Saturday 14 November 2015

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk: Tokunaga Chinami x Sudo Maasa

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hello! Project Kids in 2012, a book entitled Rival - 12 shoujo no 10-nen monogatari - (The 10-year legend of the 12 girls) was released. The book contains 2-page discussions between various pairings of the girls, covering all 66 possible combinations. In the process of reading this book, I'll be putting up some highlights as I read through the interviews.


Special Crosstalk Book "RIVAL 12 shoujyo no 10 nen monogatari (10 years stories of 12 girls)" / Berrz Kobo / Cute

Tokunaga Chinami X Sudo Maasa

Though they enjoy pranks, the 2 of them are polar opposites in both personality and actions.
What happens when that Tokunaga and Sudo each look back on 10 years of being together with one another?


When I was looking for common points between the two of you, I found out that the 2 of you enjoy pranks.

Tokunaga: I like fun things (laughs).

Sudo: Eh, I can understand that for Chinami, but me!? But it's probably because I do feel up people's butts on-stage (laughs)

Maasa-chan, molesting (laughs)? Given your personality, it's kind of unexpected. Well then, how did the 2 of you first meet?

Sudo: Actually, during the 4th stage of the 'Hello! Project Kids Auditions', we met at the washroom (laughs). Chinami-chan and Momochi talked to me about a lot of things, but since I was shy, I couldn't reply.

Tokunaga: ......I do feel like we talked (laughs). I don't remember being in the washroom. I can't remember the past at all. But Maa definitely was quiet. Unlike me, she was so very quiet, that I wondered 'What's wrong? Did she get scolded by her mother!?' (laughs). When we were in the H!P Kids, we didn't really talk.

Sudo: Yup. Watching from a distance, I felt that Chinami was a spirited girl.

Tokunaga: Maa's got a mature face, so we didn't look like we were the same age. You were always together with Mai-chan when we were in the H!P Kids, so I thought of you as being like an oneechan. Even when we had become Berryz Kobo, you were still quiet. But when I talked to you, it was like 'Maa's unexpectedly noisy! She's probably quite the fool, right!!' (laughs).

That quiet girl ended up feeling up people's butts (laughs).

Sudo: I don't feel up butts as a prank though, my hand starts moving of its own accord. That's even more unpleasant than a prank, right (laughs)!? I think that they're fascinating, and my hand moves.

Tokunaga: You really do feel them up immediately. And then you'll get a 'Quit that!' with a punch included (laughs).

Sudo: It's completely in jest. I communicate with Chinami at live performances through fist fights (laughs).

Chinami's intense emotions, I feel them too... by Maasa

It's a concert highlight (laughs). Looking at one another, what's changed in these 10 years?

Tokunaga: The way Maa expresses herself in songs has become really mature. Our spring concert...... Um, what was it (laughs) !?

Sudo: 'Berryz Station' (laughs).

Tokunaga: Yup, that's it! At 'Berryz Station' (laughs), your hair was combed up. It was a maturity that I lacked, it was amazing. Also, your steadfastness hasn't changed from when we made our début. Methodical and hard-working. That hasn't changed at all. Also, she's punctual.

Sudo: I'm methodical with things that are weird, so I set up one thing to do every day and act towards it. I'll do it for a set amount of time, everything has to be decided beforehand. Chinami's high-spirits, her cheerfulness, her curiosity, those haven't changed. But in these 2, 3 years, you've started paying attention to your environment, becoming level-headed. I feel that you're really strong.

Tokunaga: Eh, I probably wasn't aware of it (laughs).

Sudo: Really (laughs)? Also, amongst the members, you've got the most intense emotions, and that hasn't changed from the past. That's a good thing as well, we can immediately know if you're tired, or angry. When we were small, I would think, 'Did I do something!?', I got so worried that I was on the verge of tears, but now I know your personality, so I'm able to make judgements like 'She's probably tired, so I'll leave her alone'.

Polar opposites: The reliable one and the natural
At the same time, a give-and-take relationship

Well then, for the both of you, how have these 10 years together been for you?

Sudo: Chinami is really the life of the party, and there have been many times where Chinami's emotions stirred even mine. I did a radio show with Chinami and (Shimizu) Saki-chan  (Bunka Housou 'Berryz Kobo Beritsuu!), but when Chinami took a break and it was just me and Saki-chan, it felt as if our discussions were stiff. But when Chinami's around, you'd lead both me and Saki-chan, it felt riotous (laughs). Also, being with Chinami cured my shyness, I could kid around. We often line up in age order, and Chinami would be next to me in those cases. Had it been a serious girl like ℃-ute's Maimi-chan next to me, I might have stayed serious (laughs). Thinking of it in that way, Chinami had a big influence on me.


Tokunaga: Maa is really, always dependable. Since I don't do anything at home (laughs), I always rely on her. If Maa wasn't around, I think that I'd get scolded a lot more. Looking back, I'd ask Maa when there's something I didn't understand about our dances, and I'd even ask Maa about documents we had to hand in. Also, even when I had no idea how to move an event or a concert forward, I'd go to Maa for all of it. I don't read the script. Or rather than saying I don't read it (laughs), it gets into my head if I hear it from someone, and hearing it makes me remember it. And I'll definitely understand if I hear it from Maa, she's the best at making me understand.

Sudo: I'm the kind of person who has to read the script. With no leeway, I'm so serious to the point of stubbornness (laughs). And that sometimes worries my mother though. Like, 'Can't you have a bit more leeway?' That's where I'm the exact opposite of Chinami......

Tokunaga: The very extremes, right?

Sudo: Perhaps it might be just right for us to be together

Even after 10 years, I'll depend on Maa by Chinami

You really are polar opposites. Just asking, as Chinami-chan learns from Maasa-chan's example, I would think that she'd get a bit more dependable.....

Tokunaga: Since Maa's around, I end up thinking like 'Whatever!' (laughs). If I become that diligent, I feel like I wouldn't be myself. And so, if Maa wasn't around, I wouldn't be able to do things. Maa's quick to get information too. Whenever we have an event, or whenever we have shootings, Maa would inform me about all of them. When we were gathering at Tokyo station, I somehow got there about 30 minutes early, and she guided me around Tokyo station.

Sudo: The day before, I got a roundabout message from Chinami. Like 'Maa, this is about tomorrow....' And then I gave a straight reply, 'Shall I bring you around?', and it came back with a 'That's it ♪', so I was like 'I knew it~' (laughs). I don't mind being depended on at all. Rather, if Chinami didn't rely on me, I might be a bit worried. Besides, Chinami is filled with kindness, she really takes things into consideration, she'd take out my indoor-type self to the streets, and teach me about all sorts of things.

Tokunaga: If anything, in that sense, I was really helped out by Maa (laughs).

The screaming incident when they stayed over at a hotel
Feels like she'll still ask things through the phone even after 10 years?

It's give and take (laughs). Well then, what would you like the other to fix about themselves !?

Tokunaga: Maa's too methodical, so it'd be fine if you relaxed more and let your mind wander!

Sudo: For Chinami......

Tokunaga: Ah, at the moment, there's so many things about me that you're lost on what to say, right (laughs)!?

Sudo: Ahahahaha. Maybe that you're difficult in the morning. In the past, when we stayed over at a hotel together, you asked me to wake you up, and I woke you up in the morning. But you didn't really get up, so I was honestly irritrated (laughs). Also, your voice is loud. On the Shinkansen, you'd suddenly start saying 'Let's have a match to see how loud our voices can get'. Even at hotels, your voice would resound.

Tokunaga: But my voice resounded in the hotel because there was an incident! Our manager-san and Maa had stayed overnight at the hotel earlier, and I was there from the next day. And then, you talked about the fact that the electricity had suddenly got cut the day before, and when I was in the bath, it actually went out. It was in the middle of the night, and without thinking, I let out a scream with a voice that was louder than I'd ever let out before (laughs). And what's more, it went out again after that. I stayed over in Maa's room that night (laughs).

Sudo: Though I was thinking 'I'll have to wake Chinami up again~' (laughs), it felt bad to leave you alone.

Tokunaga: And yet, I shamelessly went to sleep in the same bed with Maasa, what's more, on the side facing the wall.

Sudo: It was easier to wake you up though (laughs).

The discussion about things you'd like to fix unassumingly became an anecdote about your friendship. Do you feel that it won't change, even 10 years in the future?

Sudo: In my mind, Chinami will become a young mother, with spirited boys.

Tokunaga: 10 years in the future, Maa will definitely be level-headed, so I feel like I'd ask her all sorts of things when we'd talk on the phone. I'm sure that 10 years in the future, I'll still be relying on Maa (laughs).

Sudo: I'm sure that our relationship won't change, even 10 years in the future (laughs).

No comments:

Post a Comment