Tuesday 18 October 2016

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.


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

Sudo Maasa X Kumai Yurina

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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.


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It feels like it took a bit of time for the both of you to warm up to one another. Have you ever fought at any point in time?

Kumai: Hmm, not really.

Sudo: Even now, we're still such close friends that we'll wear matching clothes when we go for dance lessons.

Kumai: We went shopping together the other day, and bought matching clothes. And while we did talk about the both of us wearing those clothes together for the opening day, after that, we just dressed however we pleased. But in the end, there'll be days when we'll coincidentally wear those same things.

Sudo: There are girls that wouldn't be caught dead wearing the same thing as someone else, but we're pretty fine with it.

I guess that you're like sisters.

Sudo: My sister is the same age as Kumai-chan, so she does feel like my sister.

Kumai: There are also things that I rely on Maa-san for.

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Sudo: My mother often tells me that I'm an airhead. Kumai-chan is one too, so I think that's another resemblance.

Eh, I know that Kumai-chan is an airhead, but Maasa, you too?

Kumai: Maa-san often uses words wrongly. She makes a lot of slip-ups, but that's cute. While she normally seems like such a level-headed person, when Maa-san does something airheaded like slip up with her words, it's really cute (laughs).

Sudo: As the person who's making the slip-up, I really have no idea what I got wrong. Whether or not you'd call that being airheaded (laughs), thinking back on it again, I often make all sorts of verbal slip-ups.

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Sudo: For me, I prefer DisneySea over Disneyland, so I'm planning to go to Sea with Kumai-chan. I like the rides, and there are more thrill rides at Sea.

Kumai: We're both slow-tempo people, but we prefer intense rides.

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Sudo: One place where we aren't similar is in our eating preferences. Since we like what the other doesn't.

Kumai: I hate tomatoes, but Maa-san can eat them; I love mangoes, but Maa-san doesn't eat dried mangoes; Maa-san likes strawberries but I hate them.

Sudo: So I'll definitely get boiled eggs put into my lunchbox, and when we have strawberry shortcake, she'll give me just the strawberry.

You seem like such a good combination, it feels like you'll be friends with one another in much the same way even when you've turned into grannies. After ten years, is there anything that you'd like to do together?

Kumai: Even at that point in time, I'd like to go to Disneyland together.

Sudo: I'd like to go for a relaxing, laid-back trip. Now we're not yet twenty, so we can't, but once we've grown up a bit more, I'd like the two of us to go on a trip. Anywhere would be fine. Like, even in the city would be fine.

Eh, you'd be fine with Tokyo city!?

Sudo: Ah, my mistake, in the country, domestically.

Kumai: That was a verbal slip-up (laughs).

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I'd like to ask you this because the two of you are close friends: If you weren't idols, what sort of work do you think the other would be suited to?

Kumai: Maa-san would definitely be an actress. She's so quick at remembering her lines, and she fully embodies her role, there are lots of things she does that I find impressive. Also, personally, since her hair is so pretty, I'd like to see her do a shampoo commercial.

Sudo: I think that lots of people would say that Kumai-chan would be a model, but I think that you'd just do a normal, part-time job. I feel that even from when you were small, you're the type that toils away at things, so I feel that it would fit you to be a shop attendant at a pet shop or attending a register at a supermarket.

Kumai: I definitely would like to take up a part-time job.

That is true, it does feel like Kumai-chan wouldn't dislike those kinds of small jobs, she'd enjoy them.

Sudo: That's right. She may look like a grown-up, but she still acts like a kid.

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More interview excerpts from this book

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

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