#Even if he isn’t your oshi you can still participate

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 9: Going Back To The Start

Girl A: Thank you very much~!

Girl B: We’ll be supporting you from now on, too!

Chikage: Be careful on your way home.

Young man: You have once again made me think that actors are amazing! Thank you so much!

Youth: That was fun~!

Citron: For us, too!

Towa: Thank you so much!

Izumi: Thank you for participating. We were able to come up with a wonderful project because of you, Towa-kun.

Towa: To be honest, I was really hesitant about participating. Failing in front of Masumi-kun would’ve been embarrassing.

Towa: But I’m glad I took the plunge!

Towa: I understood what kind of scenery Masumi-kun and the others look at from the top of the stage…

Towa: I think I understand more about how a theater play is made, and about everyone who works on it, now.

Towa: A new world has opened before me!

Tsuzuru: Hearing you say that makes all of it worth it, right, Masumi?

Masumi: Well, you did your best.

Towa: All this from my oshi…! 

Izumi: Come see our play next.

Citron: We’ll be waiting!

Towa: Yes! I absolutely will! I’ll be going now!

[Towa leaves]

Rento: Our first event was a big success.

Akashi: Even though… I don’t get many opportunities like this… I had fun, too…

Rento: Us backstage staff usually don’t have any contact with the audience.

Izumi: Thank you for your help today, you two!

Rento: Call me if ya do anything like this again.

Akashi: Me too…

Izumi: Of course!

Sakuya: We’ll be counting on you!

-

Izumi: … It looked like everyone was having fun.

Sakuya: It made me think of the first time I stood on stage.

Tsuzuru: Yeah, it was really nostalgic.

Citron: I could feel the chills in everyone’s hearts~!

Itaru: We were like that too, at the start.

Chikage: When you think about it like that, we’ve improved a lot.

Masumi: I was better than that.

Tsuzuru: That part of you hasn’t changed at all.

Sakuya: At first, just saying one line made me nervous, and I was constantly conscious of what the next line was.

Tsuzuru: Right, right! I kept thinking about how I had to move during a scene, and then I panicked because I missed everyone else’s lines.

Citron: I could do it when I was practicing alone, but when we were all together, I kept fumbling!

Masumi: You still do that.

Itaru: If my past self saw me now, he’d be surprised.

Chikage: Because you didn’t think you’d dedicate so much of yourself to acting?

Itaru: Something like that. But isn’t that true for you too, Senpai?

Chikage: I can’t deny that.

Izumi: Towa-kun’s eyes were sparkling as he told me that a new world opened before him.

Masumi: Even though he was nervous at first, he enjoyed himself.

Sakuya: I was like that too when I first decided to join MANKAI Company.

Sakuya: I’m really glad I took the courage to jump into that new world.

Tsuzuru: I remember hesitating a lot before taking that step, too. It got so busy after I joined that I didn't have time to think about it, though. 

Masumi: It felt like fate for me, so I didn’t hesitate.

Izumi: Ahaha, that’s how it was. How nostalgic.

Sakuya: Also, this made me want to do RomiJuli again!

Citron: I know, right! I kept almost saying the lines myself!

Itaru: IKR.

Izumi: Should we hold a run for it again?

Tsuzuru: If we do that, I’d like to give Chikage-san a proper role.

Citron: And I want to appear a little more!

Izumi: Right, as Citron-kun is now, he can play all kinds of roles. 

Chikage: But if everything else remains the same, it won’t feel fresh because it’s been reran multiple times.

Sakuya: If we’re going to do it, we’ll have to do it once the Fleur Cup is over, right?

Itaru: Since RomiJuli is such a catchy subject, it’s got movie and ballet adaptations, and it’s easy for people who aren’t into theater to get into it.

Itaru: I think it fits our aim of going back to the basics.

Izumi: But participating in the Fleur Cup with a repeat performance is too risky…

Tsuzuru: … Oh.

Izumi: ?

Tsuzuru: How does a sequel sound, then?

-

Tsumugi: Good work on the workshop. How did it go?

Sakuya: Everyone was hesitant at first, but as soon as their voices and gestures started coming out, they started having fun!

Tsuzuru: Watching them inspired me.

Tasuku: Sounds like it became a good opportunity for you to look at acting objectively again.

Tsumugi: I want to try it with the Winter Troupe, too. It sounds like we could learn a lot. 

Homare: We should make some time for poetry when we do that.

Tasuku: That would change the subject.

Homare: In the sense of studying lines, I believe studying poetry, which emphasizes the rhythm of words, would be helpful.

Guy: That makes sense. Shakespeare was both a playwright and a poet.

Hisoka: … We can light a bonfire and roast marshmallows at the end.

Tsuzuru: You say it like it’s a recreational activity at the end of camping, but this is just your hobby.

Sakuya: It’ll be a workshop that highlights each of your unique characters.

Izumi: Let’s plan one again when we have the chance.

Sakyo: We’re all here now.

Izumi: Let’s start the meeting, then.

Izumi: This meeting is about the Spring Troupe’s performance for 1Q of the Fleur Cup.

Izumi: After the workshop, we got to talking about going back to the start…

Citron: Simply put, we wanted to do RomiJuli again!

Sakyo: You mean you’re going to rerun RomiJuli?

Tsuzuru: No, not exactly. I was thinking about writing a sequel…

Tsuzuru: The RomiJuli that can be done by us thanks to our growth— One that will be depicting the future of the RomiJuli we debuted with.

Tsuzuru: I think it’s something we can do because we live in the future of that time.

Sakuya: This is also our first attempt at a sequel, so I think it will prove to be a challenge.

Sakuya: Of course, we really want to perform RomiJuli again, but…

Chikage: We also have to make sure this performance is a stepping stone towards the Fleur Cup.

Itaru: If we don’t collect votes, we won’t be able to connect to the next performance…

Itaru: Since this isn’t only our problem, we wanted to hear everyone’s opinion.

Tenma: A sequel to the debut performance… I’d have never thought of that. But I understand the feeling of wanting to go back to that again.

Tsumugi: You can’t help but wonder how you would perform this role now. It always feels fresh, no matter how many times you do it.

Kazunari: Since it’s the first one, it’s prolly the one where the theater company and the troupe’s colors are most prominent~

Sakyo:  Despite how rough it might’ve been, it can also be said that it’s what determined the Reborn MANKAI Company’s direction.

Banri: Since it’s the first one, it’s been rerun a lot. That’s also a plus, yeah?

Juza: Since you have a solid foundation of your role, you can approach it from a different perspective.

Juza: And above all, it’ll be rewarding to connect the dots from the debut performance to the sequel.

Homare: The parts that have changed and the parts that haven’t changed…You get a chance to express on stage those things that come to you naturally as you live day-to-day.

Guy: This will be a good experience for you as actors. It will help you grow.

Tasuku: I think getting to experience the long life of one of your characters is a precious opportunity. 

Taichi: And the OG RomiJuli fans will be real happy with this!

Omi: The fact that the original was so well received is also advantageous.

Azami: It’ll also be easy to imagine the world setting.

Yuki: What I’m worried about is that since they’re the same characters, it might lack a sense of freshness.

Kazunari: It’d be good to be conscious of that and make changes in the visuals.

Itaru: And there’s also the jinx that sequels can’t surpass the originals.

Banri: We can do more in the lighting and sound department now, all we can do is show ‘em how much we’ve leveled up.

Yuki: When I think of my past self as a rival, I get a little fired up.

Kazunari: We can’t lose~!

Sakyo: We also need to satisfy viewers that haven’t seen the first performance. That’s quite a gap from a stand-alone.

Kumon: But, I’m jealous, Chikage-san! I want my own role in the Summer Troupe’s first performance, too!

Misumi: And I’m curious what the Genie from “Water me!” is up to!

Muku: I understand! Just like how we’re living in the future compared to those days, I want to see what they’re doing in their future, too.

Azuma: If we’re making a sequel for the Spring Troupe’s debut performance, we should do that for the Summer Troupe and the others, too.

Tenma: That’s where we’ll end up, naturally.

Juza: I wanna put myself in Lansky’s shoes once more…

Omi: I’ve got some sudden motivation now.

Sakyo: We will only go through with this if the Spring Troupe’s sequel doesn’t fail.

Homare: Choosing to do a “sequel” in a situation where we absolutely can’t lose and also have to deal with a lot of first-time viewers is quite brave.

Izumi: That’s true.

Tsuzuru: I-I’m feelin’ the pressure…

Hisoka: … All troupes have to make sure they can connect to the one coming after.

Guy: Following the Spring Troupe in 1Q is the Summer Troupe in 2Q, and then the Autumn Troupe in 3Q and the Winter Troupe in 4Q. We must all contribute to the ranking in order to make it to the finals.

Tsumugi: But isn’t it reassuring to know that the initial performance of RomiJuli will be by our side in such a situation?

Sakuya: Exactly… Because this was our “start” as the Spring Troupe.

Citron: It was the Spring Troupe, and the Reborn MANKAI Company’s first ever adventure!

Masumi: If we can’t do this, the other troupes won’t be able to do it, either.

Itaru: Pretty much.

Chikage: I think it’s worth the bet.

Tsuzuru: No choice but to go for it…

Izumi: Then, let’s make each performance for the New Fleur Award a sequel to the troupes’ initial performances!

Izumi: (With this, we’re taking our first step towards the New Fleur Award)

Izumi: (All that’s left is the same as usual, we come together and prepare for the performances. I hope we can get through it without any troubles…)

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) the fleur cup mentions are not a mistake. they started calling it that so i just went along with them

(2) the text says Q, but the voiced lines all call it quarters. i went with the text, so i hope that's not too confusing

[ibasae]

DecaDANCE - 2

Makoto: Kagehira-kun, I brought some tea and snacks for you~ Come have some.

Mika: Ngah~ m'pologies for making ya look after me.

Makoto: Don't think too much of it. I just brought some extra for you because I wanted some tea myself. Oh, you are free to take snacks from the plate as you'd like.

Mika: Thank ya kindly. Mako-kun is truly too gentle and kind...♪

Eh~? Um, why is there only these foreign-lookin' snacks?

Makoto: These are all taken from the event area for this "World Desserts Convention," and I heard they were shipped here from all over the world.

I mean, who would even come up with something like this? Must be Tenshouin-senpai again.

Mika: Eh, so that man would do somethin' like this? That's surprisin'.

...Ah! I know this one. This is called a "cannelé," and Oshi-san once brought me some as a present.

I was goin' to store it away permanently 'cause I thought it'd be a waste if I ate it, but Oshi-san found out~

He lectured me, sayin' that "I didn't give this to you as a decoration!" and had me eat it in front of him.

Makoto: Is that so? That's certainly a stroke of bad luck.

Mika: I'm still reluctant to think about it~ I should've hid it somewhere else.

If Oshi-san gets me somethin' again, I'll hide it somewhere he can't find! 'Cause if it's something Oshi-san got me, I wanna store it forever.

Makoto: Ahaha. But if it's fresh food, you should still eat it before it expires.

Regardless, I'm glad you're in higher spirits now! All thanks to the cannelés.

This might be a bad time to bring it up, but, regarding the movie project, does Kagehira-kun still not want to participate?

Mika: Mmm, yeah... I understand the logic behind it, like I know how it's a big project and would be really helpful for me.

'N I'm decently interested as well. It's a good opportunity to learn about movie production, which will be a big help in my artistic pursuits.

I guess 'm just really insecure about the whole thing. I mean, 'm not really sure if 'm a good fit for somethin' like this, since I never properly acted before.

If the project fails just 'cause of my incompetence... Uuu, just thinkin' about it makes me scared.

Makoto: That is understandable... In these situations, making the first step is really difficult.

It would be a different story if you were just a side character making a cameo, but to be casted as a protagonist... That is a lot of pressure.

I have the same opinion as Anzu, and I won't push you. If Kagehira-kun does not wish to participate, you are free to reject the offer.

But, you are interested, deep down, right? You just have insecurities related to not having enough experience, but you do want to try, no...?

Mika: Ngah~... Mm, yeah. After all, this isn't some "vulgar" work, as Oshi-san says. It won't reflect badly on Valkyrie at all.

Makoto: Then, I say you accept the job offer. Don't worry, I'll be with you the entire way.

I felt the same way as Kagehira-kun when I got casted as the protagonist of "Fist of the Shangri-la Idol," so I should be able to offer some advice.

Most importantly, this movie has two protagonists. Kagehira-kun would not be alone at all, so let's work hard together, and put together the best work we can.

Mika: Mako-kun...

Makoto: ...Ah, I said some really arrogant stuff, didn't I? I'm sorry, I shouldn't act like your senior just because I have a little acting experience.

Mika: No, Mako-kun was being really considerate of my feelings. Thank ya kindly.

But is it really okay? I'm really an outsider when it comes to actin', and I might be very troublesome to work with...

Makoto: Don't worry at all! You don't have to be so formal with someone like me ♪

Plus, I'm still learning how to properly act myself. If we come across something we don't understand, let us be troubled together and figure out the solution as a team!

Mika: (Ah, I'm really pathetic... I was only thinkin' about myself this whole time.)

(Sayin' stuff like not being able to handle the job just 'cause I don't have experience...)

(When Mako-kun, Anzu, and the Vice President are all actively considering the offer... And internally, I want to do too.)

(Getting a job offer with no related experiences, shots of pure luck like this would properly never happen again in my lifetime.)

(I wouldn't accomplish anythin' at all if I just keep runnin' away from my problems 'cause of fear and anxiety. I have to step up, and really take the brave first step...!)

... Yer right. With Mako-kun by my side, there's not much to be afraid of.

'M going to try my best! I think 'm gonna accept this movie job offer!

A few days later

Mika: This is the meetup location, right... U-um, is anyone there~ hello...?

Makoto: I've been waiting for you, Kagehira-kun!

Mika: Wonderful, Mako-kun is here♪ There's so many rooms around here, 'n I don't really use the meeting rooms. I was a tad anxious when I opened the door, 'cause I thought I was goin' to the wrong room.

Makoto: Is that so? So you and Itsuki-senpai do not use the meeting rooms for conferencing?

Mika: Yeah. When Oshi-san's in the country, we usually just chat in the outfits room. [1]

Makoto: Ah, that's right. I do sometimes bump into the two of you in the outfits room.

Speaking of which, me and the rest of Trickstar do use the meeting rooms for conferencing often.

If there aren't any meeting rooms open, Akehoshi-kun would say something like "Let's find some other place to just eat and chat while we have the meeting ☆" and then we will find somewhere else. So it's not like a fixed thing.

Mika: Haha, Akehoshi-kun really is someone who would just say things like that. I can even imagine his happy expression as he talks ♪

Oh, right. I heard the movie script is here?

Makoto: Yeah, Anzu gave both of our scripts to me. Come, I'll give you one.

Mika: Thank ya kindly~

...~Uwah, this is really a thick script. Are movie scripts usually this thick?

Makoto: Hm, well, if it's not a dialogue heavy film, the script would be lighter. But the script for "Midnight Butlers" was about this long as well. [2]

Mika: So that's the case~ it feels like it'll take a while to even just read it.

Lookie! Me and Mako-kun's names are on the first page! Must be 'cause we are starring in this film, right?

Makoto: Yup. Just looking at it makes me realize the responsibility on my shoulders, and it motivates me to work even harder.

Hey, it's rare that both of us would be together in the same place at once, so how about we have a "table read" of the script together?

Ah, do you know what "table reading" is? It's just having the actors read through their bits in the order detailed by the script as dialogue practice.

Mika: So it's just like a prose recital. Alright, I got it~

After some time has passed

Mika: "We- we aren't-- aren't lying at all!"

Makoto: "..."

Mika: "Oi, why are you so quiet? Say something."

"If the truth gets buried, the victim won't be able to pass on peacefully. We havta speak up for 'em!" ...Sorry, that was on me.

"We have to speak up for them!"

Ngh... Ngaah... Mako-kun, can we take a break? 'Cause I don't really talk in the Tokyo Dialect, or the "Standard Dialect"... this script is really difficult for me. The lines are a real pain.

Makoto: That's true, we should take a break.

Mika: Thank ya kindly~ Uuu... 'M really just useless, I already feel like givin' up. Just readin' it all takes a lot out of me, and I don't think I remembered any~thin' at all.

Can I really memorize it all before the shootin' starts...? I've already lost confidence...

Makoto: It would be one thing if Kagehira-kun specializes in hard memorization, but if that's not your forte, try to memorize the lines in context?

If you think about the character's internal feelings while you read the lines, they'll leave a much heavier impression on you.

Mika: Ah, so we're not just memorizin' the lines, but also really feelin' it. I'll try my best to do that.

I have no idea what other translators call this room. The dressing room? The outfits room? The clothing room? The closet? At this point, I'm too tired to look. I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say.

At this point in the timeline, despite being a new, up-and-coming actor, Makoto has already starred in "Fist of the Shangri-la Idol," "Midnight Butlers," and now "Detective Dance" as well. Where is Mako's grammy.

[hungnitan]

ACT 10 FULL SUMMARY SPOILER

Read at your own risk + it’s good breather while waiting for Yaycupcake translation team lol

- Continuing the previous act, Reni explained for why he took care of Kusumi despite he doesn’t produce any script for GOD-za. It explicitly explained that Madoka started as ghostwriter around act 1, so GOD-za script before that... it’s Reni magic lol

- Mankai celebrating their victory in timeact WITH GOD-ZA ! Madoka and Misumi made up nicely, ShifutoHaruto-Mankai bonding time, and... Reni has joined the party ! PS : I love Shifuto-Sakoda Sakyo time there

- Reni portrait explained around the time he meet Hakkaku for last time, Hakkaku gave him his last script (to protected it from Kusumi’s plagiarism) and hope that his designed cast will play it someday. Reni tell him it’s impossible to do at that time since Reni still in tight with Mankai Co and Yukio diseappearance The cast are Reni, Yuzo and old leaders with Hiro as lead actor plus Yukio as director

- We have Yuzo portrait too ! He explained that Yukio still alive somewhere overseas and can’t comeback to Veludo bc certain circumstances and their script got plagiarism in Fleur award play by Kusumi (yeah again), while Hakkaku can’t let that annouced that’s why Yukio disappeared and tell Mankai not to participate in fleur award play

- Old Mankai leaders portaits ! Mostly same as prologue, added some dialogue + tell their old Mankai time Comment : Woah, I disgust myself for even doubt Syu loyalty to Mankai now, he’s second most loyal to Mankai (first is Hiro)

- Timeact with Old Mankai team ! Well, it’s just Yuzo reasoning to used Hakkaku last script and Hiro terribly want to act in Mankai theater. The theme is Genpei War as Hakkaku script wrote For timeact prizes, Yuzo want Juza for his workshop, Hiro want Mankai’s flag, Zen want Kamekichi for his show restaurant, Syu would stop paying their dorm bill, Reni want old Mankai tape  Comment : You remember MatsukawaSakyo once said about dorm bill in season 1 prologue and we all thought it included in Mankai debt isn’t. In the end the one who pay is him bc he want to protected that place until Yukio comeback again

- For Old Mankai reunited play, the only problem need to solve is Kasumi. He pretty disheartening to do act again (for Yukio, Reni contacted him + trying to make up) The one who convinced Kasumi to joined the play is SAKUYA.

- LOVED every scene Old Mankai leaders talked about Kid Sakyo lol

- Syu just Hakkaku oshi with tsundere great grandpa traits , Zen helped Tenma recovered his confidence, Hiro jealous to Tenma bc his kid is Tenma fans, Kasumi become Sakuya oshi

- While ACT 9 play mostly smooth, ACT 10 had a high hurdle. Tenma just get his assed kick with Hiro, Tsuzuru with Syu, Masumi and Kumon can’t get a grasp with his character. Comment : it’s good thing, we saw Harugumi Natsugumi bonding... Every members play a great part despite didn’t appear in this play

- New Mankai cast : Tenma after heard that Hiro is Old Mankai lead actor, Tsuzuru after get harsh comment about his acting by Syu, Misumi want to show his act to his father and Madoka, Masumi as always want to show his best to director while the other two...just SpringSummer members remaining member suits the play (other unchoosen HaruNatsu members scared after think dorm bill in stakes lol)

- Despite old Mankai Co sudden break up, everyone already think their own ways like Kasumi confidence to act get lower to the point he want to quit, Yuzo planned to leave company after Fleur award to do his own theater like Reni, Zen think to open his own show restaurant but just can’t made up his mind until Yukio leave

- Timeact Old vs New is live streaming ! Since most old members + Tenma name are big enough to made Mankai theater overload in no time...

- Old Mankai sad play !!! Since their VA mostly veteran, so the play really transmitted painfully good. I would love to see their play again someday

Syu really manly in that play ! and look at the beautifulness of Juli woman role~ lol

- We’re all know who’s winner, so they received prizes from old leaders. HAKKAKU UNFINISHED SCRIPT “MANKAI KOUEN” (Mankai Show) with all old member as cast in mind ! Yup, everyone. So with the script in new Mankai now, means we gonna see 24 MEMBERS IN ONE PLAY TOGETHER SOMEDAY ! (my best guess will be their Fleur award though still long long way to go)

- Finally our mc contacted by his father !!!

- FINAL BOSS APPEARED AT LAST. still unknown name and sprite but his VA is Miyamoto Mitsuru (expert handling antagonist characters lol)

- In the end, old leaders joined the party !

- Possible scene at later ACT : Final boss will make his move, Zen Omi talked about Nachi, detail reason Yukio and Hakkaku got treatened

Means we gonna get another spoiler, PV and prologue in month

PLAY : Moreless as I expected except it’s really full of comedy and happy end. I even forgot they acted Yoshitsune play sometimes. While as always Misumi different personality amaze me but I didn’t think Masumi can take cheerful younger brother tsukkomi role... plus wow I didn’t expect Chikage as Yoritomo (he’s true beauty there lol)

SONG : It’s morelike Kikyo no Hana type, but tbh I don’t really like it...it can’t be helped since it’s warring state song 

OVERALL PLAY : I guess it’s their own way to balancing the ACT story, since Old Mankai into sad tragedy play (yeah, old Mankai MUST sad one, since it’s their reunion play). Overall, it’s good way to tell Yoshitsune in different side of story~

CG EXPLANATION :

Hiro and Tenma checking their drama scene together, fyi there’s unseen spark between them (lol)

Masumi Misumi bonding for Masumi character role building. Since he don’t know younger brother feels like, he asked Misumi as he had Madoka. In the end, Misumi asked Masumi to fold paper plane together (PS : I really love the cheerfulness from this CG aside it’s just normal scene)

Sakuya try convinced Kasumi to join the timeact. After doing etude and talked about past together, Kasumi finally agreed to joined and he crying there (if you can see it)

Zahra cafe finally open ! Everyone + old members gathering there after timeact. It’s good they use that place as CG since onward it use as gathering place

My personal comment : I enjoyed ACT 9 more overall. Some episode in ACT 10 pretty boring to me (after celebrating timeact victory with GOD-za and before old Mankai announced timeact). Even ACT 9 play and song better than this, but yeah old mankai team banter really good~

So with ACT 3 1/2 Ever lasting finished and gone into 2/2 Full Blooming, we only had Sakuya Itaru Citron (Haru), Yuki Muku Kazu (Natsu), Banri Juza Sakyo (Aki) and Hisoka Homare Azuma (Fuyu).

If we used 1/2 patterns, it definitely sure the next one is Banri team with AkiNatsu team and last is Sakuya team with HaruFuyu team

Well, BanriKazu or BanriYuki will be funny in many ways but BanriMuku too if they use Muku as woman role will be great (lately Muku keep getting female role). For Sakuya... I don’t think anyone will be great chemistry to him but I would love to see SakuyaAzuma or SakuyaHisoka

[hotarutranslations]

Tsubaki Factory's Kishimoto Yumeno's "20 Questions 20 Answers" Haro Puro Love Talk!

In 2018, we’re having a celebration of the Hello! Project 20th Anniversary (Hello Love). For the members who belong to Hello! Project, their thoughts on the 20thanniversary activities and enthusiasm for 2018, thoughts of an everyday idol, we had a passionate “20 questions 20 answers” talk~ This time its Tsubaki Factory’s Kisimoto Yumeno!!

Kishimoto Yumeno = Born April 1st 2000, 17 years old. From Osaka. Blood Type B.

Q1: Tell us the meaning of your name!

It seems that I became “Yumeno” in hopes that I would grow up with dreams. Hiragana was used because it looked cuter than kanji. Aren’t all the characters round! When my name is lined up on a class roster, I can immediately find myself.

Q2: What senior do you admire?

Berryz Koubou’s Shimizu Saki-san. She is very good at dancing sexy. Her singing voice is also cool. Her performing is cool such that her normal playful appearance is funny to me. Also I have been touched by her kindness. I admire her because she is very kind! When I was in Kenshuusei I got to appear in a Berryz Koubou tour, all of the participating Kenshuusei were nervous, it always had the feeling of ‘be careful’. At that time Shimizu-san told us “Its ok for everyone to sit down,”. It was a small thing from Shimizu-san, but it was a big thing for me. It made me really happy!

Q3: Who would you want to be reborn as?

Matsuura Aya-san. She debuted as an idol and as she became and adult did acoustic and band lives. I think that’s cool.

Q4: What do you think you’re the best at in Hello! Project?

Being a commoner (laughs). Alone without caution, I’ll go into restaurants others won’t enter. Like Gyoza no Osho or Hidakaya; I will normally go to places that salarymen go to on their way home. Even when I went diving, I brought kimchi fried rice I had made myself in a Tupperware.

Q5: Tell us something amazing about Hello! Project!

Our singing and dancing abilities!

Q6: Who would you want to be in a special Hello! Project unit with?

Former Morning Musume Tanaka Reina-san. Now she is in the rock band LoVendoЯ, its really cool. If we were ever to be in a unit together, I’d want to pump everyone up with a passionate rock feeling!

Q7: Tell us a Tsubaki Factory song you like!

“Seishun Manmanaka!” is our indies 1st single,  it’s our first single but I also personally like the lyrics.

Q8: What is a Hello! Project song you like?

Berryz Koubou-sans “Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance”. I love Berryz Koubou-san, I also have memories of Berryz-san; I like this funny song.

Q9: What is the difference between previous and current Hello! Project?

Recently we have a lot of techno-like songs. I don’t think there was much of that previously, recently I think that idol songs with cool EDM are accumulating.

Q10: Other than yourself, who is your oshi in Hello! Project?

Morning Musume ‘18’s Oda Sakura-san. She is of course skilled in singing, she’s amazing. Even when first looking at Oda-san, singing is what you immediately think of. She’s amazing at synchronizing singing and dancing. There’s no blur between her singing and dancing. Her overall performing is amazing!

Q11: What do you want others to see most from yourself?

My large height perhaps. Now I’m 167cm, I want you to see my use my long limbs dynamically!

Q12: What is work you want to challenge?

Radio. I think I am the most into listening to the radio the most out of the members. The staff around me are also in charge of the radio programs, aren’t there a lot of Hello! Project members with radio shows? Since Tsubaki Factory are also members, I want to do it! I can relay more things about myself, I want you to know more about me. Also, I want to broadcast the various songs that I like.

Q13: What do you want others to see most from Tsubaki Factory?

Whether it’s a cool or cute song, we’re not masculine. With our choreography and costumes, somewhere femininity is hidden. We have many straight feminine numbers, I want you to see them.

Q14: What will you be doing in twenty years?

Ideally I want to be doing whatever I want. I’d like to be relaxing at a beach house. I’m someone who would always be at a beach house (laughs). I’d be ok even if I’m the person running and managing the beach house, from there I’d want to do diving and the like. While doing that, I’d want to do work occasionally as a radio DJ that I long to do (laughs). Rather than being married, perhaps I’d still be playing around? Maybe I wouldn’t be married yet. Since there are a lot of things I want to do.

Q15: Since it’s the 20th anniversary, tell us a secret!

The members know this but, I still haven’t given 3 members gifts for their birthdays from last year yet (laughs). I bought them but I missed the timing to hand it over…Now, there are three in Tsubaki Factory and one in another group that I haven’t given presents to, so the total has come to four. They’re placed in my room, and I worry about what kind of face they’ll make if I hand it over now. Since I was late, I’ve thought, maybe it would be better to wait a bit longer?

Q16: After the 20th anniversary, what would you like to do?

Since singing and dancing are different things, my personal goal for this year is not “Singing + Dancing”, its “Singing x Dancing”! Like, wasn’t Michael Jackson amazing at singing and dancing? Those who can dance and sing smoothly are so cool, I aim to be like that!

Q17: What would you be doing if you weren’t an idol?

Since my dream was to become a middle school teacher, perhaps properly studying to go to university? I was helped out by a wonderful middle school teacher, Thanks to that person I came to chage my mind on things. I think I’d also like to have that kind of presence for someone.

Q18: What are you most into right now?

Listening to music. I’ll buy a CD, record or cassette I don’t know of based on the cover. I have a record player, but I got a new one so I can listen to cassettes. It surprised me recently but, Asano Tadanobu-san made cassette tapes. I thought ‘he sings?’ with a techno music. His voice isn’t in it at all, its 90 minutes of just that (laughs). Recently when I was listening, I thought ‘Did I put the cassette in the wrong way?’, but it’s just that kind of work. They only made about 200. I got my hands on a rare thing!

Q19: Who do you get along with in Hello! Project?

Angerme’s Takeuchi Akari-san. Recently we’ve been getting closer, and from now on I’d like us to be better friends. The first time we hung out we went to do Hatsumode in Ueno, and we went shopping. We bought matching socks. We often contact each other, and she has also promised to give me hand-me-downs.

Q20: What is an idol to you?

I’m not this right now but, idols have the image of being above the clouds. Even if you didn’t cheer for them because of you especially like them, when you listen to Matsuda Seiko-san normally,  or listening to Mastuura Aya-san, I really feel like they have the presence of being in the clouds! It is an unattainable presence.

https://thetv.jp/news/detail/140086/

[wintersilhouette-blog1]

Day 26 - Event: Aoyama Omotesando X Christmas Event (Evening Show)

Two days in a row to meet my oshis…

I can’t believe that this day came. I mean, last year I celebrated Christmas by doing nothing in particular. I’m glad this year I did something at least that is memorable.

Anyway, I got the ticket to go to this newly established unit, Aoyama Omotesando X. This unit has 30 men from Oscar Promotion, an entertainment unit, and they will challenge themselves in broad range of work, from singing, dancing, modeling, even variety show! I’ve watched two of their Line Live, and I can see how interesting each and every members are. Some of them are well known actors from tokusatsu series, TV series, movie actors, or in 2.5D musicals, but some of them are still new, or recently debuted, or they worked at different fields that are relatively unknown by fans.

The event started from members coming from the back of the room singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in Japanese, wearing white shirts, or hoodies, or jumpers. Anyway, they introduced themselves, starting from Team A, O, and X. The leader is Kuriyama Wataru, and the vice-leader is Shiono Akihisa, both of them served as the MC.

Highlights from the introduction: 1. Nishime Shun is the mood-maker of the group. 2. Uno Yuuya is the gorilla of the group. 3. Sadamoto Fuuma is the bishoujo of the group. 4. Iwata Tomoki is the one who has an annoying face. 5. Sadamoto Fuuma did a dajare (pun). 6. Nakamura Kaito is the fresh-guy from the group, but there was one member who was pretty young and claimed that he’s fresh (I think it was a member from Team X but I can’t remember who he is), then it (almost) became a war between those two. 7. Tanaka Joshua can’t speak English (which is a surprise for me even though he’s half-American…?) 8. Osada Sean introduced himself as the foreigner (gaijin) of the group.

Then it came to the game corner. If they lose they need to do a batsu game (punishment game). First game was between Team A and Team X. The task is that they were given two minutes to borrow an item from the audience, but there are special conditions. The fastest team to finish (and get it right) gets the point. So the specification of the items were lottery (everyone got different specifications), and the special conditions was: First round: Only from people who has the same birth month. Second round: Only from people who has the same blood type. Third round: Only from the people who likes the same animal as the AOX member.

Highlights of this corner: 1. It should be Team X who won, but because of Fuuma re-checking the item he borrowed from the audience, which is blue item (I think it was an IC card case from Seigaku vs Rikkai) and from someone who’s blood type is A, the MCs said Fuuma is an honest person (yasashii hito), so Team A got the point. 2. Onuma Shota (Team A) had to find someone who has orange coloured item from AB blood type audience (AB blood type is rare, right?!) so he was the last to finish his item hunt. Then because of the incident I mentioned on last point, Team A won this round. 3. Uno Yuuya screamed “Is there anyone who’s favorite animal is gorilla?” He’s a lovely dork, isn’t he? 4. Team X has to do the batsu game (1-2, Team A wins), and there was an electric pen, so it will give an electric shock. When one of Team X’s members got shocked, the pen fell to Fuuma’s direction, making Fuuma so terrified, and Team A members were like, “How dare you to hurt Fuuma?!” Then during the shocking self time (Yuuya tried that pen and got shocked by it also LOL), basically Team A members were protecting Fuuma. Conclusion: Fuuma protection squad is born. Second game was the gesture game. So each team, consisting of five people each, was given a situation, and they have to act it out and freeze. More similar and/or same poses, higher points the team got. The battle was between Team A and Team O. This game was made in two rounds for each respective teams.

Highlights of the game: 1. Uno Yuuya and one of the Team A members (Can’t recall the member) went for the same pose, and they kind of declared that they are the new combi. After that, Yuuya hugged that guy, continued by sexily seducing him which made the crowd screamed. Then he imitated the scream with fangirling body movements (I love Yuuya. He’s an ultimate dork). 2. Team O also has a combi, but they didn’t do anything special in particular. 3. This game is won by Team O, which they were really happy because they said that in the afternoon show, Team A hasn’t lost a single game. So, all Team A members must drink nigai ocha (I might translate this as bitter tea, although it sounds awkward). 4. One of Team A members said that Fuuma shouldn’t drink the tea (take it as “poor Fuuma, I don’t want him to get hurt…”) so one of the other Team A members should drink two cups, which of course, that targeted member refused (I can’t remember who’s the target member sorry…). 5. Due to solidarity, Nakada Hiroki, who served as the MC for this corner, drank the tea as well. 6. Uno Yuuya said that he loves drinking nigai ocha, because it’s good for health purposes. 7. Basically everyone in Team A drank the tea and the reaction was priceless. Some fell down, some screamed, Fuuma’s reaction was really calm compared to his teammates and I saw how he suffered from drinking that tea (poor Fuuma…). The only member who has no reaction, obviously, Uno Yuuya. Next time, please give him one bottle of nigai ocha to drink. After this segment ends, it changed to Team X’s talk show, and they were wearing suits which are the same as the pamphlets. The highlight from this segment is Iwata Tomoki who can’t shut up talking about his annoying face (urusai kao) and he was into it (and proud of his annoying face as well LOL). I think he mentioned about him being surprised when he woke up and looked at the mirror, he got rid of it because his face was surprisingly annoying. 

Yes, I get it, Tomoki. Your face is annoying, just like you said. After the talk show, Team A members came out wearing suits, and they have to to love confession. The audience who got their number called are free to choose the 30 members of AOX to do one of the five scenes given. The ones who did it was Nishime Shun, Iijima Hiroki, and Nakada Hiroki. I kind of zonked out for this segment, because I’m not a big fan of love confessions that make girls go crazy. Still, it was really funny to see this segment.

Then, present time! Three audiences are eligible to choose one member, and they can choose to have a cheki with them (polaroid photo), kabedon (basically getting cornered on the wall), or the member said “daisuki dayo” to them. Two of the girls let the members choose it for them (Iijima Hiroki and Nakada Hiroki), and one other girl chose for cheki with Kuriyama Wataru. The funny thing about the kabedon is one of the members brought a board, written “kabe” (壁) which means wall, and hold it behind the girl who will get kabedon from the member she chose. Another hilarious thing was the member who hold the board got asked, “How does it feel to hold (or to be…?) the wall?” Man, it was funny to see this segment. After the present segment was over, the members asked us to sing Jingle Bells, and they went around the audience. I called my oshis’ names but they didn’t recognize me. But when I called Sean and said hi to him, he was surprised. Maybe he didn’t expect that one of the audience will speak to him in English…? But, I’m happy that he responded to me.

Lastly, the members gave us one more present, which is plastic balls that has their sign on it. I didn’t get one, but I’m pretty fine with it. I’m happy that I can see them at least on stage. For this event, we have miokuri, so we can do a high touch with all members of the unit. I repeat, all members. I felt sorry for most of the members, which I can’t seem to remember their names (and how they arrange their hair, some of them looked really similar so I can’t differentiate from one another).

My miokuri highlights: 1. Iwata Tomoki was really happy that I knew his name. I said, “Tomoki-kun, kyou wa arigatou gozaimasu!” (Translation: Tomoki-kun, thanks for today!) Then he replied, “Arigatou gozaimasu! Iwata Tomoki desu! (Translation: Thank you! I’m Iwata Tomoki!) I think he’s trying to emphasize himself so the audience who came can remember his name. 2. For most of the members, due to super fast miokuri (and the staffs were pressuring the audiences intensely) I just said arigatou gozimasu or Merry Christmas in broken katakana, which made most of the members surprised that I’m actually a foreigner (which my face looks like a Japanese and I tend to get mistaken to be Japanese as well). I am so sorry, guys… Please forgive my broken katakana Japanese… 3. I spoke English to Sean and he was really happy. I said, “Sean, Merry Christmas!” and he responded “Thank you! Merry Christmas to you too!” I am more than happy that I can interact in English actually. 4. Few days before the Christmas event, me and my two friends were talking about Fuuma, and said that we want to see Fuuma’s shocked or stuttered reaction. So, after talking to my other friends, I decided to say Merry Christmas in English to him. His reaction? He was surprised, I noticed that. His face reaction wasn’t that utterly suprised though, but he can respond thank you in English in split seconds, and his pronunciation was good as well! I really appreciate him for responding in English to me! To be honest, I would like to say do your best in learning English, but again because of the miokuri was too fast, I can’t. Fuuma, I look forward to talk with you again. If possible, in English! 5. I was really sad during Seigaku Team Party because Yuuya couldn’t participate in the miokuri, and I’ve prepared a line for him already! But I was really excited to meet him, and I said, “Yuuya-niichan~!” And his response was really really cute, oh my goodness I love Uno Yuuya so much. He was really happy, then he started jumping and high touching me again and again, which made me responded the same as well. Then he waved at me and said bye-bye. Remembering this made me soooooooooooo embarrassed, because I really want to meet Yuuya and talk to him. He looks really really friendly and nice, also lovable. Uno Yuuya, I’m so grateful to meet and interact with you, even though it was short, but thank you! I hope we can meet again and talk more >< 6. The miokuri ended with Nakada Hiroki. Meeting him gave me a shock, because I saw him on Tsukisute Rabbits Kingdom, and I admired his dancing and stage presence. Seeing him face to face made me melt, and I love his smile. His dimples are so cute oh my goodness. 7. Yuuya’s dimples are also cute. I love guys with dimples. 8. I found it funny that the miokuri started with someone with an annoying face (Iwata Tomoki) and ended with someone with a really charming face (Nakada Hiroki). This is my report for the Christmas event. To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot, but I kind of felt hard to know at least the names of the members. I did expect that they will have a name tag attached to make it easier for the audience to recognize who is who (when they were wearing white shirt, not suits), but at least I still can enjoy the event! Some last highlights from this event: 1. Moriya Shun (Team O) has a really funny face. You just can’t help it but to laugh at his face. 2. One of the members showed his six-packed abs in front of the audience during introduction. 3. Iijima Hiroki’s goods (I don’t know which one) was sold out. After thoughts: I do enjoy this event, and I laughed a lot, especially Yuuya. Man, he’s awesome on stage, and I love his interaction with fans. Fuuma was really cute, his teammates kept protecting him throughout the event, which I can relate that he’s a lovable member (Fuuma is lovely). Most Team A members were really talkative and noisy, and I do wish to see more members being talkative. I enjoyed how non-Team A members, such as Moriya Shun and Nakamura Kaito being talkative on stage. I do expect for more exciting events coming from this unit!

[jibuyo]

Might be a loaded question, but what would be your ideal Samurai Warriors game?

I think I would prefer the SW4 format - two characters per battle, several characters to choose from, special events (I like the SW4 era’s talking events, I wouldn’t mind getting a lot of them…) and special missions based on the character(s). And in battle encounter exchanges, between allies and enemies. I enjoyed that you could get Takakage + Mitsunari, Yoshitsugu + Motochika and Koshosho, Hideyoshi + Motonari, Hideyoshi + Takakage, Takatora + Toshiie, just you know, people who don’t normally interact. I also like that you could get Sakon + Kobayakawa Hideaki after Yoshitsugu died. So more of that please.

I’d like a main story and clan stories.

In short, give me one long story starting with Nobunaga becoming Oda clan’s family head and ending with Ieyasu destroying the Toyotomi clan. And then some nice Date vs Uesugi story.

More details under read more, because I wrote a lot about the story.

The main story would be from Nobunaga’s rise to power to Osaka castle. Something like we could see in Chronicles 3, but with more battles. So I would put Tokugawa clan to this main storyline, instead of giving them their own “clan story". Komaki-Nagakute would also be playable for both sides. While I wouldn’t mind having the 1st Ueda battle in the main story (Ieyasu acting as the enemy side, but the stage available for both sides), to have that Sanada connection to Mitsunari in the main story, I guess having it in the separate Takeda&Sanada clan story can work, if they would at least mention it in the main story (then the player could play the Sanada story for more background) and make Yukimura Hideyoshi’s hostage. I don’t necessarily need Honour trio (I love it, but with Masayuki added, I think it outlived it’s purpose now), I’d prefer Nobuyuki and Masayuki being closer to Mitsunari than Yukimura, but Kanetsugu and Mitsunari also being friends.

I would start the story even before Okehazama. Internal conflict in the Oda clan? Nobunaga helping Saito Dosan. Yes, please. I’d definitely like to see Kanbei getting captured by Araki Murashige (I don’t think Kuroda Nagamasa is needed, but I like Nobunaga ordering Hanbei to kill him and Hanbei keeping him safe story. But since I’d like other battles, not just Sekigahara around Sekigahara being added, adding Nagamasa would work - and it would add something to Sekigahara, actually, because Nagamasa was the one exchanging letters with Kikkawa Hiroie and worked on Kobayakawa Hideaki, so they could make it like he was the main person behind so many betrayers on Western army’s side; have him form some kind of friendship with Takatora and it would give something interesting to the Eastern army’s half of the story - I’d like to see Sekigahara from Eastern side as well, not just a sole focus on Mitsunari and then getting Sekigahara battle from Eastern POV. Actually, Nagamasa would definitely work as a new add.) 

I’d definitely want to see more focus on Katsuie and Toshiie during Nobunaga’s time. And overall just on Oda clan. I’d like to see Mori Ranmaru’s father’s death and Nobunaga being sad... which doesn’t fit SW Nobunaga... oh well. But then again, he cried over Mitsuhide in sw2...

I’m personally a big fan of Mitsuhide and Nobunaga’s relationship in sw2 (because it was just so funny) and 4-2, and just in general - Mitsuhide being smitten with Nobunaga and Nobunaga trusting him with important things, and then Mitsuhide being burdened with all the horrible things, and Nobunaga kind of pushing him towards the rebellion (I wasn’t really impressed with Mitsuhide and Motochika’s relationship, but Motochika and Gracia influencing Mitsuhide into rebellion is something I can get behind. It makes no difference to me if it’s Motochika, Gracia or Hisahide, tbh. SW!Mitsuhide would never make that decision by himself anyway, imo. And if he did, it would just end up being sw2 once again hahaha).

I’d like Hashiba Hidenaga to be added and Takatora serving under him when Hideyoshi and Hidenaga went to Chugoku fighting the Mori clan, i.e. being playable in battles Hidenaga participated in. While not necessarily making him playable during the attack in Chugoku, I’d like to see Mitsunari being there in events somehow, even if it’s just an errand boy role. I’d like Mitsunari and Takatora forming some kind of an understanding… one being Hideyoshi’s right hand, the other Hidenaga’s. I would dislike if Mitsunari was drawn as someone who doesn’t like Hidenaga (some fiction does that, but Mitsunari’s father-in-law was Hidenaga’s retainer, so it’s assumed that Hidenaga served as a go-between in his marriage). I would like Hidenaga to be seen as an important pillar for Hashiba clan and later for the Toyotomi rule (and Mitsunari knowing that). I’d like Hidenaga to be the one holding back some of Hideyoshi’s cruel decisions and after his death, I would like to see Hideyoshi going darker. While there were no important battles in Japan after 1590, they could incorporate the Sen no Rikyu and Toyotomi Hidetsugu incidents (they can just be NPCs, SW4/swc3 did well with NPCs like Kagetora and Dosan, even Naotora’s friend) and make them into battles, showing Hideyoshi’s darker side. They could also mention that Hideyoshi destroyed Hidenaga’s clan which would add more to Takatora’s hate for him. And after Hidenaga’s death the relationship between the Toyotomi proteges would just change - Hideyoshi getting darker, Mitsunari becoming more distant and secretive, which would not sit well with Kiyomasa and Masanori (also, I would have Masanori involved in Hidetsugu’s incident - and that would also serve as a rift between Mitsunari and Masanori), Takatora, while having a better read on Mitsunari than Kiyomasa, would go to Ieyasu even before Hideyoshi’s death, because he could see the reality for what it was and because he hated Hideyoshi.

I’d like to see a less naive Mitsunari, who is loyal to Hideyoshi (or to Hideyoshi’s dream? Creating the world where everyone could live and laugh…), but not blindly loyal. I’d like him to disagree with him from time to time (especially with the Hidetsugu incident, because in Mitsunari’s eyes Hidetsugu is important for the Toyotomi rule - since if Hidetsugu dies there’s only a baby Hideyori left/or no one depending on what the game decides to do). Even if Hideyoshi would change in later years, Mitsunari would still want to protect the world Hideyoshi aimed for - he would not be able to imagine that world under Ieyasu. Which would still make him pretty naive in the end. But that’s SW!Mitsunari, so… and while going blindly forward to protect that vision, he destroys it… not just for himself, but even for Kiyomasa, Masanori and Chacha.

(To be completely honest, I would like to see more magistrates and the council arguing and plotting, but I wouldn’t want a complete change for SW Mitsunari and it doesn’t fit with the musou style game, since everything has to be battled out. And other magistrates aren’t needed as new adds). BUT Toshiie vs Ieyasu should be a thing. I hate that Toshiie doesn’t do anything under Toyotomi rule.

I’d like Konishi Yukinaga to be added, but I didn’t figure out how it would work, since I’d like him to be bff with Mitsunari.

I’d like Odawara campaign to be separated into smaller ones, since it’s stupid to have everyone who isn’t at Oshi available at once at Odawara.

I’d like more Sekigahara campaigns too, perhaps Fushimi and Gifu, but I guess it would be boring to fight against generics? But with Gifu they could put Mitsunari, Sakon, Yoshihiro and Toyohisa there as reinforcement… you could even have some Naomasa/Toyohisa’s rivalry there, but I guess they can do this with Kuisegawa… but I don’t want Mitsunari at Kuisegawa. I’d prefer the Gifu castle, because it was the moment when Western army lost its momentum. And you can play as Eastern army.

As for the clan stories. 

Azai clan - I’d like if they showed more of a friendly relationship between Nagamasa and Nobunaga and Nagamasa betraying Nobunaga because of Asakura, not because of some naive dream. He can dream about ruling the land all he wants, but I would still prefer him to decide to betray Nobunaga because Nobunaga betrayed their promise first. I’d also prefer if Chacha wasn’t playable in Azai battles, but I wouldn’t mind Gou being added and having all the sister sad drama (if we can have brothers drama, we can have sisters one too, right? Right. Gou and Chacha could both fight at Osaka.) While I love Takatora’s loyalty to Nagamasa and Oichi, I would tone it down a bit (maybe his loyalty to Oichi might be bigger, because he would know her for longer. I’d like if Oichi could appear in Oda story after she was returned), because I’d prefer if Hidenaga would be more important to Takatora. I wouldn’t include Yoshitsugu in Azai, but since that is already established, just let him be “okay this is the flow”. He’s friends with Takatora, but he has no strong ties to Nagamasa and Oichi (I just have this headcanon in which Yoshitsugu only changes after he meets Mitsunari… and I mean in 4-2 when Yoshitsugu goes and saves Mitsunari at Komaki-Nagakute, Takatora pretty much says that - the old Yoshitsugu wouldn’t leave his position - and it kind of implies that Yoshitsugu wouldn’t save Takatora in the past, if Takatora would be in danger. But with years, Mitsunari and Takatora would become both equally important to Yoshitsugu)

Date clan - adding Masamune’s mother would be nice. She can be around from the beginning until Sekigahara and it would allow us to see another version of Masamune - overcoming the fact she hates him and then coming to save her when Uesugi attack in 1600. I’d love a focus on Uesugi vs Date as well and get more of Masamune and Kanetsugu’s rivalry and weird kind of friendship after Sekigahara (I love Masamune and Kanetsugu). I’d also like to see nods to Takatora and Masamune’s friendship. Kojuro keeping his sw4, 4-2 role is a given. 

Uesugi clan - just a more expanded story from sw4, I guess. Going from Kenshin (but giving him more battles, against Takeda, Hojo, Nobunaga) to when Kagekatsu becomes a Toyotomi follower. 

Also adding Mogami Yoshiaki, Satake Yoshishige or Yoshinobu, or Ashina what’s his name or whoever and just making some kind of a Tohoku story, wouldn’t be bad either.

Mouri clan - I’d like to see more of Motonari’s past battles (I have no idea what battles they were, but…) I’m fine with the Motonari, Takakage, Hanbei, Kanbei story, so just expanding more on Motonari (and perhaps letting him die when he was supposed to), adding a new character perhaps someone from the Kikkawa clan) and having some nice closure for Takakage and Kanbei’s relationship is enough for me.

I have no idea about what Chosokabe did at all, I don’t care about Hojo, and Sanada story was told again and again, so if my ideal game would just use Sanada as a plot point for Ieyasu, I wouldn’t care. They should also give some personality to Nobuyuki...

I’d like Imagawa Yoshimoto getting a short story, or just having him included in Takeda story or Hojo story. Just let him do something beside dying at Okehazama.

Something like this.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Updates on Hedman, Raanta, Tkachuk; Line Shuffling; Early Shot Rates – November 8

  The Edmonton Oilers will retain the services of Milan Lucic as the forward was fined, not suspended, for his, let’s call it “play,” on Tampa Bay’s Mathieu Joseph on Tuesday night. If you’re in a league with hits and PIMs, Lucic won’t miss a minute. If you’re in a league without hits and PIMs, why do you still have Lucic on your roster?

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The Florida Panthers have juggled their lines in their last couple practices. Frank Vatrano has moved up while Nick Bjugstad has moved down:

  #FlaPanthers practice lines

Dadonov – Barkov – Hoffman Huberdeau – Trocheck – Vatrano Malgin – McCann – Bjugstad Mamin – Lammikko – Brouwer

Sceviour not out there.

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) November 6, 2018

  That Bjugstad is seeing a demotion to the third line isn’t a surprise given his performance so far this year – you’ll see his name later. But seeing Vatrano on the second line is a beautiful thing. He’s kind of a favourite of some people (present company included) ‘round these parts.

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Brady Tkachuk has been skating in a regular jersey for Ottawa in their last couple of practices, including yesterday. It appears he’s on the verge of returning. Let’s hope he can pick up where he left off, at least to some degree.

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The Coyotes placed goalie Antti Raanta on the injured reserve. He will miss at least the next three games as a result. Expect two of those starts to go to Darcy Kuemper with the third to whomever they recall because they have a back-to-back this weekend.

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The Red Wings welcomed Andrea Athanasiou back to practice yesterday. He had skated a couple days ago on his own recovering from a lower-body injury but now seems on the verge of returning. He had four goals and six points in 11 games before the injury.

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The return of Victor Hedman inches closer as he participated in non-contact drills with the Lightning in practice on Wednesday. Up next would be contact drills and then the return to the lineup.  

*

As I mentioned in my piece on Joel Quenneville’s firing, the power play would be the first area Jeremy Colliton would need to address, and he’s at least changing things up:

  Colliton going into the power play work early into practice. First unit: Seabrook, Schmaltz, DeBrincat, Kane & Toews Second unit: Gustafsson, Keith, Kahun, Saad & Anisimov

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) November 7, 2018

  With those forwards on that first unit, I would assume it’ll be a heavily-used top unit. We shall see.

In that same practice, Brandon Saad was skating on the third line then this happened:

  Saad catches shot in face & goes straight to locker room #Blackhawks

— Chris Boden (@BodenTweets) November 7, 2018

  Just when he was turning his season around. Nothing further after practice other than he went to the dentist.

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Both Tyson Jost and Sven Andrighetto are close to returning for the Avs. It’ll be interesting to see if either gets a spot on the top PP unit where both had spent some time this season. Samuel Girard, by the way, took over the top PP spot from Tyson Barrie.

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TJ Oshie had a rough Wednesday night for the Capitals. Early in the third period, he took an uncalled high stick from Penguins defenceman Olli Maatta that went under his visor and cut him on the inside of the nose. The cut looked literally an inch away from his eye. He missed the rest of the period but returned for the second.

Near the mid-point of the third period, Oshie took a hit from Evgeni Malkin that got Malkin a five-minute for head contact and ejected from the game. There’s no doubt about head contact, but it kind of looked like Oshie just ran into Malkin:

  Evgeni Malkin gets ejected for this hit to the head of T.J. Oshie pic.twitter.com/o52QJPwKmQ

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 8, 2018

  Anyway, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin both scored for their respective teams and that’s what led to a 1-1 tie heading to overtime.

Or so we thought. 

With 74 seconds left in the game, Oshie got a pass cutting through the seam and put it in the cage to seasl the 2-1 win for Washington. Almost poetic, in a way. 

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Updates on the late games in the morning. 

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A couple days ago in these Ramblings I discussed a few players whose shot rates had increased significant from last year. Of course, we’re still *just* five weeks into the season so some things could change, however it’s worth pointing out certain players to see whether their production is something that could be sustained or not.

For this season, I’m limiting players with at least 125 minutes played at all strengths, with the time on ice limit for 2017-18 being 750 minutes. All data from Natural Stat Trick.

Here are the 20 biggest declines:

As we did on Tuesday, let’s discuss a few of these names.

  Ryan Pulock

That Nick Leddy is also on this list is not a huge surprise. The Islanders, as a team, has seen their shot rate decline by nearly 20 percent from last year. This is the effect of losing John Tavares and bringing in Barry Trotz. Seeing both blue liners in decline should be expected given the changes with the team.

All the same, despite exceeding five minutes per game in TOI in addition to last year’s number, Pulock’s shots per game are down nearly a full shot from last year (0.85 to be exact). That is a huge disappointment for anyone who bought into his progression in 2017-18 (present company included).

And here’s the final nail in the coffin: despite an on-ice shooting percentage of 11.7 percent (it was 9.3 percent last year), Pulock is on pace to barely crack the 30-point plateau. That’s how bad the Islanders are at generating shots.

Now, because of how bad his team is and how many minutes he plays, Pulock will be in line for big hits and shot block totals. He could easily crack triple-digits in both categories so he’s still valuable in leagues that count those peripherals. In leagues without real-time stats, though, he can probably be dropped. As always, explore trade avenues first but I imagine he won’t bring much back at this point.

  Pavel Buchnevich

I thought a new coach would help settle the role of Buchnevich after being moved up and down (and out) of the lineup so much by Alain Vigneault. Once again, it has been proven that I need to stop thinking.

David Quinn hasn’t been any better with Buchnevich’s role on the team, having used him, quite literally, on all four lines so far this year, as well as relegating him to the press box. The crash in shots per game, despite roughly the same amount of ice time per game as last year, has led him to landing 1.25 shots per game on target. That’s what we would have expected from Joe Thornton or Henrik Sedin a couple years ago, not Pavel Buchnevich in the year 2018.

(Apologies to the guy I told like three weeks ago to hold Buchnevich over Kevin Labanc. That one isn’t working out well.)

This was supposed to be the year of some stability with the Rangers but that’s been far from the case. Basically, other than Mika Zibanejad centering the top line and Henrik Lundqvist getting the majority of starts, nothing has been a constant. Everyone from Mats Zuccarello to Chris Kreider to Jesper Fast to Neal Pionk to Kevin Shattenkirk has seen their roles fluctuate, sometime significantly, and we’re just over a month into the season. This kind of uncertainty is awful for fantasy and Buchnevich has been a casualty because of it. He’s a bench option in 12-team leagues at best right now.

  Jeff Skinner

Not all declines are created equal! Despite his shot rate being considerably lower than last year, a rise in ice time of about a minute per game (most have which has been additional PP time) has meant pretty much a constant shots/game rate from last year (3.33 vs. 3.38). Given that he has 9 goals and 16 points in 15 games, I’m guessing fantasy owners are not complaining about a tiny decline in shot rate.

Skinner is shooting 18 percent, which would be a career-high for him. But he does have seasons over 12 percent, 13 percent, and 14 percent to his name. Does he score 50 this year? Probably not. Does he cruise past 30? Barring injury, I would think so.

Remember that just because a player’s shot rate is declining that it’s not inherently bad. An increase in ice time or change in deployment can change mitigate a lot of issues arising from a dropping shot rate. Skinner is the exception.

  Kevin Fiala

On the other hand, the start to Fiala’s season is a concern. His ice time has been constant from last year but his shot rates have declined to the point where his 82-game pace is under 150 shots on goal. That’s very bad for a guy some people pegged for a breakout (myself included).

Nashville, as a team, is shooting a little under 10 percent less often than they did last year. That’s why there are multiple Predators on this list, including Ryan Ellis. Fiala, though, is a bigger problem because his issues have led to his playing on the fourth line and being threatened with a healthy scratch. He’s essentially getting the Buchnevich treatment.

The silver lining from Viktor Arvidsson’s injury is that it has opened the door for Fiala to play his way to a more prominent role. It’s why I’m not giving up on him yet. He still should be relegated to bench duties in 12-team roto leagues, though.

  Brent Burns

I just wanted to casually mention Brent Burns because even as his individual shot rate has cratered – over 4 shots per game last year to under 2.7 so far this year – his production has been as good as could be hoped for. Maybe he doesn’t push 30 goals again, but if he managed 15 goals and 65 assists, will anyone really be angry with that?

It’s fascinating because his 5v5 shot and TOI rates have declined and yet because of the potency of the Sharks, his production has increased. His IPP is normal and his on-ice shooting percentage is normal. In other words, even if he sees a small power play point decline for the rest of the season, his five-on-five production rates should remain fairly constant as long as the Sharks keep shooting and scoring as they are with him on the ice right now, which is a distinct possibility.

All this is to say that even with Burns’s shot decline, he’s a very real threat to be a point-per-game player this year. That’s about as much as we can ask for from any fantasy defenceman.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-updates-on-hedman-raanta-tkachuk-line-shuffling-early-shot-rates-november-8/