"She's a born realist" ── Love Live! New Series "Hasunosora Girls' High School Idol Club" Cast Interview Series Vol.4: Sasaki Kotoko, Voice of Yugiri Tsuzuri
April 5, 2023
As a new project in the Love Live! series, details were announced on February 10th during the unveiling livestream for Hasunosora Girls’ High School Idol Club. A new “story to be realized by everyone (school idol project)” begins at the private Hasunosora Girls’ High School, located in a secluded area of Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture.
The debut mini-album Dream Believers was released on March 29th, and will be followed by a release commemorative event at Toyosu PIT in Tokyo on April 21st and an opening live event at the Pacifico Yokohama National Hall on June 4th! The app Link! Like! Love Live! is also currently accepting pre-registrations.
We will be publishing a series of interviews daily in which each of the six cast members portraying the members of the talked-about Hasunosora Girls’ High School Idol Club discusses the appeal of Hasunosora!
The fourth installment features Sasaki Kotoko. We talked to her about her character Yugiri Tsuzuri, her subunit DOLLCHESTRA, her personal life, the songs she sings in the debut mini-album Dream Believers, her enthusiasm for the release commemorative event and opening live just about a month away, and more.
Please enjoy the interview along with keyword talks inspired by Love Live!.
10 years ago her hobby changed because she grew up!?
First, please introduce yourself.
Kotoko Sasaki (voice of Yugiri Tsuzuri) (hereinafter, Sasaki): My name is Kotoko Sasaki, and my nickname is Kocchan. Although I’m often called “Koto,” my close seniors and teacher call me “Kocchan,” so I’d be happy if everyone called me that as well.
My strength is my honesty, while my weakness is being too honest. I enjoy browsing Twitter as a hobby, and I’m always looking at it on my days off or while traveling, wondering if there’s anything interesting.
Is there anything else you’re currently into?
Sasaki: I enjoy watching videos on Netflix and YouTube. On Netflix, I often watch American and French dramas and movies.
Do you have a personal motto?
Sasaki: I like the phrase “People get bored when they play too much.”
Please tell us how you felt when you were chosen for the role of Tsuzuri.
Sasaki: I was told by my agency that I had passed the audition. However, at that time, I was feeling very down about my acting in a previous job and was on the verge of tears, so I wasn’t sure if my tears were from happiness or if they were from my lingering frustration (laughs).
After some time had passed and I had calmed down, I felt overjoyed.
Please tell us about your impression of Tsuzuri, who you play, the similarities and differences between you and her, and what you find charming about her.
Sasaki: When I first saw Tsuzuri-chan’s illustration, I immediately thought she was cute. She was the only one among the six wearing lots of accessories, and I thought it must be a school where everyone wears shoes like hers. But then I realized everyone else was wearing loafers, and I was surprised (laughs). I thought she was a very unique girl.
Her black gloves are also a key point, since she’s the only one among the six to wear them.
Sasaki: She also has several stars scattered throughout her hair and wears a choker around her neck. However, her scarf’s length is asymmetrical, which I think makes her similar to me in the sense that I’m particular about certain things but not so much about other things that don’t interest me.
Tsuzuri seems to have a bit of a chuunibyou vibe, doesn’t she?
Sasaki: That might be true. But at this stage, I think she’s more of a born realist. She seems to make statements based on her rational understanding of things.
That doesn’t mean she’s not a dreamer, though. She’s a fun-loving girl, so even if something doesn’t sound realistic, she’ll happily chat and get excited about it with those around her.
In the debut stream, we heard Tsuzuri’s self-introduction, and it seemed quite challenging to deliver her long lines at that tempo.
Sasaki: I have to breathe more and speak slowly and carefully, so I can’t hide any issues with my articulation. If I run out of breath, the volume of my voice gets lower, so I’m doing my best while performing her lines.
In Tsuzuri-chan’s self-introduction video, despite having a similar number of words as the others, she took about a minute longer than everyone else (laughs).
Sayaka, her partner, is reliable but also has an airheaded side
Please tell us about DOLLCHESTRA, the subunit Tsuzuri and Sayaka belong to, and its charms and appeal points.
Sasaki: I think the charm of DOLLCHESTRA lies in their cool songs and dances. They have many impactful and memorable phrases.
Although Sayaka-chan is the junior, she makes Tsuzuri-chan feel reassured and gives her the confidence to keep working hard. I think her presence is very important.
Before Tsuzuri-chan knew it, she finds herself being taken care of by Sayaka-chan (laughs). Tsuzuri-chan can teach Sayaka-chan about being a school idol, but in other aspects of school and daily life, Sayaka-chan takes care of her like a mother. I think Sayaka-chan is a nice person (laughs). Sayaka-chan also has an airheaded side, which I think is cute because of the gap moe.
Nonaka-san, the voice of Sayaka, said, “If my partner in this unit hadn’t been Kocchan, I think it would have been much more challenging. Kocchan is good at being spoiled, and since I like spoiling others, it makes me happy. I’m very glad that Kocchan is my partner.”
Sasaki: I’m also glad that Nasu-chan is my partner. Among the members, I’m the oldest and Nasu-chan is the youngest. Since I tend to be absent-minded, Nasu-chan sometimes takes care of me when she notices, and when Nasu-chan is panicking, I want to help her.
I think our balance in both personality and voice is good. The core strength of my voice is not great, but Nasu-chan’s is. She has a heroine-like voice.
Please tell us about your impressions of the debut song “Dream Believers” and its highlights.
Sasaki: I like the chorus lyrics “It’s fun to work hard now” and “Even if you fall, get up and laugh,” and I think the lyrics as a whole are filled with positivity and high school-like qualities.
The sparkly feel of a school idol is expressed in the lyrics and melody, and since it’s sung by the whole group, the choreography also has a cute, group-like feel to it.
There are solo parts in the second verse and D-melody, where each person passes the baton to another. And then at the end, everyone sings wonderfully together to complete the song, which I really like.
During the recording, I was constantly nervous, so I was just focused on singing without being nervous. Listening to it now, there might be parts where I feel I could have sung better, but I try to think, That probably gave it a nice, fresh touch too. (laughs)
Please introduce “AWOKE” by DOLLCHESTRA, which is included in the debut mini-album.
Sasaki: It’s a song with a melody that changes frequently, and I think the emotions and conflicts within the minds of high school students are reflected in the melody. The lyrics also have a slightly cynical feel, but I think that also adds to the adolescent vibe.
It’s impactful and full of memorable phrases, so I have many favorite lines. There are also many parts where its worldview changes dramatically, so during the recording, I kept reminding myself to express those feelings properly.
By the way, this was my second recording as a member of Hasunosora. I thought, Isn’t this hard for a second song? But I still worked my hardest. (laughs)
I think it’s a song that can be sung by people with high levels of experience like you and Nonaka-san.
Sasaki: Not at all. I think the other members are better singers than me.
(Kan-san, the voice of Osawa Rurino: “That’s not true! I think you too are a perfect duo.”)
(Tsukine-san, the voice of Fujishima Megumi: “I agree. Their voice qualities match as well.”)
Sasaki: Thank you! Also, there’s a line at the beginning of the song that says “Notice me…”, and I thought, Wow, there’s a dramatic line in our first song as a subunit!? At the same time, I was excited about how to say it while preparing for the recording.
Also, during the recording, I listened to Sayaka’s version. It had a different approach, and I thought, I like this one too. I hope Sayaka’s “Notice me…” will be revealed someday.
As I mentioned earlier, I think the qualities of our voices balance well, and in this song, our voices blend together nicely.
Please warmly watch over Tsuzuri-chan and my growth
The mini-album release event is scheduled for April 21st at Toyosu PIT, and the opening live event is set for June 4th at Pacifico Yokohama. Please share your enthusiasm for these events.
Sasaki: I’m grateful that we could announce all of that during our debut livestream. I think many people are looking forward to it, so I want to do my best to meet their expectations as much as possible.
Hasunosora is a group centered on subunits, and each subunit has a distinct color, so I think the audience will be able to enjoy the show from beginning to end, feeling like they’ve seen a total of four performances, with one group and three subunit performances.
At the release event on April 21st at Toyosu PIT, I hope everyone will not only see our first performance but also feel the friendly atmosphere among the six of us during the talk segment.
And for the opening live event at Pacifico Yokohama on June 4th, I’m very nervous, but I hope all six of us will work together, one step at a time.
Please give a message to everyone.
Sasaki: Thank you for reading this article. I would be happy if you became interested in Hasunosora and Tsuzuri-chan. There will be a free trial livestream on April 2nd and a free livestream for the release event on April 21st, so please watch those first and join us at the opening live event in June.
Personally, I’m not good at singing or dancing, but I’m doing my best to be able to express Tsuzuri-chan and to get closer to her. Especially the latter. I would be happy if you would warmly watch over Tsuzuri-chan’s growth in the story and my own growth in singing, dancing, and other performances for a long time.
