The third season of the high-stakes “DEAD OR LOVE” rom-com anime “The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You” has been airing since July 2026, following Rentaro Aijo’s wild quest to make all 100 of his destined soulmates happy—or watch them die. In the fourth entry of an ongoing interview series exploring the series’ charm, voice actresses Rie Kugimiya and Yumika Yano shared their insights on the hit show. Kugimiya voices Yaku Yakuzen, an 89-year-old grandmother stuck in an eight-year-old’s body due to a failed immortality elixir, while Yano plays Kishika Torotoro, the responsible eldest child who secretly harbors a deep desire to be pampered.
Bringing Eccentric Roles to Life: How They Found Their Voices
── First, please tell us your impressions of the series before the recording sessions began?
Yumika Yano (voice of Kishika Torotoro, hereafter Yano): I actually auditioned for a different role when the anime was first announced, so I was already familiar with the series. I’d watched Seasons 1 and 2 and thought it was such a fun, hilarious show. However, everyone is just so… unique. I honestly couldn’t imagine how I would fit into that world.
── How did you feel when you were officially asked to play Kishika Torotoro?
Yano: When I got the offer, it came with a note saying something like, “She’s a bit of a peculiar character, but we’d love for you to do it.” I went back to the manga to see what she was like, and… honestly, it wasn’t as shocking as I expected. I figured that in a series like this, having a character with that kind of punch makes total sense. Though if Kishika showed up in a normal series, it would definitely be a shock! (laughs)
── Still, Kishika is quite intense, even compared to the previous girlfriends.
Yano: Well, she does end up regressing into a baby, after all! Plus, we kept her “mushy baby mode” a secret until the broadcast, so I bet viewers were totally caught off guard. You think she’s this cool, chivalrous knight, and then suddenly—boom. People were probably like, “Yep, this is definitely ‘100 Girlfriends’!” (Laughs)
── Kugimiya-san, what were your impressions of the work before recording?
Rie Kugimiya (voice of Yaku Yakuzen, hereafter Kugimiya): When I received the offer, they sent me excerpts of the scenes where my character appears. Looking at them, I just went, “Aha… I see.” (Laughs) Even though the character is technically 89 years old, I was determined to give it my all.
The title “The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You” has such an impact. It’s so full of “dreams,” isn’t it? The fact that even a grandmother has a chance for romance makes it a truly incredible series.
── At 89 years old, that’s quite advanced in age even among the roles you’ve played, right?
Kugimiya: aku isn’t from a high-fantasy world; she exists more as an extension of the real world, right? So for a grounded character, I’d say she’s definitely on the older side. I felt she’s a character who truly carries the weight of all the years she has lived.
── Many cast members have mentioned being shocked by the title.
Kugimiya: I knew it! The way those Japanese words are strung together is incredible, and the original author’s imagination is just amazing, isn’t it?
Yano: I caught myself wondering, “Is there a specific reason why there are five ‘Really’s?” I also thought, “What does having 100 girlfriends even mean?” and “Are 100 people actually going to show up!?” (laughs)
── And what do you think of the man at the center of it all, Rentaro Aijo?
Kugimiya: He truly loves them with his whole heart. At first, from the perspective of an older person, I was a bit skeptical, thinking, “Now, what is this all about?” But as I read the script and acted alongside the visuals, I realized how sincere Rentaro is. He treats Yaku as a genuine girlfriend with the same passion and intensity as everyone else. It actually made my heart melt a bit. It felt very heartwarming. I finally understood the meaning behind the title—if there are 100 girls, Rentaro is the guy who will love all 100 of them equally.
Yano: In series where there’s one boy and a lot of girls, a hierarchy usually develops among the heroines. When that happens, fans who root for the second-place girl or lower can end up feeling a bit lonely, right? But with Rentaro, there is none of that. Every single girl is number 1 to him, and you can see it in his expressions, his words, and his actions. He knows everything about them and is always eager to learn more. That’s his “Quirk,” I think. Also, Wataru Kato, who voices him, is totally synced up with Rentaro’s spirit. He treats the whole cast with that same level of fairness and dedication during recording. It’s very clear.
── Let’s talk about your approach to the roles. Kugimiya-san, how did you craft the voice for Yaku Yakuzen?
Kugimiya: Because of her actual age, she has a very deep sense of mental composure. That part came to me quite naturally without overthinking it. When she first meets Rentaro, she keeps her distance and acts like a proper adult, so I made sure not to be too aggressive in the romance department at first.
However, the story shows her heart gradually swaying and leaning toward Rentaro because of his sheer enthusiasm. I wanted to just go with the flow of the scene.
Also, while Yaku’s mental age matches her true age as an adult, her physical appearance was made young by a failed attempt at an immortality elixir. Because of that, I wanted to hit a sweet spot where her mental age and physical appearance balanced out.
── She looks and sounds like an 8-year-old, yet somehow, that “89-year-old vibe” really comes through.
Kugimiya: Thank you! (laughs).
The show is very fast-paced, so there were many parts where I had to speak quickly. But on the day of recording, the staff actually cut some of my lines so I could speak more slowly and gracefully. That really helped bring out the 89-year-old feel. I owe a lot to the environment the staff created for me.
── Did you take any inspiration from the speaking style of Kusuri, who is Yaku’s granddaughter and another of Rentaro’s girlfriends?
Kugimiya: In her first appearance (Episode 31), Yuka Iguchi-chan was playing Kusuri’s mother. I only had one line at the very end, but I watched closely as the two of them performed. I learned a bit about the “Kusurylvanian Family” vibe then, so that might have influenced my performance.
── By the way, Yaku was credited as “???” in Episode 31 before being officially revealed in Episode 32.
Kugimiya: Even though I had a line! (laughs)
── I think most anime fans recognized your voice immediately! (laughs) Yaku also seems like the most “common sense” character among the girlfriends.
Kugimiya: She is! She’s totally normal! she pays attention to her surroundings and understands her granddaughter perfectly. Sure, she’s a bit hopeless with modern gadgets, but other than that, she’s totally normal.
── Yano-san, how did you approach the role of Kishika Torotoro?
Yano: There had to be a very clear distinction between her “Female Knight” side and her “Baby” side. I used the lower part of my register for the knight and went as high as possible for the baby. I think it’s the biggest contrast I’ve ever used in a role. I was very focused on making sure the “Knight” mode was convincing and flawless, so that the eventual shift into a baby would have maximum impact.
── Was it easy to switch back and forth?
Yano: I actually got quite a bit of direction for the baby scenes—things like, “Please try to remember when you were an actual baby.”
Since her body doesn’t physically turn into a baby, I was given tricky notes like, “Can you stay adult Kishika on the outside, but turn into a baby purely on the inside?” Fortunately, having watched everyone go completely wild creating Seasons 1 and 2, I walked into the booth already knowing, “Okay, this show lets me push things this far.” Because of that context, I didn’t get confused much at all.
── Speaking of the other girlfriends, who has left the biggest impression on you so far?
Kugimiya: For me, it’s Shizuka Yoshimoto-chan. I wondered if she might be too unique! (laughs) They’re all cute, but Chiyo Iina’s angry growling is adorable. Also, Hanazono Hahari-san’s energy level is just insane! The whole setup of “The daughter is a girlfriend, and now the mom is too?!” was wild, but then I realized, “Wait, my granddaughter is a girlfriend, so I’m in the same boat!” (laughs) But really, every single one of them is a good girl.
Yano: The Hanazono mother-daughter duo definitely has a huge impact. A mom who is constantly… “dripping” with excitement is something else! (laughs) Hahari-san feels like she loves everyone like they’re her own daughters. While the other girls are around the same age and date Rentaro as equals, Hahari gets excited for everyone like a mother figure. She almost feels like she’s in a similar position to Rentaro.
── Was the recording studio lively?
Yano: It was very crowded and lively toward the end. Moving between microphones was a challenge, but the people who had been there since Season 1 were so fast! They were very welcoming to those of us who joined later, making sure we had space at the mics. It’s a very warm workplace.
Kugimiya: I also recorded with the group. Since I was the newcomer, everyone was so kind in explaining the series to me. I could really feel how much the cast loves the show. They taught me about the inside jokes and the lore, which made me love the series even more.
── That sounds exactly like the episode where the other girls are introduced to Yaku (Episode 32).
Kugimiya: Exactly! At first, I couldn’t even read some of the characters’ names, and they had to explain how the names reflect their personalities. During recording, I’d be thinking, “Okay, this person is voicing that character, and that mic is taken, so I’ll jump in here.” It was a fun, chaotic puzzle trying to figure out the mic work! (laughs)
Perfecting “Gugh… Kill Me!”: Retaking Kishika’s Line and Kugimiya’s Support from Behind
── Let’s look back on the story so far. Episode 32 was the episode where Rentaro tried to get wild to become a boyfriend worthy of Yaku.
Kugimiya: As a grandmother, I think Yaku’s initial mindset was just “Take care of my granddaughter, Kusuri.” But then Rentaro’s feelings unexpectedly turned toward her. When she showed a little interest, he came back with 100% sincerity, which surprised her but also warmed her heart.
Still, Rentaro’s approach was just so unexpected! (laughs) So even though he was showering her with affection, she kept a mindset like a guardian watching a kid play happily—right up until the end, when she suddenly shifted to create a sensual, alluring atmosphere. That made me go, “Ah, so this is the wisdom of age!” Though as for that sudden shift, I was definitely thinking, “Wait, you didn’t give off even a trace of that vibe earlier, and now all of a sudden?!”
── How was Kato-san (voice of Rentaro) performance as “Wild Rentaro”?
Kugimiya: He was giving it his absolute all! (laughs) It felt like he was being tested—how much could he possibly give? It was like he was saying, “I’ll do this even if it shortens my lifespan!” You could truly feel that level of fiery dedication in his acting.
── Then, in the second half of the episode, Yaku is introduced to the “Rentaro Family.”
Kugimiya: I felt like, “Ah, this is the rite of passage!” I was basically just going, “I see, I see! It’s nice to meet everyone!” (laughs)
The previous episode (Ep 31) had Tomokazu Sugita-san as Kusuri’s dad, which was already intense, but this week was just a non-stop wave of cute girls. I was stunned. Everyone’s energy was so high I felt like my soul was leaving my body. I was just trying to keep up with all the characters. It was like, “Man, I’ve stumbled into a wild place…” (laughs)
── Yano-san, your character hadn’t debuted yet at this point, but what did you think when you watched Yaku?
Yano: Oh my god, she was so incredibly cute!!! Since I joined after her, I didn’t see the recording live, but I saw the materials later. The scene where Yaku and Rentaro get together was just too precious! I was like, “Get out of the way, Rentaro! I will protect Yaku!” (laughs)
At first, she’s hesitant because she’s an old lady and thinks he’d be better off with someone younger. But Rentaro keeps pushing in his clumsy way, insisting, “I still want you, Yaku-san!” Then, just as Kugimiya-san mentioned, Yaku takes the lead herself right at the end. That gap in personality is amazing, and it really is the “wisdom of age.” She spent a long time loving someone else, fell in love again with Rentarou, became part of a family with girls from a totally different generation, and tries her absolute hardest to keep up while going, “Smar-tophone? Ap-plication?” That is just extraordinarily cute! She has this small-animal charm that’s completely different from the younger generation, so I personally love Yaku-san.
── Kishika’s story began in Episode 33, when she saves Rentaro from some delinquents.
Yano: Like I mentioned, I had to make sure she sounded cool first. For the “Female Knight” parts, I didn’t get much direction; they just told me “Keep doing what you’re doing,” and we finished those quickly. But for the baby parts, Director Hikaru Sato, Sound Director Masaki Tsuchiya, and the rest of the team worked together and try different things over and over.
One unique thing we did was for the scene where Kishika uses a voice changer to create her “Imaginary Mommy and Daddy.” (laughs) Other cast members actually performed those voices, but they recorded them by mimicking my own performance first. It really felt like what my voice would sound like through a modulator. It was very realistic and funny.
── How was the performance in Episode 34 (“The Rise and Fall of the Proud Girlfriend”)?
Yano: While I had already established how her baby side would work during her one-on-one scenes with Rentarou, figuring out how Kishika regresses into a baby once she’s integrated into the wider Rentarou Family was something we had to build from scratch all over again. Also, “Kukkoroshe”—her signature line, “Gugh… kill me!!!”—was central to the episode, so I distinctly remember having to perform that over and over in front of everyone.
Kugimiya: The level of detail put into both the “Mamaaa~♡♡♡” part and the “Gugh… kill me!!!” part was just incredible. So on my end, I was silently cheering her on the entire time—thinking things like, “Hang in there! That take was great! The one before was great, too, but I personally liked the very first one!” (laughs). She was trying so many different iterations, so as I watched, I kept thinking about which version I preferred while cheering her on.
── You were basically in the Director’s chair!
Kugimiya: Well, I had never heard a proper “Gugh… kill me!!!” line in person before, so I was thinking, “Ah, so this is the legendary…” (laughs). I felt like I was witnessing the birth of a textbook-perfect performance of a classic trope. She was so dedicated to it; I thought she might get lost in the role for a second!
Yano: Yeah… there were moments where I wondered, “Where am I even going with this?”
── I’d love to hear all those different variations of “Gugh… kill me!!!” too.
Yano: I feel like I could probably record a hundred of them at this point! (laughs)
── Kugimiya-san, what did you think of Kishika as a character?
Kugimiya: A lot of the girls in this series have contrasting sides to their personalities, but hers is especially over the top (laughs). She’s so cool and dignified, but then suddenly it’s “Goo-goo-ga-ga!” And then Hahari-san becomes this massive enabler for her, turning them into such a perfect pair… that’s how it felt to watch.
Yano: It’s incredible how perfectly the supply and demand matched up there.
Kugimiya: Yaku became a girlfriend pretty smoothly, so I was watching them think, “Wow, there really are all types of heroines here.”
Yano: I actually didn’t get to record with Sumire Uesaka-san (voice of Hahari). For that final scene in Episode 33, I was standing at the mic completely alone, making baby noises all by myself. At one point, I was almost about to snap back to reality, but someone told me, “If you snap back to reality now, it’s over,” which somehow kept me grounded. Still, it definitely felt like Kishika utterly destroyed the wonderful atmosphere that Yaku-san and the others had built up until that point! (laughs)
── It definitely had an impact. In the second half of Episode 34, everyone goes out for ramen, and Yaku eats the “Crazy Spicy Ramen Challenge.”
Kugimiya: She handled it like it was nothing, right?
Yano: They’re so close, though. Going out to eat with her granddaughter like that.
Kugimiya: Kusuri is very devoted to her grandma.
── Meanwhile, Iku Sudo was eating the “Crazy Hot Ramen Challenge” right next to Kishika.
Yano: Right! While Iku-chan is struggling with her piping-hot bowl, Kishika tells her, “Blow on it (to cool it down)!” When Iku refuses, Kishika instead asks Iku to blow on her bowl for her. But Iku just responds with, “Wait, why would I do that?”—that whole dynamic was so funny.
── There’s actually a collaboration campaign with Korakuen (a Japanese ramen chain) happening now. Though I hear they couldn’t serve the exact menu items from the anime! (laughs)
Yano: Yeah, I don’t think anyone could actually eat “Crazy Tough Meat Ramen” or “Crazy Hot Ramen”! (laughs)
── Finally, let’s talk about the music. Both Yaku and Kishika sing the Opening Theme Song, “Daisuki ♡ Zutto Eien ni ♡” (“Love You ♡ Forever and Ever ♡”).
Kugimiya: I’m amazed they managed to fit it all together. Honestly, I felt like the lyrics were faster than almost any song I’ve ever sung before! It was incredibly difficult, so when I mentioned to the music director in the booth, “This is really tough, isn’t it?”, they just replied, “It’s always like this.” I thought, “Wow, that’s amazing!” When you listen to the finished track, it sounds like everyone is singing effortlessly, so I really want people to try singing it themselves—just so they can realize how hard it actually is!
── And you’re all singing in character, too.
Kugimiya: Exactly! Doing that at such a high speed was a massive challenge. Listening to it is pure fun, but performing it demands a ton of technical skill, so it was quite an ordeal. Even the direction was basically, “Let’s just give it everything we’ve got and see what happens!” I happened to be the second person to record my vocals, and I was so relieved I wasn’t the first. Plus, since this was right after I had only recorded a single line for the anime dialogue, I hadn’t fully locked down the character yet. I was genuinely thinking, “Thank you so much to Karane’s VA [Miyu Tomita-san] for recording first!”
── How about you, Yano-san?
Yano: I was actually one of the last to record, so I got to listen to everyone else’s tracks first. Compared to Kugimiya-san, I had it much easier. However, this was only my second time ever recording a song for a role. And it was this song! But the director was so kind that I never felt like I couldn’t do it. I just had a blast from start to finish.
── Was it hard to sing as your character?
Yano: I did wonder at first whether I should lean into her baby voice or her female knight persona. But then I thought, “There’s no way it’s the baby voice!” (laughs) Still, Kishika is the type of character who is normally too embarrassed to outright show her “I love you, Rentaro!” side. I struggled a bit figuring out how to deliver those lines—like, should she say “I love you” while maintaining her cool female knight demeanor, but with a hint of embarrassment? Balancing that was definitely tricky.
── It’s a very “100 Girlfriends” style Opening Theme.
Yano: Absolutely! I already loved the songs from Seasons 1 and 2 because they were so cute, but I feel like this track raised the bar even higher and turned out even cuter.
[Article & Photography by Junichi Tsukagoshi]
“The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You” Season 3 – Series Information
Synopsis
After suffering 100 rejections in middle school, Rentaro Aijo visits a shrine to pray for a better love life in high school. Suddenly, the God of Love appears and delivers a startling prophecy: “In high school, you will meet 100 soulmates.”
But there’s a catch—if he meets a soulmate and doesn’t achieve mutual happiness with them, the girl will die! It’s a life-or-death race for romance as Rentaro meets one fated girl after another. What will Rentaro do? And what will become of his 100 girlfriends?!
Cast
Rentaro Aijo: Wataru Kato
Hakari Hanazono: Kaede Hondo
Karane Inda: Miyu Tomita
Shizuka Yoshimoto: Maria Naganawa
Nano Eiai: Asami Seto
Kusuri Yakuzen: Ayaka Asai
Hahari Hanazono: Sumire Uesaka
Kurumi Haraga: Amane Shindo
Mei Meido: Suzuko Mimori
Iku Suto: Rie Takahashi
Mimimi Utsukushigi: Lynn
Meme Kakure: Kanon Takao
Chiyo In: Kaori Ishihara
Nadeshiko Yamato: Ayana Taketatsu
Yamame Yasashiki: Hana Tamegai
Momiji Momi: Aoi Koga
The God of Love: Shigeru Chiba
Narration: Yuji Ueda
©Rikito Nakamura, Yukiko Nozawa/SHUEISHA/Production Committee Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You
*Some parts of this text have been translated using machine translation
