Natsuki Takaya, the creator of the highly popular shoujo manga series Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット), appeared at the 2019 Comic Exhibition in Taipei alongside Manaka Iwami, the voice actress of Fruits Basket protagonist Tohru Honda, to celebrate the second season of the TV anime series.
During the event, the PV for the second season was revealed. After which, Manaka Iwami joined Natsuki Takaya on stage. When asked about her impressions of Taiwan, Iwami excitedly said that since bubble tea has become a popular trend in Japan, she wants to use this chance to try bubble tea in Taiwan.
As the event proceeded, Iwami shared her audition experience and feelings as well as her thoughts on the series. She said that at the beginning, she wasn’t entirely confident in getting the role of Tohru Honda. It was only after she got the notice confirming her role did she go back and read all 23 volumes of the manga series to get her self into character.
However, Iwami mentioned that she did not watch the original TV anime series because she didn’t want to be affected by Yui Horie’s portrayal of Tohru Honda. Iwami did mention that once all the recordings for the series have ended, she would go back to watch how Horie voiced the character.
▍PV
▍Live Reading
The event also featured a live reading session where Iwami reenacted iconic scenes from the series live on stage including the scene.
In addition to the live reading, Takaya also gave out limited edition autographed postcard sets as thanks for fans’ support.
