ANN 180818

[midori_murasaki]

ANN 180818

Start with Kura remarking that the studio is weird today with so many people watching them outside their studio. Yu-kun then explained that today interviewers came to interview him for his upcoming releases and Akita Fest. Apparently, photographers placed themselves at angles where Kura couldn’t be seen so that Kura won’t be photographed together as a precaution 8D/. Kura teased that it’s probably is “Takahashi Yu-san’s best angle” lol. They asked again if Kura is not going to be included and the staff answered no. So Kura was like, “You’re planning to eliminate me or something?”

 

Yu-kun: No! WTF are you even saying now! XDD;

Kura: It’s terrifying. This world is such a scary place D: (He’s joking btw lol)

Yu-kun then revealed how Kura was talking about current generation issues right before ANN today. They were discussing about it being the era of “being raised up/being taken care of” now. Kura said he was talking about how they (Yu-kun and him) are employees of a company, albeit their career choice is a bit unique. He talked about how in normal company, people start their career at the age of 22 or 23 but by that age, Kura had already working for 10 years in his company. At that age, it was the time where he’s thinking a lot whether his current career path is going to succeed or not and whether his position in his group is now stable/properly established or not. At that time, the other 22 and 23 years old entered as new employees into a company and the senior of the company were  told to take care of the juniors by people who are more superior than them. The senior then end up in a position of being stuck in the middle (stuck between rock and hard place).

Kura said for his company, of course they have their own junior-senior systems too where it is mostly decided by debut year. But the groups don’t meet each other all that much in a year. They mostly only meet during Johnny-san’s birthday or during big music shows events. So the chances for them to talk with each other is pretty few and far between. Also company meal event either happen once or does not happen at all in a year. So between Johnny’s groups, there’s no situation of being stuck in the middle. But Kura does feel like currently, they have reached that ‘middle’ group era.

Yu-kun asked in a group, if Kura is in that position. Kura said naw because he is the youngest after all lol. And for other groups, the people who are younger than him, Kura said he’s not the type who self importantly points of junior’s supposedly ‘weakness’. Kura said he don’t want to say that “It was supposed to be done this way!” because he doesn’t think there’s an exact ‘correct’ way to do something in their career. And Kura said it’s something that’s really hard to say too. Like, for example if a particular artist got famous for doing it in a certain way, it’s just that particular person’s style of doing it and even Yu-kun have nothing to comment regarding that person’s way. Yu-kun said there’s a time when he acted all sempai though to Ieri Leo-chan during MSte, and after that proceed to make mistake himself XD.

Kura said that it was not a mistake and Ieri Leo-chan is probably happy that Yu-kun talks to her. Kura said if you say something good as a sempai as in meaning that you have always been watching their performance and thought well of it, it’s a different matter altogether and it probably makes the other party happy.

Yu-kun asked Kura if he had never encountered people who acted all sempai to him. Kura said he had never experienced that with his company’s senior before but people from different careers and company did that to him (Apparently that person career exist in entertainment and non-entertainment world, you deduce it yourself then 8D/). That person is apparently not all that much older than Kura but they are pretty important person to a company and they said to Kura, “You have worked hard, huh?” (As in the tone is pretty snide). So Kura was pretty annoyed with the comment because career wise, he had worked for 21 years while that person is working for 14 years by now. So he was like, “Are you in the position to say that to me?”. He didn’t express it out loud though and just keep it in his heart. What he vocally expressed to that person is just, “Yeah, I think so.” But Kura said he decided that he would never want to meet that person anymore after that 8D.

Kura said it’s not because of just that one word. It’s just that such type of person, who thinks they are better than other people just because they are older and thinks that all their opinions and decisions are wiser just because they are older will make him close his heart to them immediately. Not only his heart but he will close all communications with that person too. He didn’t even smile to them and just keep a neutral face when he talk to them. He’d be like, “I guess so. If that’s what you think, then that’s probably how it is huh?” He said he’s showing a bit of his snark though lol.

That sort of person usually ends up asking for your contact number and both Yu-kun and Kura wonders why. Is it because they want to deepen the relationship or is it because they want to show how superior they are to you. Kura said when he said, “是非是非” (zehi, zehi) “Please do!”it means that he is truly grateful and wants to be in further contact with that person. When he said, “別に大丈夫ですよ” (Betsuni, daijoubu de su yo) “It’s fine” it means that he doesn’t want to have any further contact with that person. So Yu-kun said, if someone heard Kura’s explanation now, the next time Kura said “Betsuni”, that person will know what it means. Kura said he doesn’t mind it when people know what it means. Kura said he doesn’t mind it if that person thinks that way of him too.

He said he had said this many time before on ANN but well, when it comes to work, he knows it’s important to tolerate and work with that sort of person no matter what sort of personal opinion you have of them. But when it comes to personal/private time, he really thinks that it’s fine to not be in contact with someone that you don’t like. He wants his personal time to be used with people he likes only. Kura said so far, he had never been in a situation where he had to desperately connect himself to a person that he dislike for the sake of work. Kura said he had decided about that somewhere in his life at around 28 years old. He said if that person he dislike is around people he likes, he said it’s a situation he can’t avoid and it’s fine if the person he likes hanging around with likes that person. So when he’s around and that person is around, it’s a situation he thinks as can’t be helped. But if it’s a situation where he can choose to go or not, he just decides to not go.

Yu-kun: What happened when you’re 28?

Kura: I just one day decided about it. I keep on wondering about why do I have to be with someone I dislike even during my private time? At work, I understand that I need to work with that person whatever my personal feeling regarding that person is. In terms of work, it probably is much better to be working with that person, and they probably are a very capable person. But privately, it’s impossible to be dealing with that person. I had long stopped doing the “Be friends with everyone campaign” and had long been doing the “It’s fine to be together with these few people that I like only” campaign 8D/

Yu-kun: So before 28, you had done the “Be friends with everyone campaign” huh?

Kura: Well, it feels like I must do it whether I like it or not sort of situation before that. I thought that, I need to do this for my work and that it’s probably fine for me to be pretending even in my private time. But then I come to realize that it was two different matter altogether and finally decide that, my private time is mine, I’m sorry. So, I’m sorry everyone. Regarding meeting me during my private time….

Yu-kun: lololol. There’s probably quite a few people who goes, “Ah, that’s the case” when they’re hearing this now lol.

Kura: I don’t think those people are listening to this radio now. 8D

Kura said he no longer know how to do switching on and off between his work and personal mode. So, it feels like he’s forever in his “on” mode. Therefore, he learned that he needs to be the one who choose what is it that could makes him relax. So that was how he come to the situation above. He learned that he needs to choose who is it that he could be with during his personal time so that he could relax himself.

Yu-kun said he is normally not the type who goes out of his house much, then 2 years ago he did a “be friendly to everyone campaign” and nowadays he stopped doing that anymore. But within that two years, it’s not like his contact person increase all that much anyway although his work does increase thanks to the various people he met at that time. But nowadays, among the people he met within those two years, he only stayed close to about 3 people only. Those 3 people are the people he truly considers as friends. The rest are people who are “Let’s drink together when we have time!” or there are certain times where he’d go, “Ah, I want to see that person again” about some people.

During those time of “be friendly to everyone campaign” Yu-kun notice something about the matter of “marriage”. Like for example, a really famous actor married a really famous actress, he wonders about when they came home, do they stay in their “on” mode or do they switch to “off” mode. He also wonders when one of the partner heard about their partner having a new job and saw it, do they comment in their “on” mode such as “Hey, don’t you think that’s pretty bad?” and the other party would be “Hey, what’s with that tone?” and do they fight after that lol. On the other hand, if the marriage is the “off” mode type, do they absolutely not talk about work at all once they reach home no matter how much success or failure had happened at work? Do they just enjoy their meal together like a normal couple and do something that they enjoy together without discussing about work at all?

There’s one person among Yu-kun’s circle of friends who is doing sports. Career in sport is generally perceived as a short-lived career so he wonders if the wife will still like him when he has retired. Yu-kun said on the other hand, career as a singer is quite a long-lived career but he wonders too, if something happens, and he could no longer sing anymore, would a wife who actually likes him in his “on” mode stay with him? Yu-kun asked what sort of marriage is Kura’s ideal?

Kura said he likes the sort of marriage that is not too conscious about that sort of stuff because he thinks it would be troublesome if your relationship with your significant other involves “on” and “off”. Forever “on” is exhausting but forever “off” is also difficult because it means you need to stay aware of what is your “on” condition. So rather than “on” or “off”, he likes it better if it’s a relationship that is not conscious about both, kinda similar to 0. He didn’t know if that will lead to marriage, but Kura confessed that he doesn’t quite understand the meaning of marriage.

Kura: You go to the registration office, signed your name and stamped your hanko on a paper, then ah we’re married? Realistically, just by writing a bit on a paper, we became husband and wife? But, it’s not like anything between the two of us had changed right? So, are we still dating or are we married?

(They need to proceed to CM now though lol)

Oh! Serious letter from Rako festival!! O.o;

He said that for Watanabe Toru-san and Sakakibara Ikue, they initially accepted some jobs together, but they gradually declined from doing so. Kura said that probably means that it is important to properly have “on” and “off”.

Yu-kun asked Kura to continue his talk about the matter of “marriage”. Kura said he wonders for whose sake is “marriage” actually for? Is it to satisfy the parents? Or for any other person? If people gets married because they wanted to, then it’s fine for him. But he wonders about marriage is for the sake of what and what is the merit? He’s aware that he’s saying something that is potentially problematic though lol. He said during wedding ceremony, you did it at the church, then you wear wedding dress and then all sorts of people congratulate you and then, you go back to a very normal reality after the grand ceremony. Kura said in his opinion, nothing changes all that much between that two people after marriage anyway.

Yu-kun on the other hand is someone who really wants to get married though 8D/. He said he wanted to because he admired the marriage between his parents so much and he wants to raise his children the way his parents raised him too. He wanted it to be an orthodox, conventional family.

Kura: But, a child born out of two people, they are still “father” and “mother” right? Even without official vows, reality is that two people is still the “parents” right? But I am aware of the fact that if that two people are not married, the society doesn’t recognize them as “a family”. “Why aren’t you married yet?” “Isn’t that common sense?” “That’s how it is the way of society” But still reality is that the people are still your parents right? So why marriage?

Yu-kun: For me it’s probably a feeling of jealousy

Kura: Wanting to be acknowledged by the society? To chain the partner?

Yu-kun: 8D; It sounds really sad when it is said that way

Kura: No, I mean, so you get married to that partner, there’s at least a bit of desire of wanting to lock that partner, right?

Yu-kun: I wonder?

Kura: Since there’s ‘jealousy’

Yu-kun: More than jealousy, it’s more like a wanting feeling of ‘certainty’ from that other person? An official vow of you staying with me always.

They asked the staffs why they get married lol. Staff answered there’s the feeling of “wanting to be responsible of the partner” and “wanting to be together always”.

Yu-kun said it will be okay if Kura meet someone who has the same way of thinking as him. Yu-kun said the worries on female side might probably be larger if there’s no marriage especially in matters of birthing a child. If the other party is truly responsible and always stay by the female’s side when the child is already born, then there’s probably no problem. But if it’s a guy who goes, “Well we’re not married anyway so I’m not gonna be responsible for this child” then it will be problematic for the female.

Kura: Well, like now I am already 33 right? Most people got married at around 25.  Like my parents, they gave birth to me when they were 25. So I was thinking that if I were to have a child at that age, that child will be around 8 years old and it makes me wonder if I will be okay? So it makes me think about what exactly is marriage. I have been thinking about that for 8 years. As I keep on thinking about it, I think that it’s really just nothing more than an official vow on a paper. And by signing on that, it will make it seems that the two of us will be tied together always. Is that even so, I wonder?

Yu-kun said as he listens to Kura, he realize that one of his motivation for marriage is to make his parents feel relieved. But he realized that by saying that, while it probably makes his parents happy, it probably be really pitiful to his partner though to be married for such reason. So he realized that until he met a person that he likes so much that he always want to stay together with despite whatever happens or despite no written official vows between them, he shouldn’t just get married just yet.

Kura said he’s fine with people who wanted to get married because they want to make their parents feel relieved. But for him, once he moved away from his parents at the age of 20, he had decided that his life is his life while his parents’ lives are theirs. He said there’s plenty of parents that would say, “I want to see my grandchildren so hurry up and get married!” But for him it seems similar to power harassment (8D geez lol). He corrected that and said instead of power harassment, the parents are putting strong pressures on you by saying that right? Kura said if he were to be told that, he’d say, “It’s my life, let me choose what I want to do with it.”

Kura: I’m not even sure if it’s happiness for me if a child is born (as in not everybody wants children). If they really want grandchildren, I’ll leave it to my younger brothers 8D (Yu-kun: You’re serious? Kura: Yeah.). That may be someone else’s “happiness” but it may not be my sort of “happiness”. 8D/ I feel like as I grow older I became even more rebellious.

Yu-kun: I don’t think you’re being rebellious. While I’m writing for my songs recently, I finally come to realize that probably everybody has something in them that is not similar to the rest of the society. It’s just that they don’t express it. Also nowadays, the thing called “sense of values” are largely expanding right?

Kura: Yeah, it’s expanding nowadays. If this is truly the era where a particular ‘new’ values is more acceptable and understandable, I would like to hope that it is that way. Also, people who initially starts a revolution, they were all initially regarded as criminals when they started it. I learned a lot about that when I was doing my stage play (Kumon Onna no Kiss-2017). Nowadays, revolution is more easily accepted compared to back then. So, I find it a bit odd when people goes like a particular thing is “the norm”. (As in he’d like something that is considered as “the norm” to be more flexible). I’m getting embarrassed as I talk about this wahaha 8D;

Yu-kun asked if Kura wonders about why people get married when he see people married such as the person he celebrated last week. Kura said he didn’t wonder about why when it comes to other people’s marriage. He just thinks that, “Ah, they decided to get married” and that’s it and then he just honestly, happily celebrated that person’s marriage. Kura said he wonders about “the meaning of marriage” when it comes to himself, not about any other people, not his friends. It was about “If I were to get married, not why did they get married”

1^st Song: Takahashi Yu- Arigato

Caller had been married for a year. She said the only thing that really changed is her family name. When they were to be married, it’s not really about “let’s get married” but more about “It’d be nice if I could stay together with him always”

She was talking about her drunk habit during her wedding celebration lol. She’s the type that gets hyped up and laughs at anything when drunk. Kura says he’s similar to her though he’s normally the type that laughs at anything even when he’s not drunk lol. She was drunk, running around in Shibuya with her wedding dress 8D/.

Ira Jan:

Kura’s punishment will be when he goes back home all exhausted and lands on his bed, dragonfly will jump out of his bed (Kura is scared of insects lol). Yu-kun’s punishment is not being able to go back to his hometown anymore lol. (Btw, it’s all jokes. The real punishment will be planned when someone reaches the full 20 marks already)

Yu-kun: (Letter) A girl puts a stag beetle on your chest.

Kura said he’s still fine with stag beetle, rhinoceros beetle and dragonfly. Insects other than that are impossible to him XD. What he’s most scared of are cicadas or frogs. Yu-kun said he remembers that time when Kura came to his family’s house and Yu-kun’s niece shoved an insect to Kura’s face. Yu-kun was really irritated at his niece at that time. Kura on the other hand was scared to death lol. Yu-kun knew Kura was scared so Yu-kun was like, “Why did you do that to him??” XD Kura said since it’s from a little kid, she probably thinks of it as a present to him XD. Kura was like, “Uoh!” when she gave it to him XD. Despite him being scared of it, he laughed and smiled for her and said thank you to her. Yu-kun on the other hand was irritated for quite sometime with his niece XD. By the way, the insect she gave Kura was dead.

Kura: Your niece is scary by the way.

Yu-kun: lololol

Kura: (letter) You keep on seeing your girlfriend’s bogey entering and leaving her nose each time she breathe

Yu-kun said he’s okay with that. He’s the type who likes his partner to be not someone who’s ultimately perfect.

Yu-kun: (letter) Your girlfriend looks like Jim Carrey

Kura: Who is Jim Carrey? 8D? (He had to find out who he is first but after finding out said he won’t be irritated by it lololol)

Kura: (Letter) Your girlfriend keeps on saying “Transform!!!!” about everything

Yu-kun: (Ira ira belllllll!!!!!) No way.

2^nd song: Koko Ni

(Kura: Why is Kanjani song playing at this timing! Is it my fault?!)

Ending:

Kura: Osaka con, Koko Ni.

Announcement from Kura: He wants to eat fried rice 8D/

Yu-kun: Single Arigato, Album Starting Over, (Yu-kun burst out laughing halfway. He reported that Kura is making that Jim Carrey face to him XD), Akita fest

Kura: Please take care of him!

Yu-kun: Thank you XD

END!