Seo Yuria’s 95th class interview series was published in GRAPH through 2016. Her talk with Hoshino Anri was published in the November issue.

(Yes, she does use that many exclamation points in the original)

Sewatch!! #11 – Hoshino Anri, Snow Troupe

Everyone!! Thankfully, the Hiroshima Carp have won their first championship in 25 years ✨ I’m so, so, happy I can hardly stand it! Hiroshima rocks! Now nobody can say ‘Hiroshima are losers!’ any more!!!! I’m so full of excitement, and even though there’s only a little left of Sewatch I’ll do my best!! Now, this month I am turning the Sewatch on the mysterious background of Hiroko, AKA Hoshino Anri, of Snow Troupe ❄️

About their costume theme

Seo: The two of us struggled over this for a while, this time around. And then Hiroko suggested ‘how about baseball?’!!

Hoshino: Right! I had looked at the TV for a bit and at the top of both Ce-League [Central League] and the Pa-League [Pacific League] were my home teams, the Carp and Softbank! So I was like ‘we can use this’ ✨ ✨

Seo: Well, I believe that by the time this  issue comes out, the Carp will have won the championship!¹

Hoshino: And Softbank! Both teams have so much passion right now!! If the Carp win, it’ll be the first time in 25 years, right!?

Seo: Amazing! You know so much, Hiroko! (laughs) If both teams win, we’ll have a celebration party together!

Both: Let’s do it!!!!!! Definitely!!

Seo: How was it to wear the uniform for real?

Hoshino: Ah~, I was so excited even before I put the uniform on, super excited! Before Seocchi (Seo) arrived I was bouncing around the room by myself! (laughs)

Seo: Ahaha (laughs). That must have been so cute 💦 I missed it 💦

Hoshino: (laughs)

Seo: Just putting this uniform on really stirs the blood, doesn’t it!? Since we’ve been watching them since we were little!!

Hoshino: Yeah! I would see it and now I could wear it ✨

Seo: The photoshoot was a lot of fun too. But the way you held your bat, though…

Hoshino: It’s because I’m usually holding katana or naginata, instead of a bat (laughs)

Seo: No matter what you had such a big gap between your hands!

Hoshino: I just wasn’t used to it (laughs).

Their time in TMS

Seo: We just naturally became friends, didn’t we.

Hoshino: Our seat numbers were close together, and we were often together in class, and most of all, when we went back home we took the same route! (laughs)

Seo: Right, right… ✨

Hoshino: When we would go home for summer vacation or winter break…

Seo: We’d ride the shinkansen together, and I’d get off at Hiroshima and wave goodbye to you.

Hoshino: And I’d keep going back to Fukuoka.

Seo: And then when we were going back to Takarazuka, Hiroko would get on the shinkansen first from Fukuoka, and let me know what seat you were on.

Hoshino: Right! I’d say ‘I’m in X seat of Y row’. And then when I got to Hiroshima from Hakata, there Seocchi would be on the platform…

Seocchi: And when we noticed each other…

Hoshino: ‘Oh!! There she is! Oh good ✨ ’ it was such an amazing feeling of reassurance! (laughs)

Seo: And then we’d sit next to each other all the way back! Since if we were alone it’d be lonely and kind of scary 💦 (laughs)

Hoshino: But, since there are all kinds of rules laid out for lower students, we’d sit in silence the whole time with blank faces (laughs).

Seo: We were thinking ‘But what if someone saw us!!’ even though nobody was watching us at all (laughs). It was painful not to be able to talk to each other, wasn’t it!? (laughs) But having Hiroko next to me made me feel safe  ✨

Hoshino: I was happy! Seocchi was there for me (laughs).

Seo: I think our strongest memories together as lower students are from the shinkansen, right. And then as upper students, we were together in the drama group for the internal recital!!

Hoshino: Right. And for the arts…

Seo: We were doing Japanese Dance together, so even on days off we would get on the Hankyu train together (laughs). We did so much together.

Hoshino: Right! Our rooms in the dorm weren’t close together, but we’d hang out all the time.

Seo: We would! In Zun-chan (Sakuragi) and Aasa’s (Asami’s) room, right?

Hoshino: Right! We’d all get together a lot.

Seo: I was in the room next to theirs, so I got pulled in all the time.

Hoshino: Even though I was the farthest away, I went there the most (laughs).

Seo: Zun-chan would cook for everyone, wouldn’t she.

Hoshino: Right, right. Oh! Hey, hey, were you there for the donut tower?

Seo: The what now?

Hoshino: When we were dreaming up a plan to build a tower of donuts! Isn’t that cute? ✨

Seo: ‘Isn’t that cute?’ she says! (laughs) (You were definitely the cutest when you said that 💖 )

Hoshino: There was a donut shop nearby, so we were talking about how many donuts each of us could possibly buy in order to get the most donuts, and then we would pile them all up! That kind of thing.

Seo: You dorks~ (laughs). So you spent your whole time as an upper student doing that kind of thing, right.

After joining the company

Seo: Our debut was such a tough time, wasn’t it.

Hoshino: Yeah! But even looking back on it now it’s still really moving! Although it’s not like I’m trying to sing my own praises here.

Seo: When I’m feeling a bit down I’ll watch it and think ‘so awesome!’ (laughs).

Hoshino: We were all rehearsing together all day, and if one of the girls said ‘I’m so tired~!’ we’d all try to lift them up again, telling each other ‘Just do your best a little longer!’ ‘Just this and then we’ll go home!’ so I’ll remember that at the same time and think ‘Oh, I should do my best!’ too.

Seo: It’s because of that that we’re here now!

Hoshino: Yeah! Everyone’s doing so well in their troupes. Seocchi, too!

Seo: Now, now, you too, of course (laughs).

Hoshino: (laughs). Honestly, when it was decided that you would have the lead in the shinjin kouen of Guys and Dolls, I was so happy!

Seo: Thank you~! You’re so nice~ (laughs).

Hoshino: I go to see Star Troupe a lot, but it seems like my classmates have improved every time I see a show, it’s amazing.

Seo: When I go to see a show I also think ‘I have to get better!’ and it’s really impactful. Recently I went to see Roman Holiday.

Hoshino: You came to see it~ ✨

Seo: It was just wonderful!

Hoshino: Really?

Seo: Yes. I went to the dressing room before the show, right? I could hardly believe that it was the people I had been telling ‘I’m going to see the show~!’ and talking with so excitedly!

Hoshino: (laughs).

Seo: Say, say, recently we’d been saying ‘Next time we’ll go out to eat together!’ right? Hiroko was going to be in Hiroshima for the National Tour, and it was just at the same time that I would be going back home.

Hoshino: We were saying we needed to eat together, but it ended up getting too late, so we couldn’t go in the end. So it ended with us saying we’d have to do it another time, right! (laughs)

Seo: So we definitely have to go!

Hoshino: Let’s do it, let’s do it!

Seo: And the Softbank and the Carp are doing their best! So let’s do our best too!

Both: Let’s keep going!

Seo: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day today~!

1 – At the time Seo was working on this column (presumably in early/mid October) the last rounds of the championship series had not been played; in the end, the Softbank Hawks did not end up winning the Pacific League, and the Hiroshima Carp were defeated in the Japan Series (Japanese equivalent of the World Series) by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.