#aochan

The second official Black Diamond -from 2000- merchandise item,

the original T-shirt, is finally on sale! It features

"Choberig" in large letters on the front,

After spending sixteen years of her life fixated on classical ballet, Suzunose-san decided to challenge herself to become a voice actress.

Despite describing herself as being overly serious and awkward, her passion for performing allowed her to take the first step forward toward her dreams.

What were your first impressions of the Ikizulive! project?

Suzunose: Because it’s a new project, I think it has a great deal of freedom. And just like everyone supporting us, I’m looking forward to finding out what paths the characters take as time passes. I thought that the phrase ikizurai (difficult to live) had quite the negative connotation, but when you consider the history of the Love Live! series, I’m certain that Ikizulive! has endless possibilities. One thing that surprised me was the fans referring to the project as “Ikizulive!”. Since its full title is Ikizulive! LOVELIVE! BLUEBIRD, I thought it’d be called “BLUEBIRD” instead (laughs).

What were your first impressions of the character you’re voicing, Sasaki Shion?

Suzunose: When I first saw her concept design, the thing that stood out to me was that she had this stoic expression on her face, despite looking cutesy. Even though she’s a strong girl, she gives off the air of an ephemeral being that’ll disappear the moment you touch her, and that air of mystery about her is a part of her that draws me in. Her image color is also white, which implies endless possibilities. You’re not really sure what kind of person she is— Oh, in a good way, of course, and that’s something special about her. She has a very strong sense of self, and even though she has a tsundere side, she doesn’t really draw attention to it. Even though she thinks she is totally alright being alone, I think she’s unwaveringly passionate about the things she loves. The more you get to know her, the more you discover about her, and exploring how I can express her as a character is something I always look forward to.

Each of you involved in Ikizulive! has your own strengths. What do you think yours are?

Suzunose: I can focus completely on one thing. But there are times when I’m so focused that I don’t realize that I’m actually heading down the wrong path, and when that happens, I tend to lose sight of everything else around me. That, I think, is one of my strongest character traits, in both a good and a bad way (laughs wryly). I tend to go about life at my own pace, and there are times when I hold my opinions very firmly, so I do hope to become a more well-rounded person in general (laughs).

To let our readers get to know you a little better, could you tell us about what you’re like as a person, or something that you really love, or are really good at?

Suzunose: I tend to be really, really serious, so much so that it sometimes becomes a problem. Like, I’m either going all out, or not trying at all… I really wish I were better at striking a balance (laughs). I’m usually described as a calm and collected person, but I wouldn’t say I’m acting that way on purpose. Of course, there are things that I get excited about, but that really depends on the time and place. I guess something that’ll definitely get me excited is a new menu item at a fast food place (laughs). I’ve also been doing classical ballet since I was a kid, so I really love dancing. Unlike ballet, where your center of gravity tends to be in your upper body, J-POP-style dances only look cool when you have your center of gravity in your lower body, so that’s something I’m currently struggling with.

Was there any reason in particular why you decided to become a voice actress? Also, was becoming a voice actress your childhood dream?

Suzunose: I’ve been doing classical ballet for sixteen years, and was even part of a ballet troupe, but as I danced, I wanted to challenge myself to do something different. That just so happened to also be the time when I got hooked on anime, so I decided to give voice acting a try since it was a profession I looked up to. I was conflicted about pursuing a path other than ballet, but now I’m glad that I managed to start something new!

Tell us more about your impressions of the Love Live! series, or if you have any stories you’d like to share from your experiences with it.

Suzunose: Because I had my heart set on ballet, I didn’t really have the chance to encounter the series, but even someone like me had heard of phrases like Kosaka Honoka-chan’s “faito da yo!” or Yazawa Nico’s “nico nico nii”. I feel a strong sense of responsibility now that I’m part of a project with such a wide-reaching audience.

I heard that you got the chance to watch both Love Live! Series Asia Tour 2024 ~Minna de Kanaeru Monogatari~ and Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours Finale Love Live! ~Eikyuu Stage~ live. How did you find those concerts?

Suzunose: Asia Tour felt like a dream. It made me realize that what I saw could only exist because of everyone supporting it, the cast members, and all the staff members. I thought everyone would get excited about the Ikizulive! announcement at the end, but the buzz in the audience when it got announced is something I still remember clearly (laughs). As for Aqours Finale, watching that made me wonder whether we’d also be loved like Aqours was ten years from now. Everyone looked and sounded so cool.

Was there anything in particular that made you decide to audition for Ikizulive!?

Suzunose: I enjoy singing and dancing on stage, so this was something I was interested in from the start, but since I didn’t know much about the series as a whole, deciding to take part in the audition took some courage. Even so, my desire to perform won out in the end, so I decided to take the opportunity by trying my best.

What were some things that you highlighted about yourself during the audition process?

Suzunose: I made sure to highlight how I’d been doing classical ballet for a long time. I’m really bad with coming up with answers on the spot, so I made sure to prepare answers to some questions I thought I’d be asked beforehand, but they didn’t ask a single one of those. That was quite a shock (laughs).

At this point in time, is there anything that you’d particularly like to work on?

Suzunose: I want to get better at acting. I also want to improve on my singing and dancing, of course, but I think being able to act well is something that’s really amazing. I hope to take the expressiveness I’ve developed from my years of ballet, and use it to make my acting even better. I’m reminded every day of just how difficult it is to express emotions using nothing but my voice.

The project’s first single, What is my LIFE?, has been released, as well as a solo single for each character. Was there anything that stood out to you about the recording session?

Suzunose: It was my first time at a professional recording, so when I showed up at the studio to record What is my LIFE?, I was intimidated to find out that all the professional-looking equipment in the room would be used to record my singing (laughs). As for Shion’s solo song Ikitakunai every day (Don’t want to go every day), I tried my best to express Shion’s emotions through my singing, but the recording made me realize just how difficult that really was. To me, the song depicts Shion looking down upon herself from a third-person perspective, and that’s why I recorded the first verse while imagining Shion curled up into a ball in the corner of her room, with her back facing me. I interpreted the first chorus as her somewhat giving up, while at the start of the second verse, I tried to showcase her weaker side hiding behind her facade. The second chorus was a little more upbeat, as if she had overcome what she felt earlier. To me, the second chorus being more upbeat might not be entirely positive. That’s because if you think about it from a different perspective, you could also interpret her upbeatness as her giving up completely.

Are there any lyrics that you particularly like, or lines that you think suit Shion particularly well?

Suzunose: There aren’t that many songs out there that have such a negative title (laughs). Not only does Shion describe every weekday starting from Monday as “blue”, but to her, the same feeling even applies to Sunday. That’s basically every single day! I guess that justifies the “every day” in the song’s title. Using such harsh language in her lyrics is another thing that’s really Shion-like. The words she uses are so strong that you’d probably be shocked if she said them outright instead of singing them, and that made me realize that those emotions are ones that Shion deals with every single day.

You participated in a release event for the first single in Ikebukuro on July 18th, as well as a mini-live and meet-and-greet session on August 15th. Tell us how you felt about those events.

Suzunose: Everyone in the audience felt really close during the release event, and hearing their words of support directly really encouraged me. Aside from the release event, we also got to perform at the Osaka Expo in the summer. We were sharing the spotlight with the other Love Live! groups, so all of us were determined to do our best, but my in-ear monitors came off at the start of What is my LIFE?... Even though I managed to say “Please listen to our next song, Himitsumichi” without batting an eyelid, the fact that one of my in-ear monitors was just dangling from my ear made the entire thing rather unfortunate (laughs wryly). But it was an amazing event, and I learned a ton from watching the other groups’ performances!

What are your hopes for the future, and are there any dreams that you’d like to fulfill through Ikizulive!?

Suzunose: I hope more people get to know about Ikizulive!, and it’ll be nice if this project turns into something big that fits in alongside the earlier projects in the Love Live! series.

Suzunose Aoi is from Tokyo and was born on June 18. She is good at classical ballet and enjoys singing.

Q1: What’s something you always find yourself picking up at the convenience store?

Fluffy bread!

Q2: What’s something you regret buying recently?

Toothpaste with a flavor that I’m not a fan of.

Q3: What’s a place that you’d like to visit?

Sendai!

Q4: If you had a day off tomorrow, what would you do?

Take a walk, and work out.

Q5: If you could become something other than a human for just one day, what would you like to become?

Crazy Diamond.

Get your own digital copy of the Love Live! Days magazine featuring this interview and more!