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Fantasia Bunko 2019 Festival Was a Battle Between Beautiful Women
posted on by Kim Morrissy
You may or may not be familiar with the Japanese expression Hyakka Ryōran (百花繚乱), which means "a hundred flowers blooming brilliantly." It's an expression used to refer to when beautiful women gather in one place and compete in their beauty.
This was the theme of Fantasia Bunko's fan appreciation festival on October 20: the heroines from various Fantasia Bunko light novels were displayed in public wearing beautiful traditional Japanese clothes, and fans were encouraged to vote for the most beautiful girl of all. On the second floor of the Akihabara Bellesalle, stands of the girls were all lined up in a row, inviting appreciation and comparisons.
In the lead up to the festival, Fantasia Bunko held a popularity contest among the fans to decide the fairest heroine of them all. The contest was sorted into two categories: "Greatest nadeshiko (woman who exemplifies traditional Japanese femininity)" and "Greatest warrior," each with 31 entrants. Due to how many light novel heroines are both powerful and beautiful, a number of girls were present in both categories. The final results were presented at the festival venue.
Date A Live's Kurumi Tokisaki won first place in the "greatest warrior" category, while Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Heroine's Megumi Katō won first place in the "greatest nadeshiko" category. Somehow, despite having no combat abilities to speak of, Megumi won second place in the "greatest warrior" category as well. Also, Kurumi won second place in the "greatest nadeshiko" category, too. Fitting for their resounding victories, both girls are getting a limited run of ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
After Kurumi and Megumi, Slayers heroine Lina Inverse was third in the "greatest warrior" category. In the "greatest nadeshiko" category, Kotori Itsuka from Date A Live secured the third spot. The full list of entrants in the contest can accessed at the Fantasia Bunko festival's website.
2019 marks the 31st anniversary for the light novel imprint. The imprint is owned by the Japanese publisher Fujimi Shobo, a brand company of Kadokawa.
