- Interview Date: 8/23/2025
- Interview Location: Anime NYC 2025
- Interview Format: In-person
Anime Herald: If you were to commit a prank that would get you exiled, what kind of prank would it be?
Maria Naganawa: Exiled from where? From Japan? From the Dragon World?
Anime Herald: Wherever you would like.
Maria Naganawa: I don’t know if this is enough to get me exiled from the Chaos Faction, but I would eat all of the food from the Chaos Faction.
Anime Herald: Tohru is a pretty serious cook when she wants to be. What is your favorite dish to prepare?
Yuuki Kuwahara: I actually don’t cook at all. So, if I had to choose something, I can make an instant cup of noodles quite well.
Anime Herald: The anime Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is generally fairly lighthearted. How did you prepare for the movie and the more serious themes it tackles?
Maria Naganawa: I feel like in the movie, there are a lot more scenes where, for Kanna’s lines, I am tearing up. Of course, there are a lot of very serious scenes throughout the movie. But, in general, a lot of stuff around Kanna felt serious. She speaks a bit differently in the film compared to the series. With my acting, I felt like there were a lot of scenes where I felt like she was crying. I concentrated on that, on her getting really frustrated and emotional.
Anime Herald: What qualities of Tohru do you focus on when voicing her to make sure they come across to the audience?
Yuuki Kuwahara: Tohru is very expressive. She gets mad really easily. She’ll laugh. Both are very explosive. She’s also very good at hitting people with all of her love. Especially Kobayashi. All of her love gets pushed onto her. I also do that with things that I love, so I understand how Tohru feels. When I am acting, I feel like our personalities are exactly the same.
Anime Herald: Welcome to New York! Do you have any fun plans for your trip?
Maria Naganawa: We all went sightseeing yesterday. I have to say, I really love the cityscape of New York. There are so many fancy buildings. There is a part of New York that feels near futuristic as well, and yet there is so much nature. There are trees in the city. It feels like it would be a lot of fun to walk or cycle through here. If you go a little further, there’s the river. It made me want to walk through the city.
Yuuki Kuwahara: I grew up watching a lot of anime, dramas, and movies that are set in New York ever since I was little. I never thought I would be able to see it and actually be here myself. I was very moved. We also got to go near the Statue of Liberty yesterday by boat. It was amazing to see in person. I am very happy and moved by everything we did yesterday. I am going to brag about the fact that I got to go around New York when I get back to Japan.
Anime Herald: Is there anything you would like fans of the series to know specifically about the movie?
Yuuki Kuwahara: Overall, the movie is very different from the TV series. The theme of the movie is familial and parental love. There are scenes where Tohru and Kobayashi-san work very hard for Kanna. There are also a lot of amazing fight scenes throughout the movie as well. There’s going to be a lot of emotional conflict you wouldn’t see in the TV series.
There are touching scenes in the TV series, but they are spread out. Not every episode is a tearjerker. But in the movie, it is quite intense. I’ve seen the movie many times in the theater and I’ve cried many times. I can’t pick any single one highlight. I’d like everyone to go watch it and pay attention to all of the fine details they’ve put in.
Maria Naganawa: In seasons one and two, we see differences between the values and some clashes and conflicts between the dragon side and the human side. In one of the scenes, we get a glimpse of Kanna and her dad, and we get to see their relationship. The movie focuses on the conflict between the values of the humans and the dragons. It will be different from what we saw at the end of season one. Even though the theme is the same, Kobayashi has a lot more to think about this time. We can watch and relate with the different values and clashes that humans have with each other.
Anime Herald: Thank you.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid’s Cast Talks With Anime Herald – Seth Burn