kotono interview (machine translation, edits by me)

-- Misato is very active in the concluding movie.
Mitsuishi: In "Q", she was cold towards Shinji, but she was actually on his side until the end.

-- How was the eight-year gap between "Q" and "Shin"?
Mitsuishi: During the 8 years, there were many collaborations between me and the role, so I didn't feel much of the gap. However, Misato Katsuragi, who was directed by Anno, is the only one in the movie. That's different from my other roles, isn't it? I had the impression that my target was narrow.

-- How did you feel when you first read the script?
Mitsuishi: When I first read the AVANTs (Part A and B) I thought, "Oh, this story isn't finished" (laughs). (laughs) The story was not set in stone at that time, but I thought the concept was there, so I was anticipating what would happen .......

-- Avant 1 was first shown in Paris in July 2019. It's the one with the Eiffel Tower.
Mitsuishi: I was disappointed when Ogata informed me that she had to go to Paris quickly, but when I realized that I had missed the distribution window I was disappointed until Miyamura sent me the link and said "You can watch it here." I was disappointed when I realized that the streaming had ended. My performance in AVANT was limited to a single off-screen line, and I didn't have visuals.
Although Misato was in charge, she left all the on-scene instructions to Ritsuko (laughs). But when I saw the completed scene, I was absolutely amazed. As for the AVANT, I feel the same way as everyone else in the audience. Personally, Maya is my favorite (laughs). Not only this time around, but since the TV series, I've been working on understanding more than half of the work. So, although it's a secret, I'm pretending as if I understand something profound [about Eva].

-- As the story progresses, it becomes clearer what happened to Misato after "2.22". How did you feel about the fact that she had a son?
Mitsuishi: When I recorded "Q", I asked them, "what happened to Misato [during the timeskip]? I asked, they didn't tell me. So, in my mind, I was pretending as if Misato herself had gone through something terrible, and it was Shinji's fault. When I tried to play that heavier, I was instructed that I didn't need to make myself sound so scary, so I adjusted for a more flat voice. But actually, that was the reason, was it?

-- I feel that her reason is rather important.
Mitsuishi: It's also for the sake of the new life that is to come. I entrusted everything to Ritsuko. But when the recording was over, I said to Mr. Anno, "I'm glad you asked me to play Misato. The line, "This is all I could do, as a mother," was impossible for me to record when Eva started, but now that so many years have passed, I was able to say it, and it's a line that only the current me could say. I think Mr. Anno is absolutely right. We have been working on this project for a long time, and we have been able to draw from personal lives, we were able to put "years" into the character's lines.

How did you feel when you performed those lines?
Mitsuishi: Hideaki-san usually doesn't animate the storyboards for important lines or scenes where you have to act heavy, so that's why I was able to act freely without worrying about lip syncing problems. In that scene, I mainly referred to the storyboards. I think [Khara] created an environment where the voice actors can use whatever comes from their hearts. The "mother" line is at the end of the movie. Until that point, as the captain of the Wunder, I think Misato was carrying the wishes her many friends who died. She was living the life she believed in. The reason why she was able to live so strongly was because of her son, Ryoji. She apologized for not being able to do anything motherly and sincerely wished for his happiness.

-- As the captain of the Wunder, Misato's old attitude of hiding her true feelings and acting cheerful is fading away. Were you able to express this change naturally?
Mitsuishi: Yes. No pressure. It's a solid scenario, and it was more than ten years since her cheerfulness disappeared. Misato's father entrusted her with the same task when she was a child, so I thought that she would pass it on in turn to her son.

-- With Kaji gone, do you feel like she's carrying his burden as well?
Mitsuishi: There was no turning back. I cried when I got to the final scene.

-- What do you think about the fact that one story has become such a serious and epic story?
Mitsuishi: He's created something amazing again. There's such an pull that gets the audience involved, there's always such high expectations. I'm sure there will never be another work like this. I feel the joy of being involved as an actor. Ever since the TV series, there has always been a sense of tension in "Eva", as if everything was about to break down at the last minute, and that's what made it such a unique show. I'm sure the director and his staff suffered a lot, making these movies. At the start of the TV series, it was rare for me to play these "big sister" roles like Misato. I worked very hard
to stretch and create that role, and for a while, I was worried that I wasn't "getting" it. Then I thought, "I'm close to Misato's real age, so I should just act without making it up as I go along." This last movie was also the most fun for me.

-- Is it easier to play a mother part if you actually have the experience of being a mother?
Mitsuishi: (laughs). I thought, "I've been hit. I felt like Misato hit me in my weakest point." It is a weak point, isn't it? Until the child becomes independent, that is.

-- You said earlier that Misato was on Shinji's side until the end, Misato was like a guardian until the end.
Mitsuishi: Her attitude was cold, but I think she trusted Shinji the most. Especially given her last scene, yes, I think so. Her trust was not wrong, and allowed Shinji to grow into an adult. Not in appearance, but on the inside. After Shinji left the Wunder and was allowed to meet various people in the village, Misato thought, "He's grown up. I'm happy for him." Shinji is happy, isn't he? When a child is growing up, the only thing a parent can do is take care of food, clothing, and shelter, and nothing else. If parents tell their children, "This is the way you should live your life," or "This is the way you should study," the children will always rebel against them and may end up going down a different path. I believe that it is other adults, not parents, who must help children grow and reach out to them to help them move up. Shinji is very lucky to have such adults around him. Shinji always looks miserable, but there's no one around him who's truly evil, so he's really lucky.

--In particular, Misato treats Shinji as an adult.
Mitsuishi: It's not easy to send him off with a smile and say "have a good day" and tell him that she'll take responsibility for anything that happens to him and that he should live his life the way he wants to. I respect Misato Katsuragi as a person. However, when she used her body as shield to stop Shinji from getting shot, I thought, "she's been shot in the stomach again!" (laughs). Misato was also been shot in the stomach in End of Evangelion, so I thought, "Déjà vu?" She risked my life to send Shinji off. When a role dies, I lock it away in a drawer in my heart with gratitude.

-- When a role dies, you lock it away in a drawer in your heart with gratitude. It takes a lot of power to bring a role back to life once it has been lost.
Mitsuishi: Yes, in the beginning, I had to wake Misato up again.

-- I heard that you were moved to tears when you read the script.
Mitsuishi: It's a bad habit. I can't do my job if I cry, so when there's a scene like that, I read it over and over again at home, cried over it, and built up a little tolerance before I headed to work (laughs). I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that again. Yuriko is also a mother, so she could share Misato's feelings about becoming a mother.

-- So the two of you were able to put your own feelings into this maternal scene.
Mitsuishi: I don't know if it's the same for children as it is for mothers.

-- Yamaguchi Yuriko told me that the your duo was very good.
Mitsuishi: Yes, it was great. I was with Yuriko for the whole recording, so it was fun. If I was alone, I would feel nervous, but with the two of us, I could say, "Isn't this like this? (laughs). We were able to support each other even when we were worried. (laughs) We were able to do it while helping each other through our anxiety. In the movie, Ritsuko is able to speak for Misato.

-- Ms. Yamaguchi said exactly the same thing.
Mitsuishi: Good. It would have been a problem if she disagreed with me (laughs). Even when I'm on a different set, I feel happy when I'm with Yuriko. She's honest and a good person, really. When it comes to acting, she has a firm belief in the kind of acting she wants to do. Yuriko, who plays Ritsuko, the super-scientist, is actually a natural and charming person.

-- Lastly, please give a message to those who are reading this pamphlet.
Mitsuishi: I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has spent long, long months with me. Thank you very much. Please pray that Misato's little spear will reach the Shinji-kuns all over the world. Please watch. It will remain in your mind as one of the best movies you have ever seen. I'm sure this is the end of the story, but I think the repetition symbol in the title of the movie is a trick (laughs).