Neat and clean MARQUEE Vol. 139

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Neat.and.clean -Nitokuri- is an idol group with a “tidiness” concept. In the event #MARQUEE Festival Mini Online #mysta which took place from April to May, they impressively placed #1 and won a 4 page insertion. Nitokuri is a group which has performed almost every day since their stage debut in July 2018. This June, the group has seen a big change, with 6 members, including the starting ones, graduating, and 3 new members joining. You’ll understand when you read this interview, but all 9 of them have unique personalities. After the interview one more member, Himekawa Rika, joined and Nitokuri became a 10 member group. Now then, let us explore the charms of the ever-changing Nitokuri members.

Please tell me about what kind of group Nitokuri is.

Hanamiya: We started with a “tidiness” concept, but each member has a very strong personality. That’s why we try to at least appear “tidy” on stage when we perform (laughs). We dance in white knee-length dresses.

Yumesaki: Many of our songs are orthodox idol songs. But when we talk, all of us are really funny (laughs).

Recently 6 of your members graduated, and you welcomed 3 new members.

Hanamiya: Originally, each of them was supposed to graduate individually, but because of the coronavirus we couldn’t hold their graduation concerts, so all 6 of them ended up leaving simultaneously. At the same time, another 3 members joined, and again, all of them turned out to be weird, unique girls (laughs).

Let’s ask the new members some questions then. Kanzaki-san?

Kanzaki: I had always dreamed of being an idol, so I’m glad I can finally debut…! It makes me so happy when people tell me, “Reona, I love you!” or “Reona, you’re so cute!”

Is there any idol you like?

Kanzaki: Shiina Natsume-chan.

What do you like about her?

Kanzaki: Her face is sooo my type! She’s so cute, I forget all my vocabulary when I try to talk about it…

What is your special skill?

Kanzaki: I’ve actually worked at Disneyland before, so my special skill, or rather something I just like doing, is talking! I think I shine the brightest when I’m talking to my fans… (laughs) I won’t let anyone regret becoming my fan ♡

Everyone: Oooh~!

What about you, Ogawa-san?

Ogawa: I’ve always loved idols, and when I was in my second year of junior high, I would always go to see Happippi live. I became my oshi’s, Urara-chan’s, first female fan.

A Happippi wota who’s a junior high student is quite rare (laughs). Under what circumstances did you become an idol?

Ogawa: I was an otaku myself, so I entered this world because of a longing for it. Idols’ performances are wonderful, and being able to talk to them at the special fan meets made me happy, so I thought I’d like to try doing it myself.

What are you good at, Ogawa-san?

Ogawa: Recently I learned how to ride the bike.

Hanamiya: You couldn’t before? (laughs)

Ogawa: No, I couldn’t. I can also do the hula hoop.

Yumesaki: You should do both on stage (laughs).

Many things are being revealed today (laughs). What about Hinahata-san?

Hinahata: I used to learn classical ballet, and that’s how I came to like being on stage. I’ve applied for Gekidan Shiki (T/N: one of Japan’s most famous theater companies) in the past. Before I had realized, I was applying for an idol audition.

Aren’t those two completely different things? (laughs)

Hinahata: I thought idols were cuter than Gekidan Shiki. I left my previous group after around 2 months, but I wanted to give it another try, so I returned.

Who do you look up to?

Hinahata: It’s ballet dancer Alina Cojocaru. She’s so godly. It’s like, rather than being an idol fan I thought their concerts seemed fun. The distance between you and the audience is closer, and unlike ballet or Shiki where you have to practice for months before you go on stage, I thought being able to perform every day would be more fun.

What’s your special skill?

Hinahata: Artistic gymnastics. My body is very flexible. I can use the vaulting box and the mat, and in junior high and high school I used to be able to do the back-flip, but I don’t know if I could do it now.

Hanamiya: You’ll be our acrobatic person.

Yumesaki: Jumping over a vaulting box right before the bridge of a song could be a fun idea (laughs).

Alright, from here on I’d like to ask the existing members only to promote themselves. Let’s start with Ando-san.

Ando: Yes~ I, Meza, am Nitokuri’s visual~

Hanamiya: You’re a self-proclaimed visual (laughs). She’s the youngest, but has the longest history with showbiz.

Ando: I’m 16. I was working as a child model and actress since first grade of elementary school. At first I seriously didn’t want to be an idol, I was half-forced to do it in my first year of junior high, but then I found myself enjoying it! Being able to share the passion with my fans in real time is really fun.

Who’s your favorite idol?

Ando: It’s myself! My face, my speech, my voice, my personality are all so cute and perfect!

Yumesaki: Those things also are self-proclaimed (laughs).

Hanamiya: You’re the most unhinged of us all (laughs).

Ando: I’m not unhinged~

Let’s proceed. What about you, Yumesaki-san?

Yumesaki: I’m 24 and the oldest in the group, I’m the self-proclaimed sexy person of the group and I call myself Sexy Orange. My photos are supposedly sexy. I seem to be meek, but I actually talk a lot, so I have people come tell me that that gap is funny. By the way, I love Baikinman. He’s been my oshi since I was in elementary school. (T/N: Baikinman is an Anpanman character) My idol oshi is Hinatazaka’s Higashimura Mei-chan, she’s sooo cute. But my biggest oshi is our senior group’s, Under Beasty’s Imai Rina. When we perform together, I always bring my lightstick to wave as I watch her.

And you, Hanamiya-san?

Hanamiya: I wanted to become a singer, so in high school I started streaming myself playing the guitar and singing on TwitCasting. After I had graduated, I moved to Tokyo and played my songs in the streets, and sometimes I would appear in events for female singer/song-writers at small live music bars. I adored Nishino Kana-san and aiko-san, and among idols °C-ute’s Suzuki Airi-chan was godly to me. Before Nitokuri, I was in a dance&vocal group and had fun there, so when we disbanded I decided I wanted to try again properly, and so I joined Nitokuri. We have many members, so I’m doing my best to be the “singing person” in the group (laughs).

Yumesaki: This girl is our singer and the face of the group. When she joined, I thought, “Our face has come!” She’s pretty and good at singing, and she’s also our best dancer.

Hanamiya: Thank you (laughs). I’m talking a lot for someone who hasn’t been here even a year yet, though (laughs). I’m doing my best, but I have ways to come.

What about Amausa-san?

Amausa: I like idols, and I auditioned once for ≠ME, but they dropped me in the second round. I also wanted to be a meido, so I worked at @ho~me cafe. But I wasn’t satisfied with performing just as a meido, so I would audition for underground idol groups one after another and that’s how I got here.

Why do you like idols?

Amausa: First of all, you can wear cute clothes, and then you have your fans praising you just for being alive, so I think it’s a wonderful world (laughs).

So your fans pamper you (laughs). What are you good at?

Amausa: I can cook.

Yumesaki: She makes fried dishes often.

Ando: Like youlinji. (T/N: Chinese-style fried chicken topped with chopped scallions and sweet vinegar and soy sauce)

Amausa: I like chicken meat, so I make stuff like youlinji or teriyaki no less than once every week.

Yumesaki: By the way this person is a rabbit, she’s not human.

Amausa: That’s right. I’m Nitokuri’s self-proclaimed cute person and rabbit. I live on Song Planet and travel to Earth by a rocket. But I didn’t come up with such a complex story myself, the otaku made it up for me (laughs).

I see (laughs). What about Kazuha-san?

Kazuha: Rather than that I loved idols, I joined because I love singing and dancing on stage. I like Love Live and Niconii. Currently I’m receiving education to become a seiyuu, that’s who I want to be in the future.

So why did you become an idol instead?

Kazuha: I wanted to be able to sing more than anything. I’m good at anime songs. I wanted to try being a cute idol who can sing and dance. Ah, I can play the drums, too, so I want to play them behind someone.

Hanamiya: Should we all start a band?

Kazuha: Sure! We’ll play instruments and have Rui-san on the vocal. I want to play the drums at Nitokuri’s one-man concert.

What about Kurumizawa-san?

Kurumizawa: I thought maybe becoming an idol would help fix my shyness, so I went to Nitokuri’s audition and passed it. I can have a conversation now if I get used to the person. But when I first joined the group I couldn’t even look anyone in the eyes.

Hanamiya: She was seriously shy, to the point where she was so frightened she couldn’t lift her head up (laughs).

Yumesaki: She’s a really good girl, but there’s a part of her that is absent-minded and she can be really clumsy (laughs). But that’s cute about her. The way she dances is cute, too. This vibe she gives off that she can’t do it well is not bad.

Hanamiya: She’s the kind of idol that makes you want to support her.

Who is your favorite idol?

Kurumizawa: ZOC’s Karen-chan. She’s so pretty and I look up to her. Yep, that’s right, in the future I want Nitokuri to make bank and have many cats.

Yumesaki: Let’s do our best for the cats then.

Kurumizawa: Yes!

So that was each of you.

Hanamiya: As you can see, we are a freaky group (laughs).

(Laughs) What sort of things do you want to do as a group from now on?

Yumesaki: I want us to challenge ourselves to completely new genres of songs while we uphold our neat image! And personally, we have some new members, so I want to become able to be a good leader for them as the group’s oldest member!

Hanamiya: My small goal for now is for us senior members to raise our new groupmates, and for us all to always protect Nitokuri.

Your fans supported you in the MARQUEE event even though they knew the lineup would be changing, didn’t they?

Yumesaki: That’s right.

It must mean that your fans are expecting great things from you.

Hanamiya: Yes. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t support us, so I believe we need to work even harder than our fans’ expectations.

Yumesaki: And we want to put out a CD again, with this lineup.

Hanamiya: Yep. And also, since each of us has such a strong, unique personality, I want to create opportunities for us to appeal to people outside of the concert venues, like for example us going on a trip and filming it all as a documentary. It was our youngest member who did the editing on the videos for the MARQUEE event. She’s very diligent.

Ando: Stop it~

You’re like a self-producing group. Maybe that’s why you have weird girls joining you (laughs).

Hanamiya: Maybe you’re right, maybe they’re the weapon we need (laughs).