Previous releases can be found in the Calendar |
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 Who is your favourite 15th gen. Momusu member? |
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Rio Kitagawa |
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 37.4% |
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Homare Okamura |
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17.8% |
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Mei Yamazaki |
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22.9% |
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I luv them all |
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22% |
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Submitted by: Mattthecat |
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| Total Votes: 214 Comments: (2) |
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Kago Ai interview at Ameba Studio: full translated summary |
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Written by B.Slade & Kuno
, updated: 7:24, 20-Apr 2008
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Kago Ai shows up unexpectedly in front of Ameba Studio and is invited in as a surprise guest - in her own words, she just came to "hang out".
The host, Hosaka Naoki, comments on how much Kago has changed from her time in Minimoni (his son was a fan and was allowed backstage to meet them before a concert). Kago apologises for the trouble she's caused to Hosaka by being the cause of false magazine rumours recently (Hosaka downplays this, claiming that he has faced much worse publicity in his career).
Kago talks about how she's been working hard on her blog every day. She cut her hair short a year and a half ago. She's been studying English a lot recently. The host mentions that she ran away overseas, though Kago claims that she was only "sort of" running away. She says that despite what people were saying about New York or Hawai'i, she actually just went to LA. She enjoyed her time there, and found interacting with people in another country interesting. She admits that her English isn't very good, but she's still trying to learn because it's the lingua franca and she wants to be able to travel to other countries with her family.
The female host (who has a hangover after last night's birthday celebrations) says that Kago has become much more mature and natural looking, compared to her old cute image. Kago agrees, and says that she wants to show a more natural version of herself now. She's currently trying to discover things about herself, and she started her blog to hear from many different voices about how she should be. She's still interested in music, but she wants to work as something that will give her new experiences, such as acting (a field where Hosaka Naoki is her major senpai). She doesn't know if she's doing the right thing, but she wants to be able to go forward with confidence.
She says she didn't worry about the things that were said about her (in places like the popular Japanese message board system, 2ch), and that people are naturally going to say things like that. When she's told that people want to see her sing as well as act, she starts to say something which could be an agreement, but she's cut off before she can complete the thought, and the subject doesn't come up again. The host begins talking about idol singer "Seiko-chan" (presumably Matsuda Seiko), and Kago says she met her once. At a Seiko concert, Kago saw her and decided "I want to be like Seiko-chan!" - that was the beginning of her idol dream. But when she met her, Kago thought she could never be as good as Seiko.
Kago admits she doesn't know if she'd be a good actor, but she likes watching movies and can imagine herself acting. She says that the idol world and the acting world are quite different. The host tells a story about how his son (then aged 5) claimed there were only three members of Minimoni. He would claim that Mika wasn't part of the group and he only watched the other three. Before meeting them at the concert, he bought stuffed animals as presents, but only three of them. When he saw all four in the dressing room, he insisted that Mika was from another group, much to the shock of the Minimoni members. (When he had a chance to take his picture with his favourite member, he went straight to the then-blonde Yaguchi)
At this point, they begin to follow the live online chat going on during the interview. One chatter asks if Kago has joined an agency. She says she has; she's represented by a new company by the name of "Mainstream". Rumours had suggested Kago was in the same agency as the host, but this isn't the case. She says that "Mainstream" is so new that it won't show up in any web searches.
Another chatter is a member of Biscuit Club, and Kago says she'll post more details about her plans on her blog. She then explains the meaning of the name "Biscuit Club": She wasn't happy with a name like "Kago Ai Fan Club", so she took one possible English translation of "kago" ("basket") to get "Basket Club". But she thought that didn't sound right either, so she changed it to "Biscuit Club". (admitting that that may sound like a lame explanation...) She also adds that she likes cookies (in Japan, a cookie is generally referred to as a "biscuit").
She admits that she'd like to appear more with people her own age, and hopes for an invitation to a university school festival or something. The host claims that Kago really doesn't look much different from her photos - a point which Kago disputes. She then says that in the morning, she wrote on her blog that she wanted to see her fans, and suddenly thought of Hosaka Naoki and Ameba Studio. She wrote that she was heading out, and then showed up at the studio. The host protests that she could have told him first, as he doesn't read her blog. She thought of that, but decided to make it a surprise instead.
They decide to allow Kago to stay longer in the studio, and Kago suddenly makes the realisation that the show is in fact a live broadcast. When given the chance to say whatever she wants, Kago decides to talk about her blog. She tries to explain that Fan Club members only have been allowed to leave comments for the past two days, but has trouble putting that into words. Once that confusion is cleared up, she says that a lot of the comments have been from girls and that they have a lot of worries (health, skincare, etc). She mentions that Hosaka Naoki has been taking vitamins and flax oil a lot recently and it's helped his skin, so she recommends it (halfheartedly). She hopes that people will share their worries with her as she shares her worries with them, so they can work them out together on the blog.
The hosts then decide to let Kago respond to a letter from a woman looking for advice about trust issues she's having with a friend. Kago concludes that the person in question isn't a true friend, because she won't help the woman out. She thinks that true friends help each other out in times of trouble. The friends Kago had that were there for her after her "house arrest" and dismissal are the ones she considers her true friends. She admits that her case may be different, though. She also says that as long as you're strong, you'll be okay and that friends will come to you. The subject moves on to the differences in the way men and women think, and Kago admits she doesn't understand mens' minds at all.
Asked what kind of actor she wants to become, Kago says she wants to be a "deep" actor. Because she still doesn't fully "understand" herself, she wants to be the kind of actor who learn about herself by being both herself and the role she's playing. (She's not sure if she explained herself well here.)
Kago agrees that she should appear on TV more often. As the show wraps up, Kago puts in one last plug for her blog, then realises that Yahoo (home of her blog) and Ameba (owners of the show she's on) are competitors, and apologises.
Here are some streaming video links of this interview, for those interested (thanks faraithi):
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v7008403t2zrcNyS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a52mfmOVbVg |
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