Rashmika Mandanna: ‘Naruto’ was my first introduction to Anime

MUMBAI: Actress Rashmika Mandanna revealed that ‘Naruto’ was her first introduction to Anime and that she was 12, when she got close to the genre.

Rashmika took to her YouTuber channel, where she was seen talking about her love for Anime. The actress talked about the genre in her vanity van, while she was getting her hair and make-up done to dress up as an Anime character.

Talking about when she was first introduced to the genre, Rashmika recalled: “That was that one year in my schooling that I was a day boarder. When I used to come back home I did not have friends in my neighborhood to play with… So, I remember going back to my room and sitting and watching TV.”

The “Animal” actress shared that she used to really enjoy watching “Dragon Ball Z” and “Pokemon” at that time.

“So, when I was changing the channel I found Animax and it was the time they were playing ‘Naruto’. So, Naruto was my first introduction to anime. Cut to I watched season 1 I think and on TV then they stopped.”

After it stopped airing on television, the actress did her research and watched over 600 episodes of “Naruto,” a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto.

It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village.

“I started googling about it and I read about it and I found a website which had all the episodes and they were some 600-800 episodes,” she added.

Asked how old she was, when her tryst with Anime began: “I was around 12 or 13 years old when I first got close to anime.”

The actress revealed that she has watched over “40 +” Anime series and that she has watched over “25-30 episodes” in just one sitting.