Translations Archive
Entermix, May 2015 Issue (20 March 2015)
Momoiro Clover Z Interview
Attacking Freeza with the Voices of Angels!
“We want to make it the sort of theme song that never fades, no matter how many years pass”
Congratulations for being selected for the theme song of the Dragon Ball Z movie.
Kanako Momota (henceforth “Momota”): Thank you! It’s an essential Japanese anime that everyone knows about, and the “Z” in our name is also a deliberate reference to Dragon Ball, so we’re truly glad to get to handle the theme song this time.
Please tell us about your enthusiasm for it.
Momoka Ariyasu (henceforth “Ariyasu”): Even people who aren’t Mononofu1 will get to listen to it, so we’ll do our best to cause a chemical reaction between Dragon Ball Z and MomoClo!
Ayaka Sasaki (henceforth “Sasaki”): I want it to be a song that won’t lose out to even the super-famous “Let’s grab them up!…” opening!2
Shiori Tamai (henceforth “Tamai”): We sure do. We’ll be happy if it becomes a song that [people who heard it as kids] will listen to it when they’re grown up and be reminded of their childhood.
Reni Takagi (henceforth “Takagi”): It’ll be fantastic if this song remains until the next generation!
Momota: The theme song is in a position so vital as to make or break a movie’s image, so [we’ll be happy] if we’ve been able to energize the movie with all our power.
Ayaka Sasaki (henceforth “Sasaki”): I want it to be a song that won’t lose out to even the super-famous “Let’s grab them up!…” opening!2
Shiori Tamai (henceforth “Tamai”): We sure do. We’ll be happy if it becomes a song that [people who heard it as kids] will listen to it when they’re grown up and be reminded of their childhood.
Reni Takagi (henceforth “Takagi”): It’ll be fantastic if this song remains until the next generation!
Momota: The theme song is in a position so vital as to make or break a movie’s image, so [we’ll be happy] if we’ve been able to energize the movie with all our power.
The charming characters that Akira Toriyama-sensei draws are a key to its popularity; what characters appeal to all of you?
Momota: Gohan-kun, I guess. It’s wonderful how he has a dream of being a scholar.
Sasaki: As for me…….
Momota: The lecherous Kame-Sen’nin?
Sasaki: What?! No!! I guess I’d be a Vegeta fan; he is a prince, after all.
Tamai: That’s quite the condescending attitude. (laughs) Definitely Tenshinhan for me. He’s tall, and his name is cute and sounds delicious.
Momota: He’s a tricyclops, though. Are you really OK with that?
Tamai: What? Then, no way. (laughs)
Ariyasu: Kuririn for me. This time he’s become a policeman, and more than anything, he seems like an upstanding person, don’t you think?
Sasaki: Plus you’re both short, after all. (laughs)
Takagi: I’ll of course go with Piccolo-san. That’s because the way he wears a turban is wonderful, like Shōnan-no-Kaze3.
Sasaki: As for me…….
Momota: The lecherous Kame-Sen’nin?
Sasaki: What?! No!! I guess I’d be a Vegeta fan; he is a prince, after all.
Tamai: That’s quite the condescending attitude. (laughs) Definitely Tenshinhan for me. He’s tall, and his name is cute and sounds delicious.
Momota: He’s a tricyclops, though. Are you really OK with that?
Tamai: What? Then, no way. (laughs)
Ariyasu: Kuririn for me. This time he’s become a policeman, and more than anything, he seems like an upstanding person, don’t you think?
Sasaki: Plus you’re both short, after all. (laughs)
Takagi: I’ll of course go with Piccolo-san. That’s because the way he wears a turban is wonderful, like Shōnan-no-Kaze3.
(laughs) Now then, if you could make use of ki like Goku & co., what would you want to do?
Ariyasu: I’ve managed to bend spoons before.
All: That’s not ki! (laughs)
Ariyasu: In that case, teleportation!
Momota: I’d want to heal wounds and illnesses.
Sasaki: The power to stop the rain.
Tamai: I’d want the ability to move things with my mind.
Takagi: Integrating with the wall.
All: Whaaa???
Takagi: It’s a technique I often use when I’m running away from an enemy in my dreams. But this one’s got to be no good, right?
All: That’s not ki! (laughs)
Ariyasu: In that case, teleportation!
Momota: I’d want to heal wounds and illnesses.
Sasaki: The power to stop the rain.
Tamai: I’d want the ability to move things with my mind.
Takagi: Integrating with the wall.
All: Whaaa???
Takagi: It’s a technique I often use when I’m running away from an enemy in my dreams. But this one’s got to be no good, right?
There are also characters who transform, so it might be possible. Incidentally, the powers you all brought up have all appeared [in the series] by this point.
Takagi: Whaa~?! Toriyama-sensei is awesome.
Momota: We just can’t win at our [level of] imagination.
Tamai: Could we manage a technique where we could hear the voices of people from Brazil if we listen closely?
Momota: In a way, there are people who already do that.4
Momota: We just can’t win at our [level of] imagination.
Tamai: Could we manage a technique where we could hear the voices of people from Brazil if we listen closely?
Momota: In a way, there are people who already do that.4
Apparently you appear in the film itself as well; what are everyone’s thoughts on their recording?
Sasaki: All the members worked very hard to try and get that Freeza to feel bad!
Ariyasu: Since they were fantasy-type characters, it was really difficult.
Tamai: It was my first experience too, so it was tough because my body would always move no matter what I did.
Momota: Normally we’re always laughing, but when it comes time that we’re told to “laugh like angels”, it was hard…. But I was in [the recording studio] with Takagi, and when we both laughed, we got it in one take. I wonder if it was good enough?
Takagi: I think it wasn’t cute. (laughs) I struggled too, because my part was high-energy. I usually have lower energy-levels.
All: That’s not true!
Takagi: But was glad, because I’ve always aspired to be a narrator. I got to be a narrator, get it?5
Momota: …But you didn’t do any narrating, now did you? (laughs)
Ariyasu: Since they were fantasy-type characters, it was really difficult.
Tamai: It was my first experience too, so it was tough because my body would always move no matter what I did.
Momota: Normally we’re always laughing, but when it comes time that we’re told to “laugh like angels”, it was hard…. But I was in [the recording studio] with Takagi, and when we both laughed, we got it in one take. I wonder if it was good enough?
Takagi: I think it wasn’t cute. (laughs) I struggled too, because my part was high-energy. I usually have lower energy-levels.
All: That’s not true!
Takagi: But was glad, because I’ve always aspired to be a narrator. I got to be a narrator, get it?5
Momota: …But you didn’t do any narrating, now did you? (laughs)
Main Theme & Guest Voices:
Momoiro Clover Z
A five-member girl group formed in 2008. They focused mainly on street performances, then made their major-label debut in 2010, getting their break through there catchy songs, strenuous dancing, and peculiar character. In 2015, their collaboration with Kiss and a movie they starred in were the talk of the entertainment world.
The following translator notes are included for the benefit of the reader as supplemental information.
1 “Warriors” = their fans
2 This is in reference to the opening of the original Dragon Ball TV series, “Makafushigi Adobenchā!” (“Mystical Adventure!”)
3 A Japanese reggae band
4 The implication may be that this is easy for Brazilians living in Japan (or in Brazil, for that matter), or it may be a reference to an all-Nikkei Brazilian idol group that was said to be nipping at Momoiro Clover Z’s heels a few years ago.
5 She’s making a pun: Nārētā ni narētā.
2 This is in reference to the opening of the original Dragon Ball TV series, “Makafushigi Adobenchā!” (“Mystical Adventure!”)
3 A Japanese reggae band
4 The implication may be that this is easy for Brazilians living in Japan (or in Brazil, for that matter), or it may be a reference to an all-Nikkei Brazilian idol group that was said to be nipping at Momoiro Clover Z’s heels a few years ago.
5 She’s making a pun: Nārētā ni narētā.
English Translation: SaiyaJedi