BLACK TORCH Stars Break Down Jiro, Shiba and Team Dynamics

AJ Beckles and Ryan Colt Levy explore Jiro and Shiba’s biggest moments, unlikely alliances and the deeper dynamics shaping the Bureau of Espionage.

BLACK TORCH certainly has much to offer as Jiro, Shiba, Ichika, and their allies have many more evil spirits to face. Fans got to see the bond between this trio form, through thick and thin, and through a few chaotic situations. From Jiro’s first encounter with Rago to some heated confrontations later in the season, these moments helped to forge the Bureau of Espionage. However, there are still some unexplained details about these intertwining team dynamics that viewers may have questions about.

I had the opportunity to speak with BLACK TORCH stars AJ Beckles and Ryan Colt Levy, who voice Jiro and Siba, about some important moments from Episodes 1 through 6 regarding the Bureau of Espionage’s best. If you want to check out our full conversation, you can watch the video above!

Looking back on the very start of BLACK TORCH, Beckles reflected on Jiro’s introduction with Rago and how that initial moment is important in understanding Jiro moving forward.

“He’s brash,” Beckles began. “He has an edge to him, but he’s also a really warm soul. He’s a safe space for a lot of Beings that are weaker than him, he feels a certain responsibility to care for those that that need to help.”

“I think making sure that he was scary to the bad guys but nice [to] the good guys. It was really important to see especially all those small moments, [like] when he first gets Rago and he’s trying to get him to drink some water and food. You can see how much compassion he has for living things not even just animals, but especially animals.”

Jiro’s Compassion Defines His Bond With Rago

Furthermore, Beckles also looked back on Jiro’s interactions with Ichika on Episode 3, where Jiro was arrested by Ichika. However, the two were forced to team up after being attacked, leaving many fans wondering how their dynamic would flesh out later on.

“They perfectly contrast,” Beckles continued. “He’s like, ‘Get to the point. Let’s get to it’, and she’s very much like ‘There’s a way to go about things.’ I think they both kind of buttheads because they’re both right in ways and a lot of their journey is them learning.”

“She doesn’t have to be perfect, and for him, it’s working with the team and realizing that it is sometimes more efficient to speak to your partners and try to get something done together as opposed to by yourself.”

Jiro and Ichika Learn to Work Together

Another important moment in BLACK TORCH that’s been brought up is Jiro’s confrontation with Reiji on Episode 4. This saw Shiba pitting the two agents against each other in order to test Jiro’s powers, but Reiji showed an incredible amount of distrust. Beckles analyzed how this moment reveals Jiro’s instincts and deep desires of acceptance.

“Every situation is punch first,” Beckles described. “I mean, he was bullied when he was younger. There’s some trauma there as well, so he doesn’t stop for fools and he’s happy to stand up for himself and other people if he needs to. Underneath it, he’s always trying to do the right thing. I don’t really think he cares how that’s done.”

“If there is a way for him to to achieve victory, whatever that is, I think he’s open to it. It’s just about him learning to be comfortable with doing things a little bit differently, but he’s always had that soft nature and the need to be accepted. That’s why I think why he connects so much to animals.”

Additionally, Levy also went into detail with Shiba’s perspective on this episode and the character’s belief in making this confrontation work for the better.

“He knows exactly what he’s doing,” Levy added. “I think he clearly has a very good sense of what is underneath the exterior of a person. He can read their intention and their energy and I like that he knows by putting them in this situation.”

“It’s really a bonding exercise and it’s seemingly unusual behavior because you would think he would actually want to really orchestrate [and say], ‘No, you guys have to be okay with everything’, but he knows that they also have to learn each other through that process. Sometimes, it’s like you see wild animals smelling each other to get a sense and then they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re cool.'”

“I think Shiba knows that he’s putting all of these different, unlikely, but necessary energies together that will balance out to make something better than the sum of its parts.”

Jiro’s Fight With Reiji Reveals His Deeper Struggles

One of the more personal moments of BLACK TORCH occurs on Episode 6, when the team undergoes a hypnosis training that reveals everyone’s vulnerabilities. However, Shiba somehow remained calm while everyone else became extremely stressed out. Levy talked about how his performance reflects in Shiba’s unorthodox approaches.

“It’s the most fun thing about getting to play him,” Levy stated. “He has what feels like a weariness and an experience that is beyond his years and you have to approach it where you are focusing on the fact that he’s so still and confident.”

“Even when things are falling apart, he seems to act as almost like that’s according to plan. By nature, if you’re around somebody who’s that sure of things that they’re like unflappable, it almost instinctively creates an air of mystery because you’re wondering why you’re freaking out and they’re not.”

“I love being able to pack all of that subtext in and give you a bit of information,” Levy said. “He has to keep things close to the chest to also be safe. I think he chooses very carefully when to be vulnerable with those he brings close to him, but I think he knows that he has to be secretive for the larger scale safety of everyone.”

Shiba’s Calm Nature Hides Something Deeper

Shiba also has some particular moments with Ichika in the first half of BLACK TORCH and his approach in making Ichika an effective team player has its own ups and downs. Speaking more on the Shiba-Ichika dynamic and how it plays a role in the anime’s grand scheme, Beckles and Levy further analyzed the thing that Shiba understands about Ichika that Jiro still needs to.

“I think, naturally, Jiro has a wall up with Ichika because she is so different and he wants nothing to do with different, at least at first, right? The journey is about him learning to accept those things, but at first, he’s like ‘You’re not like me and because you’re not like me, you’re annoying.’ Shiba is in a position of mentorship and he’s thought a lot about these personalities. There’s a reason why he picked these people to come together.”

“Ichika can be a little headstrong, right? She’s really similar to Jiro in ways, but she has this constant need to prove herself and everything like that that shines through that might cloud her judgment a little bit, but she’s been there.”

“I also think that also with the idea of this mentorship and it choosing all of them, very particularly,” Levy added. “It’s with intention because they all have something really important to bring to the table, not only for themselves, but to teach each other.”

“It’s almost like being a cook where you’re like, ‘Okay I’m gonna throw all these different ingredients into the thing,’ and someone might be like ‘Is that gonna taste good?’ and you’re like, ‘Trust me.'”

BLACK TORCH is available to stream now on Crunchyroll every Saturday at 6:00 AM PT / 9:00 AM ET.

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