Shida Summer Arai Summer: The hottest and cutest unit of this summer (Top Yell July 2016)

In the summer of 2016, this completely unexpected unit was born:

'Shida Summer Arai Summer'
Made up of YumeMiru Adolescence's Shida Yumi and Tokyo Girls' Style Arai Hitomi. 
In order to get closer to this promising unit, we pressed ahead with this urgent interview!

We ask about everything, from how the two of them first got familiar with one another, up to their new song!

The two of them mutually like one another

Their common point is ice cream?

-- Please tell us: how did things lead to the formation of Shida Summer Arai Summer?

Shida Summer: I've always liked and respected Hitto from the start!

-- Since when?

Shida Summer: Since quite a while back! I liked her so much that I set an alarm to remind me about the start of her SHOWROOM show 'Hitomibocchi'. Then I heard that apparently Hitto liked me as well. The two of us, it was mutual love!

Arai Summer: I was surprised too. You watched 'Hitomibocchi'!

Shida Summer: You know, you know, you mentioned about the scones that were being sold at Calie, didn't you?

Arai Summer: (with a happy look on her face) Yup! Yup!

Shida Summer: Those scones looked really appetising when you ate them on 'Hitomibocchi'. It piqued my interest, I wanted to eat them them, so I bought them and ate them when we had a YumeAdo SHOWROOM show!

Arai Summer: They were yummy, weren't they??

-- Umm... We'd like to hear about how you were formed though.

Shida Summer: Ah~! Tokyo Girls' Style were guests on YumeAdo's showdown project (29th March). When I sang the original song 'Anna ni Suki datta Summer' with Hitto, it was really well received. There were people who wanted us to make a unit, so we asked the grown-ups, and it turned into an official unit.

Arai Summer: After the concert ended, there were lots of reactions on Twitter saying that they wanted to watch us again, and I didn't want to let it end with just that once either. I'm glad that things turned out this way.

-- You were that happy?

Arai Summer: The top screen of my LINE is Shida Summer Arai Summer!

Shida Summer: I'm glad!

-- And Shida-san, what's the top screen of your LINE?

Shida Summer: It's ramen from 'Ramen Ei'! It's really delicious.

-- Did you the two of you talk at the showdown concert?

Shida Summer: We started having proper conversations with one another when we recorded  'Anna ni Suki datta Summer'.

Arai Summer: I was really nervous!

Shida Summer: Me too! Despite my looks, I'm shy.

-- You don't seem shy though (laughs).

Shida Summer: It's true!

-- Arai-san, how did you feel about Shida-san when you met her?

Arai Summer: When I met her, I thought that she was quite the oneesan.

-- Is that really what you thought?

Shida Summer: Ahahaha! Hold up!

Arai Summer: Since we don't have an oneesan-type member in TGS.

-- That might be the reason.

Shida Summer: I tried my best to be like an oneesan, but did it turn out alright?

Arai Summer: Yup! We recorded comments as we were recording the song, but Yummin really took the lead. I've noticed this recently, but I get hit by something like stage fright, and the topic that I'm talking about goes all over the place. But your presence there helped me out.

-- Arai-san, does Shida-san fit your image of an idol?

Arai Summer: She does. I admire models, and looking at Yuumin, I think, 'How slim!' But she really can eat.  The first time I talked to Yuumin, I said , 'Shall we eat at Ramen Jiro?'

Shida Summer: And I replied 'Yeah! Let's!' (laughs).

-- Arai-san, have you been to Ramen Jiro?

Arai Summer: I haven't eaten there, so I'd like to go there.

Shida Summer: But Hitto is quite the big eater. When we went to Thailand, she even ate the food that the others couldn't finish (laughs).

Arai Summer: My tummy really swelled up at the time.

Shida Summer: The way you were eating, it was like you had a second stomach.

-- Arai-san, what's the record for the most you've ever eaten?

Arai Summer: Eh~ I like ice cream, so I've eaten eight in a day before.

Shida Summer: That's amazing!

Arai Summer: I ate at Baskin-Robbins, I ate a Seventeen Ice, and I also got some at Ministop.

Shida Summer: It was a halo-halo, wasn't it (laughs)? Hitto, you often go to Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone, don't you. Which do you prefer?

Arai Summer: (immediately answers) Cold Stone.

Shida Summer: How luxurious!

Arai Summer: Shida-san, which do you prefer?

Shida Summer: Eh~! For ice cream, I prefer Choco Manaka Jumbo!

-- And there you go, with a different ice cream (laughs).

Arai Summer: Monaka's Jersey milk is yummy.

Shida Summer: That's right.

Arai Summer: The shingen mochi ice cream is delicious too.

-- Ah~! Since when it comes to Arai-san, it's got to be shingen mochi.

Arai Summer: Is that so?

-- During the trial broadcast of 'Hitomibocchi' in November 2011, they played a video of you earnestly eating shingen mochi.

Arai Summer: I was eating shingen mochi while waiting for the recording to start.

Shida Summer: I didn't know that. I'm still lacking in knowledge.

Arai Summer: The other day, we went to Yamanashi. There, we were allowed to fill up a container with as much as we could pack!

-- They held that sort of event (laughs)?

Arai Summer: I spread out the container and managed to pack in seven.

Shida Summer: Like an old lady at a sale.

Arai Summer: The others there were amazing. They were raring to go (laughs).

Shida Summer: Sounds like you were pumped up too!

-- We've really strayed from the topic. Was there any unease during the first time that you sang together?

Arai Summer: I was worried about the harmonising. I had to keep in balance with Yuumin.

Shida Summer: Even though you'd always been harmonising in TGS?

Arai Summer: Surprisingly, we don't really harmonise.

Shida Summer: I expected that that you were top-class when it came to harmonising, so I was scared as we sang.

-- There were audio troubles when you first performed it, weren't there?

Shida Summer: There were! The chorus suddenly played.

Arai Summer: In our minds, we were confused, unsure of whether we should start from there.

Shida Summer: Backstage, the Joshiryu-chans were worried about you, wondering if your head had blanked out, while the YumeAdo members had a good laugh watching me. YumeAdo, worry about me too (laughs)!

-- Hahahaha! Shida-san, you seemed to be calm and collected.

Shida Summer: Those kind of issues had popped up several times before, so it wasn't beyond expectations. What's more, it's because I'm in charge of making sure the discussions move along. At YumeAdo's important concerts, I don't get to speak as MC. I just play the fool. But in this unit, since I'm two years older, I have to move things along.

Arai Summer: When I'm with the members, there are times when I think I should be silent, but I'm amazed at how charged up Yuumin is! She's really amazing.

-- However, your discussions don't really have any substance to them.

Shida Summer: That's right. Let me see, in my life, I wonder if I've ever talked about anything substantial (laughs).

-- What sort of animal would you liken the other to?

Shida Summer: Hitto would be a mix of hamster and rabbit. You're like a rabbit when you're eating, but your conduct in general, you're like a tiny animal, it makes people want to protect you.

Arai Summer: Eh~ Let's see, what animal is as energetic as Yuumin? Something like the squirrel that was in the movie 'Madagascar'.

This cutest unit

Would like to conquer idol festivals?

What do you think of one another's voices?

Arai Summer: Yuumin's voice is really high, yet it doesn't break.

Shida Summer: It's just my throat that's strong (laughs). For me, I started liking Hitto because of her voice. I was wondering whose voice it was, and when I looked it up, it turned out to be Hitto.

Arai Summer: Eh~~! Thank you!

Shida Summer: Your nasal voice is cute too... I love it!

Arai Summer: I become lax if I get praised (laughs).

Shida Summer: There are lots of things that I learn from you when I see you perform live. There actually are things that I'd like to ask, but I think that it's too childish, so I hold back.

Arai Summer: I'd like to ask you about what you pay attention to as a model!

-- I don't think that there's anything in particular though......

Shida Summer: There isn't anything really (laughs)! I eat when I want to, and recently I've been following a fatty lifestyle: waking up at night, heating up water in a thermo pot, and eating spicy ramen. Though when a fashion show gets close, I do some torso training and I put into place some dietary restrictions.

Arai Summer: How about cold-pressed juj... juice?

Shida Summer: Your 'juj' is cute (laughs). I booked some cold-pressed juice once, but ended up cancelling my order without going to pick it up (laughs).

-- Arai-san, do you drink that?

Arai Summer: If I drink cold-pressed juice, I have to drink an equivalent amount of water. By the time I had my third, my tummy was all squishy, and the taste was getting unpleasant.

Shida Summer: Eh~! Sounds tough.

-- A statement that you wouldn't expect from a model (laughs). Do you have any other common points besides eating?

Shida Summer: We're from Tohoku! But we don't really use dialects with one another.

Arai Summer: That right! Is there a dialect at the place where you lived?

Shida Summer: There definitely is! When I go back to my hometown, my accent ends up coming out clearly.

Arai Summer: The region where I lived doesn't really have a dialect. Though when I go to my granny's place, we speak with a dialect, going '~daccha'.

Shida Summer: When my grandad and my grandma have a conversation, I have no idea what they're talking about.

The MV for 'Shakunetsu Summer' was filmed in Thailand wasn't it?

Shida Summer: YumeAdo and TGS had concerts in Thailand, but just the two of us left for Thailand earlier.

Arai Summer: The shooting was done close to Pataya beach. This was before we had revealed things, so it was tough being unable to make updates on SNS.

Shida Summer Yeah! Even though we took so many good photos.

When you announced things at your concert, you performed 'Anna ni Suki Datta Summer', which was a ballad. However, your release of your single 'Shakunetsu Summer' is a complete change in musical style.

Shida Summer: I think of it as a summer song that launches off, firing up everyone. It's a song that I definitely want people to listen to this summer. You know, since we're a summer-only unit!

How long does 'summer' last for then?

Shida Summer: Summer is forever!

Though your breakup concert has been scheduled in September...?

Shida Summer: Seriously!?

Arai Summer: Whoah!

Shida Summer: But if we're well received, we might have activities in summer next year as well, so for that to happen, we've got to make sure this summer is a blast

Arai Summer: I'd like to do something flashy, like have fireworks.

Will Shida Summer Arai Summer also be appearing at idol festivals?

Arai Summer: We want to~! I love festivals.

Shida Summer: We'll definitely make an appearance and pump the summer up!

Finally, can we get you to make an appeal and tell us what's amazing about Shida Summer Arai Summer?

Shida Summer: This summer, Shida Summer Arai Summer will be the group that's most heated up, that's the cutest, more than any other idols!

Arai Summer: Sparkle ☆ (Makes a peace sign near her eyes)