#switch interview

Fanyus' galleries after:

Translation credits to @/marika_yuzu on X/twt:

Yuzu’s commentary on SEIMEI at NHK Trophy 2015: - it’s a youthful & energetic performance - the synchronization with music is sloppy - the moment he woke up that day, he knew he was going to do well. At the start of the 2nd half, if the jump combo went well, he knew that the rest would be fine. He landed 4T3T so he felt relieved - if he were to perform this now, the direction of his gaze would be different - he wouldn’t do fist pumps now during a perf like he did then after the final jump (3Lz). Maintaining the worldview is important At the end SEIMEI commentary, Yuzu said he’s doing more difficult things now; 4 quads as opposed to 3 in 2015. Dōmoto-san: “Expressing this using weird language… What the heck are you aiming for?” Yuzu: “Well, yes- I feel the same. I don’t know it myself. What’s my goal?”

Yuzu has a complex: He says "his arms & legs aren’t long when Dōmoto-san complimented him on his long limbs?! Yuzu: “Really, I have an inferiority complex about my short arms […] My legs are lengthened with the help of my skate boots.” (@/marika_yuzu)

Koichi went to Ice Rink Sendai to watch Yuzu during a practice session that was meant for improving his explosive power. There are bits and pieces of Yuzu practicing and here is some of the music he used:

-> Ten to Chi to

-> I'm Invincible - Ado

-> Parisienne Walkways

-> Boku no Koto

-> something from Final Fantasy

Translation credits to @/LGeorgin on X/twt

Yuzu on his training method

NHKE Switch Interview Yumi Kawai x MIKIKO EP1 + EP2 (2025.01.10 - 2025.01.17)

Next time #NHK Switch Interview will be an actor #Yumi Kawai × Stage choreographer #MIKIKO

Since her debut in 2019, Yumi Kawai has demonstrated her overwhelming acting skills, and her "roots of expression" are in dance. In the second half of the show, the two will dance a choreography inspired by Yumi Kawai and MIKIKO…!

志村けん: 最終形？

のっち: どんどん若くて上り調子で「常に目標を掲げて、そこに向かっていく」っていうやり方で私達きてたんですけど、東京ドームだったりとか「もうこれ以上ないだろうな」っていう目標を叶えてしまった時の不安感というか、そういうのが凄くあって。

I watched the rebroadcast of the NHK SWITCH Interview episode with Funassyi and Sawako Agawa, and was struck anew at how great it was. I hadn't watched it since the original broadcast on November 15, 2014, and had forgotten some gems, such as:

Funassyi says he is not really afraid of failure, since he is utterly confident that he can make a living one way or another. He says if the pair-fairy gig doesn't go well anymore he can become a "watermelon-selling fairy". ("[I] can even sell watermelons" is a euphemism in Japan for the ability to sell anything.)

At one time in his life, Funassyi lived in a little house he built by himself with 50,000 yen (about $500) worth of materials he bought at a DIY store.

Funassyi doesn't mind people who hate him, because at least haters have some interest in him. He thinks the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.

The original design of Funassyi was a kind of light brown with spots all over, the way an Asian pear looks, but it made him look like he had some kind of disease. So they made him a pop-colored yellow. The blue represents the sea, since Funabashi is a harbor town, and the red spots on his cheeks are the "blood splatter from fighting bears" (but not, he emphasized, Kumamon). The red ribbon was actually a fish in the original sketches, to represent Funabashi's fishing industry, but the the maker of his first suit - or rather, the pear skin - thought it was a ribbon. So the ribbon stayed.

He doesn't belong to a talent agency and doesn't have a manager either as we know. He does all his own bookings, checks all the licensed merchandise himself, and writes his own invoices.

That means he's his own boss and has freedom - but, Funassyi says, "Freedom and loneliness are two sides of the same coin".

Speaking of NHK's SWITCH Inteview, they posted this yesterday on their Twitter account:

事務所に所属せず、マネージャーもいないふなっしー。どうやって連絡を取るかというと・・・まずふなっしーのツイートで動向をチェック、「ダメだ、南極行ってるみたい」「夕方から生放送って書いてあるから、今は出番待ちで意外と時間あるかも?!」等々、タイミングを見計らって電話してます（笑）

— NHKスイッチインタビュー (@nhk_switch) March 26, 2015

Translation: