(ENGLISH TRANSLATION) UKISHI HIDAKA - SODA JANUARY 2021 ISSUE

Good morni, i just finished translating ukisho's interview from soda's january!!! we have his view about what it means to be an idol to him!
SO please check it out!!

ORIGINAL SCANS: CLICK HERE
TRANSLATOR : rosie twt@igarism
CORRECTOR: noriko twt@yumemimarius

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Ukisho Hidaka

In the standing point of an idol, he can be seen as the proud and cheerful young boy he is, but once the camera is aimed at him, he also shows us the worries of an adult. However, all the answers from this interview are cheerful and openhearted. Indeed, Ukisho Hidaka is a person full of charm.

Even while he hasn’t made his CD debut yet, Ukisho Hidaka is a young boy with high potential that has already been chosen to star in the film “Mune ga naru no wa kimi no sei” (to be released in a year.)

“To be honest, I was really surprised when I heard that I was chosen to appear in the movie. After all, when it comes to leading movie roles, Hirano (Sho) ‘s role in “Honey” gave me such a strong impression that I was so honored and happy to also have been presented with such a valuable opportunity. I used to go to a boys only school so in a way thanks to this shooting, I could experience the real youth of going to a mixed school. As it’s based on a Shoujo Manga, I was allowed to play the role of a tsun and cool character; when I backdanced during “ARAFES”, Matsumoto Jun told me a bit about his impression of filming “Hana Yori Dango”, which I learnt a lot from.”

First of all, he smiled as he said how relieved he was to finish shooting the movie safely.

While being humble and saying "I'm nothing but a beginner.", he is also experiencing the joy and hardships in acting.

"I think a lot of people have been saying this, but acting is challenging and interesting because there is no one correct way to do it and I think that's very deep. For example, there are many nuances to just giving the sound "e". With just this one sound, that scene's whole meaning can change, and it could affect the next scene's mood as well. Since there is no correct answer, there are various answers-- Ah I contradicted myself there, what I mean is that since there is no correct answer, there are many ways of dealing with acting; so while it was very difficult to do it, I also had fun and that I would like to do it again. This is what I realized. To be honest, if I could get the opportunity to act again, I’d like to play any role, I’d like to do something that can only be done in this age (school settings). Next time, I’d like to act as a different kind of character from the one I played this time; as for this time I was allowed to walk onto the noble path of “mune kyun” movies and it was very interesting so I really want to do this kind of genre again.”

We can feel the innocence, brightness, flexibility and learning skills of this 18-year-old boy, but of course those are not the only things that make him who he is. It can be said that he feels a certain responsibility because the members are not there to support him, and shows a strong work perspective whenever he has solo work. His way of thinking and professionalism is different from the one of an 18-year-old teen.

“The ambiance of a shooting can definitely change depending on who has the lead role, therefore I was conscious of actively communicating with the STAFF, the co-stars and all the people involved in the shooting in order to make everyone feel comfortable. In the drama “Neechan no koibito” in which Nasu appears, I heard that Arimura Kasumi who serves as the leading role was very considerate about the ambience of the shooting, so as a lead actor myself, I thought that I should be able to take everyone into consideration properly. Last summer, the 6 members of Bishounen starred in “Manatsu no Shounen~19452020~”; since I didn’t have much experience, I was able to learn how the scenes connected together, how the lines flowed together and also things about camera work. Above all, I learned stuff about acting so I’m sure I can make a good use of all of these things in the movie I’m starring.

(Sato) Ryuga and Fujii (Naoki) are also working on dramas by themselves; everyone has one simple thing in common, that is to put the best of ourselves into these works. Don’t you think that a member’s external work will not only give a basic idea of the level of that individual but also the whole group as well? Like for example, if my acting skills are mediocre, I don’t want people to match with me at any cost. That’s why for this time too, I talked with the director (Takahashi Hiroto) and Shiraishi Sei (who plays the heroine) along with plenty of actors who played as students.

We talked about various stuff like asking them if playing a scene a certain way would make it weird or not. If an actor plays awkwardly, it can turn the scene into an unnatural one, I think my range of acting roles has increased as I have been able to take a step back and receive various types of advice and corrections from my peers, like they would tell me to act more a certain way. For this time, I felt the strong tough reality of having to work on my own again. In other words, there are other actors who play the roles of students and I consider them my rivals. Obviously, we all cooperate for this work but I want it to be perfect and I don’t want to lose to anyone here either. I want to do my best so that in the future, when people will cast actors for movies and dreams, they will think “Ukisho Hidaka? Dang, it’s a great choice” and choose me again.

They are serious in developing an idealistic idol image.

Bishounen is a group walking on the royal path of idols with their sparkly aura. While the average age of the group is 17/18 years old, Ukisho is not the only one who has high aspiration for the future.

“Nasu and I entered Johnny’s at the same time, he’s the type to study very hard. I guess it’s a Blood Type B thing ahahah. I also think of him as my rival in the group. I’m the type of person to think before acting while Nasu acts before thinking so he has a totally opposite personality, however we can work together. Ryuga’s hobbies are the most similar to mine. In the past, we used to hang out and go shopping together on holidays. He's actually one year younger than me, but I don't really mind the age of the members, so he's like the one who's on the same wavelength (personality fits well with) as me the most. (Iwasaki) Taisho has a very fun and bright character on Youtube but he is actually a very serious person. A while ago, the 6 of us were talking and Taisho said something like “Tomorrow, there’s a possibility we could lose our job so let’s think back about our initial will and be down to Earth.” I knew from the beginning that he was quite serious but I didn’t think it would be to that extent. About Fujii (Naoki)... It was a while ago but there was a time he came to me about his idol image. I was happy he consulted me for that, and of course I came to ask the group for advice too. Of course, we can talk about serious things and I’m really happy that the members trust me when they talk to me, as the older ones, Fujii, Nasu and I have that kind of talk. Kanasashi is my buddy with whom I can work on my acrobatic skills. He's all in a good way? ahahaha. He's someone who is always diligent in his efforts. Because Kanasashi’s acrobatic skills are always increasing, he is one of my dear rivals. You might’ve seen it on YouTube but recently he tends to burst out of laughter hahaha. He used to have a hard time talking and would only speak when brought into conversation, but now, it’s easier for him to do so; he is also now able to properly give his opinion when we are building a live setlist. I feel like both him and myself were able to grow a lot.”

His ideal idol image is...

“Before I even joined Johnny’s Entertainment, I thought that Johnny’s were a group of people who could do anything so I sought to be that way too. Amongst them, there is Nakajima Kento who is not only good at singing but dancing and acting too, he can do pretty much anything, right? I don’t want to destroy that image at any cost so I want to be great at singing, dancing, acting and acrobatics, too. That’s my own ideal image of the word “idol”. Also one of my mottos since the beginning of my activities as an idol is not to be the person whom you can notice when they are in a bad mood or tired. Sometimes people tell me that I have a strong mentality but I’m aware that this is a side of me that I also try to show. I feel like if I don't do that then I'd crash. Of course, I’m a human being too so I have lots of things going on in my mind but I’m trying not to be saddled with these things.”

Right now, he finds happiness in being able to work everyday as it is.

Besides being an idol, he also has another face to him, which is a university student.

“As a university student, I have to organize my own curriculum and be aware of the deadlines to submit my assignments, so I think that my self-management ability and sense of responsibility have improved a lot. I study at the Faculty of Law, but to be honest one of my teachers at school used to tell me that studying laws was very hard and it would be hard to balance it with my work. I knew, from what people used to say around me, that it would be difficult, but I’ve always been interested in studying laws so no matter what people said, my desire to study it has never faded. I have no intention of overworking myself, but I don’t plan on remaining in my comfort zone either. So no matter how hard it’s going to be, I want to give it my all. During ‘ARAFES’, I witnessed Matsumoto-kun's stoicness and I decided I would like to be like him too.”

His pride and the ways he shows his ideal view of being an idol can be observed through the cheerful energy emanating from him and how mature his answers are. We can tell how he has already reached the calm attitude he sought to have. With the stage “DREAM BOYS” coming up by the end of the year, he is probably going to be extremely busy; but when you ask him about the way he takes breaks, he gives us the heart-warming answer “But, what could I even do during breaks?”.

“Honestly, doing my work as an idol is my way to take breaks though? I think it might be hard to conceive since WORK and BREAK are such different words. School is very hard so work is very fun. It’s like I’m able to let off stress I guess? So this is why I really don’t know what to do during days off ahahah. Even during the quarantine period, we had YouTube videos shot remotely and I had online classes so I didn’t feel bored. I rather felt like it was the period of time where I understood the meaning of taking a rest the most in my life, even. I could just play games with everyone and I still had fun so maybe I’m the type of person who doesn’t really need breaks at all. As for the movie shooting, we all started gathering at 5:00 A.M and would call it a day at 10:00 P.M yet it wasn’t a pain for me at all. Of course, I was physically tired but no matter how long I was there, I really enjoyed working with everyone everyday. This is actually why I get anxious when I think about the possibility of suddenly losing my job. Right now, I find happiness in being able to work everyday as it is.”