Yokoyama Yui (Yuihan) / 9th Generation

@goh1925
wow thanks!! I never knew what was written there. was wondering why the caption was 'time is money'
now I get it! and yeah, I knew about the tax increase, which is why a lot are buying before it was implemented last week sigh

And nice tidbit about the circle they do.. That was nice to know.. YUI BEST CAPTAIN!

 

Yes I think Yui would make a wonderful housewife to Paruru
Wife and wife sounds different but a fitting title lol

 

​

Spoiler: Translation of what Yui said in the news article of the Milk Planet unit

横山も「3人それぞれの個性をうまく活かしていただいているようで、
疾走感があるし憶えやすい、本当にステキな曲だと思います。
ドラマから生まれたアイドルユニットというのはとても珍しいことですし、
自分にとっても、とてもいい経験になりました。
たくさんの人に愛してもらえるドラマ、そして主題歌になれたら、
と思います！」とドラマに期待。

The song fully convey the personalities of the three of us,
the melody is fast and easy to remember, it's a truly wonderful song.
It's rare to see idol unit meant for a drama,
so it is a great experience for me.
I hope that this drama and the theme song can be loved by many people.

​

Not Yet from Friday magazine. Can't believe they actually got the full roster.

Speaking of which, Yui's Kyoto Show is now available for online streaming.
http://www.ktv.jp/ondema/neiro
http://www.ktv.jp/ondema/hannari
Do note that these paid streaming links are region-locked,
so you need to do some bypass to actually watch this.
There are two streaming service available and the FujiTV streaming had episode one on free.

 

Yui and KitaRie is going to host next week's Listen radio segment.

I can already tell it's going to be awesome.
It's been ages since Yui was paired with a senior in a radio.
Too bad, it's not full roster of Not Yet.

Asahi News - AKB48 interview
Juri mentioned Yui in her recent interview with Asahi News.
http://digital.asahi.com/articles/A...ef=comkiji_txt_end_s_kjid_ASG487TW4G48UZVL00C

Spoiler: Translation of Juri's interview with Asahi News

　ＡＫＢ４８に入ったのは３年前、１３歳でした。

　デビューした頃は、アイドルなのに、ファンの方にもスタッフさんにも笑顔で接することができませんでした。あまり表情が豊かでなく、バラエティー番組「有吉ＡＫＢ共和国」に出演したとき、先輩の小嶋陽菜さんから「目が死んでるよ」と指摘されてしまったことも。

　今思えば、まったくダメでした。できることはないし、危機感もない。やる気はあったけど、周囲には伝わらなくて……。しかも、ダメだという自覚すらありませんでした。

　同期の１２期生は個性派ぞろい。（田野）優花はパフォーマンスがすごいし、（岩田）華怜（かれん）は多才なキャラ。みゆぽん（大森美優）はかわいいし、（武藤）十夢はきれい。ひらりー（平田梨奈）はおもしろい。私は自分の個性が何だかわからなかったし、「こんな自分を見てください」と、自分をアピールすることに興味がありませんでした。

　昨年夏、横山由依さんが、私が所属するチームＡのキャプテンになりました。横山さんと同じチームの川栄李奈さんはすごく優しい先輩で尊敬しています。研究生や若いメンバーは公演で、できないことがあったり、失敗したりすると、すごく不安になるのですが、横山さんや川栄さんはそんな気持ちがわかって、失敗したときでも、注意するのではなく、逆に明るく接しています。

　うわべではなく、本気でそれぞれのメンバーのことやチームのことを思って、行動してくれていることが伝わってきます。私も横山さんや川栄さんのような先輩になりたい、と思っています。

　あるとき、取材があって、「取り柄（え）は何ですか」と質問されて、言葉に詰まりました。終わった後、一人になって、急につらくなって……。ほかのメンバーたちはみんな取り柄があるからＡＫＢ４８にいる。「何ひとつ取り柄のない私はＡＫＢ４８に必要のない人間じゃないか」。そう思ったとき、何も答えられなかった自分がすごくイヤになって、涙が止まらなくなりました。

　私はどうしていいかわからず、思わず横山由依さんに電話をしました。泣いていることがわかると、横山さんは夜遅かったにもかかわらず、私の家まで来て、慰めてくれました。自分を否定し、落ち込む私に横山さんは、言いました。「朱里はそのままでいいんだよ」。自分のことを信じる、ということを教えてくれたんです。私は落ち着きを取り戻せたし、その日を境に変わっていきました。

　お客さんに見てもらえるパフォーマンスをしたい、ファンの方に温かい気持ちで接したい、プロとして、色々なものを吸収したい、と思うようになりました。

　私は女優という職業に興味があるのですが、宮崎あおいさん、二階堂ふみさん、綾瀬はるかさん、有村架純さんらのドラマや映画を見て研究しています。４月１８日スタートのテレビドラマ「セーラーゾンビ」（テレビ東京）に先輩の川栄李奈さん、後輩の大和田南那（なな）ちゃんと一緒に女子高生役で出演。ＡＫＢ４８以外の俳優さんたちともお知り合いになれたことで、考え方を聞いたり、演技を間近に見たりして、刺激を受けています。一昨年にＡＫＢ４８出演のドラマ「まじすか学園３」に出演させていただいたときは楽しかったですが、今は楽しさだけでなく、学びたいという気持ちも加わりました。

　個性的な女優を目指しています。多重人格者、サイコパスのような役にもいつか挑戦したいです。

　座右の銘は「変わることを恐れない」。初めてのことを経験するときは、失敗が怖くて、なかなか自分の力を出せないものです。だけど、時代や環境が変化しても、私は恐れずに、いい意味で変化をし、成長したいと思っています。

■番記者から

　デビューした頃は、あまり目立たない存在だった。

　だが、ここ半年ほど、チームＡ公演で見かける彼女は、きらきらした雰囲気に変わっていた。渡辺麻友、高橋みなみ、横山由依、入山杏奈、川栄李奈らの中にいても、存在感を示し、ファンの声援を得ていた。

　その変身の理由を確かめようと、取材を申し込んだ。

　座右の銘は「変わる事を恐れない」。変化したい気持ちを強く主張していた。デビューしたのは１３歳。とりわけアイドルに興味があった訳ではなかった。

　母親がアイドルオーディションへの応募をすすめたこともあったが、応じなかった。ところが、ＡＫＢ４８には「ほかのアイドルグループとは違う何かがある」と自分から志願した。

　合格後は研究生を経て、チーム４で活動。本文のとおり、当時について、「まったくダメでした」と振り返り、チームＡで横山由依や川栄李奈ら先輩との交流を深めたことが、変身へとつながった。

　１６歳。おしゃれをしたい、きれいになりたい気持ちも芽生えているという。

　趣味でホラーやサスペンスの映画をよく見る。映画「悪の教典」は公開中に３度も観賞した。多重人格者やサイコパスにも挑戦したい、と話していたが、折しも、ホラー映画の巨匠、中田秀夫監督の最新映画のヒロインをＡＫＢ４８グループからオーディションで選ぶことが決まった。もちろん、彼女は立候補するだろう。

　さらには、１８日放映開始のドラマ「セーラーゾンビ」で主演、新曲「ラブラドールレトリバー」で２度目の選抜入りと、のりにのっている。「これから、もっと変化していきたい」と話す。まだまだのびしろはありそうだ。

（大西元博）

I joined AKB48 3 years ago, when I was 13 years old.

When I début, I can't response to fans and staffs with smile even though I'm an idol. I don't have much facial expression; when I appear on Ariyoshi AKB, I was told by Kojima Haruna senpai that my eyes are dead.

When I think about it now, it's not okay. I can't do anything, and I don't have a sense of crisis. While I do try my very best, but I fail to convey that to my surroundings..... Moreover, I'm not aware that this is not okay.

12th-gen has a lot of girls with strong personalities. Yuka is great with her performance, Karen is a multi-talent character, Miyupon is cute, Tomu is beautiful, Hirari is really interesting. I don't know what my personality is, and I'm not interested in appealing to people.

Last year summer, Yokoyama Yui-san become Team A's captain. I truly respect Yokoyama-san and Kawaei Rina-san for they are really kind. Sometimes when KKS or younger member fail to did something properly or made a mistake in their performance, they always feel very anxious. Yokoyama-san and Kawaei-san understand those kind of feelings. So when someone made a mistake, instead of scolding, they will response with warm.

They aren't just doing it on surface, their actions stem from them truly concerned about every members and team. I wish to become a senpai like Yokoyama-san and Kawaei-san.

There was a time when an interviewer asked me "What is your redeeming feature?", and I fail to answer it. After that, alone by myself, I suddenly feel really low. Other members stay in AKB48 because they have something of their own. "The me who don't have any redeeming feature is not needed by AKB48?" When I thought of that and fail to come out with an answer, I'm really frustrated and couldn't stop my tears from flowing.

Without thinking and knowing what should I do, I called Yokoyama Yui-san. The only thing I know is that I'm crying, Yokoyama-san came to my house to comfort me even though it's really late night. Yokoyama-san told me who is denying myself and feeling blue "Juri is fine the way she is right now". She taught me to have some confidence in myself. I regained my composure and change my perspective for the day.

I want to present a performance that attract the audience's eyeball, I want to response to fans' heartfelt emotions, I want to learn a lot of things as a professional.

I'm interested in the career of a actress, I watched and researched a lot of drama from Miyazaki Aoi-san, Nikaido Fumi-san, Ayase Haruka-san, and Arimura Kasumi-san. I'm going to appear in a drama called "Sailor Zombie" together with senpai Kawaei Rina-san, and kouhai Owada Nana-chan as high school female student, the show is going air on 18th April. By knowing a lot of actor/actress outside of AKB48, listening to their thoughts and observing their acting skills up close, I've learned a lot. I really enjoyed appearing in the AKB48 drama "Majiska Gakuen 3"; this time instead of purely enjoying it, I've also have an attitude of learning something.

I'm aiming to become an actress with strong personality. I'm also interested in challenging a role with multiple personalities or psychopath.

My pet phrase is "I do not fear change". When you face with a new experience, failing is always scary and you often unable to do your very best. Even though the times and environment might change, I will not fear it, by changing one self in a good way, I wish to grow further.

Yui also did this interview last year, not sure if anyone or me post that here.
I'll post Yui's interview here (again) just in case...before I exhaust my trial period.
http://digital.asahi.com/articles/TKY201305100082.html?ref=comkiji_txt_end_s_kjid_TKY201305100082

Spoiler: Translation of Yui's interview with Asahi News

通信教育会社の企画で調剤薬局事務の資格に挑戦しています。仕事の合間を見つけては教材を広げて、コツコツ勉強中です。メンバーから「由依ちゃんならできるんじゃない」と言われると、誇りに感じますが、元々、熱心に勉強をするタイプではありませんでした。

　高校時代は部活でバスケットざんまいの日々で、家に帰ると、すぐにバタン。勉強もしなかったし、授業中に寝ていたことも。そんな私が変わるきっかけがありました。ＡＫＢ４８のオーディションに合格したのは高校２年生のとき。研究生になるための歌やダンスのレッスンがあるのですが、京都在住の私は毎週、東京まで通わなくてはなりません。当時、交通費は自己負担でした。

　そんなとき母が東京の安いビジネスホテルを探してくれたり、パートと新聞配達をしてくれたり、支えてくれたんです。「もう私だけの夢じゃない」。そう思った時、私の中で、歌手になるという目標がはっきり見えるようになりました。

　東京の子と比べると、高速バスで移動する時間の分だけ、練習の時間が少なくなります。だから、早起きをして、学校から帰宅後も、練習しました。自分の目標が見えたから、努力できたんです。

　責任感も生まれました。ライブでひとりが間違えると、みんなの足を引っ張ってしまいます。迷惑をかけてはいけないと全力でがんばりました。研究生時代、３人だけコンサートに出してもらえなかったときは、何がダメなのか、どうしたら出させてもらえるのか、必死で考えました。

　研究生から正規メンバーに昇格しても、新しい歌を覚えたり、ダンスを覚えたりしなくてはなりません。自分だけリハーサルが必要で、疲れている先輩たちを練習に付き合わせてしまったことに、すごく迷惑をかけた気がして、いたたまれない思いでした。

　そんな私のことに気づいた先輩の峯岸みなみさんが「みんな迷惑だと思っていないよ」と話しかけてくれました。その一言で気が楽になって練習を続けることができました。

　先日、体調を崩してコンサートを休んでしまいました。最近まで兼任していた大阪のＮＭＢのコンサートに、私が初めて出演するときでした。スケジュール的にきつい時だったんですが、負けず嫌いの私はやり切って、みんなを驚かせてやろうって張り切っていました。ところが、気合だけじゃダメで……。仲間やファンの人たちに迷惑をかけてしまったという悔しい思いでいっぱいになり、その後、総監督のたかみな（高橋みなみ）さんの前で大泣きしました。

　だけど、この「悔しい」という思いを大切にしています。悔しいのは一生懸命にがんばっているから。がんばっていないと悔しさは起こらない。がんばったから、今の自分がある。私がＡＫＢ４８に入って一番学んだことです。

　座右の銘は「他人と過去は変えられないけど、自分と未来は変えられる」です。中学生の時の先生の言葉ですが、２０歳になって、とても実感できるようになりました。

■番記者から

　一見、おっとりした印象だが、インタビューを始めると、芯の強さが伝わってきた。ＡＫＢ４８では９期生。同期の中で、もっとも速く研究生から正規メンバーに昇格したが、仲間からは「由依だから先を越されても納得できた」と言われるほどの努力家だ。総監督の高橋みなみさんは落ち込んでいると、「どうした」声をかけてきてくれる頼もしい先輩という。「たかみなさんは私にとって神様ですよ」。今は、高橋さんから受けたような励ましを研究生たちにしてあげたいと、成長した一面も見せていた。

　総選挙では２回連続選抜入り。選挙結果の発表では、２年続けて、体をふらつかせ、大泣きした。「あんなに泣くことはめったにないんですけど、すごくうれしかったです。選挙で自分がファンに支えられていることがわかりました」。６月８日に行われる第５回総選挙でも、選抜入りの有力候補だ。（大西元博）

I challenged the qualification of Pharmacy Assistant. I try to study while searching for gaps in my schedule. Even though other members kept saying "It will be fine if it's Yui", the feelings of flattering aside, I'm not the type that is so passionate about studies initially.

My high school life is all about basketball. I instantly slept after returning from school and I rarely study, sometimes I slept in class too. But I've changed. I passed AKB48 audition when I'm in the 2nd year of high school. There are dance and vocal lessons for KKS, and since I stay in Kyoto, I have to travel to Tokyo for the lessons. As such, I have to shoulder the travelling fees myself.

During those periods, my mother would went to Tokyo to search for cheap business hotel, and even took up a part time job as a newspaper distributor to support me. "This dream is not mine only" is what I thought to myself. It is in those time that I found my goal as a singer.

Compares to my peers in Tokyo, the time spent on travelling by bus has cannibalize my time to practice. As a result, I practice every time I came back from school. I can work hard because I've found my goal.

I've start to realize my responsibility. If I made a mistake in a live performance, it will be a problem for others. I work hard so that I won't be a burden to anyone. When I'm still a KKS, there was a time when only 3 of us was given the chance to perform at a concert. (she's referring to RH 2009) I try really hard to think about what is not good with me and how can I make sure that I'll be given the chance to perform next time.

Even when I'm promoted to formal members, I still have to memorize new songs' position and dance. I can't accept having my senpai who is already tired enough, to accompany my practice, so I insist on doing a rehearsal by my own.

From there, it is Minegishi Minami-san who noticed me and told me "Everyone did not think that it's a burden". Her word made me enjoy my following practice.

Earlier this week, I fell ill and was forced to absent from a concert. It is a NMB48 concert and my first appearance since the announcement of my concurrency. I hate to lose; so even if there are times when my schedule is really tight, I try to push myself further with the intention of surprising everyone, turns out that my body can't keep up with that..... I'm really frustrated that I caused problem for fans and cried in front of Takamina-san after that.

However, I hold these frustrated feelings dearly. The feeling is born because of trying really hard. I won't be able to feel it if I wasn't working hard. It is through working hard that made me who I am today is the most important thing I learned in AKB48.

My pet phrase is "While I won't be able to change others and the past, but I'm in control of myself and the future". It was told by my teacher in middle school. I feel strongly related to the phrase especially when I'm 20 years old.

 

Yui looks so stunning in those photo's, my god...

 

Yeah, Yuihan is one stunning young lady. Captivating, really. Small reason why I love her as I do.

 

Really rough translation of Yui's interview from 20sweet, parts are missing for I don't know how to translate:
Photos and original text found in oatmeal's post above.

Spoiler

How do Yui-han spent her time before and after 20 years old?
When I become 20 years old, I thought to myself "I'm finally an adult" with a little feeling of exciting.
However not much has changed, if you were to pick one, it would be I'm able to drink alcohol.
At the end of the day, nothing within me change much.
When I was younger, the 20 years old elder girls who stay around my neighbourhood feels very much like adult. However when I become 20 years old, it didn't feels like so at all.
Sometimes I thought to myself, I still behave like a child.
Even other members thought so when I told them about this.

When you turn 20 years old, do you have a hindsight that something within you changed?
If I were to take this question seriously, it's not like my environment suddenly changed when I become 20 years old. However when I'm celebrating New Year, I'm extremely cheerful. The feeling is rather similar to when I celebrate my birthday, there are things you can only do when you turn 20 years old, so there is a special feeling to it. These days when I went for a meal with other members, there are times when I pour the alcohol for them. Ah, just sometimes...

And then there is this Grand Shuffle...
Although a lot of people ask "Isn't this tiring?", my goal is for me myself to challenge something every year, I love doing new things. AKB48 really do give you a lot of surprise, and those surprise gave me a lot of experience if I were to view them as a challenge. There are thing you can only experienced by being an AKB48 member. If you realized this and try you best to response to it, you're bound to move someone, changed your environment and yourself. To me, I want to enjoy my life more than anyone else; if there are any negative feelings or failure, I'll forget it if were given a night sleep. However these days, I thought those kind of negative feelings might be a form of good memories too. As such, I might be surprised the moment I knew about the details of grand shuffle, however I was able to accept it rather quickly. It's part of my personality and you couple that with my experience from all these years, looking forward is my answer to it.

Such is "Mae Shika Mukanee"?
While I do thought about things, but I rarely trouble by it.
You can say that it is an influence from the people I met in the past.
I believe I have good luck when it comes to teacher, I've met a lot of good teacher since elementary school.
From there on, it also include my family, AKB48 members, friends and staff.... Everyone I met has huge presence in my life. I didn't came this far if I were to be alone. Starting from my parents, everyone I met shape me into who I am, so I'm truly grateful of them.

I think it's hard to be grateful to others when you're young since you're full of your own problem.
If you think about it, Yui-han is an adult too.
Thank you for the compliments... It's probably due to me having to work everyday.
While it's enjoyable to hand yourself to your body to work out the schedule of the day,
I think it will be much more meaningful if you were able to learn something at the end of the day.
For instance, when Takamina was briefing the members, I will stay at a corner and listen to her;
and thought to myself, what would I say if I were to in her position.
However I only starting to do that since these two years.
The reason I do that might be because I turn 20 years old,
there is also the trend of first gen member starting to graduate causing me to aware that my gen is starting to lead the group.

Yui-han's word are clear and easy to understand.
Really? When I join AKB48, interview isn't really my forte.
I'm rather resistance of showing my true personality.
However, by watching the sousenkyo and the documentary movie;
there are fans who told me "I can relate to you when I see your true feelings"
make me realize that it is important to convey who you are.
When I read back my interview, I would realize a lot about my thought process and my perspective.
So I really love interviews right now, because I'm able to discover another facet of mine through it.

Exactly. By reviewing your own word, you are able to realize your own thought process.
While I love to listen to other people talks, it's probably recently that I start to truly listen to them.
For instance, when I participate in Not Yet's activities, I'm really happy to be able to sing.
However when I heard "This will be left as a piece of work", it changed my attitude in treating the song.
Wouldn't it be wonderful I were able to tell my future children that "This song is sang by me"? When I think about it, I got really excited.

Wonderful. By the way, you mentioned the word marriage just now, so do you wish to marry someone?
I don't really.....wish to marry. (laughs) But I do wish to try and love someone. Though there is this "rule", but an one-sided love is allow. As you thought, if you never fall in love before, you won't be able to fully convey the songs's meaning. I think a passionate relationship which end in a heartbreak is also a part of life's experience.

Oooh. So which type of male do you prefer?
My ideal is a man with an aura that simmers by life's experience. If a man live his life to his fullest, the aura will naturally manifest in him. If you talk about my preference, that would a funny and mature man. Then, at the very least the man should have a dream. It doesn't have to be a big dream, even something like "I wish to eat better food so I'll try my best at work" is fine by me. As long as it's something that drive you to work hard everyday, I'd consider it a dream.

So, would you tell me what is your dream?
What is it...... probably make the interior of my room a little cuter (laughs). Then, I wish to be better at cooking. To be honest I don't really cook since cooking an one-person meal is rather weird. Would it be different if you are cooking for someone else?

You won't know about until you become someone else wife. Could you imagine it?
I can't. When I was in elementary school, I thought I will be married when I turn 18 years old. However when I truly turned 18 years old, I thought "No way" (laugh). Right now, I don't even have an aim for when I want to marry. If you were to take it to the extreme, I'll probably marry someone immediately if I feels like I've met "the one". (wait, what?) My family is truly the ideal family that I can imagine, though it isn't a wealthy one but they will definitely support us if me and my sister wish to do something. They are strict in daily life, I wasn't given a mobile phone in middle school, I bought it using money from my part time job in high school; now I think about it, it's probably another form of kindness. So I want to marry someone like my parents, but the reality is it's impossible right now.
Now I probably know why Takamina said Yui will probably met some bad guy when she fall in love....

Sometimes, don't you miss their voice?
While I do phone back home once in a while, these days most of the time I'm on the phone, I'm talking to Kawaei. There's an app that let you chat while watching a TV program, so we often use it to send voice message and short video to each other. I often spent my time that way with other members.

 

Thank you for the interview goh, that was a good read.
Yui is so low on her handshake events, why is she so low? Doesn't really make sense, it's like no one wants to see her.

 

^Well, it's not like you can do anything about it anyway....
For comparison sake, Yui only sold out 2 slot for the second round sales of Sayonara Crawl;
compare it to this time 1 slot for the second round sales.
I'll let you judge if there is any significant difference.
Yui has 20 slots available btw.

Tsutaiete Pikacchi
Yui, Paruru and Takamina appear on a NHK game show to promote AKB48 Show.


Yui's play-dough version of fire extinguisher.

AKB48 Show


Yui, Paruru and Takamina also appear on AKB48 Show to do a sketch.
It's just like what you might notice, they are doing the sketch with the staff from Tsutaiete Pikacchi.
And as usual, Yui's sketch is always interesting.
That's what you called Ohta Pro soul~~
This time her character in sketch is more or less a continuation of that from the sketch with Annin and Kojimako in AKB48 Show. I'll let you discover why she's holding two packet of wasabi.

 

http://akb48taimuzu.livedoor.biz/
While I follow quite a few of matome blog, this one in particular seems to skew towards Yui related news and buzz even though it isn't a Yui centric one.
Probably just me?

Yokoyama Team A just performed two stage yesterday and there's another one coming this Friday.
Most of the Team A senbatsu girl are absent from it.
This means that Yui's next appearance in Team A stages will be it's senshuuraku..
Seriously????
Though I can understand that Yui got to attend the handshake event yesterday,
is there any event schedule for her on Friday???
The senshuuraku definitely is a must watch, not only it's Yokoyama Team A last stage,
it's also Ayarin's and Suuchan's last stage (Ayarin graduate and Suuchan move to NMB48).


The promotion unit Milk Planet that Yui participate to promote Sailor Zombie appear in the first episode and it's leaked online.
Gotta admit the Chinese are pretty good at this, they even subbed it before the episode even officially broadcast.


Milk Planet seems to be doing the narrative for the show and they sometimes act as a inner dialogue of Naanya. Though I gotta say their song has a wtf lyric to me...

 

^
The episode was broadcast earlier for On Demand subscribers of the television station.

Indeed MiruPura is doing the narrative and intro/outro of the shows, with some reflective interjections.
So far the first episode seems decent, although it's noticeably low budget
The last minute and a half of the show is the MV for the unit song of MiruPura 'Sailor Zombie'.

​

 

Yui interview with Takamina and Yuko.


And in case people didn't know. According to Twitter Yui's been feeling under the weather the last 2 days with a sore throat/cold. I hope she got rid of that sore throat because according to one of the Japanese comments on the the matome she had another recording for the cattle doctor story voice over today.

At least she put up a new blurry Bis picture:

​

 

^ I think it's a talk event for the documentary.

Anyway, for those who concern about Yui's handshake sales,
she sold out 18/20 for 3rd round. So I'd say we're almost there.

Spoiler: Rough translation for the interview

Takamina : Your graduation announcement feels like it happen yesterday only. While I want to give you a graduation concert as great as possible, I'm scared of what happens after that. While I want to try my best at the National Olympic Stadium, I don't wish for the day to come.

Interviewer : When do you know about her graduation

Takamina : I told Yuko "I see... thought so" in front of her. However, when I'm alone after that I cried (bitter laughs).

Yuko : Eh, really? I, didn't know about that....

Takamina : I think the impact is huge when Yuko is gone. However I always thought Yuko would announce her graduation in 2013.

Yuko : Eh, why?

Takamina : Last year end, after learning the feelings of Mariko-sama's approaching graduation, I talked to Yuko. Do you remember? Then, Yuko said "Well, I'm thinking about it too" It was that moment I thought to myself "Ah, so Yuko's graduation is near too". Which is why I always prepare for Yuko's graduation last year.

Yuko : I see.

Takamina : Just when I thought "Yes, we live through the year without Yuko's graduation."....

Yuko : At the very last day.....

Takamina : I didn't see that coming (laughs).

Interviewer : Yuko's graduation seems to be a much more surprise event than it is for Maeda Atsuko. Do you see Yuko as a fellow captain of the whole group who can understand your perspective?

Takamina : Yuko is my comrade, the axis of AKB48. She is the sun on stage, so it's really painful for her to graduate. Personally, though she isn't someone I often talk to, sometimes when our eyes met she would hold my hands and talk to me. Compare to Kojima Haruna and Minegishi Minami from the same gen, she is an indispensable presence of another form.

Yuko : If anything happen, I'm probably the one who help her. I always notice when she feels a little different and when she is thinking about something. I'm the type who pay attention to my surroundings, which is probably one of the reason I'm chosen as a captain, I wish to lead everyone.

Interviewer : Takamina, do you have anything to say to Yuko

Takamina : (facing Yuko) I wish you can enjoy your solo activities from now on. I feel pain if you say anything like "I'm sorry" (bitter laughs). I know you've put all you've got into AKB48 in these 8 years. For Yuko to be independent, I never felt any worries at all. I want to say with my heads up "Congratulations".

Yuko : Thank you.

Takamina : Recently, Mayuyu and I watched the Shonichi of Oshima Team K, Saishuu Bell ga Naru. We are touched by Yuko's love and appreciation for the theatre.

Interviewer : So you cried

Takamina : It was wonderful. When the VTR about the Grand Shuffle post "Is K going to be okay?", I'm a little worry about them. However, they are perfectly fine right now. I'm glad they they are able to form the soul of K before Yuko is gone.

Yuko : Me too.

Takamina : Yuko is the center and captain of the team, couple that with the volume of her solo activities, it's really touching to be able to see her standing on team K's shonichi. However, at the same time I realized "there comes a day where Yuko won't be standing here".

Such is Oshima Yuko. On the other hand, I try to think how many girl would share the same love for the theatre and the same passion for AKB48. If there's girl like Yokoyama Yui whose feelings are easily understand, there are also those whose harder to read. Which is why I would like to stay for a while, there's still things I can do here.

Yuko : Mayu cried too.

Takamina : I'm relieved.

Interviewer : Please, let's do an interview with Takamina and Mayuyu for our AKB48 group News- April issue. Now we have a guest whose name mentioned by you before, here's Yokoyama Yui whose been following her senpai at A and K.

Yui : While I still have some lingering worries and loneliness, I'll give my best at the coming concert at National Olympic Stadium. Yuko isn't a girl with many words, so her every words carry weight; be it her praise or criticism.

Interviewer : What did Yuko taught Yui

Yuko : I've said quite a lot of things to Yui (smile).

Yui : Yeah (laughs).

Yuko : Since we're together in Not Yet, we're always try our best at talk and dance.

Yui : It's not like she said anything, but you feel something. How do I put this...

Takamina : You're bad at explaining~ (laughs)

Yuko : That part of you didn't grow at all, are you okay? (laughs)

Interviewer : Well, it's hard to explain anything when you're thinking hard about what you want to say (sweat)

All : (laughs)

Yuko : Yui is a good girl, so I always say things upfront. And she humbly accept it, correct it and she practice until it's perfect in front of the mirror. However, she wasn't speaking much back then, I never thought she would become a captain.

Takamina : She grow without our awareness.

Yuko : Yeah, without our awareness.

Takamina : For other members, there are mistakes they realize only after being told; however Yui is different. She closely observe from behind of Yuko and she grew into captain of Team A.

Yui : Many people is charmed by K's performance. Yuko-san always make sure that the content of her talk will entertain fans. I've always noticed that since my KKS days. There was a time when I feels low during the photo-taking for the poster of 3rd General Election. She not only notice it and asked "Are you okay?"; she was even able to guess my problem. I'm surprised.

Interviewer : Speaking of Takamina's observation skill

Yuko : It's really impressive.

Interviewer : Even in the Grand Shuffle recently, Takamina was the first to catch Sato Sumire when she broke down.

Takamina : That time I met Yuko's eye at the commentary table.

Yuko : We are connect to each other naturally.

Takamina : Reinyan behind Su-chan was shaking hard, when my eyes met Yuko's she gave me a sign "Go help her".

Yuko : It's eye contact.

Interviewer : Yokoyama-san will be one of the main support from now on.

Takamina : Yuko has her dream of actress and mine is solo singer. We were able to do our best as Soukantoku, captain and for the group because we found the place for our expression. Yui still has her prime time in AKB48 so I think it's rather hard for her to strike a balance.

Interviewer : She's the captain to the new Team K.

Yuko : I'm happy about it. Yui was a member of Team K and she was moved to Team A and then come back. On top of the soul of K, she learnt something from Takamina and Mari-chan. Just exactly what is the importance of "Idols you can meet". She understands the essence of AKB48, so I'm relieved.

Yui : I'll try my best.

Yuko : However, if we're talking about Yui as a person. As a senpai of the same agency, I'm worried about her. I wish she has a vision of herself in the future.

Takamina : It's much more enjoyable if you can have a little personal space, this is the experience and advice of both of us.

Interviewer : Finally, Yuko's word for Yokoyama-san.

Yuko : 9th-gen was born as the pioneer of the generation change. I wish they keep in mind that they are the leader of their kouhai. When AKB48 welcome her 10th anniversary one and a half year later, I wish they are able to preserve the cheerfulness of AKB48. We also wish to gather for the 10th anniversary. I wish you can try your best and more and more people will share the feelings of "I love AKB48". And then, I'll leave Takamina to you.

Yui : Yes (laugh)

Takamina : You're great with how you treat the younger members at Team A so I think you're fine. However, please remember that there are certain things that is hard for you to say when you get too close to them. There are times when a leader needs to be strict to others.

Interviewer : If you don't mind I put you at last, Yokoyama-san's word to them..
You aren't good at words just now.

All : (laugh)

Yui : I've come this far steps by steps, I'll do the same for the future with great appreciation for everyday. At the same time, it's like what both of you said; I'll learn more for my own future.

 

Well I'm really hoping it's not serious, if she just has a cold and sore throat, it may go soon, but if it goes on for a long time then it wouldn't be good.
Oh that's a relief then, it's good that Yui has almost sold out her round 3 slots

 

Wow, that's some awesome growth right there. Going from 2 slots to 18 in 1 round.
And according to the matome it's already more than Sayonara Crawl.

Thanks for the translation goh. That's quite an impact-full interview. They're basicly saying, 'we leave AKB in your care as one of the new leaders'. Nothing we didn't really know already, but this is one of the few times where it's spoken so outright. Also the remarks on how she grew from a silent girl into a captain just by observing and working hard are interesting. And also the warning from Takamina of not getting too close to the other girls, as that makes it difficult to sometimes be upfront and harsh when a leader needs to be. But indeed, Yui should maybe try to focus on/think about what her personal dream outside of AKB is going to be. Although she still has quite a bit of time to go before she's leaving. I like how they're saying that Yui's prime in the group is still going to come.

Regarding her health, she posted on Twitter that the talk segment with the director of the cattle doctor show went fine. So I guess her sore throat is over.

 

I've just read the interview, I really enjoyed reading that, thanks for the translation Goh-san.

 

A follow up comment to my translation of the interview above:
I feel so proud of Yui that once in a while that there's these hints about management trust in her.
Her role in AKB48 aside, yeah I do feel the same that Yui invest too much of her in AKB48.
I know Yui really enjoyed living in the present and currently AKB48 is everything to her.
Somtimes, as an afterthought of all that exposure, I'm worry of her future prospective too.

Yui speak of challenging something every year,
I believe it's the NMB48 concurrency in 2012-13, the U-Can challenge and Team A Captain in 2013,
and this year probably is the captain of Team K.
Yokoyama Team K posed a whole other set of challenges that is distinctively different from the current team A.
But the current schedule for new Team K stages definitely doesn't look positive.
They have the latest shonichi and only 2 stage performance in first half of May (and that include the shonichi itself).


YokoEi~~~
Judging from their costume, I guess it's another day for the recording of Sailor Zombie.
And Yui's in the costume of milk planet.

Haven't got to say it but Yui looks adorable in the MV~~~~~

The matome site said that the volume of handshake sales at round 3 already surpassed the round 3 of Sayonara Crawl. This means that we need to anticipate another round of inflated votes for this year election.
Yui did achieved near 100% increase in absolute vote count last year, I hope the momentum can keep up.
They are speculating that you need 90k votes to break into Kami-7 this year,
the same amount that would get you into top 5 in 2013.

Regarding the talk event that Yui attend for the documentary she narrated, here's the video:

if the video does not show watch the video here

Spoiler: Rough translation for what they say in the video

*I skipped the first few minutes since it's basically an introduction to the content of the documentary.
The documentary is titled "My dream is to become a doctor to a cow".
The director of the documentary is Tokita Yoshiaki who is the man that appears in the video.

About Yui's opinion on the documentary
I'm really touched to be able to see the narrative of Tomomi-san's journey to her dream.
Since this is a documentary, I think it's wonderful to be able to witness her raw emotion.
As I thought, a girl with a dream is enchanting.
I'm really grateful to be given a chance by director to present this to everyone.
This is my first time as a narrator, I'm happy to be able to narrate for this wonderful piece of work.

Yui's comment on her first narration experience
Since I came from Kyoto, I kept using the dialect ever since the beginning.
I was thinking that it would be better to use standardized Japanese for the narration,
so I asked my elder sister to accompany me for the practice of standardized Japanese.

An episode about Yui during the narration told by the director
When we first started the recording for an hour,
we are concerned if she is tired or not and asked if she needs to rest.
In which she replied "No, I'll lose my tension. Please let me do it straight until the end".
She kept it up for 3/4 hours without ever leaving the recording booth.
I thought to myself, such is the essence of a hard-working girl.

A scene which left the most impression to you.
The cow's graduation.
People comes and goes in your life;
especially when that happen when you're young,
Tomomi-san must have felt really sad.

The dream you wish to fulfil in the future
I wish to be able to see AKB48 members active in various field in the future.
For instance, a movie which stars an AKB48 member as the main character in which the theme song is written by another AKB48 member.

And the main cast will be Yokoyama-san...
Well, would it be okay if I sing the theme song.. (laughter from audience)

How do you guys think about it?
(claps from audience)
The claps earlier are much more louder...

You're strict with that...

Fans' report for the talk event :

MC : Is there anything you try to endure to fulfil your dream ?
Yui : I'm not sure when I will face the fans, so I stay away from the free food at the underground food department. I always try them all before joining AKB48.

Reason why the director chose Yui as the narrator :
They are searching for girls who's chasing her dream to act as the narrator and they turn to AKB48.
After the discussion with the agency, they thought Yui would be the best fit for the concept.

 

And even worse, during the second performance ( May 10th) the Not Yet Already special live will be held. So one can expect there to be no Yui & Kitarie during the theater performance on that day
Well, maybe during the 14:00h performance...

Also, MienaiSora was announced to be in the top30 most requested songs for AKB48Show. I don't exactly know what they're going to do with this top, but I think it's safe to say there's a fair chance that they're going to have all these 30 songs appear on the show at one time or another.

In addition to the OriconNews video, there also were some articles on the Cattle Doctor talk segment, including pictures:

http://www.cinematoday.jp/page/N0062174

​

Spoiler

​

 

I don't always concern myself about the date, but seriously ?
I doubt they are able to participate the afternoon stage, there's rehearsal for their event after all.

A shitty schedule indeed. Captain and co-captain absent for the second stage.
*rants

Spoiler

Sometimes I really question management's will to prop up Team K.
Why do I have a feeling of Team K getting the shorter end of the stick again...
New Team A and Team 4 are loaded with potential and young members
while Team B has an incredibly diverse set of member.
I have a bad premonition that Sayanee and Jurina will occupied two of the precious front line position of K.

 

Yep.. Seriously...
And then I'm not even mentioning that there's only two performances scheduled for Team K.
Shonichi on the 7th!! (so late!) and a show on the 10th. Getting 16 people for a 'new' stage with that roster must be a pita.

Indeed, we were discussing the same thing earlier on IRC.
There's a big chance that they'll give Jurina and Sayaka wcenter for the stage. Just as they did for their RESET performance during Request Hour.
That's kind of a kick in the teeth of the other girls as the kennin, and especially those two, will not be performing much in the AKB theater.
Team K is terribly strong though when you look at their roster, and there's some interesting synergies build around Yui.
Also their age is fairly well spread out, I just wished that they had kept Tomu and Hirari instead of two of the older gen girls, especially since they might graduate at any time.

​

On a different note, Yui and Kitarie were on tonight's episode of AKBtoXX where they went on a hiking trip of sorts.
I haven't seen the episode yet, but when I do I'll write something proper about it.
Also, Yui's face was being eaten by a hungry Mochi this afternoon:

​