This is an archive from Klassic Note Web Reports
Friday, 12 April 2024The Twenty-Third Book Worth of Photos: My Idol Cannot Be This Cute
(Click here to skip to the interview)
I just made this title up haha I had no idea what to use to describe this adorable piece of- Shout out to Anime "OreImo" for the inspiration haha I guess mine is called "OreIdol" hehe nice.
And to this, I should apologize beforehand because SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING haha yes including you, me, for having to wait TWO DAMN WEEKS just to get more of MaiMai because I had to wait for the rest of the free fanclub stuff to arrive so I can save some money on international shipping- Hey MaiMai you coming up with a fanclub subscription soon with monthly wallpapers? *giggles* Well, I guess she is already making me pay monthly for her livestreams so...
Anyways I lose lol, and I formally welcome my birthday gift of the year screw you again Ogura Yui haha *dabs*, so let's! The best time to review a photobook HAS to be on a Friday afternoon when I took work leave already. You're welcome, me. *giggles*
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| "Kanno Mai no Mai Pace Mai World" Tabi Photobook ~MaiCatch~ [Available on Gamers] |
HOW THIS CAME TO BE
Wow where should I even start... I guess as with all introductions, I think I liked her the moment I saw her from the introductory livestream from "IDOLY PRIDE" back in 2019 *oof* almost 5 years ago this love, and if you would want to argue with me I'll take you on haha, among the 10 new...ish voice actresses announced to be in the series split into two idol groups, she is definitely the cutest of them all. *wink* We will not talk about everyone else in that livestream since I did end up liking the bunch of them eventually *ahem* MusicRay'n 3rd gen *ahem* but this isn't about them, it's about Kanno Mai right here.
Initially I did not gain any interest in the Anime series which aired in 2020 or the mobile game that came out half a year later especially when the developers behind those ruined their previous game which I liked for this (and we shall not talk any more on that lol *sob*), but suffice it to say she did catch my attention some time later if I'm not wrong around 2021 from an online livestream series "Seiyuu to Yoasobi" (as a guest, for her mail role in "IDOLY PRIDE", no surprises) which is also when I sawΒ she is rather active on Instagram,Β specifically doing acapella livestreams (not archived btw), where she sings her favourite songs to even taking in fan requests. I ended up following her for about 3 years now, getting into the flow of watching her social updates over time, getting into her singing even if it doesn't ring any bells, because damn, her appeal really set onto me if it hasn't onto you. One would even argue that "cute" is the ONLY thing I can describe her during this period.
Her next break came in not because of Anime because why would they these days girls just be cute and be popular lol she is one of those by the way, is with the introduction of her niconico channel (nicknamed "MaiMild", for full name see photobook title), where she hosts a weekly midnight-airing radio show which I listen every Monday making sure I get tired more than once a day for the work week *giggles*, and a monthly subscription which includes access to her once in a month video livestream where she eats stuff and tease us both (lol) and do cute stuff hehe... it was an offer hard to resist. Till then, she has been my first and only reason to (1) sign up for a niconico channel subscription of which its series is responsible for this photobook itself, (2) paid for her birthday livestream where she sings cover songs in a frilly pink outfit of which I watched live AND watched its archive every day until its removal, and (3) at this point so far paid the most amount of money into a photobook she announced a couple of months ago after teasing it during that very birthday live.
Man, I hope this is a good enough summary I assure you there will be many revisions of this *giggles*, but hey, I think this is adequate to describe the wonderful-genius-adorable perfection that is Kanno Mai for now. *dabs* (Yes that phrase has a meaning too lol)
...
We will talk about her flaws later hehe MEANWHILE THOUGH!!! Let's talk about the book itself.
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| The time has come. All the 5 years of photobook reviews has led up to this. *giggles* |
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| The Gamers Online Shop package, in a nutshell. *thumbs up* |
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| This is just for the thumbnail and eternally preserved, for me. *giggles* |
εηιΒ "Kanno Mai no Mai Pace Mai World" Tabi Photobook ~MaiCatch~
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| Now that I noticed, isn't this border similar to a stamp on a postcard? I see... |
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| Perfection in a nutshell- I'm going to say this a lot btw |
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| Oh yeah, about the logo on the top... |
Ah yes, maybe I haven't talked about how this photobook actually came about. As much as this is based on her trip to Okinawa, based on my many experiences unfortunately this is NOT the swimsuit or bikini photobook you have yearned for (Audience: BOOOO) (haha), but because this honours the image of the radio video livestream series she has been doing for more than a year now she started in January 2023, the series' purity(?) and adorable and sometimes quirky charms has been passed on into the book itself. So despite it not having any bare chest to ogle upon (though one would argue she has plenty of that for her size hehe), it will not be the embodiment of all the sexy scenes one would expect having spent quite a lot on this... Here's a gentle reminder at this point that, remember when we talked about what a "photobook" would mean, carrying a theme and showcasing of a certain form of art? If cuteness isn't the theme of this, I don't know what is. *wink*
CUTENESS OVERLOAD LET'S GO MAIMAI SHOW ME YOUR BEST!!
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| And we start of with denims! KAWAII- *blessed* (I'm going to say this a lot, I might need to use an emoji for this) |
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| Kanno Mai standing taller than the cactuses behind her at *giggles* |
These are the quality jokes you get when you watch her measure her height at one of the livestreams and realized she is consistently 0.5cm shorter lol she did update us though she grew back to 146.1cm but I'm not sure if that's true-
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| *blessed* I like. |
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| The many adorable faces of Kanno Mai, I might as well just let you soak it in too because I'm just displacing the cuteness from me right now as I look at this (Hehe) |
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| Her dressed up in a China outfit and punching me will deal less damage than... anything, honestly. *laughs* |
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| KAWAII~ *speechless* (Let me sink that in for a bit, thanks) |
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| AAAAAHHHHHHHHH (Dude I just LOVE these close-ups!!) |
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| Call me master and I will teach you the ways of... how Anime aim their cameras MUAHAHAHAHA |
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| Wherever this is in Okinawa, this Chinese background really makes her fit in beautifully ngl |
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| Oh OOPS haha just a zoom in on her pores that I always say I adore from any number of them I follow (It's a feature, stop using beauty apps) |
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| Oh this is cute, with the translucent veil on top? (Still no cleavage huh haha) |
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| NICE ANGLE haha not that kind but still (No really, it truly is, cuteness in a nutshell) |
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| Yeah the teddy bears in exhibition, for scale. *laughs* |
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| OMIGOD~!!! Is this is the |
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| MFW I saw this (Those front curves, dude, just *shapes hourglass*) |
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| *speechless* (I want to wake up every morning on top of- Haha what) |
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| Oh hey guest appearance with her pet(?) plushie cat Nyanko-chan!! Do you know what is better than one adorable thing? *giggles* |
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| TWO ADORABLE THINGS- *nosebleeds* Ah. (H-How??) |
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| This might be the "worst" best thing I've ever seen. And if this is what the real her looks like... I like. *blessed* |
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| Brat- uh, I mean, (From the sign behind looks like we are at a place selling soba noodles) |
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| *slurps* AHHHHHH (Haha in Japan you eat noodles as loud as possible or else it doesn't count, I speak from Anime experience) | |
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| Shout out to this *small* village making all these *small* antics so wonderful in this *small* photobook- Alright, me. *laughs* |
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| This one's for me. For the rest of the month. Maybe I be selfish and take this photo down MUAHAHA |
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| Oh I just want to point out this is how short she is, that she needs to wear such shoes to lift up her life- *dabs* (No mercy, dude, even if she cute) |
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| Oh, she is making some handicraft? I don't hear any mention giving this out though...? Haha |
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| Not an illusion she did indeed up she is just short- (Yo me, we need to stop with these short jokes) |
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| Matured MaiMai?? Show me more. *blessed* |
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| I don't know where she is but this is *chef's kiss* |
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| My girl when I complimented her using words more than just "kawaii" hehe |
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| I don't know if she's any Cinderella but I'll at least send her home. *dabs* |
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| Oh, another nice angle but damn, this is all, huh. *laughs* (The positive disappointment, dude...) |
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| And if you think they didn't have another reason to make her cuter... I don't know what is this outfit and I already died of cuteness overload haha |
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| The many, many faces of Kanno Mai (*Not representative of her overall image) (Haha gottem) |
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| Girls will drink down that much smoothie if maintaining their figure isn't a thing, I tell ya (Also, nice ad placement?) |
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| Only a "B", huh. I mean, looks like it. *laughs* (Also the grade I wish Kanno Mai will give me if we ever meet) |
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| Taking photos of your girl eating stuff is so surreal, I don't know why this is fun but I want to do this IRL (Hehe) (Someday dude, someday) | |
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| Please tell me I can get a digital edition of this thing because damn you HAVE to buy this yourself to see this marvel |
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| Nice angle again but no *shapes hourglass* haha |
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| Close enough. *blessed* |
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| *speechless* (All fairies please step side, thank you) |
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| What I think of our parasocial relationship, to be honest (Hehe *kiss*) |
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| *kiss* *kiss* *blessed* *kiss* *kiss* hehe (Can't stop, won't stop) |
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| Oh we saw her at the beach, she showed it off on social media. Beautiful skies complimenting beautiful girl? Actual genius, dude? |
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| Normally this would be blowing my eyes away but for this one, just this one... I'm blown away for a different reason. *blessed* |
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| As we walk down memory lane after all that we have seen so far... |
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| Yes, I will grab your hand and then not wash my hand for eternity. *giggles* |
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| OH SH*T AN INTERVIEW!!! (Well, I guess we are doing this then) |
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| One more for the road!! I assure you this is a different shot from the previous one hehe |
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| Wait, ChuChu was listed as the assistant producer?? That f**king mascot who ran the production's social media account?? This has GOT to be a joke LMAO |
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| Oh yeah, on the left is the mini photobook which costs money, and the right are the free bromide photos |
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| Not going to show them all but they are somehow better than the ones I bought last year for her birthday event ngl (I will show the comment on the signed one though, see below) |
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| "For everyone who bought from Gamers β€ Thank you very much!! (This) photobook with a lot of firsts (for me) How was it? Genius?? Thanks β₯ From here on, do continue to support "MaiMild"!!" |
Thank YOU actually MaiMai, for this photobook because DAMN was that quite an awesome one!! Initially I was doubtful in them promising a photobook that will deliver since this is technically a spin-off from the actual money-making series (lol), but as the date crawls in and I see her talking about her 100-page photobook and how it's also A4-sized during her signing events and me getting this book on my two hands... I'm glad I held it with two hands because did you even find time to talk about anything else other than how adorable she looked? It might be wise to do this all this while just to garner attention through her activities without much Anime roles, it might be genius because I need to give the cameraman a pay raise hehe, but most importantly, I think a lot of that might be attribute to her just being cute and the best thing mankind has ever introduced to me. *smiles*
Which reminds me, I haven't listened to her radio show for the week lol the only times I miss them are when I'm not feeling well, pardon my broken a** body my dear~
Okay shameless praise over, let's move on!!
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| Damn, this sticky peel-off is real bad- Oh yeah, just some cute MaiMai-ness for you guys. *wink* |
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| This book is like, very thin. MaiMai hasn't shown herself on camera with clothing thinner than this book- |
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| Well at least it isn't in a binder- MORE MAIMAI~!!! I can scan this into my PC *giggles* |
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| Oh I actually quite like the right one more- (You guys want to do a poll? Haha) |
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| And more one to close this up! This is perfection if I've not overused that word already. *thumbs up* |
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| THIS WAS PRICED AT A QUARTER OF THE PHOTOBOOK???? *ugh* haha |
As for the store-specific free(?) gifts plus purchase, initially they were offering super limited editions in four slightly different flavours (in which they restocked three of them, by the way, which meant more events for her) and those included various events to meet her in person which isn't in line with my introverted self (lol) and I love far away from Japan FYI so I resisted in getting those despite them having a making DVD *screams*, waaaay better bromide photos and other goods but also mainly because they came with a super high price tag... that I will not make you go crazy about haha it's just 5-digit yenΒ bro it's cheap *laughs*, but MaiMai did hint on releasing a Gamers limited edition and eventually a regular edition of the book from the same store, and I could not help myself but get the former just because there's a lot more. What is included are a mini photobookΒ which damn for 1100yen is quite a scam haha you actually just saw it all so if you paid for the regular edition you're welcome lol, along withΒ a set of 3 bromide photos AND one more signed bromide with comment.
I mean, this is quite a scam because even Koga Aoi's mini photobook from those years ago isn't this much of a trip (get it?) (because it was a travel guide book too) but heck, if setting records is a thing here then yeah, she did it to me, this brat-
THE INTERVIEW
Since this one had one and as with all of them (exceptions included lol), and this one only spanned two pages so I guess it's no harm for her to talk about definitely not her childhood and voice acting career LMAO, because this interview is mostly about how all this came to be, from her perspective.
Here is a brief summary of what she had to say, with my comments in brackets:
- Titled "Getting charged in Okinawa! Working hard from here on at my pace!!", by the way (I CAN HEAR HER SAY THAT ALREADY lol)
- She overall enjoyed the photo-taking trip to Okinawa. She got real surprised to visit the cactus farm for herself (haha ah hey), and was taught that these also grow in winter season. She was a 30-time victim to mosquitoes there though. (OOF)
- She said the denim outfit did give out a K-pop (fashion) feel with the white boots and with the help of genius makeup artist on the stylistic eyeliners, which made it even more impressionable.
- This visit of a cactus farm was inspired by fans loving the "cactus-like" poses of her (so far only) main role character in "IDOLY PRIDE" as Kawasaki Sakura, which gave her a reason to visit.
- With her China outfit greatly inspired by her favourite character in Anime "Pretty Cure" series "Cure Black" (yes, the initial series, I actually watched that a bit as a kid) with the black dress and cute frills, along with the cute bun hairstyle made her trip to Chinese-inspired "Fukushuuen Garden" with the patios and rivers, all the more perfect.
- On her trip to the "American Village" (this is a thing btw), since the shooting was close to Christmas season (we were hinted that she did the shooting end of the year so no wonder), all their photo shots were to showcase the lightings, she even learnt a lot of shooting techniques from the cameraman themselves, knowing which angle to take, where to take them, it even impressed the staff.
- She also went for a very casual feel for this part of the shoot, and a rather boyish outfit with short pants and sneakers and not what everyday her would be wearing, especially with the yellow colours kicking in a fresh feel with the lazy-like hairstyle. She ended up buying the white cap for herself.
- "Kanno Mai proven to be a woman who brings in good weather during the shooting!?" (lol)
- The bed was so comfortable, the sunlight was so nice and warm, she admitted she did almost fall asleep during the shooting *laughs*. For this part of the shoot though she relied a lot on the staff, which gave her many firsts including wearing pants cut off to show knees and not wearing makeup for the first time on camera! (I assume this is much shame for her since she only appears with makeup sometimes even too much) Paired with the pants, it was a style never seen before, and she felt it to be refreshing. And she wasn't lying when she said it's without makeup: She asked the staff if it was okay to just style her hair a bit and that's all. (Yes HAHA) (Well, there you go, she said it herself)
- On her trip to "Rukyu Village" specifically on the soba noodles house there, she wore a popular trendy "Big Silhouette" T-shirt (looks like a ZOZOTOWN sub-brand from a quick search online) with a different pleats hairstyle! The soba was delicious and it warmed her up. (I assume the weather at this time of shooting was cold despite the closer-to-Equator location)
- When inside the village, the theme was to treat the shooting as if it was "the granddaughter from Tokyo came to visit" type of feel, she just called the cameraman "obaa-san" (lmao) all the time. She did a lot of active stuff running and jumping, and they took photos of that too. She crafted some sheet magnets of the Okinawan dog, and since she chose a pink one and painted it with girlish green eyebrows, she named it "GalSa" (lol the animal was called "shisa").
- She also went to (aptly named) "Southeast Botanical Gardens" for the illumination and lighting over there, had totally different feels seeing a garden light up at night, and took photos of the Christmas tree and the Okinawan dog (statues) there. Thanks to the makeup artist's genius work, despite the same face (lol yeah no shit) we got to see a different feel of her in the makeup and the (matured) outfit.
- The second outfit where she revisited the "American Village" had cat ears for her winter cap and arm warmers which gave out such a cute feel, she ended up buying the cap as well.
- She enjoyed the fried chicken she had over there (in the village) especially eating it with onions, it was so delicious she bought a fried chicken keychain before she left.
- Shout out to the interviewer asking about the feeding pose because she felt ashamed about doing it, but felt like it was to portray the scene at the time, to show how well it tasted. (RARE EXHIBITION OF SHAME!!! Haha)
- The photo shoot on the beaches of "Senaga Island", along a nearby visit to "Toyosaki Seaside Park", was just perfect for the white dress and ponytail as they paint perfectly into the scenery, she felt like it was a dream come true. There was small rain when they got there but it was gone by the time she stepped into the sea. People kept disbelieving when she said she is a woman who brings in good weather, but this is something she thinks she can convince us of now. Thanks to that, we got beautiful shots of soft winds blowing her hair below the beautiful clouds.
- (Not going to make fun of her calling her "Moses" for controlling the weather since the interviewer did it lol kawaii)
- Overall, she enjoyed her time for the photo shoot. The food was great, and she had blue shaved ice a lot of times, even in the cold *laughs*. Also the chinsuko and baked purple potato... (not going to go through all)
- In a sentence, she thought the food was good and the scenery was beautiful! She thought Okinawa will be a place with varied seasons, but still enjoyed the winter season when she was there. Everyone was happy, time flows slowly, it felt like a happy place to be.
- She actually wanted to go to Okinawa and Hokkaido for work reasons (if possible), and even travel overseas as she did not have experience in the latter. She wants to see Aurora (lights) in the flesh, even going to see the Aurora belts will also be a nice thing to do when she retires.
- On to talking about the series "MaiMild", she said it has been about a year (as of photo shoot), and she gained a lot of experience from it. Things that she wanted to do eventually, it all got fulfilled. (I hope it's not all the shameful lines she had to say lmao) Doing a birthday event, singing in it too, wearing a princess outfit, an all pink outfit... because of the support from the staff, she felt more grateful than ever.
- When asked what she want to eat from here on considering she does that on every (video) livestream every month, she said instead of eating she would like to cook for once, and wondered if that is fine. (Yes but...) Maybe making dishes with coriander, or with fan votes on what to make (alright the former one is NOT one of them lol her obsession of that vegetable is absurd FYI). Or just making them without coriander would be great too.Β Β Β Β *laughs*
- When asked about how the image (from the staff) of KBS symbolizing dropping of stuff, she... uh, thought the staff was saying bad things about someone else? (lol why) But later mentioned that she didn't spill anything during her time at Okinawa. She did screw up something that she bragged about in the radio show though, mentioning that she built a fence as tall as her by herself but she ended up taking 5 hours assembling it (lmao), did not realize the glue she used with the screws(?) was on her bed, still determined to finish it only to notice it was still in the bed when she slept that night!
- When asked what happened to the bag of butamen that was given to her (as a hoax from where she spilled one during the first livestream), she mentioned that she didn't touch on it much, and only went as far as buying a butamen keychain. She did get hungry right afterwards though so she had it with coriander, and it was alright. (Haha why) She preferred if there was seafood on it or curry (it was base flavoured too which I assure you is not the most popular one even to me), had 6 of them left over (as of the interview), and was welcome for anyone who wants it. (Hey, if you give this to a fan during an event? They will *scream* haha just a suggestion)
- When asked about the series' most popular segment "YES or NO" (basically a commited Q&A speedrun where she can't lie is the problem), she denied its popularity entirely indicating it as a "NO". (*laughs*) She does try her best in these segments because fans like it... BUT!! She didn't feel that everyone is enjoying it, and she felt that she was suffering, so it's a complicated feeling, but she did enjoy doing it so *fake laughs*
- She hesitated when told if she wants to measure her height once again this year since the time she did it in a livestream measuring at 144.5cm (shorter than her profile reported). She said that she will eat more and grow taller to prepare for this. (Sure dude, if that's how you think that works lol)
- She knows it takes a lot of effort to write handwritten mails to her, and she felt happy when she gets to read and talk about these stuff on the radio show. Also all the mail she got for her birthday event she brought all of them back home, and shed tears of happiness as she read through all of them.Β
- She also did "MaiCatch" eyecatch segments during the livestream (for the livestream, they will play some of them back on stream once in a while) and she recalled especially during the live recording event back in June (2023) she understood the prompt wrongly which ended up being edited with the logo flying around to cover up for her staring up in the wrong direction while doing a handshake pose. (Wow I wasn't there did that really happen? lol)
- The new stuff she intends to try out in the series (I assume on the video livestream) are communicating with fans more (in different ways), and since fans wanted more singing events she wants to give them more opportunities to hear them, and maybe someday make an original song for the series, which will be a dream fulfilled to her.
- When asked about her ambitions of being a voice actress from here on, she admitted she has a lot she wants to do, it has been such a childhood goal for her, she wants to continue doing it still. She said though she is (indeed) more involved in musicals and recitals, she does not mind expressing herself wholly (I assume, as in full on acting) as that would be great. She liked overseas dramas and movies, and would like to continue voicing for them. (Did she even?) It has also been a big dream of being able to voice act a main role in an Anime she also sings the theme song for. (*looks at Kana-chan*) (again) (haha ikr)
- In her final message (in this book) to fans, she thanked them for the little things they do to support her, she felt her presence was heard. Even meeting them in person has been a miracle, she has only been blessed for the support so far. She did in times, for example in online talk events, get noticed by staff that she wasn't as energetic as she (her image) would've been as fans were worried from just feeling her (vibes), she appreciated such love that this (feeling of) "wonderful-genius-cuteness" has been conveyed to everyone. With such support, she felt closer than ever to her fans.
- She also had a message for her buddy Nyanko-chan, but worried that the alligator toy (which quickly became her toy for that one livestream lol) might take over her position as supportive/supported character for the series, and thanked them for (always) being there. Touching it and the face especially felt great (lmao TMI), and she was glad it had a space in the photobook.
Phew! That was quite a long one in just two pages, I tried to do like, 95% of the content translated just so you know. As you may have noticed above, MaiMai here isn't exactly honest in her character portrayal over the years as her idol-like image might have indicated, and her sub-constant state of denial and lovely yet sometimes real tones really brings out the overall image that is Kanno Mai, which is rather unseen in the industry considering not everyone gets the chance to do things with this much freedom and considering her relatively low popularity...? (lol)
Still, this was quite a photobook to say the least, and remember this is without swimsuit, without lingerie, without any sort of alluring poses (not even cleavage) and she still delivered such cuteness in the everything I've liked about her image, and a whole lot more about her that'll take too much to explain. She really isΒ just a new generation ofΒ preciousΒ at this point, this MaiMai. *giggles*
And if you can read Japanese, here's the full interview if my phone camera would work properly haha I'm sure you can see this since I read from this too lol
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Wow would you look at the time!! It's time for dinner (lol the sun has set btw) so I guess I will wrap up here, that interview translation was rough having to read and reference everything too hehe you're welcome. This has been quite a journey with technically my first idol seiyuu I've faithfully(?) followed up till date so screw you TrySail and sphere, MaiMai is the winner now. *giggles* I will leave my own comments inside the interview and/or revisions of these as and when I have time to do so, so don't worry I will make sure I list down all the dumb things this little girl has done. *laughs* Oh how about that time when she-
P.S. To share the dumb things that I did instead, I did end up using my phone to screen record (oops) and even make GIFs out of the first few video livestreams because I was so impressed by the eyecatch material she made during them, which was what became the title of this photobook. I had to pay a subscription for this, so if you guys would keep this within here that would be most jolly. *wink*
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| *catches kiss* (Hehe) |
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| Ah, the reluctance to just make a heart sign. SHAME!!! *laughs* |