SPECIAL INTERVIEW! with Rio Natsuki
A special interview that came with the “Digimon Adventure 02” DVD Box released on December 22, 2006.

Purchase of the DVD Box (Region 2 only) available at: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

[ “Digital Gate Open! Let’s go, Chosen Children!!”^[1] Who is the ideal man for Rio Natsuki-san, who performed as the cheerful moodmaker Miyako?! ]

What are the main points of Miyako’s character? Also, did the two of you have anything in common?

It didn’t feel like I had to put up much of an act for Miyako. Hers was a performance I could do naturally, so I was free to act as I wished. I think the parts where she immediately reaches her limit, where she’s surprisingly weak under pressure, and where she becomes easily depressed despite her cheerful attitude are what I share with her. As Miyako grew and matured within the story, I felt as if I was compiling a character within me to its completion.

Miyako has a large family, but she’s a character who loves things like cake and is very willful.

Almost everyone had complex family backgrounds^[2], with things like their father being dead or their parents being divorced. But Miyako has her family, so she thinks that it’s normal to be happy. She probably doesn’t realize how fortunate she is. Maybe that’s why being able to eat cake^[3] all to herself in the dream world was the best happiness to her. I think her personality developed from being raised in circumstances where she didn’t have to be responsible for the people around her. That’s why she easily falls apart when faced with small obstacles. But it’s exactly because she has been raised on happiness, that I think she can call on hidden power when the time counts. Miyako’s older sisters^[4] I performed after I said that I wanted to. (laughs) It was hard work, but it was worth doing, so I had a lot of fun.

What was your impression of your partner, Hawkmon?

▲ Natsuki-san said that she wanted to perform in “Digimon” more than anything, so she was overjoyed when picked for the cast.

I love him. He’s suave and reliable, and he looks cool^[5] in all of his evolution forms. I’d always alternate between joy and sadness at the studio, wondering what my Digimon partner would evolve into. Even when he Jogress-evolved and gained a bit of a feminine silhouette after evolving into Sylphymon^[6], he still looked cool. I do have a strong attachment to the Child Level Hawkmon, but Poromon^[7] is also adorable.

Hawkmon was the first male Digimon partner that was paired with a female.

The children would sometimes argue with their Digimon, but Miyako and Hawkmon hardly ever antagonized each other. I think that may be because they’re of the opposite sex. It was probably a perfect match for a girl of Miyako’s personality to be partnered with a male Digimon. No matter what selfishness Miyako spoke of, Hawkmon would skillfully guide her in the right direction. Hawkmon is the image of my ideal man.

Please give a message to all fans who have bought the DVD Box.

I’m sure that, by watching it again after six years, you will feel something different or find something that will sustain you from within, so it would make me happy if you first blanked your mind before watching it. When you were a small child, I think you might have watched it while believing that Digimon really existed.^[8] But with six years passed, I’ll bet you understand by now that it is a fictional story [so your reactions will be different from the past]. Oh yes, that reminds me that there were a lot of mothers who voiced back then that their children watched the show. If you were around 16-17 years old when it broadcasted on TV, you might have your own kids by now, so please introduce them to the show as well.

FOOTNOTES
N1) Let’s go, Chosen Children!! — The phrase that Miyako says when the children go to the Digital World. The words made Natsuki-san feel great whenever she said them, so they left a special impact on her.
N2) Complex family backgrounds — In this series, Iori’s father has passed away, and Takeru, who also appeared in the previous series, was portrayed to have a difficult family background. While brothers with Yamato, the two of them live apart with their divorced parents, a situation that was touched on in episode 17 (“Odaiba Memorial”).
N3) Being able to eat cake — Episode 49 (“The Last Armor Evolution”). The children were held captive under BelialVamdemon by the feelings deep within their hearts, but Miyako was enjoying herself eating cake.
N4) Miyako’s older sisters — The oldest sister is Momoe, a sophomore in high school, while the second oldest sister is Chizuru, a sophomore in junior high. Both of their voices are performed by Natsuki-san. The other sibling in their family is the oldest son, in university, Mantaro. Just like her siblings, Miyako’s name is based on a number, meaning the number ten quadrillion. [The ‘Momo’ in Momoe means “a hundred,” the “Chi” in Chizuru means “a thousand,” and the “Man” in Mantaro means “ten thousand”]
N5) He looks cool — Hawkmon armor-evolves to Halsemon through the Digimental of Love, and armor-evolves to Shurimon through the Digimental of Purity. In his normal evolution to Adult, he becomes Aquilamon. When he Jogress-evolves with Tailmon, he becomes Sylphymon.
N6) After evolving into Sylphymon — In episode 31 (“Storm of Love, Sylphymon”), Aquilamon and Tailmon Jogress-evolve for the first time. The scene where both Miyako and Hikari understand one another also made an impact.
N7) Poromon — The Baby II form of the Child Level Hawkmon. He often takes this form when degenerating after an evolution. He does have the ability to fly, but he is mostly seen being carried in Miyako’s arms. His Baby I form is Pururumon.
N8) Believing that Digimon really existed — It was not only Natsuki-san who thought this way. When talking about Digimon to her relatives and to small children who lived in her neighborhood, she said that they felt the same way as well. The children accepted Digimon as a familiar existence, and whenever they evolved, she told us that they rejoiced as if it were happening to themselves.

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