Rie Takahashi and Saori Hayami entered the new Magic Knight Rayearth anime from opposite directions. Takahashi discovered the manga while preparing to audition for Fuu Hououji. Hayami already carried a childhood memory of Princess Emeraude and the original series.
In a Crunchyroll interview published September 3, both voice actors explained how those different starting points shaped their work. The official anime site confirms Takahashi as Fuu and Hayami as Emeraude, keeping the roles clear as the new adaptation introduces Cephiro to another generation.
Their answers also show the unusual challenge of returning to a story with a deep history. The cast must respect what longtime fans remember without treating the characters as museum pieces.
Rie Takahashi met Fuu through the audition
Takahashi said she first read CLAMP’s manga while preparing for the audition. That meant her connection to Fuu began with close attention to the original character rather than with a fixed memory of an earlier performance.
Fuu is observant, composed, and often able to read a situation before the others. Those qualities can look quiet beside Hikaru’s momentum or Umi’s sharper reactions, but they are essential to the trio’s balance. Takahashi’s preparation gave her a direct route into that intelligence and steadiness.
The actor also had to find the emotional movement beneath Fuu’s polite delivery. A measured character still experiences fear, surprise, and determination; the performance has to let those feelings register without breaking the way Fuu carries herself.
Starting with the manga gave Takahashi room to build that balance from the page. Her version can recognize the character’s established identity while responding to the rhythm and direction of the new production.
Saori Hayami returned to a childhood impression
Hayami’s path was more personal. She remembered encountering Magic Knight Rayearth when she was young, with Princess Emeraude leaving a strong impression even before she understood every part of the story.
That memory matters because Emeraude is introduced as both a person and an image. Her plea draws Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu into Cephiro, and the mystery around her gives the adventure its initial direction. The voice has to carry distance, urgency, and emotional weight at the same time.
Hayami described revisiting the work as an adult and seeing details differently. Childhood recognition gives her performance an emotional foundation, while the new script and production ask her to examine what Emeraude means scene by scene.
It is a fitting approach for a character whose first appearance has lived in viewers’ memories for decades. Hayami is not simply repeating that memory; she is using it as a point of entry.
A new cast is speaking to two audiences
The new anime has to welcome viewers who know Cephiro by heart and people meeting the Magic Knights for the first time. Takahashi and Hayami represent both experiences inside the cast: one began with fresh study, while the other returned to an early attachment.
Neither approach is presented as more authentic. Together, they underline why casting a new adaptation is more than matching a familiar sound. The actors need to understand the function of each character and make that understanding present in a new performance.
For Fuu, that means intelligence and composure with room for discovery. For Emeraude, it means a voice capable of carrying the invitation, mystery, and feeling that set the entire journey in motion.
The result is a useful first look at how the production is approaching its legacy: through performers who are willing to study what was there, remember what it felt like, and then make their own precise choices inside Cephiro.
