Granblue Fantasy is a hit mobile RPG developed by Cygames first released in Japan in March 2014, and recentlyported in English for the international market. The game is best known for bringing together composer Nobuo Uematsu, art director Hideo Minaba, and voice actor Hiraki Hirata, who worked together on the Final Fantasy series.

Initially announced at Tokyo Game Show in 2015, Granblue Fantasy’s anime television series is finally hitting screens in 2017. To ramp up the excitement even more for the already excited fans, Granblue Fantasy held a special event at AnimeJapan 2017’s Red Stage. Granblue Phantasy Stage begin with screening of the upcoming anime’s trailer, followed by the introduction of the voice actors.

In attendance were:

Yuuki Ono as Gran
Nao Touyama as Lyria
Rie Kugimiya as Vyrn
Hiroaki Hirata as Rackam
Emily Katou as Siero Karte
Kanemoto Hisako as Djeeta

The characters then played a game where they took turns selecting what special footage they would like to screen for the audience. Some of the selected features included Gran’s first battle, Lyria’s relief over Gran surviving a battle wound, and Vyrn trying to reject an offer of her favourite apples.

The cast also took turns creating their own official Granblue Fantasy merchandise that they would like to see created and sold for fans. Some of the suggestions incude a Vyrn Matryoshka doll, jelly beans shaped like Vyrn, Lyria’s chest piece for cosplay use, a Lyria notebook or smartphone cover, Granblue Fantasy official glasses, a Siero Karte plush toy, and beach sandals (which elicited laughter from the audience).

Kanemoto Hisako, who plays Djeeta said that instead of creating character merchandise for her character, she simply wants to appear in the anime — as up to that point she has only appeared in the games. Much to her surprise, it was announced onstage that she will be appearing in the anime, much to her surprise and the delight of the crowd. Overall, it was a great afternoon for Granblue Fantasy fans, and the cast got to see their supporters up close.

With additional reporting by Akibatan.