BLT VG 3rd Years

@yahalloing on Twitter
Do you still remember what happened when you met the other members of Aqours for the first time?

Arisha: When we first met, everyone listened to the KimiKokoro instrumental.

Ainya: My first impression of everyone was that they were all very friendly. It was clearly the first time we met, but everyone energetically greeted each other with “Morning!”

Arisha: But compared to now, it was a lot quieter. Aina and my seats were facing each other, and I remember her looking at me non-stop. (laughs) I was constantly thinking “What do I do…it seems like she’s looking at me.” (laughs)

Ainya: So shy~ (laughs)

Arisha: Additionally, before I had only seen photos of everyone, so I was surprised at how big the height difference between us actually was.

Was it due to the consideration that you would eventually have to perform together as 9 that you especially noticed this aspect?

Arisha: Yes. Regarding this, I especially paid attention to it from the beginning.

Suwawa: Only Arisa and (Takatsuki) Kanako are especially tall.

Arisha: I was told “you can’t wear high heels” (laughs). When we met for the second time, it felt like everyone had already gotten a lot closer. Because we had already met, it felt like everyone was familiar, so it felt like it was much less difficult. [to talk? I’m not entirely sure what she’s talking about here]

Ainya: All the members are very enthusiastic people.

Suwawa: Back then, everyone was pretty quiet, but no one gave off the impression that they were difficult to get close to.

Arisha: Mainly because no one was trying to create a weird persona. Additionally, when we went to eat after recording and lessons, there were a lot of people who liked curry and ramen, so at that time I thought we can really come together in a sense (laughs).

It seems that right after this everyone went to live together [for the training camp, I presume], what did you do during that time?

Ainya: To train our strength, we planned to run a marathon, and we also had dance courses and whatnot. Also during this time we recorded the 1st single’s coupling song, “Step! 0 to 1.”

Arisha: Every day there were some members who went to record; those of us who weren’t recording took dance lessons.

Ainya: We also cooked meals and lit fireworks.

Suwawa: I remember clearly that we made too much food (laughs). But it was delicious.

Arisha: Before we lived together we rarely met, so we were unable to understand each other’s more personal sides. I think the main purpose of living together was to deepen our understanding of each other.

The first time the members voice acted bantering together [poking fun/acting at each other] was for the radio dramas of the second single, “Koi ni Naritai Aquarium.” What were your impressions of acting?

Arisha: This recording happened after all the members had been frantically running around to events promoting the first single, so there was a relieved feeling; we were very relaxed when we recorded the radio dramas. While each year recorded their part, the other members would be cracking up outside of the recording studio (laughs).

Suwawa: Because it was our first time bantering [see above], everyone was holding onto this feeling of “let me be able to show the acting ability I think I have.” A lot of the members had previous experience acting in various fields, so the main task was to have everyone face the same direction and put in their effort.

Arisha: For me, probably because I had relatively more drama work, the radio dramas and anime were easier to act. It’s simply a matter of receiving the other side’s words, then performing your reply. On the flip side, for things like the first single’s greetings, you have to talk to a non-specified person, which is more difficult for me. Animation recording too, when two or more people are talking at once, they need to be recorded separately; these times are really difficult.

Suwawa: When you’re not talking with someone else, there’s a feeling of not being able to find the right breaths.

Arisha: You have to remember the feeling of acting during practice, then accurately reproduce it during the formal recording. Because there are 9 people, microphone assignment is very bothersome. There were a lot of parts I didn’t understand during the radio drama recording, but going through this let me learn a lot of things before the anime recording. The recording studio only had one microphone for tall people, so Suwawa (Nanaka), (Takatsuki) Kanako, and I had to share it.

Ainya: I’m very short; when it was my turn to record I pulled myself up as much as possible to reach the relatively tall microphone (laughs).

Suwawa: Looking from the side, I found this behavior very amusing (laughs).

How did everyone establish her own part for the radio drama?

Ainya: When I received the script, I thought “how is Mari this bouncy?”, always causing Dia and Kanan lots of worry or making them angry. I also raised my own mood to be close to Mari’s, and maintained this mode when bantering with the other two.

Suwawa: Because Mari’s mood is too light, and Dia is always angry, acting as Kanan requires accompanying the other two’s moods, but also coolly assessing the situation, this part is truly difficult (laughs). Arisa has plentiful experience acting in dramas, so her speech is very imposing. Due to this, I act while thinking “I can’t lose to her aura, I must keep up with her rhythm.”

Arisha: Sure enough, as everyone has a different foundation [comes from different backgrounds/experiences], we have a lot to absorb and learn from each other. This is the basis for everyone making an effort to polish each other, and it’s an advantage we only have from the nine of us working together.

Suwawa: Because the stuff that each individual doesn’t have can be found in the other 8 members, so there’s always something to learn.

Arisha: Everyone’s personalities are so distinct, it’s very surprising.

Ainya: However, even with everyone’s distinct personalities, no one had a combative personality, this bit was particularly powerful.

Arisha: This was how we were able to have such a good balance in the group and form a very good situation. Everyone contributes the parts that they’re good at, tries hard towards the same goal; it’s only because everyone faces the same direction that they’re able to give their all while singing and dancing.

What were your feelings singing the anime OP theme, “Aozora Jumping Heart”?

Suwawa: For me, Aozora, like the first song “Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?”, is a song that symbolizes “beginning”, but the difference is that Aozora symbolizes “the beginning of a new story”, the feeling it gives me is one that’s full of energy.

Ainya: The first time I heard it I couldn’t help but get goose bumps. It’s a song that fills you with the feeling of “even though we don’t know how far we can go, as long as work towards the same goal and don’t give up our dreams, that’ll be enough”.

Arisha: Hata Aki-sensei’s lyrics are really too impressive, it makes me feel the need to properly convey the meaning of the lyrics when performing.

Suwawa: We clearly only met Hata-sensei once, how does she know our feelings? This degree of surprising people; these lyrics truly completely reflect our mood.

Arisha: After going through the radio drama recordings and various other activities, then understanding everyone’s personalities, these are the basis of performing this song, so it shows an unprecedented sense of unity; it not only positively highlights the personalities of the 9 members, but also lets you look at the unity the group has developed.

Suwawa: Even though the 9 members sing the OP together, the anime is still in the situation where the group hasn’t come together. In order to see everyone perform this song together, I approximately have this feeling of wanting to work hard to gather the nine members.

Arisha: In regards to that, the ED “Yume Kataru yori Yume Utaou” lyrics faithfully reflect that.

Suwawa: That is a song for after everyone has gathered and is progressing towards the same dream.

Ainya: The chorus has this kind of line: “Let’s not tell our dreams in words; let’s tell them in song” [first line of the ED]. Singing these kinds of lyrics, I think it’s only because everyone is together that I can do this.

The 1st live has already been announced, what kinds of goals are each of you thinking of to face this?

Ainya: During this time we’ll have more songs and dances, so firstly I need to develop the physical strength to face this; I also want to increase my power. Being myself is good, being Mari is also good, I want to let everyone who watches the live how far we’ve grown. Also, it’s very important for the nine members to be unified. The project’s charm lies in how the performances seem like they’re flying straight out of the anime, how much can we make the audience feel this in the end? I want to pour my effort into this point.

Suwawa: Up to this point, we have never had the experience of performing on such a broad stage to a large audience, so much so that I have worries I hadn’t imagined before. Even if I think that it’s next year and there’s time to prepare, it’ll definitely be here in the blink of an eye. To me, it’s a very big challenge to see if I can persist in developing my overall physical strength, and remember all the songs and dances. Adding to the fact that this has to be built on coordinating with the other members, there’s a definite need to deepen the members’ interactions.

Arisha: Even when I was young, I thought that people who were singing and dancing were very cute, but I never thought someday I would stand in this position. “It should become a great experience” only purely looking forward. But with this I also deeply recognize that we have to reach the point where we can completely let the audience happily enjoy the performance. It seems like in everyone’s hearts, the members that they are always looking at have gotten a better and better impression], if at the live we can bring this attitude to the extreme, those watching the live can also extremely enjoy the performance. Aqours is 9 people brought into one group, we need to strengthen these bonds and support each other.