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The 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards might have been all about celebrating Japanese animation — but beauty and fashion did not take a backseat either, and Rashmika Mandanna is here to prove it.
One day before the Awards, Teen Vogue sat down with Mandanna backstage at the ceremony venue to chat about all things anime. Backstage, the star is visibly buzzing with excitement, partly because of the show and partly because this is her first time in Japan. “I have been wanting to come to Japan for the last… God knows how long,” she says. “Today is my first day in Japan, and I have little butterflies happening in my tummy, because I’m like, ‘Let me go see the anime there, the mangas and everything, the chaos, the love.’ It’s amazing.”
Despite a hectic schedule with rehearsals, fittings, and interviews, Mandanna made sure to schedule enough free time to go out and explore the Japanese capital — dedicating a block to just shopping for merch. “You don’t have a lot of access to [anime and manga merch] back home, and that is something I’m going to take back home quite a lot,” she says with a cheeky smile. “I literally want to buy a suitcase in Japan, put in all the anime stuff, and take it back home. I’ll have to pay a lot for extra luggage at the airport.”
As a fan of anime since 2004, being a presenter at this year’s ceremony was no small feat for Mandanna. “[Growing up,] I wasn’t much of a going-outside, playing-a-sport kind girl, so I was back home trying to watch content on TV,” she recalls. “ [One day] I came across Animax [and] that was a channel which sort of introduced me to anime. My first ever show was Naruto. I grew up watching Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.”
“I think anime had a huge influence on my being an actor,” she continues, referencing how animate she’s on-screen. “My fans keep saying that I have really expressive [faces] in my movies. In anime, I still love how every frame would have a different expression on the characters, and I think it had a massive influence on my career. So I’m actually telling you, it’s not even a joke. I literally grew up watching anime, and who I am today has a little anime influence.”
For any skeptics of the medium, Mandanna recommends Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Orange, and Your Lie in April as great starters. “I could not stop crying,” she says of the latter. “And even though you’re crying, you still want to go back and watch it again.”
Aside from anime talk aplenty, Teen Vogue was also present as Mandanna got ready in a beautiful custom Alberta Ferretti gown for the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Below, check out her visual diary from the day — and make sure to also check out even more behind-the-scenes tidbits on our socials.
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