#171 – (DARLING in the FRANXX) XX:me: Tomatsu Haruka, Ichinose Kana, Yamashita Nanami, Hayami Saori & Ishigami Shizuka

Translation of an interview with the 5 girls of DARLING in the FRANXX who perform the ending themes under the XX:me (Kiss me) unit name. From left to right in the picture above, Ishigami Shizuka (Ikuno), Ichinose Kana (Ichigo), Tomatsu Haruka (Zero Two), Yamashita Nanami (Miku) and Hayami Saori (Kokoro)..

Q: What are your impressions so far of being involved with DarliFra? How has the response from those around you been like?

Tomatsu: The response to episode 1 was great; I even had people from the industry telling me that it was ‘interesting’. Going forward it’ll be one exciting development after another; I can’t wait for people to see what happens next.

Ichinose: Ichigo was the ‘featured character’ in episode 2, where we got a glimpse of her meddlesome nature when it comes to Hiro’s affairs. Each character will have the spotlight thrown upon them so you’ll get to see their merits and how endearing they all are – do look forward to it.

Yamashita: In episode 1 we only get to see the ED theme but from episode 2 onwards the OP theme comes in as well – when it does, the mood of the series changes. That shows how important a song can be to a series; it took me by surprise when I saw the ED visuals – I was fixated.

Ishigami: Personally, I was already obsessed with the world of DarliFra when I read the script. I’ve watched (episode 1) 3 times – during the NicoNama stream, the pre-screening event and when it went on air. I could hear the differences in sound quality each time, finally understand the meaning behind certain scenes as well as make new discoveries with subsequent viewings.

Hayami: We’re quite far along with recording now. I think the developments are getting rather tumultuous. Besides, as I was watching the broadcast of episode 1 I realized ‘Ah, so it actually started off this way’ – and that makes me look forward all the more to future developments.

Q: What’re your opinions of the characters? You’ve got someone like Zero Two who’s unique, by far, amongst the group.

Tomatsu: Hmm. Visually, the one point that stands out are her horns – Zero Two is quite conscious about them herself and they will become a key aspect as the story unfolds. When it comes to her personality, there’s a side of her that’s unexpectedly innocent and she has this girlish cuteness that’s right for her age – she’s not just some mysterious figure. For the emotionally-charged scenes, I’m playing [the role] as if I’m flipping a switch on and off.

Q: Meanwhile, Ichigo’s always staring daggers [at her]!

Ichinose: Yes. She’s always glowering!

Tomatsu: But it’s very peaceful in the studio (laughs)

Ichinose: Ichigo’s a compassionate person who’s always on the lookout for her friends and her mood swings are pretty intense, though that does mean that you get to see all kinds of facial expressions from her. As the leader, she tends to push herself hard and you see how Ichigo tries her best to keep the team united – I’d love for you to pay attention to Ichigo’s expressions and the changes in her emotions in the future.

Q: What kind of role is Miku?

Yamashita: Miku’s bright as befitting of her age; she’s been showing a lot of different expressions from the beginning so that point makes her an easy character to voice particularly as she has many traits that are similar to my own personality. Within the magnificent world of DarliFra exists this normal girl, who I hope gives viewers a sense of security. Her emotions vary depending on who she’s dealing with – she has a bit of a rivalry going on with Ichigo sometimes, while she’s often seen with Kokoro.

Hayami: Yeah, they seem to get along well don’t they? Kokoro-chan seemed easy to grasp – ladylike, kind of ‘maternal’ at times; these are qualities you see in her right from the start. But as the story progresses you’ll start to see more clearly that that’s not all there is to her. She may be maternal and acts a bit like the mom of the group at times, but at others she shows something that’s commonly observed during the process of growing up – [how she] places her own emotions as a priority. The way she’s viewed may differ from person to person and I do think in a sense, that she’s a character with much depth to her. I personally think that she’s a very human type of character.

Ishigami: Ikuno’s a cool girl of few words and she doesn’t really stand out at the beginning…but there are scenes where she does smile like [girls her] age would and I do feel like a parent would, watching over her hoping that ‘she’ll be able to bring out more of that smile in normal circumstances’.

Q: What impressions do you have of the male characters?

Tomatsu: Unexpectedly, Futoshi may be the most childish of them all. You’ll see that coming to the fore in the future; his childishness and immaturity will surprise you.

Ishigami: ‘That’ scene kinda scared me (laughs).

Tomatsu: It’s pretty bewildering from a girl’s point of view.

Yamashita: He’s the forceful type (laughs)

Hayami: At the beginning, the impression you have of Futoshi is that he’s a guy you can’t hate – like a mascot character who’s ‘cute and just eats a lot’, but he actually turns out to be quite passionate. Like, he has certain obsessions (laughs). Personally, I quite like the relationship between Zorome and Miku.

Ichinose: It’s like watching a comedy with [Zorome & Miku].

Q: At the start, it seemed like Zorome had a beef with Hiro though.

Ishigami: But of all the guys, he’s the best one isn’t he?

Hayami: He’s perceptive and reliable.

Tomatsu: Yeah yeah. He may look like a kid but he’s unexpectedly firm in his actions.

Q: What about Mitsuru?

Hayami: That ‘Mitsuru Blowing Up episode’ – for me, it was irresistible.

Ishigami: Though the ‘ratings’ [of Mitsuru’s character] at the start of the series just kept on tumbling (laughs).

Q: Ichinose-san, what’s your take? Which of the male characters are you interested in?

Ichinose: Zorome – Tamura-san really fits him perfectly. She shares certain traits with Zorome so to me, the normal Tamura-san is Zorome personified (laughs). Sometimes during breaks I’ll catch sight of her and think ‘Ah, Zorome’s here with us!’. At first, [Zorome] had this obsession with Hiro, but when Hiro took a different approach towards their interactions, Zorome was like ‘Well, can’t help that then’ and he too, gradually changed. That transformation is what makes him so human. Oh, and I like Goro too.

Hayami: Goro’s really important to Ichigo, isn’t he?

Ichinose: They’re partners after all. Though he’s not actually holding the position of sub-leader, Ichigo does think of him as possessing the trustworthiness typical of a sub-leader. Rather than feeling that he provides her with a sense of security, it’s more like Ichigo believes that Goro’s support is a factor in how she can carry on being the leader.

Q: What if someone like Goro existed in real life?

Ichinose: I think that would be wonderful.

Q: Yamashita-san, are there any characters that you’re interested in?

Yamashita: For me it’s Hachi.

All: Ehhh~!

Tomatsu: Something unexpected just happened!

Ishigami: So, you have such tastes? (laughs)

Yamashita: He’s part of the control team and is in charge of giving out instructions to Hiro and the others; I really want to see Hachi smile, or see his emotional guards shattered.

Ishigami: I can’t imagine it though (laughs)

Hayami: It’d be fun if we got a Nana & Hachi-centric episode, wouldn’t it?

Yamashita: I’d definitely love to watch an episode like that if there was one!

Q: What about Hiro?

Hayami: Hiro’s the clueless type (laughs)

Tomatsu: I guess he can’t help it since he grew up in such an environment, but really…he does break a girl’s heart in many ways, unintentionally.

Ichinose: If I was in Ichigo’s shoes I’d be desperately suffering.

Q: You girls sing the ED themes – Sugiyama Katsuhiko-san, who has written songs for Nogizaka46 and so on, wrote the lyrics and music. There are a couple of combinations of song/visual [for the ending] sequences as well.

Tomatsu: It really is extravagant. To have Sugiyama-san writing for us alone is amazing, but to think that we have the luxury of having so many songs… Recording sessions were like a relentless wave as well. There was the fact that these were Sugiyama-san’s songs, and on a more extreme level, there was this thought of ‘what if these songs were performed with the intention of making them sound like a 5-member idol unit’s performance?’ – those were my feelings as I was singing [the songs].

Hayami: Each song is different from the others but they’re all melodious which makes them easy to sing, and I’d love if the listeners would sing them a lot as well.

Q: What were your impressions when you heard Torikago for the first time?

Ichinose: For me it was the first ever [music] recording in my entire life and there were so many things that I had to be aware of, from intervals to rhythm to articulation as well as the meaning and feeling of the words in the lyrics. Plus, I was the top-batter during recording which made me incredibly nervous. It took me quite some time to record, and I thought to myself, ‘recording really is a slow and steady process’. In terms of putting emotion into the song, I was able to identify with the lyrics so I found it quite easy to pour my feelings in.

Hayami: The melodies are very catchy which made them easy to remember. The lyrics use the emotions within DarliFra as a base against the backdrop of a school setting – it’s something like a parallel world. It may be the unusual everyday world that you see in the anime but at the same time, is linked to our emotions in reality.

Ishigami: By paraphrasing the words, I was able to link the emotions I was feeling while singing the song with those of the DarliFra characters. I think the lyrics would probably strike at the heart of a high-school girl.

Tomatsu: When I saw the ED visuals, I started to get a very strange feeling. Zero Two and the others are children who know nothing about everyday things, yet they are wearing the uniforms of our world; it was bizarre to see them standing amongst the scenery of a railroad crossing. I don’t quite think of it as a parallel world, but more of a ‘what if there exists/existed a world that resembles the one that we humans currently inhabit, and the girls were to spend time there?’ Maybe they might turn out like this~…imagining things like that, my chest tightened as I was filled with sadness.

Yamashita: There are a few ED themes, and I think each song will, while watching the end of the episode that it airs in, fill you with lingering emotions, enabling you to enjoy the worldview of the series even more. Something like Beautiful World is different from Torikago as well.

Q: For Beautiful World, the lyrics talk about how the emotions of love [begin to] faintly sprout in their world.

Ichinose: The giddy, hesitant feelings of first love and the bittersweet pain – I was thinking how well these two elements meshed together as I read the lyrics. I sang the song with the image of an after school classroom in my mind.

Tomatsu: The 1st verse is from Ichigo’s point of view, and the 2nd from Zero Two’s, I think. If you listen to it with someone specific in mind, it’d be easy to be deeply moved by the song. Though in Zero Two’s case, the way she expresses her feelings changes depending on the episode, so I too change the way I sing depending on the song. Especially for Beautiful World, I sang it with a gentler tone. For Torikago [those episodes] were filled mostly with scenes where she was a bit prickly, so I sang it with a bit sadistically (laughs)

Hayami: This is my personal view – [Zero Two] uses ‘boku’* when referring to herself, which means you can look at it from either a boy’s or a girl’s perspective. If you think about these wonderful lyrics being sung from the viewpoint of a high-school girl who’s still maturing, it’s fascinating and becomes even more thrilling, if you know what I mean (laughs)

Tomatsu: I know right?

*boku: masculine form of ‘I’ (pronoun)

Q: We also have Manatsu no Setsuna, which aired during episode 7’s beach episode – definitely a summery, refreshing tune.

Ishigami: This is the one that feels most idol-like, doesn’t it?

Yamashita: It’s kind of a waste to only have it limited to that 1 episode!

Ichinose: It’s the most fast-paced of the tracks and is a lot more energetic than Ichigo normally is, so I had fun singing it.

Yamashita: Both the lyrics and the melody are cute. Miku’s character is bright and innocent, so Manatsu no Setsuna was really easy to sing in character. During recording, I was told to ‘sing it as if you’re frolicking around’ so I was moving my body about as I was singing – it was the song where I was most able to joyfully release my emotions.

Ishigami: For myself, I could barely picture Ikuno-chan singing this particular song so it was actually the hardest of the 3 for me. So I sang it thinking, ‘perhaps, if Ikuno-chan was an idol she might put in this amount of effort to sing the song?’.

Q: So we mentioned earlier about this being like an idol group – do any of you listen to idol songs normally?

Ichinose: I listen to Keyakizaki46 etc. I like the group’s center Hirate Yurina-san – I’m drawn to how she’s the only one who exudes a unique kind of aura. I like songs like Fukyōwaon where there is a strong sense of ‘resistance’, which is similar in mood to Torikago.

Hayami: Yeah, that sense of resistance is strong, isn’t it? (laughs)

Ishigami: My knowledge is limited to whatever I hear on TV but now that I’ve gotten involved with this form [of idol activities] through work, I’m starting to realize, ‘Ah, so idol songs do pierce you in the heart this way’. I can see why female idols attract male fans but it was always a bit of a puzzle to me as to why female fans would be attracted [to female idols] as well. Now that I’ve sung these songs and understood the lyrics, I’ve come to realize, ‘these songs do resonate in the hearts of women. I can see why they become fans as well’.

Q: Yamashita-san is an active member of [idol group] Wake Up, Girls though.

Yamashita: That’s right. This is why I was thinking, ‘I wonder what kind of reaction the audience would have if we were to perform these 3 songs live?’ and was naturally able to imagine what it’d look like if we were performing this on stage. Especially Manatsu no Setsuna, a song to which calls would be easy to perform – I could even hear the calls in my head as I was recording (laughs).

Tomatsu: Just what you’d expect of an active idol!

Yamashita: It’s really easy to ride on the rhythm of the song; it’s the kind where you could clap along to it like ‘clap-a-clap-clap’.

Ishigami: Ohhh! That one there just sounded like a call! (laughs)

Tomatsu: I was working on a certain show where a staff member was an AKB48 fan. It was around the time they were running the [senbatsu] elections so he was handing out CDs with voting ballots in them, saying ‘Please vote for this girl!’.

Hayami: It’s quite understandable that people would want to devote themselves to idols when you see how charming they are.

Tomatsu: If there were girls out there who would earnestly sing and dance to these lyrics I’d wanna support them for sure.

Q: You girls do have a proper unit name of XX: me (Kiss me) so who knows, you may have a chance to perform together sometime?

Ichinose: Woah~, that’s got me all excited. But I would like to put on the Parasite uniforms that Ichigo and the others wear for real.

Tomatsu: If that were to happen, I’d be the only one with a different-coloured uniform – it’d feel a bit special. Like I’d be making my presence felt (laughs)

Hayami: Leaving to one side the question of whether or not we’d be able to [perform together], I would love to see a spin-off story ie. ‘I had a dream where we formed this idol unit together’…

Q: Something like that would increase expectations for the series for sure. Lastly, please leave a message, including thoughts about future developments, for the readers.

Hayami: By the 8th episode or so, you will gradually start to see what kind of person each character truly is. However, there is still much or should I say, endless depth to this world; contents that reward you the more you observe them. On a personal level, what I’m thinking as I’m acting as Kokoro-chan is this: this is a world where these children are still in the midst of growing up; even if it’s in a world parallel to ours, kids who are of a similar age will be able to look at them and think ‘Yeah, I feel that way too’. Thinking that you’re mature and wanting to be an adult as soon as possible, but ending up acting in a way that’s rather childish. From the perspective of actual adults, you’ll see them as being just kids after all. I think you’ll enjoy the show more if you watch it while keeping in mind the delicate phase of growth that they are going through.

Ishigami: Personally, I’d love for viewers to pay particular attention to the turbulent developments between the latter half of the 1st cour to the beginning of the 2nd cour. The way the story pulls you in – it reminds me once again how privileged I feel to have been able to work on a series like DarliFra. I’m itching for all of you to watch these parts and share [my feelings].

Yamashita: The world of DarliFra is grand and complex; in the midst of such circumstances we have these characters harbouring emotions, for example, ‘what kind of feelings are these feelings?’ or ‘I want to be more like this’ – with these persistent feelings, they each ride their Franxx. I think adults will see certain aspects that’ll warm their hearts, while viewers of a similar age would want to cheer them on as well as find things that they can, and want to empathize with. Taking into account all of that, I do hope that you will pay attention to each and every character.

Ichinose: The characters are realistic; each one of them has plenty of facial expressions that convey [their emotions] and I think that helps to make their virtues stand out. When they each get their moment in the spotlight, you’ll be able to see things from a given character’s perspective – the type of emotions that spur them on into action, how they behave when they’re together as a group, the reasons behind their behaviour. All 10 of them have their own good points, so I hope that you will watch and treasure their individual personalities and their respective stories.

Tomatsu: Each character gets their own featured episode so in some ways, you could think of all of them as the heroes and heroines of the story, and the way you look at something may change depending on whose perspective you’re viewing it from. The world they live in may seem unrealistic from our point of view, but the more you learn about this, the more human you’ll start to think it is. As we’re adults, when we place ourselves in their shoes we’ll find certain things that strike us, while discovering other things to ponder upon. Apart from that, the action scenes featuring the robots called Franxxes that they pilot are one of the highlights – how a certain Franxx fares in battle with the Klaxosaurs; or what even are Klaxosaurs in the first place? When you dig into a single mystery you’ll find a daisy chain of mysteries following on, and your level of enjoyment will double as you solve each mystery. There is a massive mountain waiting at the end of the 1st cour, and I’d be glad if you could enjoy watching this series right until the end!

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Notes as I was TLing:
-hmm this interview must’ve taken place quite some time back, we’re already at the end/beginning of cour 1/2
-hah, Tomatoes saying Yamashita’s an ‘active idol’. Are you highlighting the fact that you’re not an idol at this point cos Sphere are on hiatus?
-Yamashita likes Hachi? Be grateful she didn’t say Franxx-hakase…
-My favourite guy in this unit is Mitsuru, he seems to be the only one with any kind of personality (let’s forget his dumbness in the cockpit with 002..). Zorome’s just a noisy brat…
-The less said about Fatoshi the better. Girls really don’t like a clingy, insecure dude like that (speaking for myself)…
-I really want to see the seiyuu perform in the Parasite uniforms now….
-and I want to see Hachi and Nana make babies
-I couldn’t imagine it at first, but the 5 girls’ voices mesh together quite well. Maybe it’s just good production?