Monthly Archives: August 2014

SS1422 #84 (2014.08.24)

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Summer activities left undone

Today’s radio show begins with a discussion with Oden-kun (Takechan’s alternate nickname, based on her resemblance to the cartoon character). Kananan asks Oden-kun if she still has anything left she wants to do before summer is over, and she mentions the famous Oden Village Race, in which all of the members of the Oden Village gather together and do sports. Summer is especially hot in Oden Village because it’s oden but they might not have enough people in winter to do a race so it has to be in summer.

おでんくんTakeOden

 

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SS1422 #83 (2014.08.17)

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Summer is almost over, so Takechan and Kananan reflect on their summertime memories.  Kananan says that going to Odaiba with Takechan is a particularly summer-y memory for her, since they usually go every year. Takechan says she wants to keep going together even when they’re old because it’s so much fun, while Kananan mentions that they were even talking about going together earlier that day before recording, although they haven’t been able to go yet this year. Too many concerts, not enough free time in between. Takechan says they have until the 31st of August so they’ll try to go before then to keep up their summer tradition.

Takechan brings up the announcement Berryz Koubou made at the Hello!Pro Concert at Nakano Sun Plaza on August 2 regarding their indefinite hiatus beginning next spring. Kananan says that she first heard about it from the staff members and had no idea what that meant at first, but then when they went to rehearsals for the concert afterwards, she saw the faces of the Berryz members and was able to understand the situation better. Kananan recalls the stage play Warera Jeanne ~Shoujo Seisen Kageki~ that S/mileage and Berryz did together in which she and Sudou Maasa were cast in the same two roles. She and Maasa spent a lot of time together so it makes her feel sad to think that she won’t be able to speak to her much anymore after spring. Takechan remembers that she sang Fighting Pose wa Date ja nai! for the first round of judging when she first auditioned for H!P Egg (even though she failed that time as a first-grader) and Berryz have always looked great performing that song. The S/mileage 2nd gen members were all scared of Berryz at first, but since they performed Warera Jeanne together they’ve gotten along very well. Takechan hopes that they all lead very fulfilling lives after this.

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SS1422 #82 (2014.08.10)

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Kananan and Meimei begin by talking briefly about several subjects including the Obon festival in Japan, their upcoming tour FULL CHARGE and the places they’re most looking forward to visiting on it (Meimei: Okinawa, Kananan: Wakayama) as well as recommended souvenirs — Kananan recommends the two Osakan delicacies takopatie (takoyaki sweets) and butaman (pork buns) from a store called 551 Horai, whereas for souvenirs from Gunma, Meimei recommends Shichifukujin arare (a brand of rice crackers that come in several flavors).

Song: S/mileage – Aa Susukino

Nakanicinema Paradise
Nakanishi Kana talks about movies

Kananan starts the corner this week by reading a letter.

Fan letter: The listener says they watched the movie Usagi Drop thanks to Kananan previously introducing and reviewing it on this corner. They call it a wonderful film and say it made them feel all warm and fluffy inside. They say they’re looking forward to more movie recommendations by Kananan, and request that she do The Grand Budapest Hotel next. (Kananan also touched briefly on this film when she was a guest on LoVendoЯ no Love-On! #59.)

Thus, Kananan does as requested and starts reviewing The Grand Budapest Hotel. Kananan says she went to see this film with Fukuda-san, and explains that it’s about a high-class European hotel called the Grand Budapest Hotel. A murder occurs (Meimei: “*gasp!*“), and the protagonist who is a concierge at the hotel is suspected of committing it. The story follows him and a lobby boy who also works at the hotel as they try to find the truth behind the murder.

Nakanishi talks about how Western films are sometimes considered difficult to understand by Japanese audiences — Kananan mentions how she’d previously asked Take-chan to watch one with her, but she was reluctant since she hasn’t watched many. (Meimei, on the other hand, says she thinks they’re interesting.) Kananan says she recommends this film especially for people like that since she finds it so comical and cute, and because it’s about human relationships. The film shows you how even complete strangers can with time become as close as family. She says that all ages will find things to enjoy in this film: it’ll make the older audiences think, whereas the kids will be able to enjoy its cute visuals.

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BZS1422 #108 (2014.08.10) (guest: Fukuda Kanon)

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The two begin the show by repeating their hiatus announcement.

Chii asks Kumai-san how it was announcing the news live in front of their fans. Kumai-san says that above all, she just felt very restless before the announcement. Since it was the first time in her life experiencing something like it, she didn’t know what to feel. She apologizes for surprising their fans but says that she hopes to do her very best until their hiatus.

Chii says that she’d never felt anything quite like the venue that day — normally when someone would say “we have an announcement regarding Berryz Koubou,” people would just go “eeeeh?!” or something, but this time it felt like everything just went dead quiet. Chii notes that there is still time until next spring and she hopes to make lots of fun memories with their fans until then.

The two of them ask once more for everyone’s support.

FUKUDA KANON FANGIRLING OVER KUMAI YURINA AND BERRYZ KOUBOU BEGINS

Chii introduces their guest this week as “probably the world’s number one most eager person to be a guest on this show.” Perhaps mirroring the lyrics to “Futsuu, Idol 10nen Yatterannai Desho!?”, Kanon introduces herself as someone who “devoted her entire youth to Berryz Koubou” — looking back, she explains she’s been a fan of Berryz Koubou ever since her early teens. Chii points out that their guest’s face is all red with embarrassment. Kumai-san calling Kanon cute for this probably doesn’t help in making it any less red, and Kanon asks her not to look.

Chii asks Kanon how it is to finally have made it as a guest on the show. She talks about how last time when Wada-chan and Takeuchi-chan came on as guests on the show, she herself was actually busy doing an event where she was talking about Berryz Koubou in front of fans, so she’s happy she could make it on the show this time. Kumai-san says she actually received a message on LINE from Kanon that day, apologizing that she couldn’t come.

Chii talks about how, working as the “Berryz PR Ambassador,” Kanon did an episode of SS1422 on March 2nd where she spent 30 minutes just talking about Berryz Koubou. Kumai-san and  Chii wonder if there’s even that much to talk about Berryz to begin with, but Kanon assures them that 30 minutes isn’t even nearly enough. Kumai-san says she couldn’t possibly talk about Berryz for 30 minutes straight, but more than that she finds it funny that Kanon would talk solely about Berryz on a S/mileage radio show.

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LoVendoЯ no Love-On! #59 (2014.08.16) (guests: Nakanishi Kana & Takeuchi Akari)

Henkka: This summary was contributed by Krv who may or may not also do episode #60 — do leave a comment to pressure and shame this good man into translating more of this show for us.

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It’s Damn Hot!

Reina asks the others what they do to stop themselves from feeling the heat. Yuki says that she just eats ice cream or stands by the cooler, whereas Marina goes outside simply because it is hot. She goes fishing, watching baseball, and racks up a pretty impressive tan. Yuki points out that if Marina and Reina stood next to each other they’d provide a nice contrast.

Marina wonders how evenly spread her tan should be, because her legs and face aren’t tanned at all. She asks Reina if she has any advice. She doesn’t.

S/mileage Members Introductions

Takeuchi Akari and Nakanishi Kana are guests on the show. It’s the first time Marina has met Kana. She already calls Akari Takechan, but wants to know what she should call Kana. Kana tells her to call her Kananan.

S/mileage promote their new single

Kana: Susukino is about a town in Hokkaido. It’s called Susukino. It’s really sad. Lyrically it’s a new kind of song for S/mileage.
Reina: The lyrics are sad too?
Takechan: Indeed, there’s a fight between lovers and the girlfriend jumps off to Susukino kind of thing.
Everyone: Eh? Jumps off?
Kana: They were supposed to go together…
Reina: Jumping off? Like diving?
Marina: What kind of situation is that?
Reina: I’m gonna jump! BAM!

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Nakajima Saki no °C-ute na Jikan #136 (2014.08.09)

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Answering Kudo Haruka’s question posed at the end of Morning Jogakuin #123, she says that no, she has no immediate plans to cut her hair short. Her life plan does include doing so at one point however, and that’s just before she gives birth. This is because she’s heard several models talking about how after giving birth, you care less about your looks and so forth. Nacky’s the type who can’t go to sleep before drying her hair, and having short hair would make that easier. But for as long as she remains in H!P, she says, she is going to keep her hair long. “Sorry, Oda-chan!

Talking about the ongoing Hello! Concerts, she says she has a habit of dancing harder than usual at them to try and appeal to the audience more since she doesn’t get to be on stage as much as at °C-ute’s concerts. But especially after seeing herself overdoing it a bit in the H!P Countdown concert footage, she’s decided on this tour to try and dance just how she normally would. She says that the KOREZO pattern has a segment in it where she gets to do lots of energetic dancing in succession anyhow, whereas the YAPPARI pattern lets her have lots of eye contact with her juniors which she’s also happy about — she’s previously talked about how she’s very bad at getting to know her juniors.

Commenting on the topic of Berryz Koubou announcing their indefinite hiatus, Nacky says she heard the news from Berryz themselves on the day of the concert when they came into °C-ute’s dressing room and announced it to them.

Nacky says she just went speechless at first as she could’ve never even imagined it, but now that some time has passed, she says that while she does feel lonely, she also felt how mature they all are and wishes them all to do their best to be happy as they move on to their various paths in life.

Even though they only very rarely cry, seeing the members of Berryz all in tears when making the announcement on stage made Nacky think they must’ve really thought it through amongst themselves before arriving at their decision. But on the very next day, she could hear Berryz in the dressing room next to theirs, being back to their usual lively selves. This made her glad, and she thinks Berryz are going to treasure each day even more than usual now as they head towards their hiatus.

She hopes the two groups will continue being a motivation to each other until next Spring, and after their paths separate, she says she’s going to keep supporting the members of Berryz Koubou and hopes that the fans will, too.

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Morning Musume ’14 no Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~ #123 (2014.08.09)

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Suzuki, Kudo and Oda kick off the show by talking about August 9th which is Hug Day in Japan.

Kudo says that she’s often the one on the receiving end of hugs, whereas Oda and Suzuki are the ones who like doing the hugging. Suzuki says she specifically enjoys hugging Mizuki, but unfortunately doesn’t go into further detail as to why that may be. Oda says that hugging people is supposed to remove 60% of one’s stress, but then realizes that it must instead be a pretty stressful day for the people who don’t like being hugged. “It’d be like the person hugging them is just passing their 60% of stress right on to them,” Oda laughs. Kudo points out that it must suck if that person’s stress level was already at 100% to begin with — a 160% stress level can’t be pleasant.

Next, they talk about how August 10th is their senior Abe Natsumi’s birthday. Kudo remembers singing Abe-san’s “Tomorokoshi to Sora to Kaze” at Hawaii once, whereas Oda has sung “Iki wo Kasanemashou,” “Sweet Holic” and “Senkou Hanabi” at her solo events. While Suzuki hasn’t sung any of her songs yet, she was really happy recently when they were appearing on a music program together and Abe-san waved at her in the dressing room and went “Suzuki~!” while blowing her a kiss.

Speaking on her first impression of Abe-san, Oda recalls how during the 11th gen auditions the auditionees were doing training together at the office building, and Abe-san just suddenly stepped out of an elevator near where they were filming Oda. Oda was caught off guard, just thinking to herself “It’s Nacchi! I met Nacchi!

Moving on to the topic of summer homework assignments. Last year, Kudo did independent research regarding 100% orange juice. She bought lots of orange juice from different makers, compared their taste, detailed the differences in their ingredients, etc. Oda likes doing a diary/schedule type thing of her daily activities, but since joining Morning Musume, it’s now just filled with days like “woke up, put on make-up, performed concert, returned home.” Suzuki doesn’t want to be so detailed so she just writes “woke up, went to work, returned home.

Song: Morning Musume – One Two Three

…But before the song begins playing, Kudo and Oda suddenly start singing “Happy Birthday” and the staff brings in a cake to the studio — Suzuki just turned 16 some days prior to the broadcast of the show. Suzuki, after she gets over the surprise, is asked by Kudo about things she’d like to achieve or do on her 16th year. While Suzuki says it’s nothing terribly interesting, she says she’d like to become a better singer. Kudo and Oda both agree that it’s a great thing to strive for.

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SS1422 #81 (2014.08.03)

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Like their seniors on BZS1422, Meimei and Kananan begin the show with everyone’s favorite topic this time of the year: summer fatigue.

Meimei says that she does tend to get hit with a bad case of summer fatigue at least once a year, especially when S/mileage are doing outdoor events. Kananan admits to the summer having an effect of sapping her energy to the point where she can be just walking outside when she’ll be suddenly hit with a brooding feeling of “…what am I even doing…?” Meimei says that happens to her around May — this is known in Japan as the May Disease.

Meimei mentions that their leader Wada-san just had her birthday on August 1st and asks Kananan for a comment on this. Wada-san turned 20 which, in Kananan’s mind, makes her cool because she can now legally drink alcohol — though according to Wada herself, she isn’t going to pick up on that habit. Kananan’s image of Wada-san prior to her joining S/mileage was that she had a really childlike image and way of speaking, but now she’s completely different and is very adult-like. “People sure do change,” says Kananan.

Their senior Kumai-san is also celebrating her birthday on August 3rd. Kananan, commenting on that:

Kananan: When Kumai-san was born on August 3rd, she was obviously just a baby…
Meimei: (laughs)
Kananan: And back then she was probably really tiny…
Meimei: Right.
Kananan: But now she’s gotten so tall, no one could’ve predicted it.

Following this astute observation, Kananan adds that she’s always watching Kumai-san and her great figure at H!P concerts and so, marveling at how pretty she is. She says she really admires Kumai-san and says she can understand why Fukuda-san is such a big fan of hers. Apparently Fukuda-san and Kumai-san even met up the other day in their private time. Kumai-san will often come to S/mileage’s dressing room to hang out, too, and she became good friends with S/mileage during Lilium.

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