Anime Festival Asia returns to Indonesia for AFAID 2026. Now held at Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD, this year’s event remains as exciting as ever, with a jam-packed lineup of popular performing artists and guests.
One of the guests is veteran seiyuu Noriko Hidaka (Top wo Nerae!, Detective Conan, Ranma 1/2). This is her first visit to Indonesia, where she is invited to talk about the upcoming Detective Conan the Movie: Fallen Angel of the Highway.
However, the stage event wasn’t the only session Hidaka was here to attend, as AFAID also held a separate Meet & Greet session with fans. The Indonesian Anime Times was fortunate to be able to attend and report the session. Photography and videography were prohibited at the closed-room event. Fans were permitted to hand over gifts to the event staff to be given to the voice actress.
After everyone was seated, the meet & greet was opened by the MC, who invited the veteran voice actress to the stage, where she was welcomed by fans with enthusiastic applause.
Noriko Hidaka, also affectionately known as “Nonko” by her fans, then proceeded to greet the gathered crowd. She had previously gone on stage earlier in the day, dressed in stunning traditional Indonesian attire. She commented that the warm response from the fans felt like she hadn’t just come to the country for the first time, but rather it felt like she had already known the people here and was meeting them again.
The MC then proceeded with the Q&A part of the event. Questions were already prepared beforehand, with no questions taken from the audience. Hidaka also commented that she’d tried Indonesian food, including the spicy ones.
When asked what her vocal care routine was, Hidaka replied that she regularly uses a vocal steamer to take care of her vocal cords, even bringing it with her to Indonesia. She also likes to relax by watching movies, particularly Disney movies such as Toy Story.
She then started to talk about Detective Conan and her role as Masumi Sera, the upcoming movie being her return to the role after quite some time. One particularly amusing anecdote she shared earlier on stage during the day was how familiar the recording booth felt despite her long absence, as Detective Conan shares many voice actors with Ranma 1/2. She also noted how she’s voiced a wide range of character types in her long career, from young boys to older women, to even animal mascots. When asked which of her roles was the most challenging to perform, she answered with Yuki Tsukumo from Jujutsu Kaisen for recent roles, and Minami Asakura from Touch, as it was one of her first voice acting roles.
The event really began to kick off with the gathered fans’ excitement, as Hidaka asked the audience in return what works of hers they were familiar with. The room chimed in with a plethora of answers, ranging from Gunbuster, Inuyasha, to shows airing this season such as Draw This, Then Die!, to classics such as Ranma 1/2, Conan, and Touch. Hidaka was surprised to hear a fan mention the Super Sentai show Battle Fever J, which was her debut work as a live-action actress. She was also happy to hear a mention of Sakura Wars, to which she treated the audience to a live voice line introducing herself as the character Erica Fontaine, one of many memorable moments to come. It was a special treat for longtime fans, especially considering the event was held on August 15th, which happens to be the character’s birthday.
The crowd was then gathered for a group photo with the seiyuu, joining her in shouting the iconic “There’s only one truth!” line from Detective Conan. Afterwards, the autograph signing session part of the event began in earnest.
Fans lined up to receive an autograph board from Hidaka herself, seated on stage. Perhaps a testament to her long-running career, fans of all genders & ages attended the event, from younger fans who might know her as Masumi Sera, to fans of Little Witch Academia, to Gunbuster, with even parents and their children in attendance. There were even quite a few Japanese fans who attended as well.
The signing session became the most memorable part of the event, as fans had a chance to do small talk with Hidaka as she signed autographs. Fans chatted about their favourite anime as well as their favourite characters whom she voiced, and it became very clear that her fans were very passionate about her work. Some fans even cosplayed as her characters. One fan brought a 1/1 electronic replica of the Dominator gun from Psycho-Pass, yet another role voiced by Hidaka, and played a recorded voice line from the device to her amusement.
Another also talked about how they were a fan of Hidaka’s narration & navigation voice for Panasonic’s ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) device, something many car owners in Japan would be familiar with.
The excitement in the room became even more palpable as fans began to request that Hidaka perform voice lines from her iconic roles. Fans were treated to live one-liners from Inuyasha‘s Kikyo, Detective Conan‘s Masumi Sera, and even an “Inazuma Kick!” from Gunbuster‘s Noriko Takaya. The over-the-top responses from fans also contributed to the warm mood, and by the end of the day everyone in the room was laughing in joy, including Hidaka herself.
After the last fan received their autograph, the event closed with a round of applause and happy cheers. Afterwards, some fans would stay to exchange gifts and eagerly chat with one another. Hidaka exited the room to smiles and waving goodbyes from the audience for her first meet & greet in Indonesia, but hopefully not the last.
The Indonesian Anime Times ┃ Event report by CES
