Voice actress Manaka Iwami announced her marriage to a man outside of the industry and the birth of her first child on her official radio program on Tuesday.

“It’s been a while, everyone. This is Manaka Iwami. I’d like to take a moment at the beginning of the program to share something important with all of you who have supported me. This is a personal matter, but I have gotten married and given birth to my first child. My partner is not affiliated with the entertainment industry,” she said during the broadcast of Manaka Iwami no Radio Tekuteku.

In her written message, Iwami also expressed her gratitude to those who supported her throughout her pregnancy and childbirth, writing, “This is a personal matter, but I am pleased to announce that I have gotten married and given birth to my first child. As this was my first experience, I had some concerns, so I decided to make this announcement only after I had safely given birth and confirmed that both my child and I were doing well.”

She continued by apologizing to those involved in her work for the inconvenience caused by her pregnancy and childbirth, while expressing her appreciation for their support. “The presence of all of you who enjoy the works I am involved in and, thankfully, support me as well is an irreplaceable treasure in my life. Thank you so much, always,” she wrote.

Iwami graduated from the Pro-Fit Voice Actor Training School and began her voice acting career in 2016 under Pro-Fit. She made her first leading role appearance as Maquia in the Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou. In 2019, she received the Best New Actress Award at the 13th Seiyuu Awards. In April 2022, following the closure of Pro-Fit’s management division, she transferred to the agency Raccoon Dog. In March 2024, she received the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 18th Seiyuu Awards, following recognition for her performances as Akane Kurokawa in [Oshi no Ko].

Iwami is best known for her roles as Tohru Honda in Fruits Basket, Rice Shower in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, Mahiru Shiina in Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken, Umi Asanagi in Class de 2-banme ni Kawaii Onnanoko to Tomodachi ni Natta, Reirin Kou in Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den, and Euphyllia Magenta in Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei.

Manaka Iwami official X: @_manaka_430

Source: Oricon News

TOHO animation began streaming a character trailer for The Apothecary Diaries: The Late Lady’s Treasure (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Bо̄hi no Hihо̄), the upcoming anime film based on Hyuganatsu and Touko Shino‘s The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) light novel series, on Tuesday. The trailer highlights the Kajadan river pirates, and reveals the cast members for the group’s leaders.

The newly announced cast members are (Note: Character name Romanizations are not official):

Kenshō Ono as Suija, the current head of the Kajadan, who searches for his late father Kaja’s hidden treasure

Ryōta Takeuchi as Eishō, Suija’s loyal subordinate 

Jirō Saitō as Kaja, the former leader of the Kajadan who died a year ago, and left behind a hidden treasure

The film’s website also presented a visual for Seisei, Suija’s older sister and Kaja’s daughter. Though the trailer also features the character, it did not announce her voice cast member.

TOHO animation will present one more character video tomorrow for Ruo Qing and Yi Shan (both name romanizations not confirmed).

The story follows Maomao and Jinshi as they travel to the hometown of a concubine who died five years ago in the imperial harem, to return her remains to her homeland. There, they encounter pirates, hidden treasures, the secret of the Empress’ remains, and a mysterious boy who holds the key to the story.

The film will open in theaters in Japan on December 11 and feature a brand-new story by the original novel series’ author Hyuganatsu. Mariya Ise joins the cast as key character and Bi clan son Mu Qing. Nobuo Tobita plays Bi clan head Birō. Kumiko Watanabe plays Birō’s wife Shūu. Hirofumi Nojima plays the Bi clan’s eldest son Bisen (all name romanizations not confirmed). 

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday it has acquired the North American and worldwide rights (excluding Asia but including India) to the film. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will announce the release date at a later time.

The third television anime season premiered on October 2 at 11:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. EDT) in the “Friday Anime Night” programming block on NTV and 29 affiliated channels for its first cours (quarter of a year), and its second cours will premiere in April 2027.

The anime’s first season premiered in October 2023 with the first three episodes, and aired for two cours. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan and is also streaming an English dub.

The second anime season premiered in January 2025 on Nippon TV‘s FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT programming block, and aired for two consecutive cours
. Crunchyroll is streaming the second season, and it is also streaming an English dub.

J-Novel Club publishes the novel series digitally, and it describes the story:

In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.

Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort… so she can taste the lady’s food for poison!

Hyuganatsu began serializing the story on the “Shōsetsuka ni Narō” (Let’s Become Novelists) website in October 2011. Shufunotomo began publishing the novels in print volume with illustrations by Shino in August 2014. Nekokurage launched an ongoing manga adaptation in Square Enix‘s Monthly Big Gangan magazine in May 2017. Square Enix Manga & Books is releasing the manga adaptation in English. The company is also publishing the novels in print. Viz Media is releasing Minoji Kurata‘s separate manga adaptation titled The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace.

Sources: Apothecary Diaries anime’s website, Comic Natalie

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.

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