Minami he (To the South)

February 12, 2011 — 5 Comments

So… you don’t live in Tokyo? Or you live in Tokyo but don’t have the time or money to spend a couple of hours in the theater? Well, tough luck!

Yu-chan’s at the theater in her brand new play with Satoshi Tsumabuki, as previously reported.

Tsumabuki portrays a seismologist named Minami who is station at the foot of the fictional Mt. Buji, a volcano that is getting ready to erupt. Aoi portrays Amane, a woman found wandering the slopes of Mt. Buji. The only thing is she may not be Amane at all. Aoi’s character keeps changing the story of who she is, where she comes from and even what her real name is.

via J-Film Pow-Wow (Chris MaGee’s awesome, non?)

Check J-Film Pow-Wow for more information and a photo where Yu’s on the side looking different. Then there’s a video of Yu-chan commenting on the play, and inviting all of us (who can’t go) to see the play.

But it’s not embeddable, so head over here for the video.

But really, even if I were in Tokyo… and I had the time and money to go watch Yu on stage, it’d be for nothing! Because I’m not fluent in Japanese. It’d be like a wasted seat on someone who would just stare O_O and that’d be creepy.

So… is anyone going? And does anyone want to share their thoughts on it?

5 responses to Minami he (To the South)

  1. thank you for all those news about Yu Aoi, I really enjoy your effort. <3
    There's so little information on her in English out there. :(
    I would loooove to be able to read some interviews with her, alas, my Japanese is non-existent.

    Oh btw, you mentioned on your site that Yu Aoi lost 10 KG for her role in "Welcome to the quiet room", may I ask where you read that? Could you link me to your source? I would like to have some information on that, she became really painfully skinny and stayed like that for such a long time, a bit worrying, I think.

    • Hey, Rusi~

      I'm aware of how little info on her is out there for us to read… I just hope the quick translations on Google are interpreted correctly. xD Some of the Yu Aoi interviews have been… English transcribed, in case you haven't read them yet.

      About Yu's weight-loss, I am pretty sure I read the amount of kilograms she lost in a jdorama site that had a scan article with a photo of her Natsuichi dancing bunny commercial. Yu acknowledge the weight-loss for the role in a blog message dated (2007.3), in which she tells everyone wondering about her well-being that she's fine and that the weight she lost for the movie is going back in.

      "お久しぶりです。皆さんお元気ですか?私は相変わらず元気です
      皆さんからのメールやお手紙の中に私の体調を気遣う内容のものが増えて来て、こんなに心配していただけるなんて…って感動してしまいましたが、心配かけてはいかんと思いメールしました。
      私はいたって元気です。「クワイエットルームにようこそ」の役ですこし減量していましたが、今はきちんとリバウンドし、すっかり元通り。いつもの健康優良児体型です。
      それから近況報告としては、今ロシアにいます。こっちに来て9日が経ちますが、今まで触れたことのないもの(自然だったり、文化だったり、空気、人、物だったり…)に触れることが出来ているのが自分でわかるので、毎日があっという間です。出来るならもっともっとここに触れていたいですが、明日家に帰るので、落ち着いたらまたゆっくりメールしますね。
      それでは、今からパッキン頑張ります。皆さんも季節の変わり目、体調崩さないように…
                                
      2007.3 アオイユウ"

      That copy and paste is for archival purpose, in case the message is deleted xD

    • She might have stayed skinny for a while because losing the weight so fast, and gaining it straight away might have been risky for her health… but that's my own speculation. As far as her roles in Unubore Deka and Ryomaden, she seemed normal-weight… she just uses so much loose clothing, she looks skinny all the time.

  2. Translation! (Might have weird phrasings and such as I’m not a native English speaker, haha.)

    Q: What do you feel about joining NODA・MAP?
    A: Everything was unimaginable, so you wouldn’t know unless you try it. Together with fear, there’s also an expectation (in the sense of looking forward to it). I’m still in the middle of feeling rather restless.

    Q: What do you think is the selling point of Noda (Hideki)’s works?
    A: It’s the liveliness, including the people who are creating it. You can really enjoy it together, you don’t know what will happen next. Things that happened, too, you can’t tell if it was done with an expectation or without it; there’s a really “live” feel to it. Just watching it is fun. So I have a deep interest in knowing how they create it. Regarding that, I only have purely expectation (again, in the context of looking forward to it).

    Q: What’s your impression on Noda Hideki?
    A: This might sound rude but, he seems like someone who would be in my class back in Primary 2 or 3. Generally, he is like a boy. I’m sure he never really changed much since he was young. Like a super primary school boy.

    Q: What kind of role are you playing in “Minami e”?
    A: A liar, who cries after she made a lie. A really absurd role.

    Q: What do you think about playing a role of “a liar woman”?
    A: When people make me as the subject matter, the subject that everyone finally hit on is always “lie”. So when I received the talk about Noda-san wanting to write about a liar woman, I thought “again?”. But as a role, I’ve never done a liar role before, so I’m really curious of how would it be seen like, what is there in the basis of it.

    Q: Message from Aoi-san.
    A: I would love to create “different” stages everyday together with people who would see this and our company, so please do come and see.

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