Honey’s Anime was recently invited to a mid-season screening of Episode 12 of Enmusubi no Youko-chan [Fox Spirit Matchmaker] courtesy of our friends at Studio Emon. At the event, we were greeted by Tang Yunkang, a producer of Studio Emon, a wonderful emcee, cheerful staff, and there was an announcement that this screening and seiyuu event would be different, so we hunkered down with some snacks, a water bottle, and a notepad, and we dove in.

When It Started

In case you have been living under a rock, the story of Enmusubi no Youko-chan is as follows:

In a world where Spirits and Humans coexist and can fall in love with each other, due to the Spirits’ life expectancy, being far superior to the Human’s one, can only see their loved one dying before them.
Even when that human is reborn, the previous memories of his past life are erased from his memory. However, it is said among Spirits that a certain “service” is spreading. This “service” is provided by the “Fox Spirit Matchmakers” who can revive the lost memories of their former lover.

When the Spirits lose their lover, they can purchase the “service” of the “Fox Spirit Matchmakers” so that they can attempt to regain their former lover's memories and start over with a new love story.

This story follows a young Fox Spirit Matchmaker who tries her best to restore lost memories and spread love.

The series began airing in Japan July 1st, but it was originally produced in China a few years ago and while the beginning was okay, the series has since exploded in popularity leading to multiple seasons and arcs being developed.

Basic Info

What Happened:

We were all warmly greeted by the staff and introduced to the room. Honey-chan found it odd that our seats were numbered, but she shrugged and assumed that it must have been for security purposes.

At seven sharp, the lights went down and we were treated to a PV screening for the series. All of a sudden after that, the lights went up, and in walked the seiyuu Kana Asumi, Hisako Kanemoto, and Erina Inoue.

They greeted everyone very graciously and when they asked if everyone was having fun, Bee-kun was screaming the loudest to get closer to Kana Asumi. It is then revealed that that PV we saw was teasing the new arc that is slated to start later this month. They then expressed how interesting it is to voice a series that has already been animated and match up the timing with voicing and character movements. You see, in Japan, voices are recorded, and then the anime is made. However, since Fox Spirit Matchmaker has already been made and created, they had to work harder than normal to record themselves. However, it was a lot of fun and they all expressed that it was something out of the ordinary that brought a new challenge to themselves as a seiyuu. The biggest thing to take away was they had to read the lines in Japanese, see the scenes, and then carefully figure out the best way to lend their voices to the characters.

Then it came time to talk about their favorite scenes. They each picked scenes from different episodes and then talk about how, in one way or another, they found it funny, unique, inspiring, or all three.

Then, it was time for something unique to a seiyuu event. It was time for a quiz! Professor Yayoi Kitamura of Kyouritsu Women’s University Liberal Arts Department came in to assist with questions. The medium, of course, was about Chinese culture and Chinese culture in relation to Japan. Surprisingly, for two countries that are side-by-side, not much is known about China. Even when the audience was polled, very few people knew of events and culture connected to China. Either way though, the seiyuu had a bunch of fun answering all of the questions. The topics ranged from fruit snacks in China, to the significance of authors and literary works from China and their influence on Japan.

The one question that rustled everyone’s feathers including all of the female seiyuu, was when they were asked “What holiday is a holiday in China where men give gifts to women?” The answers were:

• A. 2/14
• B. 5/20
• C. 7/7 or Tanabata in Japan
• D. All of the above.

Because the seiyuu had guessed “All of the above” on a previous question and had gotten it right, they were suspicious. They tried to get 6,000,000 hints (no not really, but they sure tried. It was really funny) before finally selecting an answer after being told that 5/20 is a holiday in China, just you are expected to go to work that day. It was then revealed that the numbers, sound a lot like “I love you” in Chinese and therefore, young people have made their own holiday in conjunction with all of the other ones that are already celebrated. All of the seiyuu were shell-shocked and immediately started exclaiming “China is a good country!” “We should visit China!” “China is a really good country!” over and over causing the audience to burst into laughter.

Finally, it was announced that an advance screening of episode 12 was going to be shown first to all of the guests gathered there today. We hunkered down with our snacks and watched it. If you would have asked Honey-chan what the series was like after episode 1 and now, after episode 12, she would exclaim that there has been massive development and improvement overall for the entire series. Many characters have come and become very interesting and well-rounded. A must watch this Summer and Fall for sure.

Finally, the seiyuu came back in one more time and it was announced that a lottery was going to be held. Three winners, chosen by their seat numbers, would get a signed poster from all of the seiyuu for the event for Fox Spirit Matchmaker. Bee-kun was beside himself with excitement, but was crestfallen when he did not win. Aww, there is always next time buddy.