In episode 46 of the TV anime “Star☆ Twinkle PreCure”, which was aired on Jan. 5, it was revealed that the leader of Notraiders, Darknest is the 13th Star Princess, the OphiuchusStar Princess, which is voiced by Sonozaki Mie.

The leader of Notraider, Darknest had not revealed neither her appearance nor voice up until now. In episode 46, the identity of Darknest was revealed to be the OphiuchusStarPrincess.
The voice actress in charge of the voice is Sonozaki Mie. Along with the announcement, a message from Sonozaki Mie regarding her thoughts about the “PreCure” series and Ophiuchus was also revealed.

<Below are the full commentary>
【OphiuchusStar Princess Voiced by Sonozaki Mie】
This is my second appearance and my first regular role in the long-lasting PreCure series. I am really grateful that I am able to be part of this series where each episode are filled with hope and dreams that encourage us to push forward.
Darknest is literally as it sound which is a “nest of darkness”. As the identity, appearance and gender are unknown, I was unsure on how to voice this antagonist character. However, while receiving the guidance from the numerous discussion with the Series Director Miyamoto Hiroaki, I began doing research on the character on my own.
While trying to grasp the role of being the enemy boss, I kept thinking about how to express the “darkness” that is within everyone at a corner throughout the the first half of the cheerful episode which is a lonely yet enjoyable task.

Does everyone know about “Ophiuchus”?
I believed that you might had heard of it from fortune tellings based on the 13 horoscopes but it is one of the horoscopes that can be found on the ecliptic in the starry sky that can be seen from earth right now.
When the 12 horoscopes were created, Ophiuchus was excluded as it was located outside of the ecliptic, but due to the earth's obliquity, Ophiuchus can be found in the ecliptic currently. It was introduced as a new horoscope at some point but it seem that it is still not well-known in some part of the world.

When Darknest first appeared, I had received a shocking explanation in advance that “The true identity of Darknest is actually the OphiuchusStar Princess”. Before that, I thought that Darknest is “an existence based on the concept of darkness” but I was so shocked that I was in loss of words.

After hearing the explanation on “What is the motive of OphiuchusStar Princess” and “Why is her imagination so sinister”, I was able to summarize that the enemy of this season is “diversity”, which gave me goosebumps, based on the horoscope Ophiuchus and my own thought on “the reason why Japanese Youkai are used to portray Darknest's subordinate”.
At the same time, I also feel the sense of responsibility of “voicing such role…”. I believe that this is a feeling that I will never forget.

If you are reading this comment right now, that means that “Star☆ Twinkle PreCure” is finally at its climax and there is only a few episodes left for this series.
The final battle in space for PreCure has finally started. A diverse unknown spacewhereby humans represent planets while the humans' heart represent the starry sky. To those that have overseen the”star” and “starry sky” throughout this one whole year, I hope you watch till the end.

(C)ABC-A・Toei Animation