“I was very excited when I heard that the Heartslabyul dormitory, where Riddle is housewarden, was inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The art is beautiful, cool, and cute.
My first impression was that Riddle was very strict, strong, and scary, but as the story progressed and I learned more about his history, I felt like I came to understand him. If people don’t know what’s going on, I think it will take a while for them to understand, but I hope he will be able to make a lot of good friends in the future.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ is a really interesting work. It’s a truly wondrous world, and it’s hard to take your eyes off of each of the unique characters that Alice comes into contact with. My favorite characters in the movie are the oysters. I love the gap between their cute designs and the indescribable tragedy that befalls them.
A lot of the subplots in this movie come up in Twisted Wonderland, so if you’ve never seen it, I recommend watching it first, and you’ll be able to enjoy the game even more!
When I was a child I didn’t think anything about the villains in these movies beyond them being bad guys, but rewatching them as an adult I have come to like them: I find there is something lovable there that I just can’t bring myself to hate.
The Queen of Hearts is arrogant and terrible at times, but the way she turns red in the face when she gets angry is so comical―I think she is a good character.
Voice recording is usually done separately, but for the recording of the first chapter, everyone in Heartslabyul got together. I remember it went really smoothly, with all of us talking together the whole time.
In the role of Riddle I had to remain elegant at all times, but with the overblot and all the crying it was very difficult―I had to put in as much emotion as I could, from deep in my heart, into every line. There was one part, where the line was something like the sound “Ugiiiii!!!!”, which was a reference to the original movie, so I used the original recording as a reference. I like screaming, so it was a lot of fun.
There was also a scene that brought up past memories, and I was careful to put everything I had into projecting Riddle’s sincerity and honesty so that he might be forgiven for what he’d done. The word “mama” arose in the dialogue, and I personally think I might have been able to get a pretty good nuance out of it (laughs).
My favorite of all of Riddle’s outfits is his dorm look. It is so elaborately designed; it’s a joy to behold! The character I like the most (besides Riddle) is the austere and funny headmaster of the school.
If I were to join one of the dorms, it would be Heartslabyul! I’ve come to like the ‘Alice’ motif even more thanks to Twisted Wonderland! I would love to have a tea party (laughs).”
– Hanae Natsuki, Twisted Wonderland Fanbook vol.1 (2020)
“At first glance he seems like a serious and strict character, but if you look at him from another angle, he can also seem awkward and earnest.
That is what is lovable about Riddle.
With all the strong personalities at Night Raven College there are even people who aren’t intimidated by Riddle’s tyrannical ways and can argue with him on equal footing. Watching Riddle being talked back to by those students makes you want to protect him somehow.
There are so many scenes of Riddle being angry that I actually found myself thinking, ‘Was he always this upset?’ (laughs). Most of the time, the reason he gets angry is because a dorm student violated one of the Queen of Hearts’ laws.
I can personally feel like, ‘Isn’t that rule a bit unreasonable?’ so it’s tough to get into the right mindset. But Riddle was taught to follow rules from his childhood as ‘the right thing to do,’ so I think he is a little afraid of rules not being followed.
I try to mix in that humanity and sadness, not just pure anger. If I were involved with Night Raven College, I think I’d want to be on the teacher side. Of course the teachers are all very unique too, but I feel like I would get along well with the headmage, for example. And with Professor Crewel. If I behaved with devotion like a ‘good boy,’ I think he’d be fond of me.
But I’m bad at sports, so if Professor Vargas told me, ‘We’re training together!’ I’d probably run away (laughs).
In the sense that he values his beliefs, Yuuken has something in common with Riddle. He brings a fresh breeze into the story while also helping to highlight the relationships between the characters. He’s straightforward and a good kid, so you really want to cheer him on as he does his best in a world he’s unfamiliar with.
As Season 1 moves toward its climax, you’ll understand the reason why Riddle became the kind of Housewarden he is. I hope people will look forward to how the story will change by having Yuuken and Riddle face each other.”
– Hanae Natsuki, Nikkei the Televison (2025)
“I didn’t know at first which part of the story they would animate or how it would progress.
If we were going to redo the same scenes or lines from the game, I was a bit anxious about whether I could maintain the same level of quality.
Since the game’s story has moved far ahead, Riddle has gradually softened and changed a lot since the early chapters. So returning to his earlier, stricter self from Chapter 1 was actually quite challenging. I re-listened to the early parts of the game to remind myself how he originally sounded, then reset my mindset completely before going into recording.
I didn’t consciously think, ‘I should act differently because it’s animation now.’ However, in the game, you can record lines at your own pace and decide on the delivery timing freely, but in animation, you have to perform within the fixed duration of each scene. I wondered how that would work, but the production team had already adapted the rhythm and pacing of the game’s dialogue into the animation, so I was able to act naturally without much discomfort. That was a huge help.
Since this anime is based on the comic adaptation, there are some small differences in the dialogue and such, but that actually gave me the opportunity to revisit things I had wanted to try during the game but couldn’t at the time, ideas like, ‘Maybe I should have done this differently.’ Being able to challenge those things again in the anime was really nice.
In the anime, even though he seems to be at odds with Yuuken at first, once you look deeper you might realize things aren’t so simple. When I perform (as Riddle) I try to make sure his actions don’t come across as malicious, because they really aren’t.”
– Hanae Natsuki, Nikkei Entertainment (2025)
“Azakami-kun, who joined from the animation, was nervous, so what left an impression on me was how the entire voice cast encouraged and supported him. The atmosphere at the recording sessions was very friendly.
Sometimes the cast knew more details than the staff, so it was also interesting to exchange information while approaching the recording.”
– Hanae Natsuki, Animedia magazine (2025)
“What stands out is that Riddle isn’t strict out of malice, but from his convictions. He values things like preserving the dorm’s traditions and making sure students don’t repeat a year. Those are things his mother taught him, and if he were to lose them, he wouldn’t know who he is anymore.
Once you know about his childhood you really understand that, and he becomes endearing. He isn’t trying to be mean but he still ends up being disliked sometimes, which is part of what gives him a “villain-like” quality.
When I portray him I’m careful not to convey any maliciousness. And the way his childlike side peeks through his seriousness is incredibly cute. I love Riddle’s appearance and character design, too. Ever since I first saw the Twisted Wonderland characters he’s been my favorite, and I felt he suited me. During the audition I really hoped I’d get the role.”
—Do you have a favorite scene or line in the animation?
“The moments when he becomes angry. Since he’s angry so often I tried to avoid making it one-note and instead add variety to his anger. Sometimes it builds gradually like a gradient, and other times it spikes all at once. I hope people enjoy seeing those different kinds of anger.
And his signature line ‘Off with your head!’ I watched Alice in Wonderland many times and strongly referenced how the Queen of Hearts says it. There’s also moments where he growls in rage, like ‘Ugigi.’ Even during the game recordings, I paid close attention to the Queen of Hearts’ delivery and intonation.
I’ve said ‘Off with your head!’ so many times now and I think it turned out pretty cool, so I hope people see it.”
– Hanae Natsuki, Twisted Wonderland the Animation Official Book: Episode of Heartslabyul (2025)
“(Riddle enforces) a severity that’s hard for us to understand, right? It’s not like he’ll overlook things if he’s in a good mood. On the contrary, he has a low boiling point and his anger ignites instantly, so the dorm students nervously watch the mood of the dorm leader every day.
But when he lashes out, ‘Why don’t you follow the rules?’ it’s not throwing a tantrum, but because he truly believes that following the rules is absolute justice. To deny that justice is to deny the path he’s lived, and also due to a fear of ‘making mistakes’ that has been instilled in him since childhood.
It’s painful, but the fact that he continues to struggle while carrying a past he can’t even face is where his human charm lies.
(Trey and Cater) are like a pressure release for (Riddle). He is always angry to the point it is like he might suffocate, and the way that the two of them defuse situations at just the right time really helps him.”
– Hanae Natsuki, Da Vinci magazine (2025)
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 