NKDS

Just moments before the Q&A. The crowd awaits in silence, eagerly waiting.

“Chihara…”
“Minori…”
“Chihara”
“Minori”
“CHIHARA”
“MINORI”
“MINORIN!”
“MINORIN!!!”
“M I N O R I N ! ! !”
And it all begins.

Minori Chihara, making her first appearance here in Malaysia, KL, Daicon 2009, Day 1. Walking down the isle towards the stage, the fans all stood up, and chanted her name until she reached the sofa.

Silence and then…

「。。。　今日は！　茅原実里です！」

Everyone went crazy and a short photo-taking session began. The Q&A happened right after that.

Q: What’s the best and worst thing about performing out of Japan?
A: The best thing about it is to be able to bring smiles to my fans out there and to bring then smiles. As for the bad thing, I guess it’s the lack of sleep that I get due to the tight schedules that I have.

Q: After this event, do you intend to come back to Malaysia again?
A: I would love to if there’s another event! It’s my first time here in Malaysia and I’ve tried the nice foods and had lots of fun while I’m here. I would even come back here for my own private holiday.

Q: What’s the hardest role for you up to date and would you care to tell us why?
A: It’s probably Nagato Yuki from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. It’s because I usually do roles of happy and out-going characters but as for Nagato Yuki, she’s a moodless character, which was something I rarely do and it was rather hard for me. And during that time, I’ll stay back after work just to practice even if the dialogues is only a few words. I’ll do my best and work hard!

Q: Which role do you think represents you the most?
A: Shirakawa Nanaka from D.C II! She’s lively, loves singing, hardest and is always being herself.

Q: Any role models that you look up to?
A: In the seiyuu aspect, it’ll be Hisakawa Aya. During my debut as Natsume Aya, she took good care of me and I really look up to her. She’s like an elder sister to me. In the singers aspect, it’s Yutaka Ozaki because he can express himself very well.

Q: What do you think about the food here?
A: I love the curry here. And sambal udang (sambal prawns)!

Q: How did you start off being a seiyuu?
A: I started off by enrolling in a music school, learning singing. During my time there, I got recommended to take up seiyuu roles due to my character and thus I went to a seiyuu school. After working hard, it paid off and I eventually debuted in Tenjou Tenge just like that! And it all began from there.

Q: What’s your most funny/interesting moments as a seiyuu?
A: During one of the recording session as Nagato Yuki with Tomokazu Sugita. We were doing our recording when suddenly, he added his own dialogue out of nowhere and from there, we just continued and had lots of fun as we played along with each other.

We all then had our autograph sessions. I had a nice time havin a short chat with her as she signed onto the Contact Silver Edition CD that I got (Love the addition of the hearts too! xD).  Hats off to one of the fans out there who bought her a Baju Kurung too. Perhaps we can see her blog about it.

After everyone was done getting the autographs, she said her final piece.

「マレーシアは最強！このバカ野郎！！！」