#even if you came in for material reasons (like yamato for example)

[always-a-joyful-note]

More general thoughts about idol media as a whole is that it fascinates me on a weird level. I mean, stories like ORV or Revue Starlight explore the theme of art and its maker, exposing the pain and joy that comes from making something you love and how you cope with sharing that art to the world. But idol media like Idolish7 and Enstars and so on - it has that, but.....at the same time, underlying it all, there is a sense that this is almost first and foremost commercialised art. That's not to say the idol characters don't love music or making art, nor do they agonise over it....but generally, idols (as far as I know, anyway) are supposed to belong to and cater to the fans. Like in ORV, you write stories for yourself as much as you do for others and it doesn't matter if no one reads it because it's just important that it was there. Revue Starlight doesn't really have an in-universe audience (it kinds of breaks the fourth wall, instead) and goes deep into the blood and sweat it takes to stand on stage and act. Those stories say that you make art for your own reasons but that art is meant to be shared. Idol media, on the other hand, has a setting where you make art to be sold/shared. Yes, it can coincide with what you want. But, in the end, you are an idol and not an artist

[mokutone]

Unpopular opinion :) about naruto in general or just yamato whatever you want

hmmm thank you for the question....i guess here's one: in "modern"/non ninja AUs, I think Yamato should still be a fairly odd guy who is not really fully socialized to the intricacies of daily life.

ough. edit update 2: tumblr deleted my first update acknowledging that it fucked up my post. dont know why this keeps happening. but it does. anyway

the thing is that around 2020 i started getting into naruto and while trying to avoid certain spoilers i decided to read some non ninja au fics, just because theyre fun and creative and i like seeing how people translate canon material into au material, and i was like. suuuuper blindsided by how often yamato was portrayed (even in some yamato centric fics) as like. the everyman.

and to be fair!! i can definitely understand how they came to this conclusion, because Yamato DOES have a little bit of a manzai routine with naruto, where naruto is the boke and yamato is the tsukkomi! yamato loves to play the straight man!

but the straight man isn't quite the everyman, there's some nuance in there. the "everyman" is somebody who is meant to be "relatable to anyone," typically their experiences in life have been """average""" in such a way that, when exposed to bizarre circumstances, they will react with an entertaining or empathy-drawing abundance of surprise and often distress.

i feel like a lot of yamato's backstory, specifically being a test tube baby created by konoha's favorite evil mad scientist and then raised and trained by a man known for having children fight to the death in an effort to remove them of their feelings, and then spending the next 10 years of his life exclusively working relatively anonymously in Konoha's black ops, however, kinda disqualifies Yamato from being an everyman? I feel like that's a pretty ah. unique. experience of life. even speaking simply in the terms of batshit ninja origin stories from naruto!

like sure! in an au, you could remove any trace of that from his character. but you could also, in an au, say that Kakashi just got that scar in a shaving accident when he was 22. i don't know why you'd say that, but like, you could if you thought that losing his eye and all that obito shit didn't matter to his character much. i mean...the world is an oyster.

the straight man in a comedic bit DOES often serve the purpose of the "voice of reason" but, unlike the everyman...there's no prescribed backstory! it's just a comedic role. The only expectation is that they generally maintain composure in the face of Antics, and that they try to correct or give deadpan commentary to the funnyman.

this is part of why i am constantly making jokes about Yamato Deliberately practicing being "normal," honestly. i think it would be a very funny and a really funny crossroads of some of his character traits if...instead of being the straight man by virtue of never having encountered any strangeness in his life, yamato (who we know to be somebody who values preparedness immensely) just...studied for it. is there anything more hilarious than the idea of somebody who studied being normal with the goal of being able to pass as Just Some Average Joe.

Imagine say, a Yamato who was brought up by danzō in some kind of homeschooler's hell blood sports situation, who is now an adult and finds doing his taxes and going grocery shopping and all sorts of very normal and unfun tasks genuinely kind of exciting because of how rewarding he finds it to practice these Normal Skills he has put an insane amount of effort into teaching himself. I find this idea to be just. utterly enrapturing. but that's a very extreme example of the dichotomy.

anyway. in fics which aren't about that kind of thing, it can be a narrow line to tread, and really all it comes down to is just. putting thought into giving yamato a backstory which draws at least somewhat on a few of his canon backstory details and characterizing his actions with his own logic (which one must then put effort into building), rather than a kind of default "common-sense" logic.

[amisbro]

If UtaPri had/gets a 5th season...

What would it look like? So this is a question I have thought about for a while because of the fact that I think a lot of people (Myself included) believe there is more of a story to tell in the world of UtaPri.  I think with enough time we could get a very interesting idea for a season and honestly I think WHATEVER this project we got coming up actually IS could be an interesting testing ground for something. Let me explain

So if we think about how Season 4 ended it seemed rather definitive.  Like the way that message was wrote made you believe ,to a degree, that the series had ended as far as an Anime project.  Then we got the end card AFTER that and that kind of made things turn on its head cos no one knew what that was supposed to be until 6th stage happened right? One thing that always stands out to me is the fact that Season 4 was a bit of a mess and I say that in the most objective and neutral way possible because...when you have an Anime that is based on a Manga we typically get a story based around that in some fashion.  It might not be panel for panel and word for word but we get one and that is always fun to see how certain scenes get animated for sure.  When you do an Anime based on an Otome game you almost always do whomever is considered the “true route” or just leave it open ended so people will want to play the games (which is what I think DiaLovers did when it had its run). UtaPri has a very interesting situation because the series DOES have an idol component (and the Anime made sure to really focus on that mostly) but it is also an Otome game so the studio (A-1 Pictures) had that to work off of for the most part.  The problem is that when they were done with the material they DID USE it created a problem because Season 4 was a mess if I am being as objective as possible about it. So here was the problem You had 3 groups in play here STARISH QUARTET NIGHT HEAVENS Forget whom your group was for a second...this was going to be a problem because 2 of the 3 groups had content that was used in the first 3 seasons but Season 4 was going to be a problem.  How this would have been remedied I have no fucking idea!  Like if Broccoli knew they were going to do this season they needed to get something out BEFORE IT so people would have had something to go off of for HEAVENS so we could have had 7 episodes that made sense instead of episodes where it felt like they didn’t know how to have the HEAVENS member that was being featured in it not look like a complete ass!  If we are honest this is what happened and its frustrating to remember One of the biggest issues with the season was that you had a group that HAD been Antags during Season 2.  I said HAD because I genuinely believe that the marching orders for A-1 was to write a season where STARISH was still THE focus but HEAVENS could be rehabbed into a group that was more “likable/marketable” so when the time came to sell CDs and merch that they would fly off the shelves and could be a contender to at least QN if not both them and STARISH.  As we saw during the Oricon charts it was a puzzling time because the duet CDs sold like garbage in the sense that only TWO our the 7 actually charted in the top 10 Ren/Van - Lovely Eyes Syo/Yamato - Justice Impulse This was the most puzzling thing I ever dealt with because I tried to figure out WHY and to this day the best thing I could come up with is the fact that the CD releases were slated to come 10 days after the episode aired which seemed like the dumbest thing to do (IMHO) because when I looked at Season 3 all of the releases charted in the top 10 and a big reason for that was the gap between CD/Episode was only 4 days...well we got to QN and HEAVENS’ CDs they did VERY WELL in Season 4 and its because of how close they released them (I think) to the episodes...funny how that works! What was really weird also was during the “Duet Project” episodes the writers didn’t know WHO to make the focus of the episodes and that was weird BUT ,looking back on it, this whole season was gonna be weird because of how quickly the season was coming in the turnaround vs. its normal time for a season.  Typically a UtaPri season gets a 2 year window and this time they were going under that...about a year and 4 months so this was going to cause a crunch and also a mess of a message as to what the writers wanted to do!  I personally believe that the writers wanted to make HEAVENS all the more sympathetic and they were able to get SOME of the backstories in that they could for certain characters but a few others (Nagi and Eiichi for example) “kind of” tried to show you the “why they were acting the way they were” but it felt (at least Internationally) that the episodes didn’t register or if they did not as well as they hoped.  I do wonder if a big reason that the content is as out of sorts in terms of balance for HEAVENS vs. the other two groups is because of how jacked up that season got.  I genuinely wish I could sit down and discuss that season with someone that was in the room when they were given the orders on how that season was supposed to go vs. what actually happened after the fact! So this brings me back to the “What would a 5th Season look like if we got/get one in the future?” The weird thing is I think A-1 already knows but they have to get the reference materials FIRST before they start writing it.  I genuinely think they saw/heard about what happened Internationally when it came to the “NEXT DOOR” saga and they didn’t want to see that happen again so NOW they want to work on these projects to get the idea other there right now that all the groups are separated as first we have STARISH and then no doubt QN but the big question of course is HEAVENS...can they do a concert with them at some point with hopefully more songs under their belt OR will Broccoli start to really consider them a lost cause and that the fandom just doesn’t want them.  You can only go with the “Round peg/Square Hole” philosophy so much before people get mad and don’t want to deal with the series (or at the very least HEAVENS) anymore. The other big issue is HEAVENS’ role in Dolce Vita because, As of this writing, we still don’t know ANYTHING about that game...like we don’t know if its a straight up VN or is there going to be something similar to the original La Corda back in the day which ,fun fact time, had Kishou and Mamo in it.  Like if anyone would know how a game like that worked it would be them (And they ARE in the new game “Starlight Orchestra” btw) so they HAVE to have had given some input about how the mechanics worked and all that...right?! (Oh and unrelated but Kishou’s original character in Len Tsukimori is a special character in that game.  He was unlocked through a campaign we had in that fandom a bit ago) So again...what would Season 5 look like? Well my guess is that it would have to be a STARISH/HEAVENS season again but with new duets unlike last time.  The other possibility (And I think they were teasing this at the end of Season 4) is that it would somehow be a HEAVENS/QN season which could be interesting especially if they did something like how Season 2 was probably supposed to go...and in a way didn’t because of how the story worked. The thing is its been almost 5 years since we had a proper season...FIVE! Let’s assume that the “Anime Project” as we know it is over alright?  STARISH and QN’s brand is already established so what do you use to help HEAVENS’ get on the same level?  That’s a big reason why I don’t think they could/should end the “Anime Proper” because to do that you literally would be cutting off a way to properly market a group that actually needs it vs. the groups that clearly don’t.  I won’t go so far as to say that the STARISH/QN Animated concerts are going to be “Vanity Projects” because they aren’t.  They are clearly something that Broccoli believed in as far as a project to do for the series BUT I will say that having 7th Stage so close to this project is a bit...weird?! Like okay to be fair this probably was planned well in advance and the Pandemic fucked everything up because it was supposed to be announced at 7th stage in 2020...okay cool fine but let’s say it was right?  What stopped them from revealing it at 10th Anniversary when it would have been a bigger “Holy Shit” moment?  What was really so important that they had to do EVERYTHING ELSE and not that?  Just seemed weird to me. But anyways HOLY SHIT did we go around the block here...I need to stop If you were going to script out a proper 5th season when would you do it and how?  The thing to remember is we have a 3 group scenario and now HEAVENS is trying to become an even better group to finally beat STARISH and QN so do you have QN and HEAVENS do a thing together or do you do a 3 cour season where each is dedicated to a particular group? Love to hear your answers on this and take care

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

One Punch Man 13 (S2 Ep 1) | Afterlost 1 | RobiHachi 1 | Kimetsu no Yaiba 2 - 3 | BSD 25 - 26 (S3 Eps 1 - 2) | King of Prism - Shiny 7 Stars 1 | Shield Hero 14 - 16 | Double Decker! EX 3 | Sarazanmai 2

The shows that have made it this season will be getting their tags...soon. Because I fell behind early in the season, trying to read ahead is nastier than it really should be...

Update: I forgot to roll out the tags...! Sorry about that.

One Punch Man 2 1

This season’s name…sounds counterintuitive, to say the least.

I love how Genos is carrying a box of hijiki (which looks like hair) and Saitama’s wearing a shirt that says “hair” (in kanji) all over it. It’s funny for a bald man and his “work of modern art”.

I never knew Genos was so blunt. Maybe because the last season was a good 2 – 3 years ago…and was by Madhouse and Shingo Natsume, and so this feels slightly different.

Oh, Sonic…! I didn’t realise how much I missed you! (Not to mention, you look hot with the off-the-shoulder shirt, y’know?)

“Enoki” is a type of mushroom.

Oh, Garou!...Oh wait, there isn’t much more of the episode left, is there…?

Afterlost 1

Oh great…this is the second time the subs don’t work on my device of choice. Then again, it seems to be a problem with the ad blocker and not the video…Okay, fiddling with the ad blocker worked.

Let’s play Spot the Main Character Amongst All the CGI Guys! Yay! (obviously sarcastic)

Without the volume…this OP is, to not put it lightly, s***.

Shoumetsu means “extinction”, not “lost”.

And the reward for Jankiest CGI this season belongs to…

Okay…this is stupid…if it f**ks up even more, I’m out of here!

I know the horned owl is your mascot, but that doesn’t mean you needed a real owl.

Waittttttttt…how did the scientists know Yuki’s father was responsible for this stuff anyway?

I feel like Takuya was shoehorned in. I mean, there’s a better example of this character type in Naofumi (Shield Hero).

This guy’s name, as we know it, is Geek. Wow (sarcastic). Also, I find it funny Takuya has a “ta” on his licence plate.

“…she’s just a package.” - Welp, you don’t get any more blatant than that for female denigration! I think Anime Feminist had a field day with this one.

Come to think of it, I saw some helmets back at Geek’s place but Takuya never seems to use one…

You had one job, Takuya…*sigh*

I swear I said a few previews ago I don’t like 1st person cam…no one ever listens to me, do they???

Not dis shitto agen!

Okay, enough complaining. It seems Yu-no wasn’t bad enough, so they had to produce something like the Chaos Dragon and Seisen Cerberus of old…

RobiHachi 1

It’s Takamatsu being Takamatsu again. Also… I forgot to mention this earlier, but…Taiga Umatani seems to be related to Kurari Umatani (who is credited for Boueibu), so…I wonder if it’s a collective writer’s name for Studio Comet, like Izumi Todo for Toei? The only thing that goes against that is the fact “Kurari” existed during the Diomedea days of Boueibu. Also Isekandar seems to be related to Yamato’s Iscandar (which Takamatsu seems to like, based on the fact he once used Matsumoto metres as a shorthand for being in space). If you don’t understand, Yamato’s endgoal contains a place called Iscandar and that’s by Leiji Matsumoto.

Okayyyyy…what are these rabbit creatures…? But yes, it does smack of Boueibu simply because the episode layout’s the same.

Hmm…? So Robby seems be En (the do-nothing life) in spirit, but Kinshiro in background, but also he runs away from his fortune. “Hmm” indeed.

Oh! That’s what this string of misfortunes reminds me of! The monsters of the day from Boueibu.

Acrymalide.

Hatchi is a Kinshiro in looks but an Atsushi by being a goody-goody.

Hmm…they actually bother to show girls now…apparently Takamatsu went to a boys-only school, which is why his original works focus on dudes (as in, you can pick out when Takamatsu is adapting someone else’s work because it has a heavier focus on girls as supporting characters).

Mechs and spaceships are probably two of the only ways I accept CGI…and you, Takamatsu sir, have just done it (the latter)!

Aw! Lookit his (Hatchi’s) face light up like a Beppu’s! It’s cute!

Hatchi getting out the hatch…lame, but still somewhat effectve on me (because that’s my wordplay game you’re playing, Takamatsu…!).

LOL, it’s a transforming mech. It seems my words from a few comments earlier were basically foretelling the future.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 2

Yikes, “Sakonji Urokodaki” has a lot of strokes…

My Little Sister Lives For Headpats…hey wait, don’t all anime kid sisters do that(?)

For some reason, I know the “Don’t Lose Your Way” meme from Kill la Kill and yet I’ve never…watched KlK…?(!)

I swore that was Giyu (it’s the haircut, I swear), but it’s a random demon…

When all you have is a hatchet…use your head. (LOL)

Ooh, nice eyecatch!

This is really black comedy, in a sense. (I remember this demon fight from the manga which is why I say that.)

Hmm…this wispy stuff wasn’t in the manga.

Come to think of it, I don’t know how Tanjiro got his scar…

If you squint really hard, you can see CGI Urokodaki and Tanjiro…

He probably has no footsteps because of his shoes. Or the fact he’s a ninja. Were there ninja in the Taisho era…? Update: Tanjiro has the same kind of shoes…oops.

Come to think of it, Daisuke from DN Angel had to dodge traps every day before he became Dark…(thinking of this because I reread the first volume of DN Angel recently)

Oh! Manga panel preview! That’s quite fun, really.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 3

I just really like how Tanjiro’s eyes grew larger with what was clearly resolution before he closed the door.

Why do the non-descript hunters look like Giyu too…?

I’ve never seen KnY so comedic…and that’s coming from someone who thought the Head Demon fight from last episode was funny.

Welp, this is…kinda interesting (<- says a fan of Touken Ranbu).

This letter writing…it reminds me of Kekkai Sensen somewhat.

This realistic water…it’s beautiful, but it looks like it came straight out of Niagara Falls. Is that…too realistic for anime?

“No matter…”

It’s a fox version of Speed of Sound Sonic! Then again, the real Sonic is around this season and probably won’t be happy about that comparison…

Is “that guy”…Giyu? Or the demon who slaughtered Tanjiro’s family?

Spider lilies! I didn’t mention it last time, but the symbolism of the spider lily makes the ED real cool.

Bungou Stray Dogs 26

I’v read the wiki page for Chuuya enough to know the next few eps involve the LN Fifteen, so even though I haven’t read a translation of the source material, I know some of the ins and outs of it already.

Ooh! Kitty! (If you’re a manga reader, you’ll know the cat’s significance.)

I think at this point in time, all viewers are used to Dazai’s bulls*** by now.

Is it just me…or did Bones use CGI for the city? It actually looks kind of good…! Sasuga Bones!

I have a fic that predates Fifteen and could be set in the same period (the fic’s vague enough that it could’ve been them at 15, 18 or even 12)…and basically the only thing I got wrong was the fact Chuuya doesn’t have his hat (because I wrote Chuuya as having his hat in the fic). Also, the banter is tenser than I imagined it, but that’s subjective and something only I, the fic writer, can compare.

I wonder who the yellow-tinted Ability holder is…? Update: That’s Randou. Spoke too soon.

There was a box in the subs…I wonder what symbol that might’ve been.

“…closest to the explosion.”

BSD 3 2

Oh, so that’s what Randou was for! I see now.

Chuuya may be OP, but he’s one heck of a fun character…also, he’s not as OP as Saitama, so…yeah.

Oh, the ED from last time is the OP. I should’ve known.

I like the almost storybook-style of this episode!

I thought Dazai was faking releasing the hostages…I was wrong.

Face-stealing aliens return! (They were around last ep too, I think, but they were harder to see then.)

Again, watch for the cat!

Well, with only one suspect (or 3, if you count the Sheep kids), it was quite easy to figure out one of them was behind it. I kind of suspected Randou, anyway, considering what I’ve learnt from all the mysteries I’ve read.

Because I was watching this episode with the volume down low (so I could hear the OP and ED), the volume really did work wonders for the plot this ep…!

King of Prism – Shiny 7 Stars 1

This is the final debut of the season, so basically how this and Shield Hero perform will decide what will stay and what will go. Oh, yeah…apparently this is the companion to a movie, but the movie and TV series have slightly different content.

This dude’s (the one at the very start’s) so grumpy.

…welp, I didn’t expect it to be that much CGI.

This chunk of exposition…makes me feel like I missed something. It was probably in the previous movies, come to think of it…

Basically, this is…uh, Makura no Danshi or Room Mate all over again??? I’m noping out of here…! Bye!

Shield Hero 14

I’m putting this on the chopping block…just so you know.

…uh, age gap romance? It’s hard to tell at this stage, but they (Filo and Melty) sure act like it is romance.

Welp, this survived the chopping block. “Raphtalia backstory” is a good enough reason to stick around for, isn’t it?

Double Decker! EX 3 (FINAL)

I always miss the OP when I’m not watching Double Decker, but I miss the ED even more…

I can’t believe they tried to get away with a Spirited Away parody…!

I can’t believe I get to see Dr Apple all buttered up like this…

I love how Kirill is censoring himself. (At least he can prove he’s not a girl, unlike Valery/Milla, whose entire shtick is the confusion between genders.)

Oh! I think I know the answer to the case already! It was Kirill’s soap, so Doug is the “killer”. But then…why is it Derick, of all people???

LOL, the angles were so reminiscent of Detective Conan…

Underwear-stealing sextuplets…? Why does that kind of sound like Osomatsu-san…?

Ahh…I really am going to miss this ED. See you next time!

Shield Hero 15

I never thought Raphtalia would be so angry…that’s Naofumi’s job.

Okay…it’s the age-old question: do demis listen with their animal ears or their human ears? Do they even have human ears??? (That’s 2 questions, isn’t it…?)

Uh…CGI dinosaur, much?

Shield Hero 16

…and of course, the Queen is a loli. Of course (<-sarcastic).

“Why’d I even have to feed this KFC farm?” – LOL, but I wonder what it sounded like in Japanese…? (i.e. I didn’t listen to it and when I try to do that, there’s always something over the top of it…)

Sarazanmai 2

I wonder if I’ll ever get used to watching Ikuhara on a weekly basis…?

Kappamaki…geddit?

Wait…y’mean, Keppi’s breath smells like cucumbers? Uh…okay, TMI.

Enta’s Japanese house kind of looks like the one in Mawaru Penguindrum.

Wait…why does the Japanese word for “Fish Buffet” (Osakanazanmai) end in –zanmai? Does that mean Sarazanmai is…Dish Buffet?! (LOL)

Notably, one of the signs said “Union” in katakana. It must be an English play on words…y’know, trade union and union = connecting with each other? I’m surprisingly enjoying myself a lot with Sarazanmai, by the way. I didn’t think I would, but I am!

I think that might be Irohassu water. Or Dasani. I saw both those brands in Japan, but I don’t remember which had the green flowers.

Oh…my goodness! Nekoyama (Cat Mountain) Mokichi (written with kanji for “hair” and “luck”). It’s a Boueibu monster! Frick, I’m laughing too hard!

It’s very small and very thin, but the word next to the cat in the eyecatch is neko.

“…Meow God!” – It’s a pun on “Oh, My God!” but with a “meow” in it. It’s pretty forced, but it does get the nuance of the joke across…

Why the heck did the subbers choose “herb” as the word for weed in this? “Weed” is sufficient, right? Right…?

Well…if that spurt of water wasn’t symbolic…I don’t know what is.

The title translates better as “…but I want to steal”. Y’know, add a little force into it.

The two As and the “sara” below it seem to make a zombie face, huh?

Ooh, that ending…

[ryuuppai]

[i7] Nanase Riku Birthday Photobook Part 3: Riku and his Senior Idols

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

Tsumugi: Thank you for joining me here today...! This is a project established in order to commemorate the release of the Riku Photobook, as well as to learn more about the real Riku-san.

Tsumugi: I apologize for calling you in the midst of your busy schedules, but I would be happy if you could talk to each other just like usual. Please have me in your care!

Riku: Um, everyone, thank you for taking the time to read the Riku Photobook! I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me here today, under this fine weather!

Tenn: Nanase-san, good work. Who suggested you use a phrase resembling that of a wedding day speech as a greeting? 

Riku: Ah, Kujo-san! Good work! When I asked Iori for help, I was told "There are tons of examples of opening greetings online," so I tried looking them up by myself as a reference!

Tenn: I see. Let's have a conversation with the three of us, including Izumi Iori, after this.

Riku: With Iori!? Got it! Also, thank you for agreeing to have a conversation with just the two of us, later. I'm looking forward to it!

Tenn: Right.

Momo: Can we, , , , jump into the conversation, , , ,?

Tsumugi: Momo-san...! By all means!!

Momo: Thanks! I didn't know when I should join in, so I was working while listening to the Rabbit Chat notification sound for a while lol

Gaku: Momo-san, thanks for taking charge of butting in. I didn't know how to seize the right timing either (lol)

Riku: Momo-san! Gaku-san! (1) Good work!

Ryunosuke: Is it okay if I join in too? Riku-kun, good work! Right now, the three of us are flipping through the Riku Photobook. 

Yuki: Hey, Riku-kun. I laughed with Momo while reading your interview with Nagi-kun. Conversations between a natural airhead and a pseudo-airhead are pretty funny.

Riku: Wah–! Thank you everyone! The pseudo-airhead, that would be Nagi ><? 

Gaku: By the way, Nanase. Tenn was reading it really seriously. I thought I'd tell you.

Riku: Really...!?

Tenn: Gaku, wait. 

Ryunosuke: He was even putting sticky notes!

Tenn: Ryuu.

Yuki: Having such simple-minded partners is troublesome isn't it, Tenn-kun.

Momo: Are you indirectly referring to Momo-chan!? lolol

Tsumugi: Um, I won't be publishing his part, so if you would like, please feel free to speak in a relaxed manner, Kujo-san...!

Riku: It's alright, manager! I'm just happy from Yaotome-san and Tsunashi-san telling me what Tenn-nii is up to!

Riku: I meant, Kujo-san! Sorry!

Tenn: Nanase-san.

Riku: Yes. 

Tenn: The cover, it was wonderful.

Tenn: I thought that the theme "Spending the morning with your lover" would be difficult for IDOLiSH7. However, in Nanase-san's own way, you were able to portray it well. 

Riku: Yes...! Thank you! It's thanks to Nagi, who produced it.

Gaku: You're right, the cover is pretty Nanase-like. Do you like strawberries?

Riku: They're alright!

Momo: Talking about that, Gaku was eating nothing but the strawberries from the cake, right? lolol

Yuki: He's the type to just take the best part. 

Riku: So Yaotome-san likes strawberries! We still have some leftover from the ones we bought for the photoshoot, so would you like to come over to eat them?

Gaku: Nah, it's fine! I don't like them to that extent

Yuki: Is he acting tough?

Tenn: He's acting tough.

Gaku: I'm not acting tough!!

Riku: Kujo-san, you look like you're having fun!

Ryunosuke: I'm sure it's because he's Rabbit Chatting with you, Riku-kun!

Riku: Huh......!

Tsumugi: Isn't that nice, Riku-san...!

Riku: Yes!! Kujo-san, I'm also happy that I can Rabbit Chat with you!

Riku: As centers!

Tenn: Yeah. Me too.

Ryunosuke: That's nice, it's kind of refreshing. Seeing the two of them chat. 

Yuki: "Center" has a nice ring to it. I wonder if I should become a center too.

Momo: Huh! What about Momo-chan!?

Yuki: Shortstop?

Momo: Is this baseball lolololol

Riku: I will be producing Kujo-san's soon too, but I'm really looking forward to the photoshoot!

Tenn: I'm looking forward to it too. Please go easy on me. 

Gaku: Is Tenn gonna strip? (lol)

Riku: He won't!!!!!!

Momo: I can feel an aura of revenge lololol

Tsumugi: You've been collecting a lot of materials, and buying a lot of magazines in which Kujo-san appears, after all, haven't you Riku-san. 

Riku: I was worried about whether I could showcase Kujo-san's appeal, so I borrowed materials from Iori! I'm pretty excited.   

Yuki: Riku-kun is the one who knows Tenn-kun's cool expression the best, after all.

Riku: It'd be nice if it was true but...!

Gaku: You know it's true, Tenn.

Tenn: You're pretty annoying. 

Ryunosuke: Right now, Tenn is all fidgety! Lol Isn't it cute!

Tenn: Why are you telling them

Gaku: That hurts, why are you kicking me Tenn!!

Tenn: Because you pissed me off. 

Ryunosuke: S, sorry Gaku! If that's true, then I should've been the one to get kicked... Tenn, please kick me!

Tenn: I don’t know what you’re talking about

Riku: TRIGGER also gets along well, don't they!

Momo: We also get along well, Riku!!! The rendezvous Riku from the special shot made my heart squeeze, so next time let's meet up and hang out too!! 

Yuki: Is meeting up the main thing.

Riku: Waah! By all means please hang out with me! Is it alright if I invite Sogo-san too?

Momo: Of course! But why Sogo?

Riku: Sogo-san is your fan, so I thought that it would make him happy!

Yuki: That's cute. You can invite Yamato-kun too.

Riku: So Yamato-san too. Got it!

Momo: I can feel Tenn's gaze through my screen Yuki. . . . . lol

Tenn:  What is this about

Tsumugi: U, um, I will be taking this moment to introduce the survey questions that I have received beforehand to Riku-san!

Riku: Wah–! I'm nervous! Lol

[Tsumugi: Are you into anything right now?]

Riku: Huh–! What am I into! I guess that I took interest in various instruments. I went to a music store with Sogo-san! If it would please the fans, I'd like to try my hand at a lot of different things!

[Tsumugi: I like the you who's always cheerful and looking towards the future.]

Riku: Huh! Who said this!? It's thanks to all of our members, our senpai TRIGGER and Re:vale, and all of our fans, that I can be in high spirits!

[Tsumugi: Please tell me the secret to being loved.]

Riku: Wh, whose question is this...!? I wonder if I'm being loved......? I always think "I really love everyone–" though!

Riku: Is it okay like this!?

Tsumugi: Thank you, Riku-san! I will be collecting these for publication. 

Ryunosuke: It's been a while since we've talked to Riku-kun like this, so today was fun! Right, Tenn. 

Tenn: Why are you turning to me. 

Gaku: Even though you were grasping your phone in your hands so tightly for an entire 2 hours before this talk because you were nervous (lol) 

Yuki: So Tenn-kun is also a soothing character.

Riku: Really? Tenn-nii!

Riku: Right now, I want to hear your thoughts not as Kujo-san, but as Tenn-nii.

Tenn: Jeez...

Tenn: I was looking forward to it.

Riku: Tenn-nii!!!!

Momo: Kya!!! It feels like we're peeking at a confession scene behind the school building, Yuki!!

Yuki: Have you peeked at one before. 

Tenn: The real thing will be our conversation in a few days, right Riku. Let's talk properly then. As IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER's centers. 

Riku: Yes......!

Gaku: It's fine to talk to him a bit, as an older brother to his younger brother though, Tenn?

Ryunosuke: Gaku......

Tenn: If it's just a bit

Tenn: It's fine.

Riku: Thanks, Tenn-nii! These words, they're the best of birthday presents!!

Tsumugi: Thank you sincerely for agreeing to participte in the chat...! How could I properly thank you......

Tenn: Our offices also gave their consent, after all. It would be unnatural to avoid the fact that both centers have the same birthday. 

Yuki: So Yaotome Papa is unexpectedly weak to blood relations. 

Momo: Right–!

Riku: I'll do the conversation properly. I'll make sure that Tenn-nii's feelings don't go to waste.

Tenn: You don't need to think of it that way.

Tenn: You've grown up, Riku.

Tenn: You really have. 

Riku: I wonder...... I thought that I still couldn't stand on the same line as Tenn-nii. 

Momo: I'm sure that Tenn-chan was moved, looking back at all your efforts ><

Ryunosuke: Recalling our memories with IDOLiSH7, even I get teary. Tenn would all the more.

Gaku: Don't cry? (lol)

Tenn: Today's Gaku is really annoying. 

Gaku: Seeing you right now, no matter what you say I can't think anything of it. 

Yuki: But really though, Riku-kun really doesn't waver, doesn't he.

Riku: When I think "I want to do this!" "I'll definitely do that!," ironically, I tend to get tense...... It's because our members are always around me that I can act so freely!

Riku: I'm glad that I could meet such precious partners. 

Tsumugi: I feel the same way...!

Tsumugi: Riku-san, no matter the situation, you're always focusing on moving forward, and dashing into the present moment with all your might. That Riku-san has helped me through difficult situations countless times.  

Tsumugi: From now on, I'd like to keep being right beside you and looking after your activities.

Riku: Manager...

Riku: I've been hurt a lot of times, but now, I can think of those times as necessary trials to reach where I am today. 

Riku: From our small world of seven people, I was able to meet all of you, which allowed me to see what lies ahead, and to think "This was the right decision!"

Riku: I probably have relied on the sense of security of having people moving in front of us but... From now on, I'd like us to be the ones opening up the way!

Riku: It came out sounding like a declaration of war, but please keep having me in your care!

T/N

(1) Someone pointed it out, but there’s no actual reason why Riku calls Gaku by his first name here so I believe it is a mistake in the original text.