BiSH, who had a major debut under avex trax in May 2016, are invading the major music scene with Watanabe Junnosuke and Matsukuma Kenta, who have done this once before. They're currently in the middle of a national tour receiving rave reviews, and in preparation for a solo show at Hibiya Open-Air Hall, they have decided to bring new member Ayuni D into the group. She made her debut at their Zepp TOKYO show (TBS2) on August 24, 2016, but what kind of person is she? OTOTOY is releasing her first-ever interview.



INTERVIEW: AYUNI D

Ayuni D

BiSH has recruited such a rustic soldier! That's what I first thought of Ayuni D. She was a girl who left an impression on you, overflowing with potential based on her ability to persuade management to go to Hokkaido over all other auditionees. After passing the audition, she immediately left Hokkaido to go to Tokyo alone to join BiSH. At TOKYO BiSH SHiNE repetition on August 24, 2016, she had her first live. There at Zepp, Ayuni D emerged on stage wearing a long-sleeved white shirt! Ayuni D introduced herself as being in charge of there's no way my younger sister is this cute, managing to take that title away from leader Chitti. Regardless, her dancing was incredible. Seeing her like that, I remembered Wacky in BiS. This is a powerful new member! You can keep fighting on, BiSH!



Interviewer: Iida Niichirou

Text: Inoue Saori

Pictures: Sotobayashi Kenta

Translation: Lurkette



I wasn't studying or dating at all, so there wasn't much of a point in me going to school



--You seem nervous.

Ayuni: I am.



--Why did you apply to be a part of BiSH?

Ayuni: My older sister knows a lot about this kind of thing, and she was watching YouTube videos of Dempagumi.inc and BiS and such from before they were famous. I didn't have many friends at school, and I went straight home every day, the only thing I did was go to my job at a gas station, so I wasn't having any fun. I thought, I want to change, so three hours before the deadline I thought, "I'm sending it!" and applied.



--Did you always want to be in entertainment?

Ayuni: I did. I came to think that I wanted to be an entertainer when I got older. Like, I want to shine. I've thought up until this point that I could do anything once I became an adult, but when I heard about the BiSH audition, my gut told me that this was my only chance.

--Had you seen BiSH before?

Ayuni: Only on YouTube. They came to Sapporo on tour, and my sister wanted to go and got tickets, but we had a big fight. We didn't speak for a month, and we ended up not going. So I've never seen them live in person.



--What were you feeling when they contacted you about the audition?

Ayuni: I had never been to Tokyo, so I thought this was a huge opportunity. I hadn't told anyone yet that I had applied, so when I told my family they said, "Don't go, you won't pass and will have wasted all that money," but my mother told me, "This is your first time in Tokyo, and now you have the chance to go on an airplane so come back safely." I was so happy.



--How was your first time in Tokyo?

Ayuni: It was hot. I was also surprised by how cute all the girls were. There were lots of girls in the waiting room at the audition, and everyone around me felt so cosmopolitan and were so cute, and I felt like the only one who was a bumpkin and not cute at all. I wanted to die a little. Like, "Why did I come here?"



--Did you get any feedback during your interview?

Ayuni: I was so nervous I don't really remember. It went in a weird direction and my voice quivered when I sang, so I thought I had definitely failed. Also, when I entered the room, they had called someone else's name but I messed up and went in, and that's when I thought everything was over. I called my sister as soon as my interview was done and told her, "I failed, I suck," and she said, "It's fine. I understand." This was my big trip to Tokyo but I didn't go see anything and just went straight home.

--When did you get word that you had passed?

Ayuni: About two days later. I got a call from a number I didn't know when I was in class, so I googled it and Watanabe popped up. After school I called him back and I started shaking when he told me, "I want you to be in BiSH." I told my sister the news on LINE and she was shocked and said, "Aaaah! Hurry up and come home!" I cried when I got back. When I told my mom she said, "They really wanted someone like you?!"



--What an uproar (laughs). Did your parents approve of you joining BiSH?

Ayuni: Yes. When I would dance at home, they would joke, "Don't become a performer." But they were happy for me and said, "You can be the real thing."



--Did you think about quitting school and moving to Tokyo?

Ayuni: Yes. Watanabe came to my house and talked with me. I wasn't studying or dating at all, so there wasn't much of a point in me going to school. But when I passed the audition, he said, "Your life starts now," so I decided to put my all into it. My hair at that time was really messy, and it didn't look good so I cut it myself before I moved.

I was surprised to see how amazing idols are in person

--I want to ask you about your past, what were you like in elementary and middle school?

Ayuni: In elementary school I had a lot of friends, and I ran around outside every day so I got tan and my skin was dark. In middle school I was in badminton club, but whenever I had a free day I'd hide up in my house and stay on the computer all day, so before I realized it I had lost some friends. Oh, and I danced to Momoclo at a school festival.



--You danced at school but were still a gloomy person?

Ayuni: Yes. When I watched videos of my performances after the fact, I looked so serious the whole time I was dancing. Everyone was cheering and smiling, but there was this one person dancing looking downcast, and I realized that I couldn't do that.



--By the way, whose part did you do in Momoclo?

Ayuni: Shiorin. I love her even now.



--How were you in high school?

Ayuni: I went to a technical school. When I got in, people told me, "There aren't many girls there so I don't think you'll make many friends." But I had gotten that far without many friends, so I figured I didn't really need any and went to school there. Later, when I graduated just like at any other school, I felt like maybe I should have gone to a school with better qualifications. Since it was a technical school, there wasn't much in the way of Japanese or math, just like machinery classes.



--What qualifications do you have?

Ayuni: Grade 2 Management of 4 types of Hazardous Materials, so I'm qualified to handle gasoline and other flammable liquids, it's called "2nd 4." It's difficult. More than half the people who apply for it fail.



--So you can handle dangerous things (laughs). How is it living in Tokyo?

Ayuni: I came here about a month ago, but it's totally different. There are so many people, I feel like trash. Everyone seems so direct, I was scared of people. When I didn't have any errands to run I just stayed inside.

--What are your impressions of the other members?

Ayuni: I met Chitti before I met everyone else. I had only seen her through a screen, so it didn't feel real having her next to me, and she taught me some dances like we were having a rehearsal. She was super cute and sweet. I'm really bad at making conversation so I didn't know what to talk about, but she understood my personality, and even when I spoke in single words, she said, "It's okay," and deciphered what I wanted to say, and she talked to me a lot. I was super nervous to meet all of the others, but even when I couldn't say what was on my mind, everyone was understanding.



--Have you opened up to them yet?

Ayuni: We still aren't close at all, but I've been out to eat with them. LingLing will ask me, "Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?" and when I first moved and didn't have a rice cooker, I said, "I haven't eaten rice since I got to Tokyo," and so she gave me a rice cooker and rice. Everyone is so kind. I was scared that because they were artists they'd be egotistical, but they were totally different. Except they're completely different from normal when we're at dance practice or recording. I was surprised to see how amazing artists are in person.



--Were you scared of Junnosuke?

Ayuni: I think he's an amazing person. When he's busy he's running around doing everything. We haven't talked much yet, so there's a lot I don't know about him.

I want to be someone who can charm people even though I'm not that cute





--How is dancing and singing for you?

Ayuni: All I can do is try, and I'm working hard to keep up. Right now, I'm being called a "former idol" on Twitter, but I'm not a former idol, I have no dance experience, and I'm really just an ordinary person from the country, I'm sorry.



--You're starting right up as a major aritst, do you feel any pressure?

Ayuni: Yes. I haven't done live shows at all, so I don't know what they're like. I don't know how it feels, and I'm not sure if I can really do it, but I want to use all of my power to prevent the garbagemen from thinking, "Why did they put this in the group?"