#Ai Kayano “Struggled” to Play Alice Zuberg in Sword Art Online: Alicization

Ai Kayano, the seiyuu for Alice Zuberg in the Sword Art Online: Alicization seasons, revealed at Aniplex Online Fest that she initially had some trouble embodying the character.

Kayano was speaking to MC Tenshin Mukai at the “Sword Art Online Alicization War of the Underworld THE LAST SEASON Online Panel.” Mukai spoke about how, after seeing Alice’s childhood at the start of the series, she is reintroduced as an Integrity Knight later on, and that the character had many layers. 

When asked about her impressions of Alice, Kayano said, “She’s very difficult to play. Whenever I’m asked what it’s like to play her, I say, ‘It’s very difficult, like trying to grab onto a cloud.’ Then I realized something. If Alice doesn’t know herself, how could I possibly know her?”  

Kayano elaborated by saying, “In particular, when they’re climbing the Central Cathedral. In that scene, she and Kirito talk about rediscovering who you are. Until that episode, I really struggled to figure out how to play Alice, but that scene saved me. I was able to tell myself that if she doesn’t know, I can’t know.

“Alice will always be unsure. Like Alice in Wonderland, she will always be in an uncertain state. I realized that that was okay. That lifted the pressure.”

Kayano also shed light on how she got the role. Mukai pointed out that before Kayano joined the anime, she provided Alice’s voice in one of the Sword Art Online games by Bandai Namco. “I was approached to play Alice when I was recording for the game,” Kayano explained. “But they usually change the case when a game is remade into an anime. So I was unsure.”

Kayano later said that before she received final confirmation, she heard from Nobunaga Shimazaki and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Eugeo and Kirito’s seiyuus respectively, that they were excited to work with her. Tomohiko Ito, the director of the previous Sword Art Online series and movies, also told her that she would be playing the role. “I thought, ‘If these three say I’m playing her, I must be,’” she said with a laugh.