――How did you feel when you were selected to play Maquia?
IWAMI: I thought for sure I wouldn’t pass the audition, so I was really surprised. I wanted to get into voice acting because of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, written by Mari Okada, the director of this movie. Plus, Miyu Irino and Ai Kayano were going to be in it, and they were also in Anohana. So it was a dream come true.
――I hear that before doing the voice-over, the main cast got together and read through the script at a table read.
IWAMI: It was the first time I had done that. They didn’t just want to get a feel for the acting, but they also said that they wanted to film our facial expressions as reference for the storyboards, so there were cameras filming during the read-through. I was really unused to everything and really nervous at the time, but Mr. Irino gave me some good advice and with that I was able to get through it somehow. That desperation I felt was very similar to the character of Maquia, so director Okada told me it was fine just like that, so I was able to perform somewhat.
――There was an entire year between the read-through and the recording, right?
IWAMI: I had no confidence in my audition, so I knew that I had to grow and improve until the recording. So I was thankful that I had a lot of time to think deeply about the role and get the right image in my head. On the other hand, there was so much time that I changed a lot, and I sometimes second-guessed myself, thinking like “oh, I was better at the audition, what should I do?”
――Maquia is from Iorph and thus has a long lifespan, so she does not change much visually, correct?
IWAMI: Yes. That was difficult to portray. In the story, Maquia is a mother of sorts to Ariel, but she always looks like a young girl. So if you aren’t careful, she’ll always seem like a young girl. So director Okada told me to maintain her as having strong maternal thoughts.
――What kind of movie is Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms to you?
IWAMI: First, it’s a story about Maquia’s growth. Through that, and through life and death, parent and child, and through the flow of time, you begin to see what is really important. When you first see it you may be surprised by the sheer scale of the world, and not be able to come to grips with the emotions. I think some people’s lives will be changed by this movie, so I hope this movie resonates with many people.

Manaka Iwami (Pro-Fit management). Known for her voice work in Tada Never Falls in Love (Teresa Wagner), Gamers! (Chiaki Hoshinomori), Children of the Whales (Lykos), and more.