April Famitsu Shiny Colors interview (Yuu Wakui)

For our final cast interview, we have the one who plays the newest idol added during the 2nd Anniversary "Toru Asakura", Yuu Wakui. In addition to episodes around the time of her audition, we also heard about things related to" "Shinymas".
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A challenge to give a life-size performance while nervous


- Your role of Toru, was it decided via the audition?

Wakui: That's right. At the start it was an audition where I had to provide recordings, but seeing that it was an audition for the "iM@S" series, I was really nervous. However, I felt that I didn't sense myself entering Toru-chan's character in a hurry, and after the audition, "maybe I didn't make an impression after all"; I had those worries when I returned home.


- For your regular auditions, do you get nervous often?

Wakui: My nature is that I tend to get nervous, so when I accept auditions, it's usually with a sense of heart-pounding nervousness. However, for Toru-chan's audition this time around, I wasn't nervous, but rather I feel that it was a rare case where I was able to naturally express Toru-chan.


- Speaking of Toru, what kind of impression has she left on you?

Wakui: When I first received the materials on Toru-chan, I felt she was a boyish girl, who didn't really like youthful, energetic things. But, I eventually came to realize that Toru-chan stubbornly values her individuality, and that she's also a kid with proper femininity. That was when I had the impression that she's actually a more natural and transparent kid than I thought.


- Do you feel that you're similar to Toru, or at least have things in common?

Wakui: My fundamental values, like "be natural, be myself", that kind of stance, is similar to Toru's. However for Toru-chan, I think she's the type where you can't really see the intense ups-and-downs of her emotions at first glance, but as for myself, I'm the type where my emotions come out naturally, so for the parts looking from the outside, I feel that's where I'm different from Toru-chan.


- Apart from recording dialogue, you also record songs, so is there anything you need to keep in mind while you sing?

Wakui: Of course, a song has lyrics, and the lyricist places their thoughts into those short sentences. Personally, I feel that I'm the type where I place a lot of emotion into my singing. However, I thought "does Toru-chan express that much?" a lot. Around that time, I had a lot of difficulty deciding how much emotion I should express through my singing. But, when we actually recorded, for how much emotion I should express as Toru-chan while singing and its nuances, the staff gave a number of proposals, and I was given the direction "do it as you please, freedom is good". From there, I was able to smoothly record a very Toru-like, transparent song.



The swirling conflict due to her love for the idols!?


- Do you also play "Shinymas"?

Wakui: Before the role of Toru-chan was decided, I played quite often, but after I got the role, I decided to take a little break.


- Why did you decide to take a break?

Wakui: When I was selected to be Toru-chan in "Shinymas", where she would be produced alongside all the other kids, I felt like I was having an affair, it was really painful (laughs). I felt a little guilty, so I decided to take a little break.


- Maybe it's because you love Toru too(laughs). Those circumstances do sound painful, but do you have a favorite idol besides Toru?

Wakui: That's tough...... My first impression would be Rinze Morino-chan, but the one I actually produced the most was Mano-chan. After all, she was the first one I met in the game, so I got really attached to her, and as I continued to produce her, I got addicted to Mano-chan's charms.


- Thank you very much. I do hope that many people will produce Toru as well.

Wakui: I hope so too. Since both me and Toru have both just joined the ranks of "Shinymas"' members, I'll do my best to bring out Toru's charms to the fullest extent. However, I wonder if Toru-chan has any more hidden charm that even I'm not aware of yet. These hidden parts, by seeing her involvement with the other idols and the Producer, I feel that they'll come out in that way, and I'm personally very excited for that. Also, the members of the unit Toru belongs to, "noctchill", are childhood friends at the moment, but will become idols from here on out. For the new Producers, if you could look after Toru-chan and "noctchill", and discover their new charms, I'd be really happy.