In pretty roses, there are thorns.
~beauty and poison~
Interview with LAREINE in version 4.0.
Interview by:Mami Akagi, Photography by: Kenji Tsukagoshi
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Most people are drawn towards pretty things and people. But wait a second. Just like a good story has something hidden behind it, maybe things that look beautiful also have a hidden side to them...? Does LAREINE who fascinates us all with their beauty have a hidden side to them too!? It's actually because of the richly deep inner side that their visible beauty shines.

--In the beautiful rose, there is a thorn. Have you ever encountered a person whose appearance may have been beautiful, yet their personality was bad?

KAMIJO: Well, since among the members, we don't see each other as pretty, I guess you could say that this theme doesn't really suit us so well? Maybe better said in reverse: Even in a thing with thorns, a pretty flower blooms. If you put it that way, well, for example let's say there is a fan who tried really hard and got a ticket to the front row of our concert, but this fan can't really express his feelings well and just stares at us silently throughout the entire concert. But, in the last row there is a fan who is smiling and waving to us. This may not have much to do with a thorn, but this sort of thing happens a lot.

MACHI: When I heard the theme "in every rose there is a thorn" I thought of something of the opposite pattern. The other day, I saw something that really moved me very much. At this one train station, there was a long staircase you had to climb up to get to the platform, and there was a lady who was pushing a baby car there. Then, an old man came up from behind and without saying anything, he lifed the baby car up the stairs for her. The lady was like, "I'm sorry to trouble you" but he just said, "it's no trouble at all." That old man, on the outside he looked ordinary, but I thought, "he's beautiful!" Really, I thought "I've lost. Let me call you the teacher of my heart!"

--What a nice story.

MACHI: Yeah. When I saw that, I was like "humans aren't just their external appearances." No matter how much people may think "I want to help" inside their hearts, for some reason they can't and just watching and doing nothing is common isn't it? I thought that how that guy helped without even saying a word was really cool.

--Even doing a little thing like giving up your seat on a train does take some courage doesn't it?

MACHI: Yes, exactly.

KAMIJO: In my case, I have all this long golden hair... with this appearance, you'd think that there's some kind of thorn hidden, right? *laughs* Because of this, whenever I give up my seat on the train, I get this feeling that everyone's thinking "what's this guy trying to pull? is there a thorn behind this thorn?" And so, "in the thorn there is a thorn" is my proverb. *laughs*

--Have you ever really been judged by your outward appearance?

KAMIJO: I certainly have. Taxis never stop for me. *laughs* Oh, but once something good happened. This is also a story about a taxi... The first taxi didn't stop for me, but then the next one did. The driver of the taxi that gave me a ride asked "Why didn't the taxi before me stop for you?" and I asked in return, "I don't know. Do I look like a suspicious person?" And then he said "No, on the contrary, going to such extremes (with his appearance--niji) makes you look like a nice guy." *laughs* That was a nice thing. *laughs*

--*laughs* How about EMIRU?

EMIRU: Well, my story sort of comes around MACHI though, and that is that in showing a pretty thing there is a ton of effort behind it that is necessary. To put it basically, I think it's just like a sports player. In order to show their tecniques and strength, it's because they always constantly practice that they are able to show that beautiful form.

--Ah, But that's something you could say about the band, right? For example, in order to creat a great stage (show), you're always practicing lots and moderating things.

Yes. But moderating... in regards to my body/form, I'm not doing anything though.

--You're ok without doing diets and such?

KAMIJO: I'm fine.

MACHI: I'm actually thinking about gaining weight. Because I'm thin, I get tired quickly. This is digressing a bit, but the other day I took my body fat rate (percent?). For men too skinny is up to 12, but I was 10. This probably isn't good. My body fat rate is too low to get into the too skinny group?! *laughs*

--I'm jealous. *laughs* Anyway, going back to the conversation... MAYU, have you had any experiences with the theme of beautiful people having thorns or with the opposite of that theme?

MAYU: When I was a student, there was a time in art class when we were told to draw fruit. And so, everyone brought fruit to class from their homes. Someone brought a really beautiful apple to class. Since the apple was so pretty, that person became a kind of hero in the class. *laughs* Like a piece of artwork it looked delicious and was so glossy it was like an apple mirror. I can remember our teacher saying "But this kind of apple is awful-tasting. It's the ones that are slightly marred that are the delicious ones."

--I see, another story of how appearances aren't everything..."

KAMIJO: But anyway, if you could become a hero by means of an apple, you'd want to right? *laughs*

MACHI: Didn't that person just go out of his way shining the apple at home and then bring it to school? *laughs*

--Wanting to be a hero... *laughs*

KAMIJO: Actually, that hero was really MAYU. *laughs*

MAYU: No!*laughs*

--Hahaha. Well, next how about the hidden thorns of the members? Are there any cases of "this person may look like this, but really there's this about him?"

KAMIJO: Hm, well as for MACHI, he may look very elegant, but when he uses a fork or a spoon, he holds it like this and eats *holds fork crudely*

MAYU: Yeah. After I first got to know him, I warned him about that. I used to tell him, no matter how elegant the rest of you is, if you can't eat elegantly it's kind of embarrassing.

--Did the problem get fixed after you warned him?

MACHI: Well, recently I've learned to use a spoon and fork elegantly, but I'm still not very good at chopsticks. *laughs*

KAMIJO: Even though MACHI should have had a good upbringing *laughs*

MACHI: Yeah, but it's cause I never really used chopsticks. *laughs*

KAMIJO: Well, I guess he was raised as a baby all this time. *laughs* And then EMIRU, on stage he looks really cute and all, but I get the sense that there is malice in his heart.

--Why do you think that?

KAMIJO: He seems to get attracted to things like blood and gunpowder. So, you could say he's an evil incarnate maybe? *laughs*

--*laughs* Even though he looks like a cute fairy on the surface...

KAMJO: Yeah, looking at his recent makeup, EMIRU's look is completely pink, but right here (EMIRU's cheek) is a single black heart(EMIRU's makeup), right? I can't help but feel that heart is concealing some kind of secret. *laughs*

--*laughs* What about MAYU's unknown side?*

EMIRU: In the past he used to wear a hat a lot. A cap... His head would be tilted and he'd be smoking. Sometimes I'd secretly wonder what he was thinking about. When I snook a glance at him, I got the feeling there was a gleam coming from the depths of his eyes (right at me). *laughs* He's the hardest to read person.

KAMIJO: But if you just tell everyone that he was wearing a hat and smoking with his head tilted, they'd just think that's something any artist is likely to do. However, in his (MAYU's) case it's different. He was more like a skater. Long ago, this story is from incredibly long ago *laughs* It was kind of like, he'd have his legs spread out, his head buried under a blue cap, hair tied up in the back, beard stubble, and he'd be smoking. It seemed like that cap was hiding the true MAYU. *laughs* Well, but he is a sportsman, so maybe that kind of appearance is normal... *laughs*

--Hahaha. And what do you have to say about KAMIJO?

EMIRU: He's the person whose private life is least visible.

KAMIJO: Huh? I show 100% of my private life!

EMIRU: Yeah, well I don't think there are any secrets, but it seems like you don't talk about it much.

MAYU: Yeah, he's the secretive type.

KAMIJO: Wait a sec! What's this with secrets and being the secretive type? If something happens, I always tell you guys, don't I?

EMIRU: Well, if we ask, you say but...

KAMIJO: *talking over EMIRU* Let me say this! I don't want to be mixed with your foul talk, *laughs* It's like a poison all around me. *laughs*

--So, you don't want to be mixed in there.

KAMIJO: Right. And so, if you say in a beautiful rose there are thorns, in LAREINE there is me, and behind that there are these guys.

--In other words, KAMIJO is the beautiful rose, and the other three are the thorns. *laughs*

KAMIJO: In spite of my saying that "there is a thorn in the thorn" about myself a moment ago? *laughs*

--However, this probably isn't quite the same thing as a thorn, but KAMIJO is certainly weird. The first time I met him, I really thought he was such a weirdo. *laughs*

KAMIJO: How awful. *laughs*

--Up until now, I've interviewed various people, but I don't think that I've ever met anyone as strange as KAMIJO. *laughs*

KAMIJO: You're going to take it that far!? *laughs*

MAYU: If I may say, as far as I've lived I don't think I've met such a strange person as him. *laughs*

--See? *laughs* For example, even if you just ask him a simple question, his answer--

EMIRU: Is incredibly uninteresting. *all burst out laughing*

--And also, when you are asking him something completely different, all of a sudden he'll start talking about the world of LAREINE. On top of that, because he'll talk about it so seriously and with such sincerity... you can't even mention that he's not answering your question. But the mysterious thing, while I think he's so weird, before I realize it that thought changes into "I want to know more" about him.

KAMIJO: That's my art. *laughs*

--And because what he's doing is cool, you get even more deeply hooked onto him. Well, that's something that could be said about all the members of LAREINE. What do you yourselves think? About LAREINE's thorn?

KAMIJO: Well, if you explain a thorn as the private side of something, then for LAREINE, the CD and live concerts are like the public and private sides of LAREINE. The LAREINE of the CD......it's one flow that has developed out of the meaning of "queen," in which we sing the base of our feelings through certain situations. At the live concerts, we are putting forth the LAREINE of ourselves. Of course, there are cases where those two sides coincide. So, if there are public and private sides of LAREINE, I suppose that would be it. (the CD is the public side, and the live concert is the private side. I'm not sure how clear I said that up there, sorry--niji).

--The CD and live concerts are the public and private sides of LAREINE then.

KAMIJO: Yes. And while we are developing those two sides separately, they'll become one again. Through such going back and forth, I think we are a band that's getting bigger and better. And from now on as well, I hope that we will continue to grow into a bigger and better band through this way.


*literally his "unknown unpainted face" but that sounds funny in english. What she meant was what is the side of mayu that we don't know.

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