The stunning MAPPA anime adaptation of Jujutsu Kaisen hit screens this past fall and continues this winter with the Goodwill Event arc. An eye-catching supernatural shonen, the story follows Yuji Itadori as he gets pulled into the world of sorcerers and fighting curses. He begins attending Jujutsu High as a first-year, along with two other teammates: Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki.
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Megumi Fushiguro is voiced in English by Robbie Daymond. A prominent and talented voice actor, you may have seen his earlier interview about voicing Jin Mori in The God of High School. Robbie Daymond has lent his vocal talents to numerous anime and video games, including playing Goro Akechi in the Persona 5 games and Alan Sylvasta in Brand New Animal. Megumi Fushiguro is the first character of the jujutsu world to meet Yuji Itadori, and their friendship is a joy to watch grow throughout the series. We got to ask Daymond a few questions about his experience so far working on Jujutsu Kaisen and his approach to the cool and collected Megumi.
BUT WHY THO: What is your favorite part about working on Jujutsu Kaisen?
ROBBIE DAYMOND: Ah the “favorite part” question – a classic! I would say for this show, and almost all new shows that I am starting, my favorite part thus far has been really finding the character in the early episodes. Thankfully, I love this show not only as an actor, but as a fan. I have been watching it in Japanese so I know a little bit about where the story is going, and I’ve looked into the manga to give me more insight. It’s really fun because a lot of times in anime you get a surface presentation of a character right out of the gate, and then you have to figure out what makes them interesting and long lasting. A lot of that information is in the script, animation, and the little details in their relationships with other characters. So far, my favorite part of Megumi has been figuring out who he is under his grumpy boy exterior.
BWT: Megumi tries to have a cool demeanor, but often gets shaken up by Yuji and Gojo. What goes into creating that honest humor when Megumi is trying so hard to be the “straight man?”
DAYMOND: That’s a great question! If you say that he is trying so hard to be the “straight man” your interpretation of it is that it’s an act or a front. Yes, that’s who he is, but only a part of it. There is some other part of him that wants to come forward and he does like when he has those deadpan jokes in the first episode like “I’m going to punch you” it’s classic “straight man” humor. I think when you’re creating that as an actor you can’t just play the qualities of a character, because that is boring and surface level, leading to one dimension characters. You have to play real actions that are grounded in motivations that portray emotions, and it’s difficult when you have a character who seems to be so straightforward and straight-laced. I think that’s what makes him lovable, because when he does sort of get twisted up with Yuji and Gojo and they affect him emotionally, he expresses those things underneath a veneer of sullenness, and it’s a fun challenge. I think that those are the kind of characters I like the best, but of course I still love those straight on the nose, heart on the sleeve shonen characters that I get to play; but I think the more complicated ones are more enjoyable in sessions.
BWT: As Gojo says, everyone at Jujutsu High has to be “a little crazy.” How do you translate that for Megumi?
DAYMOND: That’s tough because he is sorta the most stable one of the group (at least outwardly) but the term “crazy” – I don’t want to dive too deep into the term “crazy,” as it’s fallen out of favor these days, but for the sake of this line “crazy” doesn’t mean mental illness. I do think that Megumi has a lot of drama that we’re going to find out about in later arcs – no spoilers – but the things that they’ve been hinting at with his family relationships, and how he feels about relationships in general, are what make him a little bit “crazy.” I think that he is a Type A personality, and I think he is ambitious even though he has insecurities about whether or not he can take out a special grade curse or not. I think those insecurities mixed with Type A personality make him a little bit wild and crazy – a perfect fit for Jujutsu High.
BWT: Episode 5 is a pretty big moment for Megumi, and the audience learns a lot about his motives and values. How did you approach that confrontation with Sukuna?
DAYMOND: Well so far that’s been one of my favorite episodes, so good question! There’s so much going on that is veiled at this point so early in the show that we don’t even really know why Megumi has these feelings in a specific sense. At this point we get what happened to his sister, we start to hear a little bit about his relationship with his father and his family’s angsty stuff. When approaching that, I think that the biggest thing with the confrontation with Sukuna was his own insecurities that I talked about in the last question. He calls himself out, rightly so, for freezing up in front of a special grade curse TWICE! It’s wild because he has all of these abilities, and Sukuna sees that and tells him that it’s a waste, which is not a thing a villain would do, but it’s one of those classic enemy villains that want to fight the strongest and have fun. Also, Sukuna just decides to kill him. Ultimately I think approaching that scene…him playing into his insecurities in this Japanese-esque fatalist, where “it can’t be helped, I have to fight this guy and I have to save Yuji regardless if I am capable.” All of this makes this a dynamic scene.
BWT: If you could use any cursed technique from the show, which would it be?
DAYMOND: Oh man! That’s so hard! Hammer and nails is tempting, and I am handy so I wish I could just shoot magical nails into my project and make it be done. I’d also like to create my own imminent domain because I have a 2.5 year old and a newborn baby on the way so with all the screaming and crying in my house it would be pretty sweet to have my own imminent domain. All that aside, I have to go with my boy Megumi’s cursed power. I want to summon little demon friends out of the shadows to come help me do stuff, and make them do my chores. I would take them on walks and even take them to the grocery store to freak people out. I would use it as a parlor trick, a maid service and they’d be my little homies!
Megumi Fushiguro’s many sides are sure to him a fan-favorite character in Jujutsu Kaisen. Robbie Daymond’s vocal performance brings these many nuances to life, and is a blast to watch in the English dub. Look forward to watching Megumi grow even more in the Goodwill Event this winter!
Jujutsu Kaisen English dub is airing now, with new episodes premiering on Fridays.
