Interview with the voice actress of Jolyne Cujoh, discussing her experiences from dubbing Jolyne.
Tell us how you got the part of Jolyne.
I got the part via audition, but on the day of the audition, I distinctly remember crying the whole way home thinking I didn't get the role. I love Jolyne so much. Because of that, I was way too nervous during the audition and wasn't able to showcase my best self. I received a callback, which made me both surprised and happy — and it wasn't actually a callback, they brought me back in to tell me that I got the part! The staff had prepared a whole ordeal for me knowing I was such a huge fan of the JoJo series. Later on, they sent me a video of that day as a gift. I'm so grateful to them, because this audition really was an extremely important part of my life. I get to look back on the day my dream came true over and over again! After all, our memories give our cells courage!
How was the first day of recording?
I was so overwhelmed about that fact that I'd be voicing my favorite Jolyne that I was more nervous than happy! I entered this industry wanting to voice one of Jolyne's allies, so I was so rickety the first day — with the flurry of retakes I had to do, I couldn't bring out Jolyne's wild and sensitive character. I had discussion after discussion with the sound director Iwanami-san in order to get her character right. As the recordings went on, though, I felt I was able to understand her and love her even more than I did before.
How did it feel acting alongside your "father," Jotaro, for the first time?
When I first heard Jotaro's voice recording the third episode, I was immediately like, "It's just like the anime!" After that, I received lots of advice from Daisuke Ono about how to voice the "ORA ORA", and I am so grateful for that. He's like a father to me, and I adore him!
Tell us about working with Ermes and F.F.
I've always admired Mutsumi Tamura (Ermes), but I was surprised at how loud and powerful her voice was. Episode 8 in particular was a heated battle with F.F., and we were all just shouting as loudly as we possibly could. (laughs) We were all riled up during recording, which I think ended up sounding good in the actual episode. Compared to Golden Wind, Stone Ocean has way more female characters, so if we aren't careful, our voices will end up sounding too shrill. We made sure that our voices were passionate and good on the ears. And F.F. is the character I relate to the most, so when they finally appeared in episode 8, I was like "I finally get to meet you!" My heart was full. And Mariya Ise's performance of F.F. is so nuanced, switching smoothly from the creepy mutant to the cute mascot character. Even though F.F.'s character does a 180-degree turn from the beginning to the end, her performance gives them continuity; we can see they're still the same character. F.F.'s voice when we first meet them is processed in post, but even during recording, Mariya Ise's voice performance was so good that I felt like it didn't need to be edited at all!
Was there a specific moment in the first cour (episode 1 through 12) where you felt your performance as Jolyne stood out?
The part in episode 5 where Jolyne trips, and it seems like Jotaro is extending a hand to help her up, but he's actually handing her the pendant. I also had a time when I did not get along with my father, so I really understood how Jolyne felt in that moment, and I was able to bring a daughter's straightforward anger to her father's disappointing action. I think it was pretty real! That scene was also in the audition, so I had a lot of practice. It ended up becoming a very important scene for me.
We heard that you listen to the opening and ending songs every day.
I listen to the opening, "STONE OCEAN", in the mornings after I wake up, and I listen to the ending, "Distant Dreamer", in the evenings on the way home. I love them so much, they're a part of my daily life now! (laughs) I especially love the opening animation that Kamikaze Douga produced — Jolyne's thread connecting to the other JoJo's is awesome. The bright colors make me think, "Prison life doesn't seem too bad!"
How did the people around you react to your participation in this project?
A friend of mine from my days as a student contacted me and told me that my acting has gotten better! We used to read JoJo's aloud together. It made me really happy to see a reaction from someone I knew in real life. I had wanted to be a voice actor since back then, and I remember telling them, "You should get my signature now while you can!" And I was right! (laughs)
And lastly, a message for the fans, please.
The JoJo's anime is chock-full of directorial choices that move fans of the original manga. I hope you watch this over and over again and discover something new each time. This season holds a lot of references to Stardust Crusaders, and we also get to see Ermes, F.F., and Enrico Pucci's backstories, so I'd be happy if you get to understand them on a deeper level.