Hikari Shinomiya Takes On Her First Voice Role in Tomoshibi Animation's New Theatrical Film 'Before the Tide Comes In'

Tomoshibi Animation announced on the 2nd that actress Hikari Shinomiya, 27, a Drifter mix, will voice the lead in its new theatrical film "Before the Tide Comes In" (working title), set for release next autumn. It will be Shinomiya's first voice-acting role; her work to date has centered on live-action roles. The film follows the studio's previously reported television series "The Lamp-Lighter" (starring Haruna Mochizuki), and marks the company's first theatrical release in three years.

Shinomiya will play the lead in a story set in a small bayside fishing town, about a woman who left as a child and returns as an adult to reunite with her childhood friends. Director and studio head Wataru Miyashita explained the casting: "Watching Shinomiya's live-action performances, I became convinced she could bring the same strength with voice alone." Unlike the previously reported television series, which draws on Lineage 7, "the Lit City," this new film does not take a stable window as its subject — it is a story of ordinary life in this world.

At the announcement, Shinomiya said, "Honestly, it's pretty frightening, standing on screen with no body, carrying everything with just my voice. But the excitement outweighs the fear, which is why I took it on." Asked about juggling the role alongside her ongoing work on the morning drama "The House by the Window," she said, "Doing the work of building an expression and the work of carrying everything through voice alone, in the same stretch of time, should be a good kind of stimulation."

News of the casting spread quickly among Shinomiya's fans on social media. Coming so soon after the previously reported reveal of the "Wall-Top Rui" season-two lead voice actress's name, some fans have taken to calling it "an autumn of voice-acting debuts." A Tomoshibi Animation spokesperson said the studio hopes to release some footage from the recording sessions at its next production update.

As a Drifter mix cast in a morning-drama lead role, Shinomiya has drawn attention as the first such actress in that position, and she has said in past interviews that she is "happier to be asked about acting than about my ears." At today's announcement, too, she showed a trace of unease that her background was drawing as much attention as the role itself. Miyashita stressed again, "Whether or not she has nonhuman features had nothing to do with why we cast her. That's the one thing I don't want misunderstood."

Recording is set to begin in late October. A release date beyond "next autumn" has not been set. Between the coming television broadcast of "The Lamp-Lighter" and this new theatrical film, next year is shaping up to be a major one for the studio.