Airi’s Potion #2 (2016.07.13)

The first broadcast got lots of comments:

♪ 30 mins went by in the blink of an eye
♪ It surprised me how your excitement levels were 1/910th of what I imagined (Airi: I guess that’s supposed to be read ‘One over ℃-ute’?)
♪ Oh? She’s not really mumbling that much? (Airi: Oiii~ I’m doing my best not to mumble, you know~)

Airi also reads out a message from a listener who enjoys Airi’s easy-on-the ears voice. The listener also went through a period when they were very much into BoA-san. This was probably about the same time as Airi, as the listener often enjoyed listening to Kimochi ha Tsutawaru. That obsession over BoA-san led the listener to start thinking about studying Korean back then, though the only thing that remains now is a love of spicy foods.

On the topic of BoA-san, besides Airi’s recent choice of Kimochi ha Tsutawaru, Airi also enjoyed BoA-san’s earlier songs such as Amazing Kiss. She also listens a lot to BoA-san’s recent dance numbers, and she’s looking forward to more appearances by BoA-san.

Airi’s never before got a message where someone sympathises with her song selection, so she’s pretty happy. The feeling of how this programme feels like it’s being built together with the listeners is something that she enjoys.

This week’s theme is ‘Songs that blow away the uncomfortable heat‘. There are many summery idol songs, so Airi was in a bit of a pickle when it came to picking a song. But if you’re looking for a refreshing summer song, there’s nothing else but this one:

♪ Buono! – Natsu Dakara ♪

In conjunction with the recently-held Japan Expo, Airi harkens back to her trips to France. She went as part of BeriKyuu in 2014, and as ℃-ute in 2013. There, they held talk shows and handshakes while clad in yukata.

Whenever they perform overseas, they go through the difficult task of learning words from that country. Airi found French intonation to be difficult. Another common practice at overseas concerts is the reading out of letters in the country’s home language at the final talk segment. The moment when the audience reacts to their messages, it’s a moment of bliss for Airi.

One performance that left an impression was at a very exuberant livehouse, La Machine du Moulin Rouge. There were three speakers in front of the stage, which got in the way of the view of the people at the front row. Those speakers were slowly pushed to the edges, and ended up at the very ends of the stage by the end of the performance. As a result, you couldn’t really hear the songs. That show of passionate support by the audience made her happy – it’s a sight that you wouldn’t see in Japan.

Besides that, between this and last year, she’s also gone to Mexico, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. One constant was that wherever she went, the food was delicious. Airi loves food, and the event coordinators at the countries she went to would always comment that she’d probably be able to survive, wherever she goes. There’s nothing that Airi dislikes.

In France, she highlights the croissants and the clam chowder. Whatever store she went to, those two dishes would always be delicious.

In Mexico, the most memorable, unusual dish was cactus. Girls would delight over the fact that cacti are 98% dietary fibre – It’s a dish that’s optimum for beauty. Texture-wise, it’s between an okra and a bell pepper. The cactus she had was grilled, and she ate it with meat. It seemed like a common dish in Mexico, but it’s something that you can’t really find in Japan. Airi considers it a valuable experience.

℃-ute’s Taiwan-Hong Kong trip marked their second time in Taiwan and first in Hong Kong. Xialongbao was the memorable dish that they had in Taiwan, while it was fried chicken in Hong Kong. The outsides of the fried chicken were crisp, and the insides were overflowing with juiciness. Every day, when she got back to the hotel, she would stuff her cheeks with fried chicken until she’d eaten everything up. It might have led to her stomach swelling up.

While those memories of food are unforgettable, she’s really happy to know that wherever they go, there are people who are supporting ℃-ute. It’s difficult for them to visit, but she’d like to go to more places where there are people who cheer them on.

Music Potion

Continuing with the theme of ‘Songs that blow away the uncomfortable heat’, Airi gives us SPEED’s debut single, Body & Soul, released in 1996 when Airi was two years old. It’s a nostalgic song for Airi, as SPEED are the artistes that made her want to become a singer, she’ll always look up to them. She watched their breakup concert while piggybacking on her mother’s shoulders. She also went to their reunion Budokan concert. She hopes to become a singer who, like SPEED, can raise people’s spirits.

♪ SPEED – Body & Soul ♪

Airi didn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics when she was still small, she just memorised them by ear. Now that she’s giving the lyrics a re-listen, the song comes off as being quite different from back then.

There’s a knock on the door, and someone comes in! According to Airi, it’s Suu-san。!? We don’t actually hear Suu-san。 talking, but we do hear Airi responding to it. It turns out that Suu-san。 has also picked out a song for the show.

On the topic of the Japan Expo, Suu-san。’s pick features a French artiste – Sylie Vartan. The Japanese title of the song is ‘Anata no Toriko’. (Airi: Nice choice!) Sylvie Vartan hails from France, and was a representative of the French pop musical style. Some might recognise it from the film Waterboys, a movie about boys in high school who were part of a synchronised swimming team.

♪ Sylvie Vartan – Irrésistiblement (Anata no Toriko) ♪

Listening to this song makes Airi feels like jumping into a swimming pool. Though she can’t swim, so it’d be the end for her if she did.

Now-on-air picture corner

The picture Airi shares with us is a drawing, and if you recognise this, you must be a long-time fan. It was drawn during the release of their cover of Candies’ Shochuu Omimai Moushiagemasu (Sending a summer greeting card). Part of their promotional campaign had them sending in summer greeting postcards, where Leader Yajima Maimi-chan and Airi were put in charge of illustrating those postcards.

It’s really complicated, if she says so herself. They were allowed to draw freely, so it was just the two of them drawing in the office. Back then, both of them were really into colour gradation. This was done with watercolour pencils, not brush pens, though she’s a big fan of brush pens now.

The illustration is filled with Suu-san。, who had dropped by earlier on. Something Airi wants to highlight is the proper way to spell Suu-san。, which would be written すーさん。 in Japanese. Airi’s particular about the ideographic full stop (。) – without it, it wouldn’t be Suu-san。

This postcard illustration was done in the early days of Airi coming up with Suu-san。Nowadays Suu-san。 doesn’t have such a round head, nor a neck like that. Suu-san。  has also evolved, like how the heart mark drawn on its chest represents its heart. And, just as Suu-san。has evolved, so has Airi’s taste in drawing.

It’s time to part. Suu-san。 might be making the occasional appearance in the future. Airi will always worry about its safety: Will it have any problems getting to the studio? Can it get there safely, without getting flattened? She’s worried, but she hopes that it’ll be something to look forward to as well.

When you talk about summer, yukata also comes to mind. They wore yukata for the promotional goods for their 20th June Budokan performance. Airi was clad in a sky-blue, flower-patterned yukata. It’s from Suzunoya-san, for whom Airi is the image character.

Airi’s member colour is pink, so she doesn’t really get opportunities to wear sky-blue yukatas. If you’re wondering why she picked a sky-blue, flower-patterned yukata, then she’d like you to listen to back number’s ‘Watagashi’.

Airi learnt about back number-san a long time ago, and amongst their many album songs, there were lots of summer songs. Picking one was a tough challenge for Airi.

back number-san has made songs over a wealth of themes. But this song perfectly fits this picture of Airi in a sky-blue, flower-patterned yukata. Airi finds the lyrics irresistible, written by Iyori-san, and sounding like the words of an effeminate guy. The very first lyrics to the song describe a girl wearing a sky-blue, flower-patterned yukata. The song engenders the image of a fun, young girl, and Airi suggests that you imagine the girl being talked about in the song as being Suzuki Airi. And with this song, Airi bids us farewell.

♪ back number – Watagashi ♪

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[Bonus: Here’s my translation of Airi’s own comment on the episode, taken from the show’s official website.]

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Good dayーーー*\(^o^)/*

This is Suzuki Airi ♡♡♡

Did you enjoy 「Airi’s Potion」？？(´ー｀)

Wellーー My pronunciation has always been bad、 and I’ve been told that I mumble

But that’s a no-no！！ There won’t be any subtitles！！！

That said, I went through lots of lessons。。。

I spoke while reminding myself to speak smoothly and to hold back any surges of emotion lol

Did it turn out all rightーー>_<♡

Well then、 I talked a lot this time around

But the last song was back number’s 「Watagashi」♡♡♡

The lyrics fit pat down with the yukata I wore the other day！

And I also put up a photo、 what did you think of that ♡♡♡

I’d like you to enjoy the music and talk working in tandem with the 「Now-on-air picture」、

And I think about lots of things to do every day ^ ^

It would please me if you could send anything that you’d like us to do、 or messages in general

Through the contact form(´ー｀)！！！

And I’m counting on you for 「Airi’sPotion」 from now on as well ♡♡♡