* * *
Mannish, strong-willed
Interviewer -- With your statement "I want to become a French doll" and so on, Kakizaki-san has a strongly feminine image. But from various things I've heard, I've come to think you may be someone with a lot of guts. And your manager has used the word ikemen [cool guy] about your character.
-- So you normally played like a boy?
Kakizaki -- Yes, that's true. I was outside doing things like climbing trees (laughs).
-- So you were actually quite a little scamp, then! (laughs) Were those the things you liked doing, rather than playing house?
Kakizaki -- In pre-school, I played dolls with my elder sister. I liked doing both. But lately, I haven't played like that, have I. (laughs)
-- Certainly, for a high school girl to climb trees would be a bit extreme. (laughs) The thing that made me think you might be someone with inner strength was hearing that after a Hiragana Keyaki performance in Tokyo, you vehemently declared to members: "I want to work harder on our performance!" Could you speak a bit more about that?
Kakizaki -- I said something like that I was not just trying to look cuter, more than that I wanted to properly work on singing and dancing. At the time, I was probably a bit angry. (laughs) We talked about things, and the members had various opinions, and we were rather scattered.
-- With what tone of voice did you say it? Were you crying?
Kakizaki -- I wonder if I was. I was sure there were other girls who felt the same, but none of them said anything. I really hated it, so I said it myself.
-- It seems you said what you really wanted to say. So your character is to be quite frank?
Kakizaki -- That's what people around me say.
-- That's surprising. We have the impression of your being a "frail little girl," or a "quiet and obedient girl." But that's not so. It feels like "gap moe." I've gotten a surprising piece of information: that Kakizaki-san is rather macho. I've also heard that your wrists are quite muscular. Is that true?
Kakizaki -- Hahaha. No way...! (laughs)
-- That seems like an honest reaction (laughs). To go back to what we were talking about, before you entered Keyakizaka, at school, were you the type who would actively put forward your own opinions?
Kakizaki -- People sometimes said that. In fact, in second year middle school, I was deputy chairman of the beautification committee. And in third year, I was a secretary on the student council.
-- I see. So at that time, you were cultivating the image of someone steady and dependable.
Kakizaki -- Maybe that's true. I think the teachers saw me as dependable.
-- The type who is serious and has a strong sense of what's right?
Kakizaki -- (with an embarrassed look on her face) Hahaha. (laughing wryly)
-- I heard from your manager that often, when someone is crying, you will go up to them and look as if you're asking: "Why are you crying?" Could it be that you naturally approach them as a guy would?
Kakizaki -- That's true. I'm often called straightforward. But...in some ways, I'm also overly feminine.
-- Eh? Is that so?
Kakizaki -- The members who were very affectionate toward me at first have recently shifted to MeiMei (Higashimura Mei). That makes me feel lonely, but when I try to glom onto them, now they consider it a real pain (laughs). In our normal dealings, I don't do that, though.
-- So you have that side, too.
Kakizaki -- I like MeiMei, too, but I'm not very happy about it. She has taken Kiku-chan (Sasaki Kumi) away from me. (laughs)
-- Hahaha. To begin with, Kakizaki-san is the youngest member of Hiragana Keyaki, and although we've said you are steady and dependable, you still wanted to be petted by the other members. So in some ways, you also seem not so steady and dependable?
Kakizaki -- Ah, that's true. People often say I'm not like my image. But they've said that more often since I entered Keyakizaka46. In the past, I was more the opposite. People found me scary.
-- Is that so?
Kakizaki -- My friends in the Art Club tell me: "When we first saw you, we thought you were like a boss figure there."
-- Eh? Were you really like a boss?
Kakizaki -- No, I'm really not that type at all. (wry laugh)
-- So your juniors just felt afraid of you without much reason?
Kakizaki -- I wonder. I didn't make a point of actively having much to do with them, so maybe they just felt scared.
-- So rather than being someone your juniors admired, you were the type to be petted by your seniors?
Kakizaki -- Perhaps so. I enjoy being with older people more.
-- In fact, today as well, your way of thinking is quite solid, and you speak calmly and easily, from a position of equality. So I really get it.
Hiragana's Awakening
-- To go back a bit, where did the way of thinking come from that made you say: "I want to work harder on performance"?
Kakizaki -- Before, the only idols I knew were Nogizaka46. But after I entered Keyakizaka46, I've been watching all kinds of idols. I've been especially attracted by °C-ute. I've realized that if you can't perform well, people won't think you are cool and you won't be able to get hold of their hearts. So I thought that just being cute wasn't enough.
-- How do other members feel about your way of thinking?
Kakizaki -- Kageyama Yuuka has a very high level of consciousness. I think they all have a high level of consciousness. But when we talk about it there are also some who think differently. Actually, recently we've been practicing Hiragana dances independently, singing and dancing to karaoke.
-- I see. Members contact one another to do that?
Kakizaki -- Yes. We've said to each other: "If we don't work hard on our singing, it'll be awful, won't it?" So we all sing to karaoke.
-- That's very good, isn't it, what members say? It showed great effect in the Osaka performance. How did you feel about that?
Kakizaki -- I really enjoyed Osaka. I think it was the best performance we've given so far.
-- What was better about it?
Kakizaki -- Getting roused up with audience, etc. It's true for the talk segments, too: if we are having fun, the audience has fun. We weren't able to do that very well in the Tokyo performance. First, we ourselves have to be having a good time.
-- I see. It's true than when we're watching idols, if they seem to be having a good time, we do, too.
Kakizaki -- But as for the performance.... Sometimes the mood in rehearsal is slack, too. I think that we can only do better lives than Osaka if we rehearse properly.
-- Get better and better. Hearing you say this, I once again get the feeling that Kakizaki-san hates to lose.
Kakizaki -- Is that so? I never thought so before, but recently I'm getting a bit of a feeling that it might be true.
-- You can't give in?
Kakizaki -- No. When I really feel frustrated and angry, I just keep going.
-- Practicing to karaoke sound is like that. You had to go at it seriously. The "got to really do it" mentality means that Hiragana Keyaki as a whole is strong-minded.
Kakizaki -- Our talk before the tour was big. Before that, there were already voices saying things like, "It's no good if Hiragana just continues like this," and: "What will we do from now on?" We were always thinking things like that, and getting the tour was a great opportunity.
-- So your motivation was high right from the start. Like: "It's no good if Hiragana just goes on like this," and that compared to the great popularity of Kanji Keyaki, you weren't getting much work. That kind of thing.
Kakizaki -- Yes, that's true. On the performance side, we couldn't compare with Kanji Keyaki, and we had no name-recognition or popularity. Would that be okay?
-- You were worried about those things? The outside world thinks Kanji Keyaki is Keyakizaka46. Why are we here? That kind of thing.
Kakizaki -- I think we all thought about the meaning of our even existing. In fact, probably right from the start, we talked about whether we wanted to get into Kanji Keyaki or go on like this as Hiragana Keyaki. I said: "I want to continue just like this, giving my all as a member of Hiragana Keyaki."
-- Why did you think like that?
Kakizaki -- Simply because I really loved the members of Hiragana Keyaki. We thought it would be great to continue doing more things as the twelve of us. We all said we wanted to work hard for that.
-- I think it is a great thing that Kakizaki-san joined Keyakizaka46. When someone who hates to lose that much, and is so stoic, starts from a bit behind, the development is really catches fire, doesn't it?
Kakizaki -- For sure. Now the feeling is just: "Let's do it!"
* * *
from Bubka magazine, September 2017
At this point the conversation turns to Memi's relationship with Hirate Yurina. Since that part of the interview has already been translated on the Too Much Idea blog, I'll just direct you there rather than translating it again.
Memi seems pretty devoted to Techi. She can't stop talking about her. If there's much going on there, however, we never hear about it. Personally, I hope and expect they are still getting together, when they have time. As friends.
* * *
No wonder Memi has been on-again, off-again with the "I want to be a French doll" stuff. A few months ago, she said on Showroom that she wasn't ready to be a French doll yet: "Maybe in my next life." Then the idea came back again as entertainment in the introductions on Hiragana Oshi.
Memi has non-idol instincts in often intentionally going against the type she had formerly cast herself as. Fans clamour for twintails and Memi says she isn't doing that any more. She's honest about things, it appears -- except when she isn't, lol.
There's a thread on 2channel right now wondering why Memi has not had the quick success Kosaka Nao has, despite having been extremely popular at first. One factor is that fans saw her as a cute little loli at first, but as time went by they found she was not really that frail little thing they thought she was, and were disappointed. I think emphasizing her running and arm-wrestling was probably a management mistake. They and I may like the gap moe, but the audience had other ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment