Demon Slayer: Takahiro Sakurai on playing water hashira Tomioka Giyuu

With the much-awaited movie "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle" finally screening in Philippine cinemas, fans troop the theaters armed with their nichirin blades as their favorite hashiras assemble to make their final stand against the main antagonist Muzan Kibutsuji.

Just in time to rally behind our main protagonists and the hashiras, GMA News Online spoke to Takahiro Sakurai, the voice actor for the water hashira Tomioka Giyuu.

For the uninitiated, Sakurai is a well-loved voice actor famous for bringing to life popular anime characters like Suguru Geto in "Jujutsu Kaisen," Suzaku Kururugi in "Code Geass," Arataka Reigen in "Mob Psycho 100" and Diablo in "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," just to name a few.

Through an interpreter, Sakurai recalled that he landed the role of Tomioka Giyuu through an audition, and he was overjoyed when he was chosen.

Having portrayed many calm and collected characters throughout his career, Giyuu fit into that archetype but stood out in one significant way: beneath his stoic and flat-toned demeanor lay a depth of hidden emotion. Conveying that subtle inner world without breaking the character's calm façade, Sakurai admitted, was one of the biggest challenges for the role.

To capture Giyuu's reserved and stoic personality, Sakurai said he intentionally "hid" the emotions of the character in his delivery. He likened Giyuu's water breathing style to his personality—fluid, transparent, and calm, yet capable of taking many forms and colors. By holding back, Sakurai gave weight to the emotions that lay beneath the surface.

When asked about how he matched his performance to Giyuu's calm yet deadly water breathing style, Sakurai emphasized the importance of relying on the script, the animation, and his own instincts. He did not follow any specific rituals in the studio, but he made a conscious effort not to over-express emotions and treated each word with restraint, "throwing it into the microphone" to preserve Giyuu's composed nature.

Over the years, Sakurai said his interpretation of Giyuu has also evolved. He first started as a character who concealed much of himself and his past, but later on came to embrace his identity as a hashira. Sakurai said that while Giyuu remained consistent, the emotional growth and revelations toward the end added a nice touch of nuance to his performance.

When asked to reflect more on Giyuu's struggles with inner pain and impostor syndrome, Sakurai also shared that he felt especially closer to the character in the later parts of the series, when Giyuu's past is revealed and his emotions are more openly shown. That particular arc allowed Sakurai to connect more with the role—both physically and emotionally, deepening his portrayal.

Among all the episodes, Sakurai also shared that the very first episode left the deepest mark on him. Giyuu's encounter with Tanjiro began as a battle but transformed into a meaningful relationship that developed throughout the story. For Sakurai, that scene held the essence of the entire series—the beginning and the end intertwined—and performing it has been both meaningful and challenging for him. 

And with that, Giyuu's self-discovery and newfound bond with Tanjiro will play a pivotal role in his fight as he rallies among his fellow hashiras in eradicating all the demons by charging head-on in the final battle against Muzan and the demonkind.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News