(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 "Ore
Idol" 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*
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 saw
she is rather active on Instagram, 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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写真集 "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...
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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
145 144.5cm *giggles*
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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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MFW I saw this goodness
goddess god-ppai haha *dabs* (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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*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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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 ❤ Thank you very much!! (This)
photobook with a lot of firsts (for me) How was it? Genius??
Thanks ♥ From here on, do continue to support "MaiMild"!!"
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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
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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 yen
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 photobook 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
with
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:
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Titled "Getting charged in Okinawa! Working hard from here on at my
pace!!", by the way (I CAN HEAR HER SAY THAT ALREADY lol)
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"Kanno Mai proven to be
a woman who brings in good weather
during the shooting!?" (lol)
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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)
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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)
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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").
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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.
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(Not going to make fun of her calling her "Moses" for controlling the weather since the interviewer did it lol kawaii)
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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)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. *laughs*
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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!
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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)
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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*
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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)
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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.
-
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)
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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)
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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 is just a new generation of
precious 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
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*
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