’s inside: what kind of person they are, what sense of justice they have. Whether they’re someone who projects clearly or someone who mumbles also changes how they sound, so I tend to think more from that angle.

Ura: It’s really just as they both said. Of course, as a technique, what you’d simply call “creating a voice,” I think every voice actor does to some extent. But when it actually comes to building a role, I also think what matters most is what kind of person they are. In my case, I think about two things. One is simply what kind of body they have. Is their frame big or slight to begin with? Some people have a thin frame but are muscular… I think a lot about it, right down to how they use their muscles. Some characters have small bodies but put out a huge voice.

The other is how they converse with people. When I was just starting out, a sound director told me something that’s stuck with me to this day: “People who are good at acting are people who can listen.” The reason is, if you don’t really listen to the words someone throws at you, you can’t respond to them. Conversation is a game of catch, so if that doesn’t work, it becomes a disjointed, nonsensical exchange. So it’s about how they catch and how they throw. Someone who doesn’t care about anyone around them will speak in a way that just hurls the words, as if it doesn’t matter whether the other person catches them. Someone who’s very attentive to how the other person reacts will speak carefully, checking each point as they go. In the end it all comes down to what they’re like as a person, but in my case, those are the two things I think about most.

Yamamoto: Aren’t tape auditions rough? There’s no one to play off, so you have to complete everything within yourself. If you get to a studio audition, the creators will tell you, “A bit more like this,” and you can go, “Oh, I see.” But having to just present the character as I imagine it is pretty tough for me. It’s a struggle every time.

Kimura: For me, it’s actually kind of fun. Like, “What if I try something like this?” I’m the type who does weird stuff (laughs).

Yamamoto: Not having a right answer…Once you start thinking about it, there’s no end.

Kimura: Oh, I see, that’s the hard part. This might sound strange, but I think it’s fine even if the lines aren’t clearly audible. Even if you can barely tell what they’re saying, I think there’s room for that kind of range. Whenever I build a character, I go in thinking that, at the extreme, I’d like to show that much range.

Ura: This is a completely different topic, but… Someone on a job once told me, “Voice actors enunciate too well. That’s a complaint.” I asked, “Why?” and they said, “Because normal people can’t possibly speak that clearly.”

Kimura: Because they’re thinking while they talk.

Ura: Right, right, right.

Kimura: I think it’s fine to stumble, but there are times when it doesn’t work.

Ura: It depends on the work. In some works it becomes noise, and in others it adds flavor, so I think that’s something you build together on set, based on the feel of the work. In that sense, it’s not just voice actors. Actors in film and on stage perform with such a wide range, and my seniors have often told me that voice actors can give themselves plenty of freedom, too. I’ve always wanted to keep that mindset myself.

Yamamoto: Thank you for sharing such a valuable story.

Kimura: There are sound directors who started out as mixers who are doing amazing work, too. What they prioritize differs depending on their background. Some say, “It’s all about soul,” and some want a clean, precise take. But I think you should be able to handle all of it.

Ura: True. Sometimes they tell you, “Project from your gut,” and other times…

Kimura: When I shout, my voice cracks. When I yell my special move, it cracks (laughs).

Ura: They really think it through. Both of them were in their school broadcasting clubs, so I get the sense they spend a lot of time thinking about speaking… We’ve gone way off track (laughs).

Yamamoto: Sorry, we’ve gone totally off track (laughs).

The Outerhaven: Is there a type of character that you haven’t voiced yet that you would love to try voicing?

Kimura: Age, maybe. I can do old men. But if someone said “40 years old” and asked me to do it on the spot, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t. I can’t do a youthful forty-something.

Ura: True, those roles come up more often than you’d think.

Kimura: Right, they come up surprisingly often, right in the middle range of mine. Sometimes a bunch of roles from people in the generation above me who worked a ton come my way all at once, and one time I totally panicked.

Yamamoto: So you’ve actually been through it.

Kimura: Yeah. I panicked a bit, and that part didn’t go so well.

Yamamoto: I see. I sometimes play people in their 70s for voice-over or variety show work, but for anime, hardly ever.

Kimura: I really can’t do a late-30s or 40s voice, so going forward I want to take on roles that make me pick up elements I don’t have. I feel like I have to. I have to grow up.

The Outerhaven: Is that where ‘creating a voice’ comes in for roles like that?

Kimura: Yeah, it is. A low voice doesn’t automatically make someone sound older.

Ura: Of course.

Kimura: The tempo might be slower, and the articulation at the ends of sentences… how do I put it, it’s hard.

Ura: It can be a little looser, too.

Yamamoto: And the amount of information packed into a single line keeps growing. Precisely because of their age… For example, with Akio Otsuka, he probably isn’t even that conscious of it, but everything he’s experienced comes through in even the most offhand line. That makes it so convincing. But I haven’t experienced that much yet.

Kimura: (We’re) the same age.

Ura: Ah, I see.

Yamamoto: So I think it’d be really hard to pull off at our age, but I do want to try.

Kimura: I want to try.

Ura: But I think age is a factor too. Honestly, both of you have young vocal cords, and your vocal production is clean, right?

Kimura: Sometimes I get a better voice when my throat is a bit swollen. After shouting, there have been times I could hit something like a late-30s voice.

Ura: Something I really feel as I get older is that now that I’m in my 30s, there’s more grit in my speaking voice. It used to be pretty clean, very teenage-sounding, but now just talking normally gives off a slightly more seasoned vibe.

Yamamoto: When you listen to old radio shows our senior colleagues were on, their natural speaking voices sound so young to begin with.

Ura: So young. Everything about how I talked was young. But as I’ve gained more and more experience… Here’s a little behind-the-scenes story.

Yamamoto: Fitting, coming from Ura. [Translator’s note: “ura” means “behind” in Japanese; a behind-the-scenes story is an “ura-banashi.”]

Kimura: Whoa, you caught me off guard (laughs). That came out of nowhere.

Ura: It’s totally harmless (laughs). On sets where I’m the youngest, or somewhere in the middle, I’d probably take the lead and talk more. I naturally talk really fast, but on this set, you two are a lot younger than me and, in a really good way, you talk so earnestly. If I talked just as earnestly, things would get out of hand (laughs). So I read the room on my own and go, “Okay, I’ll talk a little slower,” “Let’s stay calm.” And that made me realize, “I really am in my 30s.” Having younger people around has made me notice a lot about myself.

Kimura: (We’re) still right in the middle of the sprint.

Ura: Exactly. So you’ll understand eventually, and it’ll start coming out eventually… Sorry, really, for going so far off topic (laughs).

Yamamoto: (Laughs) I’ve mostly played characters who speak their minds or talk very directly, so maybe something more downbeat. I’m a pretty cheerful person myself, so I wonder what it would be like to play the complete opposite. I’d kind of like to try something like that. What about you, Ura-san?

Ura: I’d really love to be trusted with characters who have allure and a touch of melancholy. Partly because the age range naturally goes up, too.

Kimura: Allure is something I seriously don’t have (laughs).

Ura: Me neither, seriously (laughs). It’s hard.

Kimura: When you try to put it on, it becomes cheesy.

Ura: It comes off as forced. People like Akio Otsuka and Kazuhiko Inoue are amazing at it.

Kimura: I think it’s about being relaxed. None of them are tensed up.

Ura: It’s composure. That composure.

Yamamoto: Probably if you talk too much, like we are now… (laughs). You have to leave pauses. They say handsome guys aren’t afraid of pauses.

Ura: That might really be true. I seriously think so.

Yamamoto: Like, “…Yeah, I guess” (laughs).

Ura: Trying so hard to stay quiet (laughs).

Yamamoto: But I want to talk (laughs).

Ura: Trying so hard (laughs). But yes, that’s what it is. I’d like to create allure and melancholy in all sorts of forms, in a way that’s my own, and I’d love to try roles like that.

The Outerhaven: Finally, please share a message for everyone watching the broadcast and looking forward to the upcoming episodes.

Kimura: I think a lot of intriguing characters have already appeared in the PVs so far, but the story moves at a breakneck pace, so I want you to watch it feeling like you’re riding a roller coaster with Peru. Episode 1 was a roller coaster, and I think it ended right where you’d want to see more: “What’s going to happen to the Mask of the Warrior God?!” “What happened to Totoque?!” (laughs). Starting with Totoque, plenty more intriguing characters are coming, and every episode is that much of a roller coaster. So whether or not you’ve already seen episode 1, please watch from episode 1, take in The Vermilion Mask with your whole self, and enjoy it with your heart full of excitement.

Yamamoto: This series really has a ton of characters. Every one of them is appealing, and I’m sure you’ll find a favorite somewhere, so I’d be happy if you looked forward to it while showing love to each and every character.

Ura: Mok might not have even appeared yet (laughs). There are still lots of great characters who haven’t shown up, and The Vermilion Mask is a really fun series, so please watch it and soak in everything it has to offer. Under the supervision of the original authors, it weaves in original story elements that reinforce the story, so I think it’s an anime that both people who know the original and people who don’t can really enjoy. I’d love it if you’d be glued to your TV every Saturday evening. And let’s all come up with our own original masks (laughs). Thank you!

We, again, would like to deeply thank Ura-san, Yamamoto-san, and Kimura-san for taking the time to answer our questions! Please check out The Vermilion Mask on Crunchyroll!

anime Peru The Vermilion Mask Taihi Kimura Yuuki Yamamoto Kazuki Ura Sonarue Mok

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