Words by... Shimizu Saki (Berryz Kobo 7th Anniversary Photo Book '7')

 

It's thanks to the support from the fans that we're able to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Some of you have been cheering us on from when we made our debut, and some of you have just recently become our fans. These seven years have really been long. Tsunku♂-san has mentioned it as well. 'It's amazing for idols to continue on for so long'. I'd like to do my best from now on as well, without forgetting these feelings of gratitude.

Looking back, there really were a lot of things that happened. But it was pure bliss to have achieved the record for youngest girl group to perform at the Saitama Super Arena ('2007 Sakura Mankai Berryz Kobo Live ~Kono Kandou ha Nidoto to nai Shunkan de aru!~'). It was so emotionally moving that I cried. A former manager of ours who came to watch us told me that I shouldn't cry, there were bigger goals in store for us. (laughs) But that was how it was.

Whereas for concerts where I remember having a tough time, I'd pick the time when we were in a huge panic because the members were missing concerts due to feeling unwell. During 'Berryz Kobo Concert Tour 2009 Autumn ~Medachitai!!~', there was a point when (Tokunaga) Chinami and Kumai (Yurina)-chan were absent due to illness, so we had to perform with five people. That was a reminder about how important each and every one of us is.

[2ch] Announcement: Shimizu Saki has completely transformed into a staff member

1 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:38:43.62 0
Even though she arrived behind Tsubaki, the cameras were pointing in their direction, so she ran away
That's completely how a staff member acts

2 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:39:34.47 0
How sad

3 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:40:02.91 0
How fun

5 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:41:05.97 0
Is she a manager？

6 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:41:16.22 0
That's opayo

10 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:42:40.51 0
Sorry for breaking the flow, but I can't really tell what's going on
Which one's the ham？

17 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:44:44.45 0
>>10
This one

48 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:55:53.58 0
>>17
Accompanied by a dog？

54 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:57:02.97 0
>>48
Dog lol

51 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:56:29.08 0
>>17
The microphone, huh? lol

64 : 名無し募集中。。。＠無断転載は禁止2016/08/22(月) 01:59:13.06 O
>>17
Even the way she runs away is cute

They can no longer be sworn allies... BeriKyuu arch-rival interview (Shimizu x Natsuyaki x Suzuki x Okai) - Top Yell Sept 2013

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute

A 12-person human drama

It's been 11 years since they met one another - a conflict where neither will yield

Top Yell September 2013 opening blurb:

These bunch of primary school girls were assembled because of their admiration of Morning Musume。 11 years have passed since they started activities, and before anyone knew it, they've become groups who shoulder the burden of being the central pillars of Japan's idol scene.

Berryz Kobo and ℃-ute are called Hello! Project's Minister of the Right and Minister of the Left. With ℃-ute announcing that they would be advancing upon the Budokan, their rivalry heated up beyond anything that had been seen before, but what's really happening inside? The gong has finally rung on this extremely stinging round-table discussion that could only be pulled off by this magazine!

Top Yell + H!P Compilation 2014 version:

The story of the rivalry between BeriKyuu that started with the announcement that ℃-ute would be advancing to Budokan became a staggeringly huge topic in 2013. Being overtaken by a group from their own generation, Berryz Kobo's Captain Shimizu Saki expressed her determination through her blog posts. Three weeks after that, Berryz Kobo's Budokan was announced......

In the midst of all sorts of speculations happening amongst the fans, in the September edition of Top Yell, we pressed ahead with a hard-hitting interview with the members of both groups caught up in the maelstrom.

Looking back, they were partners who were always there. Now both groups motivate one another, but that doesn't imply that they had a rivalry from the very start. In 2002, when they were assembled as the Hello! Project Kids, they were a group of people who were united in the goal of making their debut. The four of them look back on those times.

※※※

You weren't broken into groups at first, and there wasn't any sense of hostility. When did you start thinking of one another as rivals?

Okai: It somehow came up naturally...... I guess. At the start of the Kids, just remembering the choreography had me grasping at straws, so I think that I couldn't look beyond myself.

Shimizu: That's true, there wasn't any rivalry between us before the formation of Berryz. We were just friends, playing tag together..... If I had to say, it felt like being with my usual friends.

I think that the formation of Berryz Kobo in 2004 had a huge effect on how your relationship changed. At the time, there was talk that there would be a rotational system, with 8 names being nominated as Berryz Kobo's starting members.

Shimizu: Yup, so at the time, I probably might have felt a stronger sense of rivalry towards those who were in Berryz. I remember thinking that I might get dropped if I were to lose to another girl. Just that thought was terrifying to me!

Natsuyaki: I didn't think much of it...... I didn't really feel it in particular. Even with talk of the rotational system, I felt that it would be a group that would change according to Tsunku♂-san's moods, so I didn't feel a sense of tension. Even if someone were to drop out or someone were to come in, there would probably still be a chance for people to make a comeback. I guess I kind of accepted it..... In the end, it felt more like a club activity back then.

You weren't concerned about the danger of being dropped?

Natsuyaki: ... I wasn't (laughs).

Shimizu: Well, that's Miya (laughs). The ones who felt it the most were the girls who were on the edge.

Natsuyaki: Eh~! But back then, there wasn't an established centre or an ace, right?

Shimizu: Nope! I may have been Captain, but it wouldn't have been strange for that to change. I was constantly in fear. Whenever the staff would call us, that's when I got the most nervous. I thought that the time had finally come..... (laughs).

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 12: Shimizu Saki x Tsugunaga Momoko

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.

Shimizu Saki X Tsugunaga Momoko

♥♥♥

Momochi, have you never thought about becoming the captain?

Tsugunaga: Honestly, there was a point in time when I was aiming to be the captain (laughs). At the time, I did all sorts of things, thinking that I, rather than Saki-chan, should bring the group together. But a manager-san pulled me aside and told me 'Tsugunaga, you don't need to do that. It'll be better to just stir up the group'. I was like, 'Ah, is that so? I see~' (laughs).

Shimizu: But compared to when we made our debut, there's been a drastic drop in the number of scoldings we've been getting. I hate to get scolded, so I'm pleased with our current state, where we can do what we want. But without getting told off at all, we'll end up just stuck in our current state, and I'd hate that as well. I guess that I need something to brace myself.

Tsugunaga: As we got older, people stopped telling us off. While it's intimidating to get told off, maybe because they're heaping expectations upon us, the scolding makes us blossom. Scoldings are magnificent.

Shimizu: We're entering our 10th year this year, which means we're pretty senior within Hello! Project as well. Our perspective has really changed.

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 22: Shimizu Saki X Tokunaga Chinami

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.

Shimizu Saki X Tokunaga Chinami

[First things first: Hello Project World has actually done a full translation of this interview. I feel that my meagre notes miss out on the extent of just how sidelined these two girls felt, so I highly recommend you check that out.

That said, here are my notes, for completion's sake. After all, gotta catch 'em all.]

♣♣♣

Just as there are people who are showered by the spotlight, there will also be people supporting them from the shadows. When it comes to the both of you, there have been a lot of times where you've been expected to play the supportive role.

Shimizu: After the joy of being picked for 'ZYX', I went to a sideline position in Berryz Kobo. In a stroke, I tasted sorrow.

♣♣♣

Shimizu: In our case, we'd generally be given solo singing parts in the second verse a lot of the time, but we'd end up not performing our solo lines on TV since we don't sing the second verse on music programmes. That's not the fault of TV stations, as the singing parts are allocated with the balance of the whole song in mind. I just went on and performed as I thought that nothing could be done about it. But as it went on happening, I thought that something was fishy. Was it okay for me to always be in a supporting role? Those thoughts built up and up, and the final point was at that rerecording of 'Otakebi Boy~'

How did you come to terms with your feelings, where circumstances didn't change despite working hard?

Shimizu: Just like Chinami, I thought that the most important thing was to enjoy myself. Being at the sidelines has its own merits, and there are people who don't suit being at the sidelines. If I were to be at the sidelines, then I should take joy from that position. Even if my hard work doesn't bear results, the fans would watch me. They'd tell me 'I was constantly watching you' or 'I'll watch you no matter where you go', which is plenty enough joy for me. And I recognised that I wasn't just stuck in this situation by myself, so I should do my best with what I've got. As there are people under the same circumstances, we'd work hard together.

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 64: Shimizu Saki x Okai Chisato

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.

Shimizu Saki X Okai Chisato

↕↕↕↕↕

The two are you are both the smallest in your groups, aren't you?

Okai: Undoubtedly so (laughs).

Shimizu: I suspect, however, that Momo (Tsugunaga Momoko) might be smaller (laughs) (Tsugunaga Momoko's 'officially announced' height is 149.9 cm).

Were you conscious about your heights from the time that you were in the Hello! Project Kids?

Okai: Since I thought that I'd grow eventually, it didn't weigh on my mind. But when we took photos together in large groups, I started noticing how small I was compared to the rest.

Shimizu: While the other Berryz Kobo members have gradually gotten bigger, I haven't grown at all, and I wondered things were alright. My grandad said that I'd get bigger by drinking milk, so I had milk every day. But I didn't grow bigger at all (laughs).

Are your families on the tall side?

Okai: My sister's close to 160 cm, so I think that there's something there. Mama's small, but my Papa's roughly 170 cm. So I expected that I'd grow (laughs).

Shimizu: Ahaha, that's what you'd expect. My mother is small, and now I'm already taller than her. My father's normal, and my older brother's really tall.

Okai: You drank milk as well, right? Isn't it strange!? The Okai household is strange as well (laughs)!!

So you were in an environment where you could still keep your hopes up on growing a bit more. For the two of you, would you like to have some extra height?

Okai: In general, I do! Ideally, just under 160 cm. The taller girls tell me that it's cuter to be small, but I definitely would like to be borderline 160cm!!

Shimizu: Yup yup yup yup! My thoughts exactly (laughs). About 160 cm would be just right. (Natsuyaki) Miyabi and (Sugaya) Risako are both just about 160 cm, and I think that level would be the best.

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 31: Shimizu Saki 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.

Shimizu Saki X Sudo Maasa

Having gone through a lot of stage-acting work, we have Shimizu, who enjoys watching, and Sudo, who loves acting. 

They talk about the opportunity that led them to deepen their bonds, a combination of 'plays' and 'behind the play stage'.

I'd like to have a discussion focused on acting, particularly in stage-plays. You've appeared on various plays up to now, but which left the biggest impression on you?

Shimizu: For me, It would be 'Taishou Roman Haikara Tantei ou Aoi Ruby Satsujin Jiken', starring Tanaka Reina-chan. I played an air-headed, clumsy police officer, a role I'd never done before, and that was a really tough challenge. I was instructed on how to do it, and was unable to make it my own. I've always found plays to be a challenge, but that one in particular was a tough one. And it wasn't with all of Berryz Kobo, it was just 2 of us, me and Maasa, so the pressure was huge.

Sudo: Saki-chan seemed really worried at the practice hall. Before I knew it, she would take hold of my arm (laughs).

Shimizu: That did happen (laughs). It was really reassuring to have Maasa around. I was so helpless that I'd constantly be sticking to Maasa at the practice hall. Taking the opportunity with 'Taishou Roman Haikara Tantei ou...', the both of us talked a lot about all sorts of things. It's not that we'd never talked before until that point, but we ended up at the point where we'd call each other 'Darling' or Honey' (laughs). It was like I got to see an inner aspect of Maasa, where she was even able to talk to me about what she was worrying about.

So you would say that the relationship between the two of you is thanks to that play?

Sudo: Saki-chan would always be silently reading the script. And we were a bit late in joining the practices. I felt the pressure, and was uneasy due to shyness. But thanks to my role where I was on a wheelchair, I was able to talk to our co-stars.

Shimizu: Maasa was bold. I thought that she was great, seeing her use nicknames with all the other actors (laughs).

Sudo: But Saki-chan, while you were flustered at first, you picked things up quickly, so you ended up being able to do things quickly. 

Shimizu: Really!? I'd always been averse to acting, and maybe because I had no confidence, it was more like I'd come to hate it. I couldn't get my head into acting at all, and even going to the practice hall was a trial. But in the middle of my second, third time doing it, while it was difficult, I noticed that I could experience all sorts of things through stage-plays. There's that great sense of fulfilment after you've finished, right?

After 10 years, I'd still like to stand on the play-stage! by Maasa

Saki-chan, while your forte is remembering the movements and choreography for live performances, you have a tough time with scripted lines?

Shimizu: I'm good at remembering the moves with my body. But it turns out that I'm no good at remembering the word that I've read (laughs). Indeed, when I think back to my time at school, I could remember things that had regularity to them, like maths, but for history, I couldn't memorise things at all. I wonder if that explains the differences between lines and dancing though (laughs).

Falling, throat-clearing, forgetting to bring things!?
Stories about on-stage slip-ups

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 57: Shimizu Saki x Sugaya Risako

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.

Shimizu Saki X Sugaya Risako

Do you remember your first appearance as the Hello! Project Kids, at 'Hello! Project 2003 Winter ~Tanoshinjattemasu!~'?

Shimizu: We were still so small back then, so we did it without thinking. The 15 of us made our appearance dressed as angels......

Sugaya: Watching it now, it's like, why angels!? (laughs).

Shimizu: That's right. It had a strong impact (laughs). At any rate, I remember doing just what we were told to do, with everything we had. 

Your first concert as Berryz Kobo was 2004's 'W Standby! Double U & Berryz Kobo'.

Shimizu: At the time, there was such a feeling of nervousness. There were members who couldn't stand on-stage because they were hyperventilating.

■■■

Shimizu: Tsuji (Nozomi)-san was concerned about us, and was open for advice, 'If you've got anything, Non will listen to you!' As for rehearsals, Berryz Kobo would rehearse with Berryz Kobo, we had but a few rehearsals together with W-san, which was also worrying.......

Sugaya: I had to sing together with Kago (Ai)-san, but I couldn't sing well, and I kept being taught by Kago-san. I remember that well, even now.

JOQR Otenki Nori no Recomen! - Captain & Momochi (2014.11.24 )

Snippets from a radio show Captain and Momochi were on, doing promotions for their final single 'Towa no Uta / Romance wo Katatte'. For reference, this was way before Captain announced that she'd become a H!P Advisor, though after it was revealed that Momochi had been named as Country Girls' Playing Manager.

The host has an extremely enthusiastic welcome for Saki-chan... and a terse, much-less-excited welcome for Momochi. Momochi immediately points out the difference in treatment, but the host brushes it off. As you'll see, this'll be a recurring theme. All in good fun though.

Thoughts on their hiatus
Shimizu: It's not as if it isn't sad to part, but beyond that sadness, we'd like to enjoy the moment.
Tsugunaga: Yup, it's really sad.

Their plans post-hiatus
Shimizu: I don't have anything decided yet.
Host: You haven't thought of anything?
Shimizu: Not yet, though it is something that's playing on my mind.
Host: It's playing in your mind. While on the other hand, you've got Momochi, who's all carefree. (laughs)
Tsugunaga: Lots of things have been playing in my mind as well~
Host: So Momochi, what have you been thinking about?
Tsugunaga: ...Lots of things... ♥
Shimizu: (laughing) She's running away from the question!
Tsugunaga: ...Lots of things! (laughs)

What they do on their days off
Tsugunaga: For me, the greatest luxury is getting to sleep without my alarm clock on, and waking up at noon.
Shimizu: I go shopping, I love it. But I'm generally indecisive, so if I go with friends, I'll end up taking lots of their time. So I generally go alone.

What's most important to you
Host: What's your eternal thing, the most important thing to you, something you can't give up?
Shimizu: Berryz Kobo is important to me-
Host: I see. Well, that's obvious-
Tsugunaga: (cutting in) It's the same for me~!
(Laughter)
Shimizu: She said something different before.
Tsugunaga: No, that's what I think from the bottom of my heart.
Shimizu: Momochi, just a moment ago, you were like, 'It's definitely got to be my cuteness ♥' (laughs)
Tsugunaga: Well, that's a fact after all (laughs)
Host: Well of course Berryz Kobo is important to you, but besides that, is there anything that's important to you?
Tsugunaga: Well, as mentioned before, it'd be my cuteness. It's not that I want it to continue forever, but it continues to remain eternal of its own accord.
Host: Scary, isn't it? It's neverending?
Tsugunaga: It's neverending. It never stops evolving. (laughs)

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 39: Shimizu Saki x Natsuyaki Miyabi

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.

Shimizu Saki X Natsuyaki Miyabi

•••

When we asked the members of Berryz Kobo about Captain, they said that while Saki-chan's role was to bring them together, when it comes to the things that are difficult to say, Miyabi-chan would support you from the shadows.

Shimizu: She often helps me out when we're dancing in particular. She'll mention what she notices without any hesitation, like 'Isn't this part of the dance like that?' or 'That part was a bit out of sync'.

Natsuyaki: When we're doing cool songs, there are lots of things that make me feel like 'I want it to look like this', so that's what I'll say. There are times when we've gotten into arguments over things like that, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that dancing in-sync is definitely nicer. 

Shimizu: And by tightening things up that way, she helps me out. You'd think that the leader of the group would be the one to take control and give out warnings, but I end up wondering what people will think of me if I say those things, and so I don't give out warnings.

Natsuyaki: Captain does hold herself back in that way. Perhaps you could say that she restrains herself too much (laughs). But if I were the captain of the group, I think that whatever I'd say would end up becoming a huge thing. Captain has that gentleness to her, and I think that's why Berryz Kobo has our enjoyable group atmosphere. 

Shimizu: But at times, I'll ask things like 'Did I say too much just now?' or 'Did I go overboard?'

Dance teacher SHE-sensei comments on the Berryz members - CDJournal Mar 2015

――We would like to ask sensei about the impressions you had while you were watching each and every member。

I guess we'll go by order of age.

Captain (Shimizu Saki) is serious.
Even from our first meeting, she'd ask for review sessions after we finished with rehearsals,
And despite being small, we had discussions about the things she was unclear on,
While we had conflicts at times, she's always been serious since back then.

I think that she's a good girl, be it at work or in her private life,
But roughly when she was a senior high student......
She became unexpectedly funny (laughs).
Doing funny faces and using a weird way of speaking, she liked funny things.
She discovered that aspect at the end of her teenage years though.
Since then, I've often messed around with Captain (laughs).
It's just that, her comicality doesn't really show on-stage, does it?
I think that it's not that she doesn't want to bring it out,
But it doesn't appear because she's in charge of all sorts of things.

Momo (Tsugunaga Momoko) is as she is.
That's probably everyone's impression of her.
She's got a high level of professionalism.
While I thought she was just a 'burikko' when she was small,
I think that she probably understands what the guests want the most,
And she studied up in order to understand them.

Recently, the girls have been proposing parts of their setlists at concerts and events,
But it's mostly led by Momo.
Like, how they'd like the stage direction to go.
She's not just making a fuss and having fun, she properly thinks it through.
But while it doesn't mean that the way she presents herself is just 'for business',
It normally does seem that way (laughs).

Also, I like Momo's butt. It's like pudding.
Let me talk about an amusing memory I have concerning her butt:
There was a time when her body was still expanding and growing a little.
As she was sitting down in a lady-like manner,
The back of her sweats ripped with a great sound. (laughs)
Her face went completely red. We had a great big laugh at that.

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk: Shimizu Saki x Hagiwara Mai

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.

Shimizu Saki X Hagiwara Mai

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

While the 2 of you are the most distant in terms of age within BeriKyuu, just as all the fans know, you're very close friends. When did you start getting close?

Hagiwara: Unexpectedly recently, around this past one year.

Shimizu: Last year we had increasingly more activities as BeriKyuu, and as we talked about various things, it turned out that a lot of our opinions were the same, and we ended up hanging out together.

Hagiwara: There was a point in time when we hung out together so frequently that people would comment on my blog posts, 'You're hanging out with Saki-chan again?' (laughs). Up until then, we'd just normally associated with one another, only going 'Hey, morning', but we'd never had discussions or deep conversations.

Shimizu: Maybe it was around the recent GekiHaro (Theatre 'Gekidan GekiHaro Dai 11kai Kouen Sengoku Jieitai'). Up to then, we'd hardly had any involvement, but when we just happened to talk about our thoughts at the time, our thoughts were virtually all the same, and it was then that I found out that there was someone who had the same opinions as me.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

What would you say are the good points of one another?

Shimizu: I guess that I'm so comfortable with her that I don't have to mind about awkward pauses in our conversations.

Hagiwara: You're really level-headed, and we have similar ways of thinking, so the true Mai is exposed.

I get the impression that Mai-chan is lively, but when it's just you and Saki-chan, do you show a different part of yourself?

Shimizu: She's unexpectedly serious. She really thinks about her family, and has her own proper opinions.

Hagiwara: I'm actually the kind of person who doesn't really want to talk too deeply about what I think.

Shimizu: You get easily embarrassed.

Hagiwara: I've had this weird sense of pride from the past, and I never really want to talk about sad stuff. But I let that be seen by Saki-chan as well.

Shimizu: Our standpoint is that we're equal. We don't feel the 5 year difference in age. 

Hagiwara: We think the same way, so there are lots of moments where we're like 'Ah, that's it!'

If that's the case, do you have similar tastes in men?

Hagiwara: We have similar ideals when it comes to men.

Shimizu: It would be nice to get someone who tends to take the lead.

Hagiwara: That definitely has to be the case.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

I wonder how will the 2 of you be like after this?

Hagiwara: I don't know about work, but but the both of us will probably be married. I feel that Saki-chan will be a really reliable housewife. She really likes to keep things clean, so she'd settle up all the cleaning in the morning, and there wouldn't be a speck of dust in her home. Like 'I'll do the housework so come back quickly'.

Shimizu: Mai would be all clingy, as if you were always newlyweds, and you'd always be smiling (laughs). From the outside, you'd get along with your husband like a friend, saying this and that, but he'd spoil you when it's just the 2 of you. You'd act tough in front of friends, telling him 'Don't get close!', but if it's just the 2 of you, you'll be all lovey-dovey.

Hagiwara: Ah, that's embarrassing~.

If just that makes you self-conscious, that means she hit the mark (laughs). By the way, at that time, would you continue with your existing relationship?

Hagiwara: I think we will. Even if we've stopped doing this job, I think we'll continue on as normal. 

Shimizu: That's right. I don't think our sense of values will change. It's just that we're indecisive, so we'll completely be unable to make up our minds about where to eat. I hope we'll fix that (laughs).

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

More interview excerpts from this book

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk: Shimizu Saki x Nakajima Saki

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.

Shimizu Saki X Nakajima Saki

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According to what I've heard, the 2 of you are crybabies.

Nakajima: I've only just recently found out that ShimiSaki-chan's a crybaby. You once cried at a hotel, didn't you? We were all having our meals, and when I talked about something that was a bit serious, she suddenly cried. She could empathise so much with what I was talking about that she cried, it made me wonder, how much of a crybaby is she? Yet, even I myself wasn't even crying though!? (laughs)

Shimizu: I cry immediately (laughs). I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad, I cry when I get told off. I express all my emotions by crying (laughs). Nacky doesn't really seem like a crybaby though.

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Nakajima: What made me cry a lot recently was the flag performance we did for 'Midnight Temptation' at ℃-ute's tour ('℃-ute Concert Tour 2012 Haru Natsu ~Utsukushikutte Gomenne~'). I could do it at rehearsals, but I couldn't pull it off at the run-through rehearsals, so I got scared and cried a lot. When you cry, there are times when you know you're crying, and there are times when the tears just flow, right? This was one of the times where it just flowed, I didn't know I was crying. The tears were just streaming out as I stood on-stage, it was inexcusable,