(English translation) SODA October 2020 Issue - Nasu Yuto

hello!!! as for those who know, i started my new job recently and it is a very interesting job, i really like it so far, my coworkers are mostly super fun to be around to and all! im overall super happy!!

anyways, i decided to pick this interview because i managed to buy an aubergine (nasu) standee when the new bishounen ones has been released and i was so thankful, i decided to translate this as a thank you for the aubergine!!!

it was interesting, so i hope you will like it as much as i enjoyed translating it !

ORIGINAL SCANS: CLICK HERE
TRANSLATOR : rosie twt@igarism
CORRECTOR: emily twt@_toshipi

Please do not repost the translation else where.
If you want to re-translate it in another language, please dm me.
If you want to quote the translation, please tag my twitter account.

Like my translations and want to support me ? Consider buying me a ko-fi !

He just started college this spring. When we did this interview, the boy’s gaze was intense, and he suddenly became more mature. The gap between the beautiful boy becoming a beautiful young man. At this very instant, he was the embodiment of vivid growth.

“When the quarantine period ended and work resumed, plenty of people started to tell me that I looked more like an adult. It’s true that I probably look more mature than when I had the shoot with Bi Shounen for SODA six months ago (laughs). I wonder if my aura has changed since I became a university student. When I was in high school, it was very hard to deal with having plays and tests around the same time, but I managed to overcome those trials and now, because I got into the School of Economics at my university, which is what I aspired to, I probably gained some more self-confidence and thus look older. The reason I chose economics is because I tried it out as an elective in high school and it was super interesting.What I like about it is that it’s directly connected to the world we live in so I'm super motivated. At first, I wanted to study science but eventually, I chose economics because it still involves mathematics. Sakurai (Sho)-kun went to the same university as me and he managed to study, work and appear in TV programs and I truly admire him for this. Through studying, I can broaden my view of the world, and therefore be called to appear on variousTV shows and I believe this is going to be one of my weapons in the future. Also, when I joined Johnny’s Entertainment I promised my parents that I would graduate college so I really want to keep working hard for this.”

As he is a highly-educated member of Johnny’s Entertainment, he has started to take part in several quiz tv shows.

Around the beginning of the quarantine, Snow Man’s Abe (Ryohei)-kun reached out and asked me to join Kazlaser’s quiz club. This club is separate from the Johnny’s Quiz Club, and I had online study sessions with them like twice a week during that period. However, all the members of the club are super strong at quizzes so there is no way I could beat them at all (laughs). I haven’t been able to work with entertainers who are part of the Kazlaser Quiz Club recently because everyone is super busy, but even on shows that aren’t quiz ones, the members would still talk about me and the time we spent together and joked about it. A while ago, I got to appear in the tv show “Downtown DX” along with HiHi JETS, but after the show we all talked about how hard it (to be a part of a tv show) was. Lots of skills are needed for these shows.

He has made use of the difficulties he faced back then and the skills he acquired from being on TV in B-Tube videos.

“We haven’t been assigned any characters for our YouTube videos. I think we behave naturally and I think we behave like regular people of our age, but it’s true that lately, we’ve gained more energy and have started dishing out more retorts. For example, (Sato) Ryuga is a natural airhead and even if I don’t really intend on making fun of him, he just ends up being the boke. At times like that, it’s like, how fast can I notice the boke and think of a tsukkomi. Before, none of us would notice the bokes and would let them slide, but now we’ve prepared ourselves for a number of different bokes, so I think we’ve gotten better at tsukkomis, little by little. The member who is the best at tsukkomi is probably Kanasashi (Issei). From time to time he pulls out a very sharp and painful tsukkomi (laughs). At times like this I just go like “ooooh…”. I think he gets the mood very well.”

He felt some kind of accomplishment after going through some tough times.

He appears calmer than other teens his age, and it’s obvious that he answers the questions he is asked well, however when you see him on his YouTube videos, just as he said, you can see the part of him that enjoys being with his people. You can see his surprising gap during those times.

“Ahahaha! People tell me that quite a lot, don’t they? (laughs). During that dokkiri thing (the remote one), I didn’t plan on playing the boke role but even I thought that I was being pretty unaware. I might actually be too natural on YouTube. I was surprised when I saw it, it was way different from what I had imagined. I thought I was doing things properly from the get-go, but it turned out to be different than expected. Since the members know this about me, I always get rough treatment from them. (laughs)

When we talked to him about how to increase the types of work he gets, he answered “I can’t say anything else but express my happiness” as if he was reflecting upon his own words.

“The current group situation is totally different than it was a year ago. We were inexperienced and that was a problem but each of us has been able to improve our skills by getting various types of solo work; so I can tell that we will have more confidence in our work no matter if it’s solo or group. For example, if someone who doesn’t know BiShounen sees any of us on a tv show, that member will become the first impression of the group for this person, and in my opinion this is very important. During High School, there was a time when I couldn’t appear on dramas or perform in stage plays and I decided to talk to Ukisho (Hidaka) who was in the same situation as me. But as I became a university student, there is a lot of work that I always wanted to do that I can do now, and I feel like some weight has been taken off my shoulders.  I managed to do my best every time because my friends were there for me.

When I have performances planned, I can’t really go to school because I basically have two performances each day, so I ask my friends to share two-months-worth of notes with me. Even though it doesn’t benefit my friends, they are more than willing to help and give me their notes saying “Do your best!!; even my teachers were very supportive of me. I'm grateful that everyone supported me at that time.”

This summer, he finally got to star in a drama for the first time. It’s called “Manatsu no Shounen〜19452020" (broadcasted on TV Asahi) in which the six members of BiShounen play high school classmates.

“Michifumi, the character I play, is an honor student, but he is a two-sided character that is highly troubled about his mother who is a toxic parent. I feel bad that he has to deal with this inner struggle. Yesterday (*at the time of the interview) I just shot a scene in which he totally exploded after being crushed by his feelings (for episode 3). The director told me that it was totally okay that I let my own anger burst out for this, so I took it seriously and they told me that I did well, so this is why I think I’m confident that I could convey his feelings well. I believe I yelled so much yesterday I got angry enough for the rest of my life (laughs). I just kept thinking about things that annoy me, which allowed me to push myself and explode. It was new and disturbing to me that such a voice was able to come out of me. At the end, my throat was really hurting, but I really felt accomplished after filming it so I hope this will become a good scene.”

He was at the frontier of enjoying and experiencing the difficulty of acting.

“The character I played before (in the drama “Pareto no Gosan ~Caseworker Satsujin Jiken”) also had a heavy background because he has a very serious side, but once I was done shooting for him, I noticed how much fun I had. I was able to experience that kind of life and feelings with my own heart and eyes. It was difficult but exciting because I got to play a person who was completely different from me. Because I really want to be able to play a character while following the instructions of the director, so this is why I talked to them one-on-one at that time; they told me how the way I acted at that time was completely different from the time I prepared for it and it came out differently and the audience can notice this, like “oh, he really embodies the character!” This is why this is important to prepare properly. They also said that if I want to put more strength to the work I produce, I have to be careful and think carefully about the feelings I create through acting. Because I want to appear in more dramas from now on, I don’t think I will ever forget the words the director spoke. As for “Manatsu no Shounen”, I kept that in mind so I don’t offend people who actually suffer from toxic parents. I read testimonials and researched their experiences so I understand the feelings these people go through.“

At the time of the interview , he was not only in the middle of shooting for the drama, but he was also preparing for “Summer Paradise 2020” and taking classes at his university. It is Johnny’s strength to be able to handle so many projects at the same time.

“I’m the type of person who does something as soon as it crosses my mind. Like for example, if I finish work and I’m in a car being driven to another place, I’ll take that small amount of time to finish a task even if it’s only a few minutes. I think it’s because, at times like that, I feel like I need to deal with my assignments right away. A while ago, I was studying while in the middle of “JOHNNY’S ISLAND” during the scenes I wasn’t on stage. At that time, it was a crucial period in which the fate of whether or not I got into my top choice university was resting on a single test. (laughs sarcastically). I’m working on my time management skills.”