Bunka Housou Extend held the first-ever BUSTAFELLOWS standalone event, BUSTAFELLOWS PROM, on July 5, 2026, at Nakano ZERO Main Hall in Tokyo.
The event featured appearances from the game’s complete main cast:
- Yui Kondo (as Teuta)
- KENN (as Limbo)
- Yoshimasa Hosoya (as Shu)
- Hiroyuki Yoshino (as Helvetica)
- Jun Fukuyama (as Mozu)
- Yusuke Shirai (as Scarecrow)
Split into daytime and evening performances, the event consisted of two main segments: The “Prom Awards,” which involved the audience’s participation, and an original live reading drama written exclusively for the event.
Author’s Note: I have only watched the evening performance via livestream, so the impressions shared in this article pertain solely to the evening show.
PROM AWARDS
The first half featured fan participation, with players and audience voting on “which part of the game they considered the most brutal” (or I guess you could say the most infamous aspects in BUSTAFELLOWS). The cast then played a guessing game how fans had ranked each answer before the results were revealed.
It was quite entertaining to see how players overwhelmingly agreed that the game’s bad endings were by far the most brutal and heartbreaking aspect of BUSTAFELLOWS. The full fan ranking was as follows:
1st: “The bad endings are brutal.”
2nd: “Side characters don’t have romance routes.”
3rd: “Voice actors have it rough.”
The second-rank result (Side characters not having romance routes) was easy to understand, with a lot of fans expressing their desire to see beloved supporting characters such as Adam and Yang receive romance routes of their own. I myself would love to see a Guero route, honestly!🤭
Another answer I wholeheartedly agreed with was that the “Voice actors have it rough” when recording their lines. To illustrate the point, the show even replayed one of the most infamous scenes from Helvetica’s route in BUSTAFELLOWS Season 2. (If you’ve played the sequel… you probably know exactly which scene I’m talking about). The clip showcased one of Hiroyuki Yoshino’s most emotionally demanding performances, prompting the cast to applaud just how much he went all out into the role.
Personally, that scene alone cemented BUSTAFELLOWS Season 2 as absolute PEAK CINEMA for me. Helvetica’s route remains one of my favs to this day, and it’s something I’ve probably mentioned more than once in my Bustafellows Season 2 Review.
The event also highlighted another reason why voice acting can be incredibly challenging for our VAs; and that is, performing dialogue in foreign languages. They replayed scenes of Helvetica speaking Spanish and Limbo speaking French, which led to another entertaining discussion among the cast. Hiroyuki Yoshino (Helvetica) praised KENN (Limbo) for his French pronunciation before joking that, when he once had to speak French (I’m assuming for another role in another project), he had to do countless retakes and kept telling himself, “I’m never doing this again!” 🤣🤣🤣
I had to laugh as this was one of the funniest moments during their playful discussion on stage, and you could tell he genuinely admired how naturally KENN pulled off his lines!
ORIGINAL LIVE READING DRAMA
The second half of the event featured an original live reading drama written exclusively for BUSTAFELLOWS PROM. Going into it, I was actually surprised that it wasn’t the usual lighthearted comedy skit you normally see at voice actor live reading events. Instead, it played out like a fully produced audio drama. The story took a much more serious approach and stayed true to the dramatic tone that BUSTAFELLOWS is known for.
Another thing that also stood out to me was how differently the reading was presented. Unlike most live readings I’ve watched in the past, where the performers on stage voice every character in the script, this production included numerous supporting and background characters who appeared throughout the story. There were even times when the main cast remained completely silent while the focus shifted to conversations between the supporting characters. It actually made the entire experience feel much more cinematic, if you ask me!
At first, I assumed all of the supporting characters’ dialogue had been pre-recorded before the event. To my surprise, however, the additional voice actors were actually LIVE PERFORMING backstage the entire time before eventually joining the main cast on stage. It was an incredibly ambitious production choice that elevated the reading far beyond what I was expecting!
To add to that, I also loved seeing supporting characters like Luka get their moments in the spotlight. It was such a pleasant surprise to finally see her voice actress, Mai Nishikawa, perform live. And she looked absolutely stunning in her dress too!
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The show was fantastic! I had plenty of laughs throughout the event, but I was also generally in awe of the cast’s performances. I legit love it when the cast just have this natural chemistry between everyone on stage. They were clearly having as much fun as the audience, and their energy made the entire event very much enjoyable to watch.
I only watched the evening performance via livestream, which unfortunately did not include English subtitles. I can certainly understand how this may have made it more difficult for overseas fans to fully immerse themselves, especially during the live reading drama.
As a disclaimer, I’m not 100% fluent in Japanese (roughly N3 level), so there were definitely times where I struggled to catch every line during the Live reading segment.
Unfortunately, there were no new announcements for BUSTAFELLOWS. However, producer Minetaka did leave a very nice heartwarming message thanking fans around the world for their continued love and support of the series. You can find their social media post below:
Overall, I thought BUSTAFELLOWS PROM was a success, and I had an amazing time watching it even though it’s through livestreaming only. By the end, I couldn’t help but think, It’d be even cooler if I was there in person! (Plus I’d be able to get my hands on all the event-exclusive BUSTAFELLOWS merchies.)😭 The new merch is available for mail orders, though, so no biggie on that front!
If you missed BUSTAFELLOWS PROM, the archived stream is still available for purchase and viewing through EXtend’s official website. The archived stream will remain available until August 9, 2026, so be sure to watch it while you still can!
ADDITIONAL GOODIES: “FLUFFYFELLOWS”
In addition to the event, EXtend has also released a new line of BUSTAFELLOWS plush merchandise called FLUFFYFELLOWS.
These adorable bear plush keychains are designed to resemble each of the main characters from BUSTAFELLOWS. While they were available for purchase during the live event, they can also be ordered online through the BUSTAFELLOWS official online store!
For more news about the BUSTAFELLOWS PROM event, as well as future updates on the beloved otome game BUSTAFELLOWS, be sure to follow the game’s official social media channel here.
Disclaimer: This article was published with the approval of the publishers, EXtend. All BUSTAFELLOWS PROM Event photos used in this article were provided by EXtend and are used with permission.
Otome Kitten 