- Interview Date: 8/23/2025
- Interview Location: Anime NYC 2025
- Interview Format: Round Robin
Anime Corner: How do you approach quieter, introspective, deep scenes in comparison to combat-heavy action scenes?
Yūma Uchida: The words that come out of my mouth aren’t words. They are the actual interpretation of the script. There is a layer of understanding that I bring from the script to what comes out of my mouth. It’s actually quite natural when I fully understand the script, when it has to be active or quiet.
It comes out quite naturally when you understand the interactions that are at play. For example, in Wind Breaker, there is a conversation between Nirei and Sakura. Understanding their relationship naturally conveys the difference of what needs to be expressed.
If there is a monologue, it typically comes out from a deeper consciousness. Being able to understand that deeper level and what’s really at play is key to being able to bring these scenes to life.
Anime Herald: What qualities do you share with Sakura Haruka?
Yūma Uchida: He’s actually scared of a lot of things. He’s a little timid to the world. That’s something I relate to. I’ve been rejected a lot. I’ve been hurt a lot. My natural reaction is to pull back. I tend to overthink what others might think of me as well. Maybe not to the same extreme as Sakura, but I do think that his reaction to the world is something relatable.
He’s not aggressive for the sake of being aggressive. Actually, it’s defensive. His fear is creating a facade that makes him look more aggressive than he truly is. That is something I think about when bringing Sakura to life.
Anime Trending: Season two starts off by dropping your character Sakura in an intense battle with Shingo and KEEL. What were your thoughts on that explosive start to the season, and did that energy influence your acting?
Yūma Uchida: Yes, it was a ton of energy, and a lot of work. It’s physically demanding, so it requires a lot of stamina. Lots of characters means lots of actors, but we only have four microphones. We’re all swapping into the four microphones in order to record the entire group of people that you see.
You are not allowed to make any sound. If there is a noise that interferes with the recording, then it cannot be used. Until you are called up to the microphone, you have to be absolutely silent. Then, once you are called up to the microphone, you have to give it your full energy. This is something that might be unique to Japanese voice actors. The absolute silence, and then full-blown energy.
Nikkei: What are your thoughts on the rise of anime outside of Japan, and the popularity of voice actors such as yourself?
Yūma Uchida: I’m delighted. I feel that animation is a culture that Japan has contributed to the world. Looking at the audience today, it is amazing how relatable Japanese animation is worldwide. Being able to see something from my country being appreciated worldwide. I love Japan. To be able to see people around the world appreciating what we are creating makes me really happy.
Anime Corner: Sakura’s unique appearance led to him being treated differently, which influences his standoffish personality and delinquent persona. How do you approach voicing a character with that aspect to his personality?
Yūma Uchida: I think it is important to understand where he is in his journey and what he is really doing to a deeper extent in terms of bringing Sakura to life. It’s important to me to understand his motivation and why he acts the way he does.
On the surface, Wind Breaker is an easy story to understand. It can look simple. If you don’t dig deeper for the logic and the motivations behind the characters, you won’t get a full understanding of Wind Breaker.
I believe it is my job to express those motivations and a deeper understanding to the audio component of the production. I have to understand, “Is he hiding his trauma, is he beaten down by it? How is this trauma affecting him? I try to reflect that in my voice so that what he is feeling and saying reflects his internal motivations.
In order to be recognized by those who had excluded him, Sakura had made himself look bigger, tougher, and stronger. He tried to force them down in order to be accepted.
That’s where Sakura is at the beginning of the story. It’s important that the fact that his sensitivity and fear, [that] he’s been hurt before comes through as a motivation for why he wants to look tough. That’s the motivation that brings the story together. Being able to convey more than just the surface level is very important to the audio component that we bring to the production.
Anime Herald: Not every anime gets to have a second season. What do you believe has led to Wind Breaker’s success?
Yūma Uchida: I think Wind Breaker is a coming of age story. He starts the story in solitude and loneliness. Through his interactions and conversations with the members of Bofurin, he starts to grow. That growth is relatable and brings hope to those who are watching. In season one, we saw the growth. In season two, he becomes a grade captain and starts to bring others into his life. You see him motivated to change in season two.
Even as adults, our careers grow, our teams grow, we get promoted, our roles change. Seeing Sakura mature as grade captain, we relate to it. It’s not just a delinquent in a school. It’s a story of growth and the birth of a community. That makes it relatable and enjoyable to all of us watching the show.
Anime Trending: The strong and gorgeous Tsubakino played an active role in season two. What were your thoughts on the main characters in season two and their relationships?
Yūma Uchida: What makes Tsubakino attractive is how honest he is about his passions. There’s no hiding what he loves. That’s really respectable and something that makes a character so attractive.
Wind Breaker has a lot of characters that have been hurt before, or who have some negative history that is motivating them to action. With some of the other characters that are struggling with their negative aspects, Tsubakino accepts his passions. He’s honest about enjoying cute things. Tsubakino has achieved a better state through self acceptance. It makes the character so attractive.
Nikkei: Did you expect Wind Breaker to be such a hit outside of Japan? Why do you think fans were able to fall in love with the story despite not being familiar with the delinquent culture in Japan?
Yūma Uchida: I feel like this is uniquely Japanese content. In a sense it is almost classical. We spent a lot of time discussing the delinquent culture. Bringing this classical delinquent culture to this era is probably part of the success.
It’s so full of attractive characters that are relatable. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old. You can find something to relate to in the story, being so classical. I believe that to be one of the components of its success. And hands down, the quality of the animation is bar none.
The attention to detail that CloverWorks brings to all of the scenes, whether it is the massive fight scenes, or the subtle expressions of the characters, these are things that really add to the quality of the storytelling. It’s not only the story, but also what CloverWorks has been able to accomplish in putting together the animation production that has been part of the success of Wind Breaker.
Anime Trending: Sakura goes through many new experiences with his friends in season two. What do you think about his overall growth and maturity from where he left off in season one?
Yūma Uchida: I’m so glad he has friends. It’s so nice to see him have a community. Please look forward to even more growth from Sakura. The fact that now he is not alone. He has new problems, new troubles. It’s a wonderful thing to have a community to have as friends, but now there is more to his life.
For example, when he gets excited, before it was just him. He could jump into a fight. But in order to protect someone, sometimes it’s better to hold back. There are new situations and new scenarios that Sakura will have to face.
Now, he has to consider other people’s feelings. Before, it was just him. The action was just from his own perspective. Now he has the perspective of others to consider. This might be challenging for Sakura, but it is something that is part of growth.
Those interactions are going to enrich how he integrates with the world around him. By being able to take into consideration the others around him, other people will start to take him into consideration and pull him into their world. A synergy of positive energy will result.
Yūma Uchida Chats About Wind Breaker at Anime NYC 2025 – Seth Burn