The Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair 2017 (Kyomaf) took place on 16 and 17 September 2017 at Miyakomesse! MANGA.TOKYO was there and aside from a photo report in two parts we also went to some of the stages. One of them was the Mahojin Guru Guru stage. Enjoy the following report adventure!

Three main guests appeared at Kyomaf 2017 in Kyoto, 17 September 2017, 14:45 (JST).

We could hear their voices, but nobody was on stage. Our heroes then finally appeared. Nike, Kukuri, and Toma have made their way from Mahojin Guru Guru Episode 11 all the way to Kyoto, probably on their way to the next quest. They introduced themselves and then the stage darkened to show their matching glow-in-the-dark t-shirts (even I wanted to have one). You can see the design of the t-shirts in the picture! They then introduced the rest of the merchandise available and the opening segment ended.

Nike and Kukuri can’t stop flirting

The three adventurers were in-character most of the time. They called each other by the names of their characters and used the voices of the characters to do things. There was love in the air most of the time, as Nike and Kukuri could not stop being lovey-dovey. When Nike showed a more perverted side, Kukuri said, in the heat of the moment (and of her embarrassment), that she hated perverts. However, as they have had enough time to get to know each other on their adventures so far, Nike knew how to handle her perfectly well. He claimed that only honest girls are his type, to which Kukuri answered in lightning-speed that she liked Nike.

In another moment, Kukuri mentioned that recently Toma has had a few nice scenes in which he seemed even cooler than Nike. The hero couldn’t leave it at that and pressured Kukuri into adding shyly that she still liked Nike more.

Both of them were fondly aware of their flirting because when they talked about the radio show the two of them are hosting and Toma asked what they were doing on the radio (to which Nike cheekily answered that they were doing, well, radio! Duh!) Kukuri answered by saying that they were flirting. On the radio, they were flirting even more than on the stage event. Those who want to hear the two of them flirt with each other can try to tune in to Guru Guru Navigation – Guru Navi (Your character requires the skill ‘Japanese’ to be able to understand this program!).

Not only Kukuri was openly showing her love, Nike also showed fondness of the witch on stage. When she was screaming at him to stop doing something, he would answer her delightfully that this was exactly what he thought was cute about her, to which she could only answer by screaming more loudly that he should stop.

Suddenly, an invisible wall is surrounding the adventurers.

What happened there? Suddenly, they couldn’t walk out of a certain area on stage. Turns out they were surrounded by an invisible wall and could only escape by playing a word game. They began with the word ‘Guru Guru’ and since it ends with ‘ru’, the next word had to start with ‘ru’. The game would be over after they have used the words ‘Nike’ and ‘Kukuri’ in the game and they have to end it with ‘Toma’. Before they started the game, Nike was thinking about staying where they were. They had nice company (us, the audience) and there was no need to hurry. Only if they want to go and take a shi-

Cue Kukuri, screaming at Nike to stop talking. He tried again, but her angry, high-pitched scream kept us from hearing that he might have to use the toilet sooner or later. They started the game and thanks to the lovely help of the audience, the game was over sooner rather than later and the invisible wall disappeared…

The characters take a popularity poll

At some point, they talked about their favorite characters. Nike asked the female audience who they like better, Nike or…Kita Kita Oyaji. An easy choice as most of the audience voted for Nike (I cast my vote without hesitation for Kita Kita Oyaji). Then Toma was brave and asked if the audience like Toma or…Kita Kita Oyaji. Once again a rather easy choice, this time the whole audience voted and Toma won the vote. At this point, for a second it was Ishigami talking rather than Nike, because she mentioned she, of course, liked Nike best among all the characters, because it was her own, and because Nike and Kukuri were a package, she liked Kukuri as well.

The end is coming, prepare for departure

The weather on this day wasn’t particularly good because a typhoon was approaching and due to hit Kyoto later in the day. The three ladies thanked the audience for coming and urged them to please be careful returning home as the winds were getting stronger and stronger. In Japan, there is a phenomenon called hare-onna or hare-otoko (sunny girl/sunny boy). Those people will have good weather any time they go out, as opposed to ame-onna or ame-otoko (rain girl/rain boy). Ishigami started to ask the audience if there were many hare-otoko among them because maybe the typhoon would simply change direction, facing so many sunny people. It was worth a laugh and her voice acting to make the sounds of the typhoon suddenly turning directions were spot on. Two thumbs up!

At the end followed the regular information about the DVD release, the Gurunavi radio, and once again the information that Shoko Nakagawa would be singing the ending for the second half of the season. Nike, Kukuri, and Toma then took off to continue their adventure, on their way to be ready for the next episode of Mahojin Guru Guru. Episode 13 aired on 4 October, so if you haven’t watched it yet, go and take a look!