Aqours from Love Live! Sunshine!! Appears at Anime Festival Asia Thailand 2016!

Two Aqours members, Kanako Takatsuki (as Hanamaru Kunikida) and Ai Furihata (as Ruby Kurosawa), were the two attendees at the “Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours Special Talk Stage” event held on Saturday, August 20 at Anime Festival Asia Thailand in Bangkok.

The two actresses looked amazed at the size of the audience waiting to see them as the emcee brought them onstage. After giving their respective members’ intro dialogue in Thai, they both greeted the crowd--Ruby’s trademark “ganba-Ruby” was turned into “suu suu Ruby” in the local language, busting the excitement of the crowd. For this stage show, the “One, two... Sunshine!!” that traditionally kicks off Aqours events was also transformed by the audience into “Neung, saung... Sunshine!!” to begin Aqours’ first event in Thailand.

Takatsuki and Furihata started by discussing with the Thai audience what Love Live! Sunshine!! is all about. This was Takatsuki’s second trip to the country—“I visited Wat Pho yesterday,” she said with a smile, “and given that Hanamaru comes from a family of temple-keepers, I was so happy to check it out.” The topic then turned to the show’s setting in Numazu (“a really great place,” both of them said), with the duo discussing the Love Live! Sunshine!! special summer-break event held earlier this summer and showing photos of the group dancing and showing off their summer-kimono wear.

With the anime series airing in Thailand simultaneously with the Japanese version, the pair was asked about which scene in the seven episodes broadcast so far left the deepest impression on them. Both of them brought up the part at the end of Episode 4, “Two Girls’ Feelings”, where Ruby tells Hanamaru that she wants to become a school idol. The audience cheered with delight when the video was played on the screen. As for the cutest scene for each member, Takatsuki replied it was the glimpses of Hanamaru’s youth seen in Episode 4 and elsewhere, while Furihata picked the part in Episode 6 where Ruby busts out her “ganba-Ruby” catchphrase for the first time, leading to another volley of “suu suu Ruby” from her for the local audience.

After that, it was time to give away some presents! Five lucky attendees won posters featuring signatures from all nine Aqours members, working the audience into a frenzy before everything wrapped up with a final goodbye and a professed desire to get the entire group together for a trip to Thailand next time.