Takayanagi Akane (Churi) / 2nd Generation

So I've been over at the Keyakizaka46 forum lately and thought I should check back in here to say, of course I'll never forget you Churi. ♡
My kami-oshi aint changing. SKE as a group just hasn't been enough for me because of their lack of TV shows.

But anyway, Churi made an interesting tweet: https://twitter.com/akane29_o8o/status/767367271287095296
She's been reading lots of fan tweets using those tags (1st illustrations for her / 2nd your photo experiences / 3rd your HS experiences)

Personally I'm not on twitter (always hated social media ) so it doesn't really help me though lol.
(sorry I had a story written here but I deleted it. I think I'd rather keep the memory between myself and Churi)

 

I made a tweet with a report of my first HS with that tag and it got a lot of likes and retweets. I'm surprised. I saw two people write how nice it is to hear from foreigners, and how difficult it must be to overcome linguistic and geographic barriers, which was nice.

It's funny that you say that about their lack of TV shows, although I completely understand what you mean. If anything a lack of TV makes me more interested in the group, since I feel forced to read blogs or their social media accounts. I've been watching showrooms a lot anyway. I prefer seeing members in that kind of relaxed environment than a bingo-style show. So shows like Zero Position and Gakuen which are airing are fine, though it would be nice to have Gakuen bimonthly to showcase more members.

 

@sscrla No prob
@jaylitt Yeah it's not that TV shows are the most important thing to me, I just like having new shows to watch at night when I just want to chill. And it's fun to see the girls in different situations that you only get on variety shows. Something had to fill that void for me. I do read blogs and stuff, but once you get to know someone, their posts get pretty predictable.

 

Churi brought up wanting a regular TV show too in a recent interview. http://news.dwango.jp/2016/08/25/102122/news/1/

I'm not good enough at text translation to do the whole thing (in a reasonable time) but there was one question about "near future goals in SKE" and she mentions having big arena tours and wanting a new show like Nogizaka's and Keyakizaka's to showcase the different sides of members, like only variety shows can. (paraphrasing)

I don't know if she was hinting at wanting a BINGO or just speaking in general about the quality of their shows, but I personally would prefer something like Nogizaka Under Construction or Kayakitte Kakenai. I think those are the two best idol shows right now.

 

I decided to translate an interview from 2013 with Akarin and Aya to commemorate Aya's graduation. It's about forming a new team after the shuffle. It's quite interesting to see how it was made, and what Churi thought at the time.

http://akanemachurida.tumblr.com/post/149487074999/ske48-new-team-kii-theatre-no-megami

 

Classic Churi Compulsively Cute (C4™) moment: from the aiia live last night, she was supposed to just do a typical intro into a song but the crowd was doing the MIX really loud and she got caught up in the energy and joined in lol.

(clip) https://twitter.com/NEGIKAKERU/status/770599646817243136/video/1
(source) http://ske48matome.net/archives/48339862.html

I haven't watched the full show yet, I was just reading the about the buzz from fans.

 

https://abemafresh.tv/official/36884

(Full stream)


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here

(Full stream in parts)

Re:LIFE Abema stream part 2! Akane acted as MC this time, rehearsal goes on as usual, ending in a cliffhanger!

 

I wonder what prompted her to do so...

 

Well, she had a day off from practice and went back to Nagoya. She has been very busy with the practice and it must have felt quite refreshing to take a breather, although she had a photoshoot today for Ramen Walker Plus with the ramen club. Some of those tweets were about NMB's Ueda Mirei's graduation announcement and others about Mihama.

 

@sscrla I think it's both (You can grab the card with the drink). But I'm going to see it tomorrow.

 

@sscrla I'm not sure if I will.

Sorry for double posting but it seems the shonichi will be streamed!

https://twitter.com/ReLIFE_stage/status/773431853097357312

 

The stream showed 24 minutes of the play, good stuff.

This interview was published on DD Magazine, a site catering to women. This can explain the somewhat unconventional questions asked later on, although they were interesting in a way. There was actually another interview published the same day on a different site, but I didn't have time to translate both, and I feel they overlap anyway. I skipped a few questions due to time constraints, and I apologize in advance for mistakes.

Spoiler

ReLife Play Interview

I’d like to hear about how you felt when your role as Kariu Rena was announced.

Takayanagi: When I heard that I would appear in the play, I immediately started to read ReLife on Comico, and I thought the story was very interesting. There are many stories that involve travelling back in time to a high school setting, but I found it really original how the protagonist of this story, Kaizaki, only becomes a high schooler in his appearance, yet remains an adult on the inside. Kaizaki and Hishiro… well a lot of stuff happens and it gets updated over time, but when I started reading I went through about a hundred chapters which I read for six hours straight. (laughs) I couldn’t stop reading, and I just liked the story.

When your role was announced, what was the reaction from other members and your entourage?

Takayanagi: There were a lot of members who were reading it from the start, and when my role was announced some members were reading it at the time! The members said stuff like “I want to go see you!” which made me happy.

At first you didn’t know what exact role you’d get, so did you foresee yourself landing a certain role?

Takayanagi: I thought Kariu was really like me. I also thought I might have gotten a completely different role, like Hishiro, the girl who can’t express her emotions. I think Kariu is like me in how she gets irritated if she can’t do something well, and how she resists the people around her, even if they’re being nice. I thought it was a thankless role, but the members who read ReLife on Comico and love the series told me things like “I really got to like Kariu!” “I can’t hate her, she’s too precious!”, so since she’s a character that can’t be hated I think I can play her role.

There’s a gap between the impression someone gets when looking at Kariu and how she is on the inside, so it’s a complicated role to play. I thought she was the character who turned out the furthest from my original impression of her.

Takayanagi: She resembles a typhoon or hurricane. (laughs) She’s not a main character or the heroine, but I really think she has a pivotal/crucial role in the story. Kaizaki and Hishiro have very strong personalities, but Kariu develops relationships in which she is manipulated, so the role is one where I depict that, and I’m really happy to have this role.

We should pay attention to that, then.

Takayanagi: It’s depicted in the play, and while there are a few differences with the manga, while reading the manga I thought “Ah, it’s that line!”, so there’s a lot of moments that those who read the original work will enjoy.

The ending for the original manga and the anime differs, and it seems that Yayoiso is drawing a graduation edition.

Takayanagi: That’s right, the manga doesn’t have an ending yet, and I don’t know if the ending to this play will be particular to it, but the ending is emotional and sentimental.

What were your thoughts when reading the screenplay?

Takayanagi: (At the time of the interview) We’re still preparing the script, so it might change, but it took me six hours to read the original, and the stage has to finish under two hours, so for it to be successful some episodes will be cut out, while others will be moved around to other places, so I think it’ll be interesting. So if it’s your first time watching the play you might think “Ah, that part isn’t there?” but it might appear later, so it’ll be refreshing, I think.

Kariu’s unrequited feelings towards her classmate Oga will also make an appearance during the play, right.

Takayanagi: This is the first time I have role that’s so overt about love. I’ve had romantic roles in recital plays and short recordings, but this is the first time I act this way in a play. In a sense my love ban might be lifted during this play. (laughs)

How will you act out that romance part?

Takayanagi: I haven’t had any romantic relationships ever since I’ve been an idol, and Kariu is also bad at romance, and there’s a lot of things she isn’t used to, so for those things I think I’ll act pure, but my fans might get a little embarrassed. (laughs) I’m happy to play the part of a high school student, and in a way through Kariu I’ll be about to “ReLife” it. Since I’m becoming a high school student again, I’m able to love. Maybe I’ll be able to “ReLife” as Takayanagi Akane too. (laughs)

You’ve just mentioned it, but is there anything from this period that you’d like to relive?

Takayanagi: I went to a girl’s high school, and we had a home education department which specialized in cooking and clothing, so there were only women in the building. Therefore I never experienced interactions between boys and girls, so I’d like to experience that, and I just noticed that my wish was answered through this play. (laughs)

Since the protagonist of ReLife is a 27 year old who goes back to high school, it depicts the psychology of and worries of an adult in a high school setting. There’s a large range of ages in SKE48, but do you worry about adult things?

Takayanagi: The age gap has certainly increased! When I joined the group wasn’t very popular, but as time went on more and more kouhai started joining. There’s a total difference in mindset from us girls who entered the group with the aim to enter show business or acting after graduation, and the girls who now join, who yearn to be 48 group idols. In our time our handshakes weren’t huge and while we had the sousenkyo, it wasn’t on broadcast TV. People’s reactions to the sousenkyo were like “What’s that?”, so the way you perceived getting a single job was different. The girls these days are usually separated from the underworld. So there are good and bad things alike, and I want to let everyone know to be conscious about those things.

While listening to you talk, I feel that you have some things in common with ReLife’s protagonist, Kaizaki, in how you’re both adults who are aware of the human relations surrounding them.

Takayanagi: Well, age-wise I don’t have choice but to do that. (laughs) I’ve had my failures and they’ve left some trauma, thus due to my regrets I need to give some advice, and in that way I might be like Kaizaki.

When it comes to adults, you’re able to sympathize with Kaizaki and Yoake, since you read it from the viewpoint of adults.

Takayanagi: That’s right! I think an interesting thing about ReLife is how you’re able to sympathize with the adults and students.

So depending on your generation you’ll perceive it and enjoy it differently. During this play, is there something you’d like to convey most?

Takayanagi: Kaizaki refers to it time and time again, but you’re able to do some things because you’re young. Society-wise, I think I’m still a child, but I’m making more friends who are younger than me, and I think the world is getting filled with younger people, so I think I’d tell them that it’s better to do something than regret not doing something, and to not give up on yourself. This isn’t exactly a ReLife situation, but If there’s something I’d tell my younger self, it would be to “do more and more things.”

For the DD Magazine readers out there, what’s your secret to keeping your figure?

Takayanagi: I really don’t have a nice figure so I’d like to know the answer too, but people tell at me at handshakes “Did you get fatter?” or “Isn’t it better if you tried [to get fitter]?” I get that kind of pressure, but I think girls change when they’re in love. Unrequited love is also part of that, but my girl power is quite low, so much so that the play supervisor told me “You’re only doing unrequited love? Do some proper love”, so he didn’t understand a girl’s feelings. (laughs) Since I said that women change when they’re in love, I’d like you to see the Takayanagi embodying that. I support my fans’ romances, and some of my female fans tell me at handshakes that they’ve gotten boyfriends, and they’ve clearly started to dress fashionably and become cuter, so I think that girls change a lot when they’re in love. But my words have no persuasive power. (laughs)

Do SKE members follow beauty trends?

Takayanagi: Stuff like cleansing juice, enzyme diets, and fasting has come into fashion, but I don’t follow them, so I exercise before work. But once I had a photoshoot in Okinawa, and the night before I ate so much Okinawan cuisine, so at that moment I thought my determination was no good. (laughs)

You obviously love cameras with Churi camera and all that, but what do you pay specific attention to when taking photos?

Takayanagi: The sense of distance from my fellow members and peers is important, and I try to take pictures where you can see them naturally. I like taking natural poses, so I try to make them feel as relaxed as possible. My camera is always set to rapid-fire mode, so I take more pictures than necessary. I don’t do it only to decide which pictures to cut, I also like seeing the exhausted facial expressions after a shoot.

Other than that, is there anything you’ve been hooked on as of late?

Takayanagi: I love 2D, so I’ve been hooked on Pokemon Go! I’m part of the Pokemon generation, and in the first grade of elementary school I played Pokemon blue, red and green on the Game Boy. I go to a lot of different places for my work, so I think I can catch a lot of Pokemon on the side. (laughs) I think it’s become different from previous apps, since it’s become a way to interact with people. For example, by asking “What level are you?” or “What did you catch?” you may bond with someone, and by inviting them to catch Pokemon with you you might become good friends. Since I’m shy, I’m using it as a way to talk to the ReLife actors and actresses.

What do you use to comfort yourself as of late?

Takayanagi: I’ve had pets for comfort for a long time. I’m the type of person who isn’t good at interpersonal relationships, so in a way animals are honest. It makes me happy that they clearly express if they’re happy or mad, and their cuteness comforts me.

[Question I skipped, asking her about what kind of woman she wants to be. She replied that she wants to be someone who can make both men and women aspire to be like her in some way.]

[Likewise I am too lazy to translate the final answer, but essentially she says that she was really shocked when I happened upon the original work, so she’ll be happy if I can make that shock reach everyone through the play. The shocking thing about it is that there exists such a way of thinking, and the story’s parable is very realistic, even though the story has time travelling. She thinks it’s fun to think that there are some high schoolers who can be inspired to enjoy their high school time more, as well as people of her generation who can feel encouraged by Kaizaki’s drive to not waste their time, and finally older people can enjoy this throwback to youth.]