Hana-Kimi, the beloved manga series written and illustrated by Hisaya Nakajo, was first released nearly 30 years ago. Yet its wild and charming premise about a girl traveling overseas, cutting her hair, and disguising herself as a boy to attend an all-boys high school just to be closer to a high jumper she admires has truly stood the test of time. Over the years, the story has been adapted multiple times across different formats and countries, including Taiwan and South Korea. This year, Crunchyroll is bringing audiences the first-ever anime adaptation of this enduring tale, which has been met with a generally positive reception.

​Now that Season 1 has come to an end, Collider’s Laura Adams sat down with voice actors Katelyn Barr, who is also known for voicing Mina in Kaiju No.8 as Mizuki Ashiya, Wyatt Baker as Izumi Sano, and Dallas Reid as Shuichi Nakatsu for a candid conversation. The trio reflected on the story’s lasting appeal, the challenges of bringing their characters to life, and the chemistry they built as a cast, while also sharing a few funny behind-the-scenes moments from the recording booth.

‘Hana-Kimi’ Works Because It Shows Every Kind of Love

"There's all kinds of love depicted in the story, not just romantic, but friendship love as well."

COLLIDER: As you all know by now, Hana-Kimi has been adapted a number of times over the years. What do you guys think makes this story so appealing and timeless?

BARR: I think because it's a timeless love story. Everyone can relate to something about it, even if you've never been in this exact, very unique, weird rom-com situation. There's all kinds of love depicted in the story, not just romantic, but friendship love as well. And I think that's relatable, and the characters are really relatable, and that makes it timeless.

BAKER: I like that you mentioned how all different types of love are depicted in it, because that is absolutely true. And something I've noticed and also enjoyed while watching through the anime as it's been airing is how there's all kinds of love, which is awesome. There's all kinds of devotion, which is awesome, with Mizuki doing all of that. But there's also so many situations. People just keep getting put in situations — does that make sense? It's really fun to watch. No matter who you are, it's just really fun to watch all the events unfold. I'm sure you feel the same way, Dallas, with Nakatsu. I love the way you describe him as everything happening to him is just the most. It's so much fun.

REID: Yeah. Sano is super fun to play off of because I feel like their energies are so different. But as to what I think makes the show so timeless and interesting is that, when it comes to a romance depicted on screen, a lot of the time the thing that draws in the audience is the “will they/won’t they” situation. And we have that in the traditional sense, and also in the sense of, “will they/won’t they figure out the secret?” Everybody is constantly on the edge of finding out what Mizuki is up to, and I think one of the things that had me hooked on it initially, when I first learned about it, was like, “Oh, who's going to find out? When are they going to find out? And what are they going to do with that information?” And I think there's just an additional draw that that brings.

Yeah, I agree, and I love all of your answers. But I also need to know if you have a favorite adaptation of Hana-Kimi, obviously besides this one, and if you took inspiration from any other performances of your characters to do your voices.

BARR: I'll be the first to say I was not familiar with the manga coming in. I am aware of the live-action adaptations. I haven't seen them, but part of that is on purpose, because I want to experience the events of the show along with the characters. I don't want to spoil myself. I don't want to be too influenced by knowing something that's happening next. So I am excited to binge the live action, though, because they look really cute.

BAKER: I was aware of the manga going into it, and I only started actually picking it up and reading it after formally being cast in the show. But I didn't necessarily want to have too much advanced knowledge of things that were going to happen in the anime adaptation. So I was mostly reading the manga for vibes, if that makes sense. And the live actions, while awesome, are a little different from the anime, I think. So while I'm not inspiring my performance based on them exactly, they very much live in my heart. And in the back of my mind are different incarnations of Sano and everyone else, of course.

REID: I took the same approach as Katelyn on this one. There are some roles that I do study for more, but it became pretty clear as soon as I met this guy that not knowing what's about to happen is going to help my performance rather than hinder it, because I don't think he wakes up with an expectation, ever. Every day is a brand new experience full of surprises, and I think that's the way I've chosen to approach it.

‘Hana-Kimi’ Voice Actors Reveal the Tricky Balance Behind Their Performances

"Keep in mind, the line between stoic and stone is really fine."

Image via Hisaya Nakajo, Hakusensha / “Hana-Kimi” Production Committee

COLLIDER: As someone who has seen other adaptations, this feels so fresh and new, and it's one of the reasons why I love it so much. So I agree with all of you. It's always interesting to me how, when you read a manga or a light novel, there are so many aspects of the characters that you can imagine. You can think of different things about how they look, but their voices are not something that easily comes to mind. So what was the process like for you in finding your characters' voices, and how did you know that you had found it and made it just right?

BARR: So, Mizuki is a fun character to play, largely because of her having different voices for different situations and whoever she's around. When she's around people who don't know her secret, or who she thinks don't know her secret, she's playing this boy persona with this deeper voice. That took a little bit of exploring on the first day of recording, just because, in my opinion, I don't feel like the right approach would have been for it to be like the most perfect boy voice you could possibly imagine. She's not great at it. It's not like she's a professional boy impersonator [laughs]. She's a high school girl doing her best. So it was kind of fun to find that little middle ground. She's playing a boy, and maybe some people buy it, maybe some people don't. And then she has her internal voice—that's really just my voice, but, I don't know, nicer? A little sweeter, maybe. Her internal voice is just all girl, and then she's got this in-between, kind of middle ground for situations where she's maybe not sure, or she doesn't know who's listening to her, or she's caught off guard and didn't have time to get into “boy brain.” So that's fun in sessions, always finding little moments to let the mask slip a little bit. It’s a fun actor challenge, so I love Mizuki for that reason a lot.

REID: I'm so involved, and there's so much to think about. You're doing a great job, though, obviously.

BARR: Aw, thanks!

REID: For Nakatsu, basically as soon as he walked on screen, everything about him hit me square in the face. And one of the things I knew immediately was that whatever voice I was going to use, I was going to have to be able to go everywhere with it, because he's a very dynamic character and he lives in a lot of different places, and he has a lot of different feelings. So I needed something that was comfortable to work in at high energy levels. So I stuck more or less natural, with a little more projection than I might normally give to most of the things I say in my day-to-day life, and it turns out I was right. He has had to go to a million different places. There's even a moment, when they are working at the inn over the summer, that he has an angel-and-devil-on-the-shoulder moment. And they had to be completely different voices. And I was like, “Well, all right, I'm glad I didn't go high or low for this guy, because now I need to do both right away.” So yeah, just went pretty natural on him.

BAKER: I'm glad you brought up the angel and the devil, because when I went in to record for that episode, I don't think you had yet, Dallas, and I saw the little angel and the devil, and I was like, “Please, please tell me those are also going to be Dallas.” And I was delighted to find out that they were. Finding Sano's voice was a really, really interesting and challenging process—maybe interesting because it was challenging. Partly because when I found out I was being cast as Sano, I was like, “Oh, really? That's interesting.” Because I just consider myself such an extroverted, boisterous kind of person that falling into that space—performing sort of quiet reservation, but still feeling everything, or performing in such a way that I feel like I'm feeling everything on the same level that anyone else would—it's been a really, really tough challenge going through the season. And it's been really fun to sort of convey the depth of emotion that I feel as Sano in that voice, if that makes sense.

REID: I would just want to give a quick compliment before we move on. I just wanted to say you're really walking a tightrope, and you're doing it expertly.

BAKER: Oh, thank you!

REID: Keep in mind, the line between stoic and stone is really fine. And I feel like you've found just the right operating space, and I just wanted to let you know what I think.

BAKER: I appreciate you saying that because I fell off that tightrope a few times in the first couple episodes, I think. And I'm delighted that you, especially, think that I'm walking it finally.

‘Hana-Kimi’ Voice Actors Reveal the Hardest Scenes to Record

"By the time I got it right, I seriously was sweating."

Well, I'm not a voice actor, but I agree! I love that you mentioned how challenging it can get to do your voices, because my next question is if there was a particular scene that proved especially challenging for you to bring to life, whether it was technically or emotionally.

BAKER: I'm so glad that this question has come up now, because the episode has aired in which it happened. But whenever everyone is away at that—it's a boarding school, right?—they all get a part-time job. Towards the end, there's a monologue where Sano is sort of expressing not necessarily knowing what he wants out of his relationship with Mizuki, and that was such a hard monologue to deliver. By the time I got it right, I seriously was sweating. I was like, “I feel this so deeply.” I'm gesticulating all over the place. It was awesome to record, but man, if you want to talk about a challenge in the booth, that was it.

Dallas, let me guess: was it the angel and the devil?

REID: I mean, I was just going to have to repeat that whole thing again, so thank you so much for getting that out of the way for me. Yeah, that was really crazy.

Katelyn, how about you?

BARR: I think for me it's probably been any time that she's supposed to be a boy to this person, but a girl to that person, and those people are standing next to each other. Like any time that her brother showed up. Sort of midway through the cour, her brother showed up, and there are scenes where they're standing next to Sano or whoever, and it's like, “Well, time to thread the needle a little bit,” so that we're not tipping off this person that we're a girl and we're not tipping off my brother that we're not a girl. Any moment like that—especially the episode with the brother, for sure.

Do you guys have a favorite episode, and why did that episode stand out to you?

BAKER: The difficulty is picking a single one. That's the tough part.

BARR: Yeah.

BAKER: I'm quite partial to, is it 10 or 11 that just came out? where everyone is dressing like fictional characters for the school festival?

REID: Yeah.

BAKER: It might just be because I had so much fun performing it, but I really, really liked doing Sano dressed up as Yang Guifei. That was really, really cool and fun.

BARR: He slayed.

BAKER: When that came on, I got zero warning that that was what was happening. So Jad, our director, Jad Saxton, just kind of brought that on screen and was like, “So here's the next line.” I was like, “That’s him?”

BARR: Meanwhile, Nakatsu walking around with this dress hiked up.

BAKER: Also slayed! I mean, he's making it work, man.

REID: Just marching around, hiking up the dress, not going to adjust the way he moves in any way.

BAKER: It’s extra good with Nakatsu because I think the first time you see him in that dress is just a shot of the bottom, his legs and feet, and you can see he's kind of splayed and holding it up, and like, “I think that’s Nakatsu.”

REID: I think the issue was that it didn't fit at first, and he was like, “I'm about to explode out of this thing.”

BARR: Yup. The word “explode” was used. Yeah, I think that was my favorite episode too. Nakao had some really good moments in that episode too.

REID: Yeah, those episodes were really good. I like the episode where Mizuki is being bullied by an anonymous harasser, mostly because, at least from my perspective, everything was so over the top. Like Mizuki opening the shoe locker and approximately $15,000 worth of thumbtacks falling out of it—that was an incredible moment. I also really liked the episodes when they're working over the summer at the inn, because Nakatsu has a completely different journey from Sano and Mizuki. Sano and Mizuki are over here dealing with real stuff like a problem man, and Nakatsu is just being terrorized by a three-year-old that keeps getting left with him.

I agree that picking just one is the hardest part. When I was doing my research and writing the question, I was like, “Well, I don't know how they're going to answer that because I can't answer that.”

BAKER: By the time I handed my answer off, I thought of like five other moments. I was like, “Maybe that's my favorite episode.”

So is there any other character in the anime that you would like to voice besides your own, if you had the chance?

BAKER: I don't. Everyone's doing such a good job, I can't fathom, honestly.

BARR: Yeah. This is always a tricky question because it's like, “Which of your amazing, talented friends’ jobs would you like to take?”

REID: I already got the best one. Nakatsu rules. I wouldn't trade him for the world. He's such a blast.

I agree. I mean, it is perfect, but I guess if I were a voice actor, I would think, “Oh, it would be fun to do that thing or try that character,” because although they are all high schoolers, the diversity in their personalities is huge, so I guess there's a lot to work with there.

BAKER: I'll tell you what, actually. I'm jealous of a couple of our castmates for the lines they get to say. Katelyn, I'm jealous of you getting to say, “Leave your hair alone and drink the bleach instead.” I laughed out loud when I saw that in the booth. And I am jealous of... actually, it's escaping me what character says it, but they called someone a troglodyte. And that's just so awesome. I want to be doing that.

BARR: That's probably either Umeda or Nakao, my two favorite characters, the sassiest guys.

REID: Yeah, I think rather than looking at a character and going like, “Oh, I wish I'd gotten a chance to do that character,” I look at characters like Sano, like Nakao, like, I forget his name because he's using a fake name.

BAKER: Oscar?

REID: Oscar! Yeah.

BAKER: He might be the one who uses the word “troglodyte.” Anyway, sorry.

REID: I look at those characters and I don't go, “Wow, I wish I had gotten a chance at that character.” I go, “I hope one day in the future I get to do a character like that.” Those would be my examples of characters that I would like to try.

‘Hana-Kimi’ Voice Actors Reveal What They Want in Season 2

​"I want to see what happens with the dog."

Image via Crunchyroll

So fingers crossed we get a second season. Is there anything that you would be especially excited to explore if this story continues?

REID: I think Nakatsu is just about done panicking about the thing he's currently panicking about. I think I would love to see how he handles finding out. I don't know if he ever does or anything like that, but I can't decide if I feel like that would calm him down or just reignite a different crisis. Either way, I would be excited to see that arc of the story play out.

BARR: He'll find something new to freak out about.

BAKER: And it will be glorious, I'm sure. It's a little difficult to say. Something I've really enjoyed about the journey of playing Sano is how much I've been portraying sort of a wrestling with emotions. I don't think that is something exclusive to me voicing Sano—I’m certain other people in the cast have been having to do that, but I certainly enjoy playing it. I enjoy performing it and sort of getting into that space, so I'd love it if there was more.

BARR: Yeah, just more Hana-Kimi in general. I want to see what happens with the dog also, the true star of the show.

BAKER: I love you, Yujiro.

BARR: When’s Yujiro’s arc?

When are we getting an episode just for him?

REID: He got a bit of a hero moment when he found Sano and Mizuki.

BARR: Oh, yeah!

BAKER: Most underrated character?

REID: But yeah, Nakatsu used him to sniff down and chase Mizuki and Sano, and he saved their lives that night. Good boy. Good, good boy.

BARR: Good boy!

BAKER: Best boy.

You know what? I’m using that. Thanks, guys. So, for anyone who hasn't started the series yet, how would you pitch it to get them to check it out?

BAKER: Hana-Kimi is such a strong show that I don't even think it's a hard pitch. You know what I mean? You can just describe the premise: this high school girl falls in love with a track star, moves across the globe, poses as a boy to go to an all-boys school. That's awesome, man! How are you not sold on that?

BARR: Yeah, it’s not just romance.

REID: Also making statements like, “But it's not creepy. It's normal and fine and good.” I mean, the premise for Hana-Kimi does sound terrifying, but for me, I would pitch it primarily from the hidden identity angle. It's a girl undercover at an all-boys school, and that's always fun.

BARR: And there's a cute dog.

REID: There's a very cute dog.

Were there any lessons from your previous experiences that influenced your approach to this role? Is there any role that you did in the past that you feel served you for doing your particular characters?

BARR: I've definitely played girl posing as boy before, and so my instinct going into it was to, like I said a little bit earlier, try to play girl successfully posing as a boy. And that's not quite it. There's more nuance to it than actually being convincing as a girl posing as a boy. So being able to draw from that experience, but then take away a little bit of the experience I have—like somebody who's less experienced as a girl posing as a boy. So I have that ceiling for when she really needs to pass, because I have experience playing those characters. But then pulling away from that and saving it for the moments when she really needs to convince someone—just kind of paring it down and making her a little more imperfect and human and silly—has been a fun challenge. But I'm glad that I didn't have to focus too hard on how I sound like a boy, because I've done it before. So yeah, it's a nice little actor challenge, but not so much of a challenge that it's daunting.

BAKER: This might be going around the question a little bit, and if it is, I apologize, but something that has been interesting to me about my own journey acting in the anime sphere is that, as “girl posing as a boy” is not necessarily something new to Katelyn, sort of stoic, reserved, but still very deeply feeling guy is not new to me—which is a little surprising to me. Ever since entering the world of anime, I sort of saw myself as someone more explosive and boisterous and loud. And it's been equal parts interesting and awesome to have that flipped on its head and be voicing characters like Sano, who are much more toned down in that aspect.

REID: I've been something of a freakout factor in my entire career as a voice actor. I feel like people often come to me when a character needs to go over the top often, and without the actor just completely running out of energy. So I've been doing pretty much what I'm being called upon to do as Nakatsu in different flavors for 14, 15 years now. So in a way, he is kind of like—born to do this. It's like putting on my favorite jacket. He fits like a glove for me. So I've just kind of accidentally been preparing for this one my whole career.

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Hana-Kimi

Comedy

Drama

Anime

Release Date

January 4, 2026

Network

Tokyo MX

Directors

Natsuki Takemura

Writers

Hisaya Nakajo, Takawo Yoshioka

Cast

• 
  Taku Yashiro

  Izumi Sano (voice)
• 
  Aya Yamane

  Ashiya Mizuki (voice)
• 
  Kikunosuke Toya

  Nakatsu Shuichi (voice)
• 
  Koki Uchiyama

  Taiki Kayashima (voice)

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