Sayaka Kanda , Yoshio Inoue & Takeshi Kaga Join the Cast!
The cast has been announced for Yuna, Eiji, and Dr. Shigemura, original characters appearing in Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale! Playing AR idol diva Yuna is Sayaka Kanda, playing the mysterious young swordsman Eiji is Yoshio Inoue, and playing Dr. Shigemura, developer of the AR device Augma, is Takeshi Kaga.
Sayaka Kanda, the voice of Yuna, won the 9th Annual Seiyu Award for Best Actress in 2015 for her role as Princess Anna in the Japanese dub of the Disney film Frozen. At the postrecording held on Dec. 1, she commented, “I’m playing an AR idol diva named Yuna and had the privilege of singing five songs in the movie. Yuna has a roguish sweetness to her and she looks cute in the character visual too. I was so happy when I found out I got the part.” She also commented on the elite team handling the composition of the songs that includes Yuki Kajiura who is in charge of the musical accompaniments.
Check out comments from the three new cast members on the movie’s highlights below!
Sayaka KandaOfficial site CHARACTER Yuna is an idol in the AR world of Ordinal Scale. If a player encounters her in the game they can acquire special upgrades.
MESSAGE “I’m happy to be put into the world of the hugely popular Sword Art Online series. I’m not actually an idol in real life, so I was thoroughly delighted to play an idol character in the movie. I played the part of Yuna while getting the opinions of the creators and staff who have worked on Sword Art Online to date, including the director. In the movie I sing a variety of songs, so please keep your ears open for them.”
Yoshio InoueOfficial site CHARACTER Eiji is a mysterious young swordsman who is the top ranked player in Ordinal Scale. Kirito and his friends encounter him during gameplay.
MESSAGE “There are these technical terms of AR and VR which can seem difficult to grasp at first, but basically something was born from the collision of the conflicting feelings between people, and people evolved... It’s that kind of human story. I think people will definitely enjoy it. Eiji is a very human and wonderful character. I had the opportunity to play him in a way that really lets his life and feelings show on screen, so please enjoy seeing it in theaters.”
Takeshi KagaOfficial site CHARACTER Dr. Shigemura is a developer and an authority on non-invasive BMI (Brain Machine Interface) research. He is also a professor in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Toho Technological University. Due to his radical theories on electrical physiology, his peers regard him as a crackpot.
MESSAGE “I was really surprised at how amazing the animation of this new work is once I got involved. There’s a highlight for any viewer I think, like the story and characters, and I hope everyone who sees it feels that way. This is also a new SAO work. It’s an interesting one, so please look forward to it and go see it in theaters.”
