Aquaria is drag royalty. The drag queen, performer, makeup artist, and model sky-rocketed to fame in 2018 after competing and eventually winning the 10th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
They also love anime, having professed their love for shows like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, and even cosplaying as Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Naturally, Aquaria was one of several dozen celebrities to walk the orange carpet of this year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
Polygon had the opportunity to catch up with Aquaria during the event, where we asked them about the anime inspirations behind their fashion sense, their formative anime experiences growing up, and most importantly, which anime character in their opinion would have the best chance of winning RuPaul’s Drag Race? The answer: Team Rocket’s James from Pokémon, duh!
“Obviously James from Team Rocket in Pokémon,” Aquaria told Polygon. “I feel like every episode she has to get into quick drag to go snatch some Pikachu [or other Pokémon]. Her drag is always creative and unique and very nerve-giving and really talented.”
This year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards was a star-studded event, featuring appearances from the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Dallas Cowboys Football star DeMarcus Lawrence, The Marvels’ Iman Vellani, and more.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 won over 11 awards in total, including anime of the year, breaking My Hero Academia’s record of eight wins in 2018. More than 34 million votes were cast for this year’s nominees, but the most important vote of all was Aquaria’s for James. Team Rocket is blasting off again!