Voice Actors Natsuki Hanae & Hiro Shimono Talk About Meeting Fans on Demon Slayer World Tour
by Richard Eisenbeis,
Taking place across 140 countries and regions, the Demon Slayer World Tour allowed fans to get a theatrical sneak preview of the upcoming Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc anime (that's set to premiere this coming May).
Also part of the World Tour was a series of special screenings held in 10 cities across 10 countries where members of the Japanese cast were flown in to do a special stage show and meet foreign fans. Hanae went to five of them.
“I started with New York, then went to Singapore, Jakarta, Paris, London.”
Hanae often found himself encountering fans and was surprised by their fervor.
“As you may have guessed, even outside of Japan, Demon Slayer is popular. Every fan is super pumped up about it. It was amazing.”
However, while Shimono only went to the New York event, it left a big impression on him.
“In between events, we—Hanae and me—went to meet and greet some of the fans. However, we were less popular than the costume mascots of our characters. Like, we were told, 'Excuse me, I'm taking pictures of the mascots right now. Give me a minute.'”
Yet, even this left Hanae with a deeper appreciation for foreign fans.
“Because of experiences like that, I feel that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba itself is loved in many different ways—be that the characters themselves or the voice actors like us.”
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc will begin airing in Japan with a one-hour special on May 12, 2024.
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