Interview with Wake Up, Girls ! at Anime Expo 2017

Anisong idol unit Wake Up, Girls ! is made up of the seven finalists from the avex x 81produce Wake Up, Girls！Audition’s second anisong vocal audition. The girls are also the voice actresses for the anime "Wake Up, Girls !"

A day before their performance at Anisong World Matsuri at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, Wake Up, Girls ! gathered at Omni Hotel for a chat with JaME.

Can each member please do a self introduction and tell us one interesting fact about yourself?

Nanami Yamashita: I’m Nanami Yamashita, playing the character of Nanami Hisami. I’m from Tokushima prefecture. I’m good at traditional Tokushima Awa Dance.

Airi Eino: I’m Airi Eino, starring as Airi Hayashida. I’m from Miyagi prefecture, which is the hometown of the characters of “Wake Up, Girls !” I’m good at dancing although my character isn’t. I’ve been practicing dance for quite a few years myself.

What genre of dance have you been practicing?

Airi Eino: I’ve covered pretty much all genres.

Excellent.

Minami Tanaka: I’m Minami Tanaka, starring as Minami Katayama. I love eating chocolates a lot. It’s the best thing in the world. It’s delightful to find chocolates in catering. As for chocolates of foreign origins, I love M&M’s and SNICKERS.

Miyu Takagi: I’m Miyu Takagi, starring as Miyu Okamoto. I love eating, especially meat. I’m the one who eats the most among all members. That’s why they call me “Dyson Takagi”. Dyson is a vacuum cleaner, and they think I’m as powerful as it is. You can watch the TV commercial of Dyson in Japan.

Meat has all the protein. Where is your muscle?

Miyu Takagi: (laughs) Where did my muscle go after all the meat eating?! Maybe they all get consumed after the dancing because I move a lot.

Kaya Okuno: I’m Kaya Okuno, starring as Kaya Kikuma. I love foreign animation and TV drama series. I like the Disney animation series “Phineas and Ferb”. As for TV dramas, I am very much into “CRIMINAL MINDS”.

Yoshino Aoyama: I’m Yoshino Aoyama, starring as Yoshino Nanase. My nickname is “Yoppi”, so please call me “Yoppi”. I get to speak in English every once in a while! A little, a little (laughs). I forgot what I was about to say! It’s my first time in Singapore. No! I’m in Los Angeles for the first time! (everyone laughs) Today, we actually ate hamburgers at The Grove. We’re very surprised by the size of the hamburger. It was so big.

Have you ever heard of In-N-Out Burger? It’s very famous in California.

Wake Up, Girls !: No.

They use pink dressing which looks like Thousand Island.

Wake Up, Girls !: Ohhhh!

It’s a fast food restaurant. But they do not use any frozen products for its french fries and burgers.

Wake Up, Girls !: Wow, that must be delicious!

They serve natural and fresh foods which all can enjoy. Although the selection of menu is limited, the price is reasonable.

Wake Up, Girls !: Ahhhhh, we want to try those burgers too!

Mayu Yoshioka: I’m Mayu Yoshioka, starring as Mayu Shimada. I’m good at both singing and dancing. Recently, I developed a deeper conviction that I fit well to this profession. Aside from singing and dancing, I’ve been writing novels for quite a few years. Because I always said I’m a novelist, I finally had opportunities to write short, say five-minute story scripts for narrations and plays in our shows, as well as a scenario for the collaboration project of Wake Up, Girls ! and other works. I’d like to develop my abilities as a writer even more.

I would like to pose one question to each of you. Nanami, you are going to perform at Anisong World Matsuri. What kind of practice and preparation did you do for the show?

Nanami Yamashita: Well, we’ll perform songs, including a new one, during the show. We practiced a lot to synchronize our dance moves in order to liven up our performance. I’m looking forward to the show!

Airi, you represent your anime character in a real world. How does it make you feel you for being your anime character and also being a real life idol at the same time?

Airi Eino: Characters in anime work very hard to make their dreams come true. I as a voice actress feel that we are working together as one. When we go up on stage. We try to really connect with our characters so that we can perform as if we were together with our characters on the same stage.

Minami, what were the challenges and difficulties for you to represent your anime idol character in real life?

Minami Tanaka: I didn’t really have experience in dancing before I joined Wake Up, Girls ! I never expected myself to actually challenge such difficult dance routines. Some members are really good at dancing. The gap between other members and myself was pressurizing for me, but my dancing skills developed over the years, and it takes less time for me to master new dance moves these days.

Miyu, Wake Up, Girls ! new single Koi? De ai? De boukun desu! was released on May 24th. Could you explain what this song is about for those who cannot read Japanese lyrics?

Miyu Takagi: It is the theme song of TV anime series “Renai boukun”. It is quite different from other songs of Wake Up, Girls ! The song is very pop. And, how should I put it, the lyrics have an interesting mixture of cuteness and minx.

Kaya, please try to imagine: If you were to write lyrics for a song for Wake Up, Girls !, what kind of theme you would choose for it? What kind of song would you like to write?

Kaya Okuno: It has been four years since the formation of Wake Up, Girls ! We have been singing the songs used in our anime series. So, I would like to write a song about us in the real world, apart from the anime. I would like to write a song about our own real emotions if I have a chance to do it.

I would like to pose the last question to Yoshino and Mayu. What is next for Wake Up, Girls ! after Anisong World Matsuri?

Yoshino Aoyama: We will collaborate with anisong artist May’n as Wake Up, May’n ! and our collaboration single will be featured as the opening song of anime series “Isekai shokudo” ("Restaurant to Another World"), which will begin from July. This collaboration is a new challenge for us, so we’ll do our best!

When will the single be released?

Yoshino Aoyama and Mayu Yoshioka: It will be released on August 9th.
Mayu Yoshioka: A new TV anime series of “Wake Up, Girls !” will start as well. We previously had two movies and one TV series. We once again will be able to enjoy a new season with fans who have been waited for it. We will play the roles of our characters again, so please look forward to the new TV series!

When will the new TV series begin?

Yoshino Aoyama and Mayu Yoshioka: All we can say at this moment is that it will begin this year.

Thank you!

Wake Up, Girls !: Thank you!

JaME would like to thank Wake Up, Girls !, RESONANCE Media and the Anisong World Matsuri press team for this interview opportunity.

Wake Up, Girls ! Links

Website: http://wug-portal.jp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wakeupgirls_PR

Anisong World Matsuri Links

Website: http://anisongworldmatsuri.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnisongWorldMatsuri
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnisongWorld
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/anisongworldmatsuri

Anisong World Matsuri at Otakon 2017

Date: August 11th and 12th
Venue: Washington DC Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Lineup: FLOW, JAM Project, T.M.Revolution, Yousei Teikoku
Tickets and Info: https://www.otakon.com/concerts/anisong