I mean, it’s still summer right..? ehe~

So.. what’s this all of a sudden? Well, as some of you might’ve come to know, I’d been dabbling with translation every now and again (mostly song translations though), and in line with that I’d also recently expressed my growing appreciation for the world of idols (particularly the Love　Live! franchise’s group of idols), so here’s a neat little combo of the two — namely a TL for something related to LL! .. technically.

Aida Rikako aka Rikyako is the voice behind Sakurauchi Riko, a member of Love　Live!’s second generation idol group, Aqours. While I don’t particularly like (or dislike) Riko, I’ve grown to like Rikyako quite a bit (interesting dichotomy of worlds there) through her appearances in the group’s live action offerings. So really I was quite hyped for this issue of Seiyuu Animedia which featured her as the cover :3

I’m only doing this since no one hasn’t yet thus far. High chance it might get picked up by someone else (since the LL!/Aqours TL scene has been looking rather strong as of late). Then again this piece isn’t about Love　Live! and is really just about Aida Rikako the seiyuu, so that might explain why.

Welp, lest this intro goes on longer than the actual TL; はい！ どうぞ！

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Some notes before we start:
– （笑）, generally used to indicate laughter in transcribed Japanese interviews were transliterated into (xD) for this TL, ’cause lol why not (lol could work too I guess …)
– words found in parentheses are either words that I put in to clarify certain things, or words that I add to make up for nuances and inferences in the language.

Of Aida Rikako’s “Summer”, ETC!

In the midst of summer at its peak!
Summer is a relateable season for the August-born Aida-san —
as such, let us have her answer our questions in this 10-topic Q&A!

Q. During your childhood; the number one memory you have when it comes to “summer vacation” would have to be?

A. I can’t really picture it now, but back in the day I loved bug-catching
I used to go to my granpa’s and grandma’s (place) to catch bugs. I’d go and catch kabutomushi (Japanese rhinoceros-beetles) and fireflies. In those days even touching the bugs wasn’t that big of a deal. I don’t think much about it now, but for me that was really just the best time, y’know? ….. I wonder why, at the time, it was alright to just catch the bugs? It’s still a mystery to me (xD)

Q. “Summer Must-Have Item/s” would be?

A. Item/s to prevent sunburn and 「 MOW 」’s vanilla are essentials!
Sunblock and a parasol. I’m the type that burns easily see, so my skin just goes dark right away. For food, you can never not have 「 MOW 」’s vanilla flavor (ice cream). There are a lot of vanilla-(flavored) ice cream (across many brands) but 「 MOW 」’s milk flavor has a consistency to it that’s truly exceptional. There’s also Yukimi Daifuku which I like as well. Häagen-Dazs is good too but, it’s in my nature to be fairly frugal so I always end up buying the more reasonably priced ice cream (xD)

Q. The moment you “feel” summer?

A. I feel both the start and the end of summer through the sound of cicadas.
It has to be the time I hear the cries of the cicadas. To tell you the truth, even though I was born in August, I don’t particularly like summer. The period where summer is just about to change into fall and the evenings feel chillier — or even a winter that feels like you’ll freeze immediately; I’d prefer those more.

Q. For this year’s summer, please tell us something you wish to challenge

A. It didn’t go well last time but, diving, one more time!
Scuba diving! I was given an opportunity to intiate this challenge for work last March; but at the time the weather wasn’t really good and the visibility in the ocean was also pretty bad; it was kinda scary. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, the feeling of having gotten accustomed to it when I first began is now gone, so next time I want to experience it once more in a beautiful ocean. If at all possible, I’d like to go somewhere near Okinawa~

Q. I like “this” about summer, I hate “that” about summer

A. Eating one whole watermelon with my mother — this is pretty much a tradition in our household
Back when I was a kid, the anime 「 Touch 」 would re-air right when summer was about to come in, and I really loved watching that. That, and then I love watermelons, so much so that both my mother and I could finish a whole watermelon in one go. Ah- of course, it’s not (we don’t do that) everyday! (xD) As for what I hate — my metabolism shooting up, making me sweat non-stop. I sincerely wish for that sort of heat to stop (xD)

Q. Do share with us your foolproof get-up for summer

A. When summer comes and I have the opportunity, I end up wearing borders!
I have a lot to choose from (if I consider) protection from the sun, and basically any clothing that doesn’t reveal much skin. I do however like the ones with border-patterns (stripes). When summer comes, I think “it’s the season of borders!”, and I end up seeing border-patterns everywhere (xD) But, there was one time that I heard “people wearing borders are unpopular” …… I was incredibly shocked upon learning that. I wonder why that’s the case?

Q. A book you would recommend for those doing book reports?

A. If I were to put myself in their position, there’s one book that I read that has had me enamored
It was a book that I’d read way back during middle-school but, Mori Eto’s 「 Colorful 」 was really good. It’s a story where the protagonist, a middle-schooler who made an attempt at suicide, finds himself　as a “homestay” inside a living body all the while coming to life as he recalls the sins he’d comitted. The me of that time would’ve been close to (the protagonist’s) age, and I remember being so engrossed in reading that it made me think about a lot of different things.

Q. Using the word “summer”, please make a haiku for us!

A. I can only do so much as a stereotypical indoors-type that doesn’t go out
「 Summer Vacation – a single step out the house – did not come to be 」
Needles to say for someone who’s an indoors-type, so long as I have food, I can go for days just staying inside the house (xD). Thinking about it now, back when I was a kid, I was never really the “playing-outside” type. I’d (instead) roll around in the house and nap a whole lot (xD). On the flipside, I’m much more active in the winter.

Q. What if you’d been given a 40-day summer vacation?

A. I’d take a short trip, and maybe just chill-out at home
I don’t think I’d need 40-days…… (xD) I’d take a trip to Taiwan, eat delicious food, and afterwards just go to USJ (Universal Studios Japan) — I’d be satisfied with that. The remaining time I’d spend at home binge-watching movies and foreign dramas. I love horror and stuff with zombies, and right now the drama 「 Waking Dead 」 is in its mid-season break, so I’m definitely watching the upcoming season!

Q. What are food you instinctively end up buying from stalls at a festival?

A. Candied Apples and Chicken Skin Gyouza! Surprisingly, I can eat a lot (xD)
Candied Apples. They’re cute to look at and surprisingly I can pack a lot of it in my stomach — if I see one I’m absolutely gonna buy it. Next is Chicken Skin Gyouza, and …….. right? (xD) It’s quite crunchy when you eat it right? It’s not all that popular and big festivals and the like don’t have it but, it’s for that reason that if a stall (for Chiken Skin Gyouza) appeared, I can’t help but (go there) and eat!

*** Thoughts and Take-Aways
– Given Rikyako’s apparent disposition towards summer (she outright says she doesn’t like it at one point!), in hindsight this might not have been the most ideal season to have her feature in xD
– She also kinda drilled in through her answers that she’s not very outdoors-y, so again, the theme of ‘going out in summer’ kinda worked against itself (though in a way I guess it did its work by letting us know of that fact, lol)
– My favorites have to be;
(1) how she summarized in one breath the plot of Colorful (beautiful movie, hadn’t had the chance to read the book), granted she spoils the big twist at the end, but I guess it’s a classic enough of a story (in Japan at least) that you can’t really “spoil” it;
(2) her haiku xD (which I had a helluva time fitting to 5-7-5), and;
(3) how she’s a fan of horror or anything zombie-related and that she’d rather spend her off-time binge-watching dramas and The Walking Dead

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I always say this in my song translations, but yeah no, do take these TLs with a grain of salt. I’m pretty much a novice TLer that’s learning the language on his own after taking a few classes of Japanese back in his college days.

I’d say this was easier(?) than doing song translations (which was a surprise really) as once I had the gist of whatever was being said, all I needed to do was find the right words to use — whereas with songs I usually have to infer a lot with regards to imagery and themes used in the lyrics. Though I say that there are some bits in there that I’m still not a 100% on, so for those who actually know their stuff feel free to call out a correction. Doing this TL happened to be a neat learning experience, and I’d be more than thankful if it allowed me to learn more through your suggestions.

As for whether I’ll TL more LL!/Aqours/Rikyako-related works, well, it depends. It took me two days to TL two (not even full) pages of text so I’m on the slower end of things in that regard. Plus, as I said earlier, there’s already a dedicated group of translators out there that do a wonderful job as it is, so if I ever do choose to do something like this again it’d have to be something they’re not working on. It is fun though, so we’ll see.