Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 16: Sudo Maasa x Kumai Yurina

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.

Sudo Maasa X Kumai Yurina

🐻🐻🐻

It's very well known that the two of you are close, to the point that you have a pairing name, 'Kumaazu'. Were things always like this from 10 years back?

Sudo: It started roughly from our second year in Berryz Kobo. Things got rolling when I found out that Kumai-chan liked Mickey, which led me to send her a message mentioning that I like Minnie.

Kumai: Since then, we'd have matching Mickey and Minnie items, right? Whenever we go around here and there, we'll make sure to buy matching things.

What did you think of one another before you became close?

Sudo: At the 'Hello! Project Kids Audition', Kumai-chan sang in really high spirits, so I thought that she was an energetic girl.

Kumai: At the auditions, I kept on singing the same song, even up to the 4th stage of auditions. There were lots of girls who switched songs throughout the auditions, but since I was going through with one song, I thought about how I could switch things up. And so, my tactic was to sing energetically along with the rhythm (laughs). So I definitely did emphasise on rhythm and smiling. At first, Maa-san had dyed hair, so I thought that she was such a grown-up.

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 50: Sudo Maasa 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.

Sudo Maasa X Okai Chisato

╞╞╞

Maasa-chan, you're famous among the fans for your mother-like position, but Okai-chan unexpectedly has that character as well.

Sudo: I often get told by the other members that I'm like the oneechan, but (Sugaya) Risako has been calling me 'Mama, mama' from way back. Also, I'm told that my bearing is like an older lady, so I can't help but seem that way (laughs).

Okai: Inside Berryz Kobo, you're definitely level-headed, and the way you choose your words is extremely polite. Even when you guys line up at concerts to give your thoughts about the performance, you're the only one who picks her words nicely. It's so powerful and moving that you could say it's like an election address (laughs). You're really like a mother.

Sudo: Rather than saying that Chisato is motherly, I'd say that she's pretty caring. If there's someone who isn't doing well, you'd immediately rush up to them, asking if they're doing alright. You're really caring.

Okai: Oh, thank you for that. I've got lots of siblings, so I think that it's easy for me to notice if something's happening to someone in a crowd. I'll end up immediately empathising. When someone's worrying, I'll worry together with them. When they're mad, I'll be mad together with them.

Sudo: Though I've got a sister as well, which means that I'm the oneechan at home, entering Berryz made me think that I had to sharpen up. Plus, I think that being called the mother might have led me to my current personality.

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 05: Sudo Maasa 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.

Sudo Maasa X Natsuyaki Miyabi

Sudo and Natsuyaki both support their group by bringing out their abilities in different ways.
The same age, yet different types, we hear how the two of them do their best.

While the two of you are the same age, your characters are remarkably different. I feel that the two of you take opposing approaches, though the both of you want the same thing: for the group to become even better.

Sudo: Probably, we're completely different.

Natsuyaki: Maa's level-headed, while I'm not, so we're already different from that viewpoint (laughs).

Sudo: But when all the members are gathered around and discussing things, Miya would say things directly, like 'Wouldn't it be better if we did things this way?' You'd take the lead. That's a great help.

Natsuyaki: Probably from way back, I'd say what's on my mind. You'll usually say things while properly thinking about the others. but I often say things without thinking, so I often catch myself thinking that it would have been better if I hadn't mentioned something (laughs).

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 23: Yajima Maimi 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.

Yajima Maimi X Sudo Maasa

╪╪╪

Besides your BeriKyuu activities, the 2 of you stand out as actors. Are you aware of one another in that field?

Sudo: I've managed to see almost all the productions that Maimi-chan has appeared in. It motivates me.

Yajima: I've seen all the productions that Maasa has appeared in as well. We've also appeared in plays and dramas together, but depending on the role, Maasa, you become a truly different Maasa, well, it's like you're no longer Maasa at all (laughs). Once you're acting, you completely discard things like being an idol. Like if you're playing a granny, you'd fully enter that role.

Sudo: In acting, the most enjoyable part is becoming a different person.

╪╪╪

Yajima: And now, I don't just enjoy acting, but I also enjoy watching dramas.

Sudo: Ah, I know what you mean! Watching someone play a part, you think, 'I'd do that in this way', and you'd want to try it out. At home, I often enjoy myself by repeating the lines in my own way (laughs). In addition to watching dramas, trying them out is another way to enjoy them, so it adds to the ways we can  enjoy them.

╪╪╪

You're of different types, but but in a good way, you're both aware of one another, so doesn't it feel like you're rivals? Looking at one another, could you tell us what's the greatest impression you have of one another?

Yajima: For a drama, Maasa was told by the director-san that she was to cry at a certain part, and the scene was being shot out of order, and yet, no matter how many times she had to cry, she was able to do so properly. At the time, I was impressed, she truly was an actress.

Sudo: During 'Sengoku Jieitai', Maimi-chan was really serious, and when there was a scene where it went to blows, and she really hit with a bam! But I remember it feeling good since we were doing it together.

╪╪╪

What do you feel about one another, personality-wise?

Yajima: Maasa's really level-headed, she like a mother who can properly bring people together, which is something that I lack.

╪╪╪

The 2 of you are good rivals at the moment, but did you have any sort of relationship between one another when you made your debut?

Yajima: When we were in the Hello! Project Kids, we didn't really have that many opportunities to talk.

Sudo: I was particularly shy, so I guess that I didn't really talk. What got us started really was acting. I found out that Maimi-chan had appeared in many plays, and she lent me DVDs, so we were able to talk about acting.

Yajima: Like 'Have you seen this movie?' But when we're doing plays together, we have good discussions about the play itself.

╪╪╪

Just like the other 10, the 2 of you have been constantly singing and dancing, from when you were the H!P Kids up to BeriKyuu, but were those experiences of use with acting?

Yajima: There are similarities in that we act out the protagonist in the song, so while it might not be on the forefront of our minds, I think that it's slightly useful even for acting.

Sudo: They're the same in that you're doing something in front of an audience, and you're granting dreams, but I think who I am when I'm at a concert and who I am when I'm acting are different. On the concert stage, I'm just Sudo Maasa, but on the play stage, I'm not Maasa, I'm the role that I'm playing. And while we have the same smile, the smile I have at concerts and the smile that I have at plays are completely different. However, whatever it is, the viewpoint has always been that I'm acting as Berryz Kobo's Sudo Maasa. But someday, I'd like my genuine acting to be highly regarded. Like people would say that there are roles played by Sudo Maasa which could have only been performed by Sudo Maasa.

╪╪╪

Sudo: I feel that it would be interesting if Maimi-chan played a delinquent role.

Yajima: Eh, really? 

Sudo: Yup. Since it's different from how you normally are. In my mind, Maimi-chan as a delinquent would be like a female gang leader of the past: wearing a long skirt, with bright red lipstick, holding a wooden sword, going 'Oi!'(laughs). I'd like you to do that.

Yajima: I feel that Maasa would suit a wooden sword and long skirt as well (laughs).

╪╪╪

More interview excerpts from this book

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 43: Sudo Maasa x Suzuki Airi

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.

Sudo Maasa X Suzuki Airi

At first, the planned theme of discussion was about black hair. 

However, we instead had an opportunity to learn about the unexpected relationship between the two of them, something that's rarely heard about!?

This is embarrassing to mention, but when I was assigned for the discussion between the 2 of you, the common feature that I came up with was 'black-haired'... Is there a better theme? Maasa-chan, are you a big fan of Airi-chan?

Suzuki: Maasa always says that I'm cute. Even on New Year's cards and messages, she'll definitely mention that I'm cute somewhere. It makes me self-conscious (laughs), but happy.

Sudo: We're like sisters, I support Airi. I got to watch a Buono! concert the other day (Buono! Live 2012 "R•E•A•L"), and when you came out for 'Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!' at the encore, you were holding a frisbee, and I thought you were super adorable when you let your face peek out! If I was a guy, I think I'd be completely taken away (laughs).

As for Buono!, there are 2 members in it from your very own group though..... (laughs)?

Sudo: Um~, they're roughly supplementary (laughs). I hadn't really seen Momo doing rock before, so it was nice to see a new aspect of her. Miya is always amazing, and even in Berryz Kobo, she's special, so calling her Natsuyaki-sama would be the least I could do (laughs). I always watch the 2 of them from nearby, but I hardly ever meet Airi, so seeing her after so long made my heart skip a beat.

Suzuki: Even at the BeriKyuu concerts (Berryz Kobo & ℃-ute Collab Concert Tour 2011 Autumn ~ BeriKyuu Island~'), you'd tell me at rehearsals what points you liked when I sang. Which made me think, 'She's watching me!' (laughs).

Sudo: My eyes get drawn to you. At any rate, you're cute, and it's like you'd disappear if someone were to touch you, like you're a cloud. You've got things that I don't possess, so you're an idol to me, like a younger sister to me. 

I do my best because Maasa watches me by Airi

For the Airi-chan who is so beloved, what do you think about Maasa-chan?

Suzuki: Maasa is someone who can be depended on for anything. When I'm with Maasa, it's like anything's fine, and we can go anywhere! For questionnaires concerning Hello! Project, Maasa's name always crops up everywhere for questions like 'If you had to enter a haunted house together with someone, who would you pick?' or 'Who would you pick to be with you on an unpopulated island?' (laughs).

They both think that the other is amazing

The acting test at the auditions

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: Tsugunaga Momoko 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 12 BeriKyuu girls, covering all 66 possible combinations.

Tsugunaga Momoko X Sudo Maasa

In my mind, within Berryz Kobo, Momochi does variety, while Maasa-chan does acting work. Maasa-chan, did you always aim to be an actress from before?

Sudo: About 3 years ago, I starred in the movie 'Light Novel no Tanoshii Kakigata', which was fun. That's when I started to get interested in acting, which I enjoy. While I actually do know that singing is our core business, it isn't my cup tea (laughs).

Tsugunaga: No no no, Maasa's voice is truly unforgettable, or should I say, your singing voice is unique.

♪♪♪

Tsugunaga: I like stage-plays, but perhaps performing to exact specification doesn't suit my personality, as I'm really bad at following the exact lines in the script. On that point, you can do as you please in variety, and it's fun when there's lots of people around.

Sudo: I make sure to record the programmes that Momochi appears in.

Tsugunaga: No way! Oh my, you're making me blush~.

Is that because you want to learn from her talking skills, or because you're a fan?

Tsugunaga: As a fan, obviously~!

Sudo: Well, I am a fan.

Tsugunaga: Maasa, how sweet~♥

Sudo: Actually, I watch them because there's a member making an appearance (laughs), but in front of so many entertainers, I see the grand appearance of the good points that you've had since birth, and it's amazing how you go through with it.

Tsugunaga: So instead of calling it a 'character', you call it my 'good points that I've had since birth'. How wonderful!

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk: Sudo Maasa 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.

Sudo Maasa X Hagiwara Mai

ôôô

Your signatures incorporate illustrative elements, but did you think up your signatures yourselves?

Sudo: I thought it up together with my mother. It's my name written in cursive style, with hearts added. In my 8 years in Berryz Kobo, it hasn't changed.

Hagiwara: Mai's was set by my manager-san at first. Since then, it's changed 2, 3 times. I changed various things, putting in serious consideration to be able to write it quickly. Trying to write them out in a notebook, I ended up with something easy to write. At first, there were cute illustrations included since I was a kid, but it was pretty time consuming when I had to write it out one-by-one (laughs).

I'd like to ask you about those times. Do you remember your first encounter?

Hagiwara: I remember it well. Maasa-chan had dyed hair, and she was such a beautiful girl. I think that I didn't know the word 'beautiful' at the time, but you were a girl with a pretty face.

Sudo: Mai-chan was really cute, and because she was still in her first year of primary school, her face was like a baby's, her eyes were droopy. Seeing her, I thought she was adorable.

Hagiwara: Maasa-chan's home is close to mine, so when we were in the Hello! Project Kids, we always went home together.

Sudo: I would head home in the same direction as Mai-chan and Chisato. We were always together when we were in the H!P Kids. Our parents were friendly as well, and Mai-chan's oneechan and my imouto were the same age, and they become friends too (laughs).

Did you go out together as whole families?

Sudo: Our houses are really close, and we go shopping at the same time, so it's like our parents would meet at the neighbourhood supermarket.

Hagiwara: Our sisters mixed together because of that, so we all hung out together.

Sudo: After our lessons ended, we'd go and have a meal together on our way back. But Mai-chan was still small, so after the meal, she'd just fall asleep like that at the family restaurant. It was cute to see her sleeping on her mother's lap (laughs).

ôôô

How will you be like in 10 years time?

Hagiwara: Eh, what'll we be doing?

Sudo: Mai-chan's fashionable, so I feel like you'll be doing something related to clothes. 

Hagiwara: Ah, I'd like to do that! That said, I feel like Maasa-chan will be doing a careful job.

Sudo: What is that? What do you mean!?

Hagiwara: Whatever work you do, I feel you'd do a perfect, careful job. Because in my mind, you're reliable, and you're capable at work. I think that your preciseness won't change even after 10 years. But even if we do different things, because we live close-by, I feel that we'll meet at the supermarket now and then (laughs). Because we do meet one another there, even now.

ôôô

More interview excerpts from this book