#ZERO Season 3 with Yusuke Kobayashi, Masahiro Shinohara, and Haruko Sagawa

The highly anticipated third season of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is just over the horizon, and Anime Trending interviewed key members of the Re:ZERO staff at Anime Expo 2024 to discuss the upcoming season. Yusuke Kobayashi, the voice of Subaru, shared his thoughts on Subaru’s character growth and preparation for the role. New series director Masahiro Shinohara expressed his excitement and sense of responsibility in taking on the beloved franchise. Character designer Haruko Sagawa revealed her approach to refining the visual style, particularly for Subaru, to reflect his character development. Together, they offered a glimpse into how they are bringing the next chapter of Re:ZERO to life.

This interview has been edited for clarity and was conducted on July 6th, 2024. Questions submitted by Agnes Ngyuen and Melvyn Tan.

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What was working with the new director Masahiro Shinohara-san like? Did the experience of working on this season feel different in any way?

Yusuke Kobayashi: Re:ZERO is a very unique series, and I think there’s a very strong sense of what Re:ZERO is like, so in terms of the direction, I was very careful in being able to express what director Shinohara wanted to tell in the series. There are a lot of great lines in the source material, and I really wanted to express those lines as best as possible. And this is in a good way — I thought there wasn’t a huge shift between the directors, and it was very easy for me to work with Shinohara-san and ease into Season 3.

You mentioned before that you used to get tired from portraying all of Subaru’s moods and dialogue lines. Having done two seasons worth of Subaru (plus the OVAs and Isekai Quartet), how does it feel moving into season 3 of Re:Zero? Have you built up the courage to embrace this role once again?

Kobayashi: In Season 1, I think Subaru might have come across as immature and maybe an unappealing character, which made a really strong impact. I think that image in his mind of who he is and how he thinks of himself as a hero really comes through in Season 1, and that also ties into the fact that he starts out not having any friends in this world. It creates a lot of anxiety, which makes him very worried. 

So that gap between his self-image and who he actually is I think is something that is told within Season 1, but as we go into Season 3, he really grows as a character. He’s surrounded by friends that he can rely on, and they also rely on him too. But in terms of physical preparation, I try to take care of my throat so I don’t lose my voice. In terms of feelings and how I try to relate to Subaru, I try to portray and express Subaru’s growth in his voice as well.

Were those your favorite parts voicing Subaru, and if not, what were they?

Kobayashi: It’s really hard for me to pick my favorite, but if I had to choose, it would be from Season 2, when Subaru has the moment with his parents. I think in Season 1, maybe there were a lot of people who found Subaru very annoying as a character, and I think part of it might be because those parts of him weren’t explained until he had that moment with his parents. 

In a lot of anime, I think there’s that moment where characters want to forget their past and just look forward to the future and not look behind too much, but with Subaru, it was at that moment that he realized, “I won’t be able to see my parents anymore.” So even for me, my image and feelings about Subaru completely changed in how I perceived him because of the scene with Subaru’s mom and dad.

Shinohara-san, as the new director of the ongoing TV anime series, what were your initial reactions and thoughts on directing?

Masahiro Shinohara: I was very surprised when I first got this request. Re:ZERO is such a popular title, so I felt the pressure, but in contrast, I knew that this was a very beloved title. So many people watched Season 1 and Season 2, and it was loved by many. It’s such a fun series, so that really inspired me when I got that request to become the director!

Sagawa-san, this season features new character designs. Could you talk about the creative process behind the characters and designing Subaru for Season 3?

Haruko Sagawa: For Subaru in particular, I wanted to portray his growth as a character and his character development. So compared with Subaru in Season 1 and Season 2, I included new expressions, and I wanted to also increase the quality of the visuals and design. For Season 3, we just wanted to polish everything and make everything more refined, so we really wanted to follow Subaru’s growth and improve the art style.

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Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3 is set to premiere this October. 

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