Chapter 362: Voice Actor
The signing event for Watase Mako-sensei officially began. As soon as the venue opened, it was crowded with people. Everyone had come to meet their idol and shake her hand. If they were lucky, they might even get a photo together, although the chances were not high. And this signing event was not just a fan meeting. The voice actor for the main character in the anime team would also be coming to announce some new developments for the future, mostly promotions for the animation or movies.
But to be able to see Watase Mako-sensei at this event, and also to see the voice actor, was a huge piece of good news for the fans. Especially since Watase-sensei was so beautiful, the otakus could barely contain their excitement.
“She’s so popular.”
When Yu Linna was watching the long line of fans asking for autographs, she couldn’t help but exclaim with emotion.
She had never held a signing event before. In her home country, at most, she had been invited by Zhao Yuyan to attend her signing event, but she had only gone to watch. Now, the scale of Hase Yuki’s signing event was probably on par with Zhao Yuyan’s. But Zhao Yuyan was still relatively young, so Hase Yuki’s popularity was clearly a notch higher.
Miss Sakurai was wearing a mask and sunglasses, afraid of being recognized. Her identity as Yamada Yui was known throughout the country. If she were to be known to be here, the scene would surely be even more chaotic. On the contrary, Yu Linna didn’t have to worry at all. She had never shown her face in her home country, and no one knew her identity. But even if they did, what did it matter? The Japanese were not familiar with her. They wouldn’t recognize her even if they saw her.
“Ah, here you are~ Hello, Yamada-sensei. Long time no see. I’m Yusa. Do you still remember me?”
A short, short-haired girl walked over and greeted Miss Sakurai with a smile. Miss Sakurai stood up, looked at her carefully, and only then did she show a look of sudden realization.
“Isn’t this Maho? It’s really been a long time. How have you been?”
Miss Sakurai greeted her with a smile, and the short, short-haired girl who had been called Maho scratched her head and smiled.
“I’m here for work, but I didn’t expect to see Yamada-sensei here.”
“That’s right. I remember you were the voice actress for the female lead in Ah Xue’s work. You’ve really become a remarkable person. You were a newcomer two years ago, and in a flash, you’ve become a popular voice actress.”
“I can’t be called a popular voice actress yet. I’m working hard to become a qualified voice actress. In the future, I hope to voice a work by Yamada-sensei.”
The name Yusa Maho was not very familiar to Yu Linna. She opened her phone’s Baidu to search and only then did she discover that this short girl was a female voice actress who had become popular in the past two years.
The work she had voiced the main character for was Hikikomori Little Sister, which was the female lead in Watase-sensei’s work. This was also the role that had greatly increased her fame. With her voice acting for this role, she had gone from a small newcomer voice actress to a popular voice actress. Now, her future prospects could be said to be very good.
Yusa Maho was also very young, only 23 years old. She had plenty of opportunities.
“Mmm, this child is…?”
Only then did Yusa Maho notice Yu Linna, who was quietly watching from the side, and couldn’t help but ask.
“Ah, I forgot to introduce you. This is a writer from China, Yu Linna. We met at a writer’s exchange meeting.”
With that, she pushed Yu Linna over and introduced her to her. And it took Yu Linna a while to understand what she was saying and slowly bowed, although it was very awkward.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yu Linna, my pen name is Shion.”
She had been practicing this line from the very beginning, so that she could use it for self-introduction when she met people in Japan in the future. The facts proved that it was indeed useful.
“Oh, you can speak Japanese, and it’s quite standard. Hello, I’m Yusa Maho, a voice actress. My hobbies are mountaineering and cycling, and my favorite food is curry.”
“Ah ah…”
Yu Linna was instantly bewildered, at a loss. This person was speaking too fast. She couldn’t understand her meaning.
“Don’t scare her. She’s just learned Japanese not long ago. If you speak too fast, she won’t understand.”
At a critical moment, it was still Miss Sakurai who came to the rescue, silently protecting this little creature and not letting her be hurt in the slightest.
“I see. Then I was too abrupt. I’m very sorry. It’s a pity I can’t speak Chinese or English, otherwise I could chat a lot with this child.”
Yusa Maho was a cheerful and optimistic girl, with an outgoing and cheerful personality, and also had many friends. She was very eager to make friends with Yu Linna and chat about many things, because she felt that being friends with this cute girl would surely lead to many topics of conversation.
Unfortunately, the event was about to start soon. Yusa Maho could only say her goodbyes first and hurriedly went to prepare for the event. The signing event had officially begun, and Hase Yuki was already signing autographs for her fans. According to today’s situation, she would have to sign for the whole day. But during this period, there would also be a stage event, and at that time, the voice actors from the anime team would also come, including the voice actors for the supporting roles, to announce news at the event together.
“Hello everyone, I’m Yusa Maho, the voice actress for Sawai. Please take care of me!”
At the beginning of the event, Yusa Maho was the first to introduce herself on stage. Although according to the usual practice, the voice actor for the male protagonist was always introduced first, for some reason the organizers had let Yusa, who voiced the female lead, introduce herself first. And with the cheers of the otaku below, the lights flashed, and the atmosphere of the event was also hyped up.
“Actually, the organizers have invited a special guest today. This person is also very familiar to everyone. She is Watase-sensei’s good friend. Next, please welcome Yamada Yui-sensei.”
The otaku below were stunned for a moment, and then they showed even crazier cheers. To them, Yamada-sensei was a bona fide beautiful author, and also a king of the commercial novel world. Such a heavyweight figure would actually come?
With the help of the backstage staff, Miss Sakurai went on stage. The makeup that the makeup artist had prepared for her at the last minute was also passable. The key was that her foundation was good, so makeup was not too difficult. Miss Sakurai smiled and waved to the audience below. She was quite experienced in entertaining her fans. She had debuted for many years, after all.
“Hello everyone, I’m Yamada Yui. Actually, when the organizers invited me to come, I was quite unwilling because I find things very troublesome. But Yuki, that is, Mako, she had been begging me for a long time, and I thought I had to support her in any case, so I came.”
“That’s too much, Yamada-sensei. You really only love Watase-sensei.”
“Haha, I like her very much. Everyone, please don’t hate her.”
Miss Sakurai joked with the host on stage, and at the same time, she also played up her yuri CP with Hase Yuki. Because of the fans’ imagination, many organizers, when they invited her and Hase Yuki to participate in an event, would ask them to do a CP performance to satisfy some fans.
Sakurai Reina didn’t refuse either. Anyway, it was just a joke. There was no need to take it seriously. It was harmless to play up a meme at the right time. On the contrary, that pervert Hase Yuki seemed to be enjoying it.
“I believe everyone likes Watase-sensei’s Hikikomori Little Sister, but everyone knows Watase-sensei more because of the work My Sister is a Delinquent Girl, right? This work is really amazing. Watase-sensei could probably make a fortune just from the razor blades.”
The host on stage did not forget to joke about her, which made the otaku below laugh.
But it was also a fact. The ending of Hase Yuki’s previous work, My Sister is a Delinquent Girl, was really hard for people to accept. The sister faction and the girlfriend faction had been fighting for so long, and in the end, the male protagonist didn’t choose anyone and went to Todai by himself. After that, there was no follow-up. This made the readers furiously curse her as “Watase the Old Thief.”
There was nothing to be done about it. Hase Yuki really didn’t have the courage to write a sister ending, because if a real brother and sister got married, it would definitely cause controversy. In the end, she could only play this trick.
Therefore, when it came to her new work, Hikikomori Little Sister, she very cleverly set the younger sister as not being related to the male protagonist by blood, just a younger sister brought about by her father’s remarriage.
“Now, My Sister is a Delinquent Girl is about to be released as a movie, scheduled for release in March of next year. Are you all surprised?”
As soon as this announcement was made, the fans below went crazy. Many people took out their phones to take pictures. The stage also cooperated and showed a projector, with the words “Anime Movie Release Decided” written on it. This made the fans cry with joy. This anime, which had already ended, actually had a movie? It was so touching.
“By the way, Yusa-chan, you have a role in My Sister is a Delinquent Girl, right?”
“Yes, I was the voice of the younger sister’s friend, Nitta Nana, who appeared in the second season. I didn’t expect to return in the movie.”
“Everyone must be very much looking forward to it.”
Yu Linna was watching their interaction from below, and also looking at the incomparably perfect smile of Hase Yuki on the stage, thinking, You really can’t judge a person by their appearance. This Hase Yuki was a pervert, that was for sure, but she was indeed very capable. Her novel’s popularity was really very high.
So many otaku bought her books, and so many fans. One could imagine how high her popularity was. And Sakurai Reina and her were from the same period. Now both of them had become popular authors in the industry. It was really enviable.
Just looking at the two of them so close, Yu Linna would be reminded of the past Nangong Ying. If they had also developed smoothly like those two, they might have also become a similar relationship. Unfortunately, there were not so many “ifs” in this world.
“Next, we will invite an audience member to come on stage to participate in our interaction. Come on, let me randomly select. Audience member in Section D, number 48, please come up.”
Yu Linna was still taking pictures with her phone below when she suddenly found that the number the host had called was her seat. She checked again and again and found that it was indeed her. My god, this host must be doing it on purpose! How did he know I was sitting here!
Yu Linna had no choice but to walk onto the stage with a pained expression. During this time, she also received many envious gazes from the fans, but seeing that she was a cute little girl, everyone just smiled and let it pass.
“Oh dear, I didn’t expect the little audience member to be a foreigner, and so cute. Hello, little fan. Do you speak Japanese?”
The host handed the microphone to her and asked her to say a few words. Yu Linna had no choice but to take the microphone. Looking at the amused look in Hase Yuki’s eyes next to her, she could only bite the bullet and go on.
“Um… I, I can only speak a little, not very fluently.”
She spoke in that not-so-fluent Japanese, barely managing to communicate with them. And as soon as her voice came out, the otaku below were all restless.
This girl’s voice is so pleasant to the ear.
