TL commentary: This was the interview I was really looking forward to - seiyuu biases aside, this was a TL I really powered through fast because their answers were clear and left almost nothing up for interpretation. No opening introduction for the interview this time however, unlike the full-cast interview. Enjoy.



Q: The TV anime has just finished airing. How do you feel right now?



Suwawa: From the start of the anime broadcast until now, it feels like time has gone past in the blink of an eye! We would not have been able to make it this far if not for the efforts of the members of Aqours and the support of our fans - and I’m sincerely grateful and full of thanks for everyone involved.



Ainya: At the very start, I had only been able to focus on my own problems. But seeing as how Mari always worries about the other members, I feel like voicing Mari has gradually allowed me to consider the problems of the people around me as well. I feel that it was because of Mari that I was able to make this change in myself.



Arisha: I also feel like I’ve grown alongside Dia. When we first started recording, I kept deliberating on how Dia was going to sing. But now, I don’t really have to think about that at all - we’ve reached the point where we’re pretty much one and the same, so it’s not really an issue.



Q: Seeing as your characters are 3rd years, they assume the roles of senpais for the rest of the group - do you pay any special attention to this point?



Suwawa: For me, the special attention I paid wasn’t to serving as a senpai to guide her juniors forward, but to guard and watch over them like an elder sister would. But I’m only speaking on behalf of Kanan - since the other two characters serve different roles with different personalities, there should be quite a difference.



Arisha: That’s pretty much how it goes. For Dia, because she also carried the extra responsibility of being the student council president from the start, I not only have to show her student council president-esque seriousness, but also bring out the more adorable side of her personality.



Ainya: Mari also has her distinguishing factors - her position amongst the 3rd years is fairly dissimilar. To put it simply, the role she played was being the director that was also Aqours’ benefactor, and with that in mind, I further played upon that attribute so that she was a fairly important presence in the eyes of the 1st and 2nd years.



Q: The three characters finally join and start 9-member activities as Aqours in the 9th episode. How did you feel then?



Ainya: “Finally~!” (laughs)



Suwawa: Yup, I felt pretty much the same way. (laughs)



Arisha: Dia aside, the other two were consistently at odds with each other, and because of this, it was completely out of the question for them to be school idols. And it was precisely because of this that it was truly wonderful for Dia when they resolved their problems and joined the group.



Suwawa: The same goes for Kanan - though she knew from very early on about Chika’s group and their school idol activities, she couldn’t openly support them because of her previous experience as a school idol.



Ainya: About this point - Mari had been intending from the very start to rope Kanan and Dia back into the fray, to be school idols yet again. (laughs) After all, she returned to Japan because she still held on to her precious memories of their activities as a school idol trio 2 years ago.



Q: Considering how Dia herself wrote “Aqours” in the sand at the beach, could it be that Dia also had the desire to become a school idol yet again?



Arisha: It’s anyone’s guess. Regarding what was going through her mind when she wrote down that name, I’ll leave that to your own imagination. (laughs)



Suwawa: Thinking about it, “Aqours” first appeared in the 3rd episode, and the 2nd years had commented, “who do you think wrote this?” Even before we came into the picture, it was already a topic of conversation. (laughs)



Arisha: Even though we knew it would be one of us, we quickly ruled out Kanan being the one that wrote the name. (laughs)



Ainya: But even if we couldn’t get a good read on Kanan’s feelings at that point in time, we also can’t say for sure Dia’s reason for writing that name in the sand. But one thing we can say for sure, all 3 of them were definitely harbouring a desire to become school idols again.



Arisha: That’s right. The main problem, though, was that there was no way for them to get their own issues out of the way, to engage in school idol activities with an uninhibited conscience with Chika and the rest. So you could say that when Dia had strongly rebuked Chika’s group in the beginning, she wasn’t speaking with conviction against their intentions. She wouldn’t have responded so harshly to them if she had no interest in school idols in the first place.



Q: So that’s the case. Since it was like this, would you say being able to see all 9 members lined up on stage in the 9th episode was like a liberation of your emotions?



Suwawa: Definitely - I was very touched. Also, the song they sang on that stage, “Mijuku DREAMER”, was the song the three of them had composed back when they were 1st years.



Ainya: Being able to sing even after those two years was definitely a joyful and moving occasion. And the pacing of the lyrics also helped to bring out the emotion everyone had invested into the song, so even the memories of the recording still float around in my mind and constantly threaten to bring tears to my eyes even today.



Arisha: For me, I paid the most attention to the uniforms on stage. Sure, they look absolutely wonderful, but everyone was wearing one stocking each, but Dia had none! Thinking about it, Ruby seems to be wearing two…



Ainya: We’ve been bringing that up since the start. (laughs)



Suwawa: Probably because Ruby wanted to wear two, and Dia let her wear her own. After all, Dia’s a loving sister who would think about her younger sister.



Arisha: Is that so… Anyway, that question’s probably best answered by You-chan - she’s in charge of the uniforms.



Q: So, which part of the story of the 3rd years left the deepest impression on you?



Suwawa: Definitely the 9th episode. Within that episode, my favourite was the scene where the animation had blended younger and older Kanan together in her hug scene with Mari. ♡



Ainya: Mari let loose all her feelings towards Kanan - and when she let Kanan hit her in return that struck quite a cord with me. You could say that was Mari’s super clumsy way of confessing to Kanan.



Suwawa: Did it the roundabout way, but it was a confession nonetheless. Still got hit in the process. (laughs)



Arisha: Dia, who had to look after the conflicting duo for so long with a steadfast neutral stance, must have gotten really tired of it by then. (laughs)



Ainya + Suwawa: Really? Sorry about that. (laughs)



Arisha: The only thing is, from Dia’s point of view, as the student council president she has to set a good example in front of her juniors. But when she’s alone with the other two 3rd years, she returns to being an ordinary girl. It’s something you only get to see amongst the third years, and I like every aspect of it.



Q: So having reached the end of the anime broadcast, what would you like to comment about regarding everything that had transpired in the anime?



Arisha: I’d want to tell the other two - if only the both of you had come forward to settle the score earlier, we wouldn’t have had so much trouble! (laughs)



Ainya: (laughs) Likewise - Kanan’s always seen in a hug with Mari, and Dia had always felt the same way as Mari, as can be seen by their 1-on-1 conversations in private. Being able to link up with Suwawa and Arisha regarding their characters’ individual actions helped me and Mari out a lot, and I’d like to express my gratitude to them.



Suwawa: For Kanan, not having come clean with Mari about her feelings before sending her off overseas left her feeling very lonely. Kanan would want to thank Mari for coming back to Japan, and being frank enough to directly pour out her feelings to her. About Dia… how do I say this - since they’ve been good friends since the beginning, it’s really hard to say. (laughs)



Arisha: What, getting tired of Dia already?



Suwawa: Nothing of that sort! (laughs) It’s just that a lot of the things that Kanan couldn’t say to Mari, she was able to level with Dia, and she would want to express her gratitude to Dia for supporting her all the way.



Q: So, what dreams do you, as the 3rd years, have?



Arisha: I want a 3rd year trio song! You could consider “Mijuku” to be one, but I would suppose there were a lot of songs that the trio had composed back when they were 1st years.



Ainya: That’s right! I wanna sing in those songs as well!



Suwawa: We’d get a lot more leeway in our songs. Songs with Mari as center would be noticeably a lot more spirited, while songs with Dia as center would be considerably more mellow.



Ainya: That seems to be the case. Which kinds would you like to sing?



Arisha: All of them! (laughs)



Suwawa: Knew it. (laughs) Ah, we just want this to come true, doesn’t really matter when. ♪



