We Still Subbing

  Q As Sakurazaka46’s second Tokyo Dome approaches, shall we look back at the last 1.5 years it’s been since the last Tokyo Dome? Rena: So many things have truly happened, like how we performed overseas for the first time, and how I was selected to be the center of the 5th single title song “Sakurazuki”. Thanks to all the support the Buddies have given to us, as a team we can head toward the same direction together, and we were able to experience so many things that it is unthinkable it all happened within 1,5 years. Q It’s probably like that because the group released 4 singles in the past year, from “Sakurazuki” to “Ikutsu no Koro ni Modoritai no ka?”. All in all, that’s a single every three months, not to mention the concerts in between. Rena: It was certainly one production after another. I’m truly grateful that we are able to stay busy in such a blessed environment. Q I think that being entrusted with being the center of “Sakurazuki” must have been a very important event for y...

Q What does Fujiyoshi-san, who has been appearing in dramas and a movie in-parallel with your activities in the group, think of the past 1,5 years that have passed since the last Tokyo Dome performance? Karin: It felt very fast. As you said, I have been able to try a lot of different things, and it feels like a year has suddenly passed as I was giving my all and working hard. Q At least it doesn’t feel slow, right? (laughs). Speaking of which, as you go back and forth between the filming site and your group activities, did you see a new side of the group Sakurazaka46? Karin: If I must say it in one phrase, then I felt “an encounter”. I have been only working within the group, so I’ve been not only with the members but also the staff members, and that’s all I knew about. It felt like I was in a school, and then I went outside for a bit. And from there, I was able to learn a lot of things. Q It might be a bit rough to group acting, which you described as “in the outside world”, together ...

  Tamura stands on reflex (Jouken Hansha de Tamura Tatsu) Q It’s been three years since we talked for a BRODY feature, and it’s been three and a half years since the show was renewed. How does Tsuchida-san see the current Sakurazaka46 members? Tsuchida: They haven't really changed much from before. These past eight years, we would meet twice a month, so I couldn’t feel any dramatic changes from them. But well, there are moments where I look back and think, “This girl is speaking more than before”; but there is no way a person could dramatically change in two weeks. If that happens, then Sawabe and I would make fun of them like crazy already (laughs). Q I feel that the viewers have been saying that “SokoSaku” is becoming funnier in the past two years. Tsuchida: As someone who’s a part of it, it actually still feels the same as before. It's the homeground for the members, so I hope that they can relax– in a good way, show themselves just as they are, and have fun. Whether it is i...