Well I sure took my “sweet” time… Get it? Because… nevermind.
Thanks again to SilverKanon for her patience providing scans 😀

For real though I did end up working on this one a bit longer than I intended to, but more on that later (along with future TL plan updates and whatnot). This is the second part to the interview portion of Aida Rikako’s 30-page Valentine’s special for VOICE Channel vol. 2 (first half over here).

As always, translations may not be as accurate as they can be~

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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 …)
– (苦笑), a more distinctive marker for when interviewees display what we’d call wry smiles (usually when they’re talking about something embarrassing) have subsequently been transliterated as (´∀｀;)
– 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.

A i d a
Aida Rikako

Spend a wonderful Western-style & Japanese-style Valentine’s Day with Rikyako~

Aida Rikako, aka Rikyako, appears once more in [VOICE Channel]. We received a massive reception from the interview she did in VOL.1, so for VOL.2 we’ve now had her adorn both our front cover and our opening feature. Dressed in traditional clothing quite fitting for both the New Year and for an advanced-Valentine’s !

Enjoy a Valentine’s Date with Rikyako !!

*Note: Listen. Be amazed. Listen again.

My ideal Valentine‘s is a date at home

ー We’d like to hear an episode from a Valentine’s memory of yours
I, because I’m away most of the time because of events, I don’t get to do much during Christmas and/or Valentine’s. If I’m recording (lines) for something at the time then I’d hand out chocolate to everyone in the staff, but I’ve never given honmei choco* before I don’t think. If I did have someone to give honmei choco to, because I’m so shy, I don’t think I’d even have the courage to give ’em……

*Note: “true love choco”,
chocolate people give to someone they like, sometimes handmade
as opposed to giri choco or “obligatory choco” which people only customarily give out

ー If anything though, did you and your fellow girl (friends) get really into giving “tomo choco”* to each other during your school days instead if at all?
There was something like that, yeah. Just, I’m not very good at making sweets. I just can’t follow the measurements and the procedures written on a recipe. I have been invited by friends before to make stuff, but all I remember was that (what we made) ended up being burnt and blackened things that you couldn’t really give to anyone (´∀｀;). That’s why, even during Valentine’s Day all I’ll ever do is receive, and I was the type to just repay everyone in one go during White Day**. Of course, because I don’t have much creative skill, I gave out store-bought return gifts.

*Note: “friend chocolate”,
much more sentiment than giri choco

**Note: March 14,
the people who received chocolate (in any form) are expected then to repay the favor by giving gifts on this day, traditionally “three-fold” of what had been given

ー Why is it that you think you’re no good (at making sweets) to that extent?
I can’t be bothered to, and I tend to just (go to a) shop……. Once I do get determined to make something, I have a tendency to end up in some weird place with it. And like, the process just gets more and more complicated and as a result keeping up with the measurements of the recipe becomes too much trouble, and so I make my own measurements for just a little, and……

ー It ends up a failure.
Exactly (xD). That “little” measurement of mine is the difference between life or death y’see. I mean, I get it…… for people who are good at cooking, they’d say that so long as you can follow the measurements just fine you can make sweets just as easily as you could any normal dish, but for me making sweets is just astronomically difficult!

ー You had a photo shoot of a Valentine’s Date but, if you were to have a Valentine’s Date, where would you like to go?
If it’s just a regular date, I’ve always thought I’d want to go to my favorite amusement park but, for (going out to eat) something good…… For this occasion, the two of us going someplace to eat chocolate might be good too. I’m not all too familiar with shops, so I’d be happy if they could introduce me to a good place. Other than that, I’d want to try going to a hotel’s sweets viking*. The sizes of the cakes are compact so you can try to eat a lot of different kinds (of cake), and I also want to try a chocolate fondue.

*Note: A dessert buffet.

ー That Aida-san would spend an ideal Valentine’s by…
U~n…….. A date at home would be nice I think. I can’t make sweets or stuff like that, but I can cook a meal, like curry or stew, for them instead. I prefer eating meals over sweets after all……. wait, I’ve only been thinking about myself but, is this alright?

ー On the contrary, there’s a special feeling to (being cooked for), don’t you think? Well then, this issue would be the first one for 2018. Aida-san, please tell us your resolution for this year.
To keep on moving forward, to keep on growing; I feel like these are things that I must do this year, but there’s also the thought that there are things inside me that I should take care not to change. That’s why, for 2018 I will continue to give importance these unchanging things, and I’ll keep doing my best with whatever lies in front of me. I don’t think I can speak of very lofty goals as of yet but; if I can clear one of my goals while I keep on keeping on, the next goal will come up, and little by little I want to move forward like that.

***Thoughts and Takeaways
– Rikyako’s admiration for Kitamura Eri is well-documented (it has even come up in an interview that I translated before), so it’s nice that she finally got to not only meet her but work alongside her as well.
– (pointed out by SilverKanon) This marks another occasion that Rikyako would prefer be celebrated at home, wherein she said something similar about how she’d want to spend Christmas.

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So yeah, I kinda sat on this one for a while (and it’s not even that long of an interview compared to the others that I’ve done). No real excuse really. Life kinda caught up with me a bit so I figured I’d just take a week off after the last TL that I did. I’d say it’s a luxury of doing these TLs of my own accord, but at the same time this particular translation is technically a request (even gave me scans to work with) so I do feel bad taking so long with it.

At any rate, the interview portion is now done, all that’s left is the Q&A  which I’m still thinking about whether or not I should do (probably might for competion’s sake), then I’ll get back on that thing I’ve been meaning to work on for SeiAni January, and then I’ll go back to this issue of VOICE Channel for… something else. No real schedule for releases though (’cause I’m bad at keeping true to those), so I’m just laying out what I plan to do in the hopefully foreseeable future.

Till then!