Starting in 2015, 20 girls have entered Hello!Project as permanent members.

To explore their true selves and honest opinions, a 20-day serial interview series has been planned.


"It would have been better if I had reacted more"

Q: Please tell how you felt when you received the news that you had passed the audition through a video message.
A: Before I was happy, my mind blanked out from surprise. I really felt like it was a dream. One of the staff members told me, "even if you have failed you will receive the news through a video message." But now, hearing I had passed, I wasn't able to organize my mind, I was just dazed. Afterwards, I thought that it would have been better if I had reacted more.

Q: What was your family's reaction?
A: They were really happy for me. I had been taking dance lessons from the start under my mother's recommendation, so they really supported me.

Q: What about your friends?
A: I kept the fact that I was auditioning a secret, so they were really surprised. They said, "I knew you liked Morning Musume, but you took an audition?"


"I wouldn't be satisfied if it wasn't Morning Musume"

Q: What made you like Morning Musume?
A: When I was little I lived in America for 8 years, but I once returned to Japan for a short while and was obsessed with MiniMoni. From there, I came to like Morning Musume. There are a lot of videos around of me imitating their dances, but little me would say "I danced Morning Musume!"

Q: What made you decide to take the audition?
A: A while ago, a lot of things were depressing me, to the level that my physical health being affected. At that time, I happened to stumble upon Morning Musume '14's "Egao no Kimi wa Taiyousa" music video. I thought the dance was really cool, and watching it I felt energetic and thought, "I want to become a member of Morning Musume, I wouldn't be satisfied if it wasn't Morning Musume." When applications for new members were opened, just like the lyrics "You can only do it now, do the thing you want to do", I thought "I can only do it now!" But when I told my mom I wanted to audition, she said, "aren't you studying for entrance exams?"... So, I showed my parents Egao no Kimi wa Taiyousa's music video and explained it to them. Then, both of my parents understood and came to support me full-heartedly.


"Chel? Nonaka-chan? Miki-chan?"

Q: About 3 months have passed since you've joined, huh.
A: I'm really sluggishly slow when it comes to learning dances, so I think I have to try a lot harder than everyone else giving it my all. I watch a lot of practice videos at home too, making sure I'm doing it right and practicing.

Q: Your senpai, Oda Sakura-san, calls you Chel, doesn't she?
A: Yes. I like the candy Chelsea, so she started to call me Chel. But other senpai call me Nonaka-chan, so she's been calling me Chel less lately, I'm sad.

Q: From now on, when people are doing your calls, what do you want them to call you?
A: Ogata Haruna shares a name with our senpai, Iikubo Haruna, so her call isn't Haruna, it's Ogata. The sounds of Nonaka and Ogata resemble each other, huh. But, there's no one called Miki...If people called me Chelsea or something, I'm worried people wouldn't be able to learn my real name...It's difficult, huh. I'll leave it up to the fans.


"A huge dream of a world tour"

Q: Do you think you have a rival within Hello!Project's new members?
A: At the final audition training camp, I was together with Ogata Haruna, Ozeki Mai, and Shimamura Uta. I was very aware of them. We started from the same place, so I didn't want to lose to them, and seeing them doing their best, I thought, "I have to do my best too."

Q: Within the 12th generation, what kind of character do you have?
A: A lot of people say that their first impression of me is that I am very ladylike, but with my equals, gradually things contradicting that image expose themselves. I'd be happy if I could always have a ladylike image, but, well...I want to be serious during my work, so I don't want let my mind wander.

Q: What kind of personality do you want to have within the group?
A: I definitely want to make the most of my English. I lived in America for 8 years, so if it's English, I won't lose to anyone (of the members!) However, I don't speak English anymore, so I've probably forgotten some. So, in order to not forget anymore, I want to keep studying.

Q: There are lot of fans overseas, aren't there.
A: I want a lot more people in a lot of countries to know of us, and I want to hold concerts in many different countries. If I speak english, I think I can communicate with fans from all over the world, so I want to make the most of it.

Q: What is your goal as Morning Musume?
A: I want to do a world tour. It's a very big dream so I don't know if it will come true, but I'll do my best to make it happen!

Source: http://logirl.favclip.com/article/detail/318

Translation by @GPBchan (Twitter)