After paying a visit to Tobu zoo to see the penguin who fell in love with her character, seiyuu Ikuko Chikuta finally met Grape-kun face-to-face. The seiyuu even got the honor to hold her #1 fan! And Grape-kun be like… “Now I have both my 2D waifu and her seiyuu at the same time!”

Ikuta, who voiced Humboldt Pengun, AKA Hululu, in Kemono Friends, also served as the zoo’s special guest. She appeared in an exclusive talk event titled “Yamada-oniichan’s Penguin Talk”, which tackles the life of Humbolt Penguins. This will be the first of two talks about the penguin species, which focuses on Grape-kun in particular. It talks about the Humboldt Penguin’s ecology, as well as how Grape-kun became an internet sensation.

And Ikuko Chikuta doesn’t just voice Hululu in the TV anime, but will also play her character in the upcoming Kemono Friends live-action stage play. The Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo will host the play from 14th – 18th July. It will also feature the other seiyuu from the anime reprising their respective roles in live-action.

Ikuta is also one of the singers for the Kemono Friends TV anime’s OP song. In other words, she’s really Grape-kun’s dream girl. We’re so happy for you Grape-kun because you’re living the dream!

source: Ikuko Chikuta twitter page


And speaking of Kemono Friends, it (predictably?) gets its own adult parody by AV studio Total Media Agency (TMA). At least the girls had… fun?

It was only a matter of time — I’m just surprised they actually did it!