Hello everyone, have you ever chased an impossible dream? Fought an unbeatable foe and dealt with unbearable sorrow? Well if you haven’t, I know who has: Homura Akemi.
The wait for the latest Madoka Magica film also felt like chasing an impossible dream too but miraculously, somehow, it releases today in Japanese cinemas. So to celebrate, Magical Stage is going to be publishing a couple of interviews of its main voice actresses today! We’ve had Yuuki Aoi’s interview and now it’s time for Chiwa Saito, the voice of Homura Akemi.
I will also stress like the previous interview: There are no spoilers for the film in this interview!
Actually I’m going to go to such extreme lengths for this, that the images in the article will be of pictures of black Skyline GT-Rs. They all have spoilers, but I think they’re cool!
Let’s get reading!
Translation by “nui”, Editing by me. Chiwa Saito: What Madoka Magica Taught Me, “The Greatest Fortune and a Treasure” was originally published on mantan-web.jp in August 2026.
Original Link:
https://mantan-web.jp/article/20260824dog00m200069000a.html
Chiwa Saito: What Madoka Magica Taught Me, “The Greatest Fortune and a Treasure”
The popular anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica is getting a brand new theatrical release, Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie – Walpurgisnacht: Rising, on August 28, 2026. This new movie comes roughly 13 years since the October 2013 release of Rebellion. Homura Akemi, who serves as the “other protagonist” of the series, turned into a devil in Rebellion, but this official sequel will show us exactly what happens next. We asked Homura’s voice actress, Chiwa Saito, about her feelings regarding Madoka Magica and the new movie.
Returning to Peak “Madoka Magica”
Puella Magi Madoka Magica originally aired in 2011, telling the harsh fate of magical girls. It featured a phenomenal all-star staff, including Chief Director Akiyuki Shinbo at Shaft, Original Character Design Ume Aoki, Scriptwriter Gen Urobuchi, and Music by Yuki Kajura. For the new movie, this exact same amazing crew has reunited.
Chiwa Saito: I actually only learned the full scope of the story when I got the script. I opened it, gasped ‘Whoa!’ in surprise, and at the exact same time thought, ‘I don’t understand this at all’ (laughs). Even reading the stage directions for the battle scenes left me confused, but I figured that all of that is just part of the Madoka Magica experience.
I don’t think Madoka Magica is a work that hands you one clear answer. Everyone can hold their own answer and interpret it freely. I think fans are also starting to feel that there isn’t just one right answer, and they can make their own interpretations. My reaction after finishing the movie was, ‘This is peak Madoka Magica!’
The series’ complexity is definitely one of its charms, and many people are captivated by its multi-layered story that allows for various interpretations.
Saito: Whenever I get stuck, I always ask Aoi Yuuki, who plays Madoka and sits right next to me, ‘Is this very Madoka Magica?’ and she just replies, ‘It is totally fine!’ So I can act with confidence. Also, there is this feeling like pieces of a puzzle snapping perfectly into place when everyone gets together.
When I was thinking about it on my own, I worried, ‘Can I really go back to how things were 13 years ago?’ but once I actually got into the studio, it was super easy to slip back in. Before recording, when I met with the cast, everyone was nervously saying, ‘Can we pull this off?’ but the moment recording started, everyone just naturally fell right into their places, and the dubbing itself went incredibly smoothly.
Acting Like It is the Last Time
It has been about 15 years since the TV broadcast, but what she thinks about while playing Homura hasn’t changed.
Saito: My first audition was actually for Kyubey. It all started when I was suddenly handed Homura’s script at the studio and told, ‘Read this too.’ So I auditioned without knowing any of Homura’s detailed backstory. Looking back now, I think acting without knowing all of that turned out for the best.
Back then, I would get the script maybe a day before recording, discover Homura’s actual goal, and just be like, ‘No way!?’ I was genuinely surprised every single time and acted with real, raw reactions. Homura seems like she controls the world, but I actually think she is the one being tossed around the most. That is exactly why I try not to overthink it and just play her honestly, even now.
Personally, there is a part of me that looks at the girls objectively and thinks, ‘There is probably a better way to do this… oh boy, it is getting complicated again.’ But they just charge straight ahead, believing in their path with pure hearts. So, I make sure to value the impressions and intuition I get from listening to my co-stars’ performances, and I try to act as naturally as possible.
Since Rebellion 13 years ago, she has voiced Homura in games and other media.
Saito: My core feeling hasn’t changed, but over these 13 years, there have been so many spin-offs like games and collabs. You had ‘Normal Homura’, ‘Glasses Homura’, ‘Devil Homura’, etc and they all got a bit exaggerated and took on lives of their own. So for this recording, I made a conscious effort to intentionally forget all that and go back to where Homura was right at the end of Rebellion.
Especially with Devil Homura, she had taken on this really scary vibe in the spin-offs, so I knew I had to let that go. Even though Homura has turned into a devil this time, she is closer to a normal girl than a cliché demon. I went back to the roots of Homura at the end of Rebellion and played her without being too hyper-focused on her being a devil.
Every time I perform, I have the mindset of ‘This is the last time!’
It was the exact same for Rebellion, but I went into acting for this new movie with the resolve of, ‘This might be my absolute last time playing Homura!’. Of course, the girls’ everyday lives in the story will keep going, and what is shown in the movie is just one slice of that. So it doesn’t mean ‘I am ending it perfectly right here’, but rather, ‘Even if this is the last time I ever play Homura, I am going to give it my all with a passion I won’t regret!’ I really hope the ending of this movie, combined with the amazing theme song, leaves a deep, lasting impression on everyone.
Creating a state of “Only seeing Madoka”
Homura is completely devoted to Madoka. In Rebellion, her feelings for Madoka drove her to rewrite the world and become a devil.
Saito: I really feel that Homura is the true symbol of adolescence. When I first played Homura, I was in my twenties, and Aoi-chan playing Madoka was in her teens. The purity and straightforwardness unique to teenagers were perfectly expressed in her role as Madoka, and I remember thinking, ‘Ah, right. Kids this age are so direct with the world’, and I found that incredibly charming.
When you grow up, you start seeing the world a bit more objectively, right? But they are living so earnestly in their narrow, visible world. That singular devotion looks incredibly dazzling and sparkling to my adult eyes.
The most important thing when playing Homura is to intentionally narrow my vision. It is about creating a state where ‘I can only see Madoka’. Even when she is acting devilish, her field of vision is narrow, so she gets caught off guard easily. I find that absolutely adorable, and I think it is her greatest charm.”
As you get older, how you see the world naturally changes. For Saito, things have also shifted in the 13 years since Rebellion.
Saito: Something my kids made me realize is the weight of the word ‘promise’. We tend to use ‘it is a promise’ casually in daily life, but for a child, having a promise broken is a massive deal. As adults, things like ‘contracts’ or ‘agreements’ sit above ‘promises’, right? As a working adult, a ‘contract’ feels heavier, and Kyubey’s stance is exactly that adult side of the contract. But for kids, a ‘promise’ is everything in their world. When I realized that, the weight of Homura saying, ‘My promise with Madoka’ really clicked for me.
At their age, they don’t know the choices society offers yet; their given world of school and friends is everything. So a ‘promise’ made there might seem light to an adult, but to them, it is heavy enough to risk their lives over. I think that specific teenage passion and rawness is exactly what pierces the hearts of adults who have already passed through that stage.
Just One Spice in the Mix
Homura is introduced as a mysterious character. At first, you don’t really know what she is thinking, but her goals gradually become clear. She seems like a complex character, but things are actually quite direct.
Saito: Homura’s emotional vector itself is totally straight, so it is not that hard for me. What I keep in mind when playing her is not over-explaining things with my acting. Even with a feeling of pain, I don’t try to express everything just with my voice; I leave some blank space and let the animation and direction do the talking.
I think Homura is the type of character who, when pushed to the absolute limit, overflows with emotion and actually loses her voice. During this recording, there was a part where my emotions ran too high and I screamed a bit too much. I actually asked Sound Director Youta Tsuruoka for a retake so I could dial the acting back for that scene.
By not giving all the answers and intentionally leaving that empty space, the power of the visuals and music comes in and adds depth. That is exactly one of the reasons why everyone has been chewing on and analyzing this work for 13 years. I made sure to cherish that space in this movie too, so I would be thrilled if you all experience their story in theaters.
She also deeply feels the sheer presence of Aoi Yuuki playing Madoka.
Saito: Ever since we met, Aoi-chan has been a truly phenomenal actor. She takes her work so seriously, always pushing to see what she can do for the role. When you are young, I think everyone goes through a phase where they work for themselves, thinking, ‘I can act like this too’ or ‘Look at me’. But Aoi-chan was already focused entirely on ‘living the role’ and ‘making the work better’ back then. That attitude was so refreshing, and even though we had a 10-year age gap, I was able to face her with a really good kind of tension, like ‘Let us clash head-on!’
Now 13 years have passed, and Aoi-chan is about the same age I was back then, and she is able to look at the work with an even wider view. There is a Madoka that only the current Aoi-chan can express, and it is creating an amazing cycle for this movie. We can act with full seriousness together regardless of age or experience. She is the best partner.
Saito sums up her feelings for Madoka Magica.
Saito: Encountering a work like this is the absolute greatest fortune of my acting life, and a true treasure.
More than anything, it strongly taught me that ‘actors are just one spice in the work’. Voice actors often step forward to do interviews or appear in public on behalf of the project, we sometimes mistakenly think the power of the work is our own ability. But with Madoka Magica, the visuals, the story, and the music by Yuki Kajiura… every single element is just overwhelming.
A space in the recording booth that I couldn’t quite picture suddenly transforms into this incredible world that shakes your emotions the second Kajiura’s music drops in. I was purely moved when I saw that, and it hit me in a good way that ‘I am just one small part making up this project’. I honestly think I have been able to keep working to this day precisely because I learned how important it is not to be selfish, but to think about what adds value to the work as a whole, and to leave things to the art, the music, and the other actors’ performances.
Carrying this deep love and gratitude for a work she calls “the greatest fortune and a treasure”, she plays Homura once again in the new film Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising
