THE IDOLM@STER MOVIE cast talk sessions – Chiaking is a suteki onee-san

source: THE IDOLM@STER 輝きの向こう側へ！　Pamphlet

Interview with Nakamura Eriko, Asakura Azumi, Shimoda Asami and Takahashi Chiaki. Interestingly, all of them are from Arts Vision except Chiaking (ex-Arts Vision) who is now freelance.

The interview covers their initial thoughts on the movie production, and their thoughts after recording. One little segment that I thought was nice to read was about Chiaking channeling her inner Azusa.

Here’s a rough translation:

Takahashi: …Is it intimidating of me to speak my mind? Nakamura: W-what’s wrong? (laughs) Takahashi: I’m just wondering if I have any common features with Azusa. Asakura: When I just came in during the 5th anniversary (in 2011 as Yurina’s replacement), Chiaki-san really looked out for me. During rehearsals, if I was standing alone she would swiftly approach me and ask “How have you been lately?” Nakamura: Me too! During the 3rd anniversary at Pacifico Yokohama, we’ve never had such a big stage before, so when I was standing on the side of the stage all stiff, Chiaki-san quickly came to me and held my hand, saying “Don’t worry, you will shine”. At that time, even Chiaki-san’s hand was covered in sweat and shaking, but she said that to me. Also, when I was afraid to sing, she looked at me and said, “Don’t worry, I will sing.” Shimoda: I have a story about Chiaki-san as well! When I was nervous at the 7th anniversary live at Yokohama Arena, she told me, “If you go in there with a smug face (ドヤ顔) you’ll be fine” ! And it really worked! Just go in there looking smug and everything works out!! Nakamura: Just when I thought you were looking great, that was your smug face!?

…Time to go back to 7th to check out Shimoda’s doya? Chiaking has always struck me as quite Azusa-like (or maybe it’s the other way around?). She seems mature and also very outgoing. Anyway, you can read the rest of the interview in the pamphlet.

For all im@s animation fans out there, I highly recommend the movie pamphlet. The product itself has no name except the title of the movie. Inside it contains character info, staff interviews, and cast comments. You can take a quick look inside the book here (0:22-0:53). You can find it online for as little as 800yen on mandarake. I also really recommend the nemurihime m@terial book (roughly 1500yen on manda) if you enjoyed that segment of the movie. Both books are good quality and offer valuable insights into the movie for their decent price!