Two years ago, Rashmika Mandanna became the first Indian actor invited to present at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, an annual awards show organised by the anime streaming giant to honour the very best in Japanese animation released during the previous year. The ceremony returned for its tenth anniversary celebration this year with presenters including The Weeknd, Winston Duke, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, and Thai K-pop stars BamBam and TEN. Last weekend, Rashmika joined that assorted roster of high-profile weebs, returning to present once more at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo.

As one of the most outspoken celebrity otakus from India, Rashmika’s return to Tokyo seems to centre on the nostalgia of fandom coming full circle. “Once upon a time, I opened up a random channel after a rough day and got hooked on to something like an anime — that was my very first introduction,” she says, remembering the years she spent watching anime on cable TV in India. “Getting the chance to meet the creators and witnessing the reason for the anime community to be what it is today was definitely something I never thought would be possible. I’m really grateful that it’s happening. It’s something very surreal and special, and I just feel like I’ve done something right”.

The anime fandom in India has always possessed a peculiar generational texture that people outside the country rarely understand. Long before Crunchyroll was ever a thing, anime circulated through 480p rips on YouTube, illicit cybercafe downloads, dubbed CDs from grey-market electronics stores, and inconsistent cable broadcasts. Japanese entertainment channel Animax was central to that nostalgic ecosystem through the 2000s because it introduced Indian otakus to shows such as Naruto: Shippuden, Death Note, Inuyasha, and Fullmetal Alchemist through badly timed cable TV runs that aired after school hours and late at night.

As someone who grew up around the fandom, I’ve seen anime occupy a very specific rung in the Indian social hierarchy. It was often that weird something that you absolutely did not mention out loud unless somebody else started first, since public admission of affection usually invited particularly pronounced looks of derision, and/or snarky remarks about “cartoons”.

Rashmika believes that the cultural mood has shifted. “I think the generation is a lot more comfortable with voicing out what we really like and what our interests are, and that’s a good start,” she says. “I’ve always been very vocal about loving anime because I pretty much grew up watching it. Everyone thinks it’s all just visual, but there’s also a lot of in-depth emotional storytelling and layering, and that’s what gets me hooked on watching something”.

The shonen classic Naruto: Shippuden was foundational to her attachment. “I feel like somewhere deep down, his [Naruto’s] characteristic trait of never giving up has somehow always been subconsciously embedded in me,” she says while discussing the series’ influence on her personality. “So it feels like never giving up has become my motto in life, and that’s why I’m able to do what I’m able to do today.”

Masashi Kishimoto’s long-running series followed the titular isolated teenager desperate for recognition within a society that viewed him as a burden. Unsurprisingly, it has resonated deeply with Indian audiences navigating academic pressures and social insecurity, but the emotional investment also came from the sheer duration of the storytelling itself — watching Naruto meant growing up alongside him. “It’s 400-500 episodes of world-building, of 25-30 minutes each, and that takes years for people to complete,” she says, explaining why the anime stayed with her for so long.

Rashmika’s fascination with the form also extends beyond the wonders of its storytelling. Asked whether anime changed the way she thinks about acting and expression, she immediately focuses on animation’s ability to externalise interior emotion. “In live-action, we’re portrayed how we are to be portrayed from a director’s lens. Whereas in animation, I feel like you witness and you understand exactly what they’re feeling,” she says. “Anime has the ability to make you feel like you have a stone in your throat. It can really make you feel emotional because of the small nuances that they’ve gotten right only through animation.”

Her observations feel especially revealing because her screen persona in Indian cinema has developed around expressive immediacy. Fans online routinely refer to her as the “expression queen,” a title she connects directly to anime’s visual grammar. “It’s crazy, but I feel like if someone from back home is calling me the ‘queen of expressions’, I think that comes from animation,” she explains.

The Anime Awards 2026 marks her third time in Japan, and Rashmika admits she keeps coming back because Japan remains “one of my top five” favourite places in the world. “I feel like what gets people falling in love with Tokyo is actually its people,” she says, trying to explain her attachment to the city. “There is so much respect in Japan that goes into the environment, into cleanliness. It’s ingrained into the people, and that’s what I feel makes us all fall in love with Tokyo or anywhere in Japan.” She chuckles about how often she now catches herself bowing and saying “arigato,” and hopes to do more “namestes” back home. “I think Indians and Japanese have a lot in common, because we’re all rooted and cultured.”

Rashmika presented the award for Best Animation, along with Hollywood actor Winston Duke, at this year’s ceremony. Though My Hero Academia won Anime of the Year for its final season, and Demon Slayer, Gachiakuta, and Solo Leveling dominated other categories, she keeps returning to the second season of The Apothecary Diaries as one of her favourites this year. The historical mystery series, which follows a young apothecary solving conspiracies inside imperial China’s rear palace of consorts, was also one of the night’s biggest winners, taking home awards for Best Drama, Best Main Character, and voice acting honours in both Japanese and Hindi. “I love it! It’s cute, it’s very informative, and I think it’s one of this year’s nominees that would genuinely surprise people,” she says.

When pressed for her recommendations, she describes Your Lie in April as “a sad story that was just really heartbreaking”. Her bigger obsession, though, seems to be sports anime. “Of all the other anime that I’ve watched, sports is the genre I think anime gets really right,” she says while rattling off titles like Haikyuu!!, Slam Dunk, Blue Lock, and The Prince of Tennis. Her latest mission: trying to convert her husband and fellow Telugu star Vijay Deverakonda into a weeb. “I have suggested Naruto: Shippuden, but I do feel like Jujutsu Kaisen might be a better option, or perhaps Haikyuu!! because he really loves playing volleyball. But I’ll get him there eventually.”