"(Kobayashi) Kaho's answers are so creative,
she seems like an Alien with a mysterious point of view"
(From L to R: Rika, Hinata, Ayaka, Kaho, Mirei, Riko)
(*A quick note about the above picture. The drama is about the girls finding a flying saucer that crashed on the roof of their school. They discover that one of them is actually an alien, and the boy who arrived in the saucer is there to find out who it is. The fact that Kaho is dressed as an alien in no way spoils the big reveal. It's just a way to promote the show)
Based around the concept of "Eternal Junior High School Students", Ebichu are active in many fields including singing activities, Movies, Dramas, Varieties, and the stage. Starting in January 2018, the "new semester" with 6 members began, and distribution of their first drama in lead roles "You Fly in the Air After School" has started. In this interview, the members talk about the highlights of the drama which includes various elements such as youth, science fiction, love, friendship, and mystery.
--All of the you have have worked as actresses individually in addition to your activities in Ebichu.
What's your stance on acting?
Hinata: I've only worked as an Idol during my time in Ebichu, so in the beginning I wasn't interested in acting. However, as I gradually got jobs as an actress, I realized it was allot of fun playing someone who isn't like me. Recently, I've been working on the stage (In the production of "Taiyo no Uta"), and my desire to play different roles is increasing.
Ayaka: I also love acting. Right now I'm performing in a play with no dialogue called "Gear - Gear -". I'm studying a variety of theatrical styles, so it's a world I'm intersted in learning more about. You ride the melody with singing, but in terms of conveying the meaning through the lyrics, there are parts that are close to dialogue, so I think it's all connected.
Kaho: In Ebichu, expressive skills are important when singing and dancing during live performances,
so even if the way of expression is different in a play, it's importance remains the same. It's hard to remember lines, but the acting is really fun. I'm a bit greedy, but I wish I could be in a play while still performing with Ebichu.
Riko: When I appeared in the stage play "Saki-Saki-", it was my first time working as an actress, so I spent allot of time studying facial expressions. Since the, even during my activites in Ebichu, I feel like I've been changing little by little. I think there's allot you can learn by studying acting.
Mirei: I like watching plays. It's really fun to play a role and become a different person. In an Ebichu Drama, there are many roles that are close to who we are, so if you see yourself acting in a way you've never seen before, it can be very exciting. I want to do something difficult, with action, and play a character who's completely different from my Idol self.
Rika: I only act in plays occasionally, so when I get the chance to do one, it becomes an event. I'm like "Yahoo!". Now that all of us are working together like this, we can see different sides of each other, and discover feelings we didn't know existed. There's also a sense of searching for yourself. I hope we can do this more often from now on.
--For the roles that you played in "You fly in the air after school", was there an element that was close to you?
Rika: It was close to all of us. In the beginning, I heard that the character Kaho-chan played was going to be a cool role. It was someone similar to me, so I was really excited to see a new Kaho-chan.
Mirei: It was a big change, wasn't it?
Rika: The best change was in her intelligence (laughs). There weren't many scenes likes that, but she felt smarter than the real Kaho-chan.
Kaho: The role was the top of the class in school rank, but I'm not like that at all (laughs). I had to use allot of difficult words like "Jaxa", so I was like "Eh?!" However, everyone thought I was well suited for it.
Mirei: Because the screenwriter already knew us, so he probably thought "this girl seems to do this" and included certain actions. The character I played has a USB that looks like it's connected to a UFO, so I'd use that when I was charging my phone, but I'd normally never charge it that way (laughs).
Kaho: But Mirei-chan has the image of charging her phone immediately.
Mirei: I often forgot to carry my cell phone while it was still charging, which was a big deal in the drama. Little behaviors like these are reflections of ourselves. Like the scene where we see Hinata playing Jenga which is very intense. She's a big time gamer so that fits her type, but the atmosphere is a bit different from how she normally is.
(*After watching the drama, I still couldn't understand what the deal was with Mirei charging her phone. There's definitely something dangling from her bag, but they don't draw much attention to it and there's no noticeable scene of her charging her phone. I'm guessing it must have been some kind of portable charger)
Ayaka: Hinata has played allot of shy characters in Ebichu stage productions, but this time she played a rather strong girl. She doesn't normally shout that much, so I think it's a bit different from her.
Hinata: There are allot of really intense roles, but I don't usually get that angry. When I'm shouting in a loud voice, it actually lets me release stressful feelings (laughs), so it's fun to play a character like that. Ayaka's facial expressions and reactions are really exaggerated, like when she's supposed to be surprised and say "Uwa!!". I thought my personality was similar to the way she played her character.
Rika: Four years ago, when we did the drama "Robo-san", my character went in a really interesting direction. In this drama, I play the most standard High School girl. I had to think allot about "What is normal?"
--"Normal" might be the most difficult part to play.
Rika: Personally, I was very compatible with the Idol lifestyle, which meant I couldn't commit to being a student, so it was hard to get a sense of what my character would do everyday. However, during the first day of shooting, I had to talk about something ridiculous or weird that I was reading in the news. Suddenly, it hit me like "Ah! That's it". It was impressive.
(*Compatible is the best word I could come up with. I take it that Rika means that being an Idol went so well for her that she gave up school and focused entirely on her career)
--Kaho and Riko are still in high school.
Riko: I'm above and beyond the normal high school student. I'm the last female high school student!
Kaho: She's the last 3rd year high school student of the Hesei Era (laughs).
(*When Riko refers to herself as the "last female high school student", she's using slang. It's used by girls who are in their final year of high school and about to graduate. Since they are about to go out into the world, they're in a unique position, so only 3rd year students will use this.)
Mirei: However, these two have stronger personalities that normal high school students don't have.
They have a different view of the world because of the field they work in. Because of that, they say the don't know much about current trends (laughs).
Kaho: I can't get into fashion. I'll say "Is this popular now?", and I'll get a response like "That ended quite a while ago". There's allot of things like that (laughs).
Riko: I don't feel like trying to keep up with trends. I notice things at my own pace, so I'm usually like "Oh, it's over now" (laughs).
Kaho: After the trend went away, I'd start thinking "Was that good?"
Riko: The group members who've graduated from high school are more likely to be in fashion than the ones who are active students.
Ayaka: I think that Mirei's feeling of being trendy and up to date is close to the character she plays.
Rika: It's really exciting.
(*Something that might be interesting to know about this conversation is that they are using the slang "JK". It refers to "Joshi Kousei (High School Girl)". They just use the first letter of each word as it's written in English. When I wrote earlier about Riko using the slang "last female high school student", she actually used "LJK", which again uses the first letter of each word written in English "Rasuto Joshi Kousei". Of course, there is no "R" sound in Japanese, so you'd pronounce is as an "L".
What can be confusing is that this also refers to high school girls who go on paid dates. They pass out leaflets advertising "JK Walk" or "Walking Date". Just some extra context to be aware of so you don't say the wrong thing or get into a misunderstanding, lol)
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