Shige in various magazines [Translation]
Thanks to inala we got all the magazines that promoted Shige's "Pink & Gray".
Since I already translated many interviews about the novel and its writing, I decided to not translate these fully.
I just did the bits/phrases that were new, original or interesting. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did ♥
(Btw I will post soon Spoon full interview and Shige's color pallet ^^)
Monthly The Hi-Vision 03.2012
• Writing it I found out many things that I like, for example I thought "Wow, I really am a romanticist!" (lol).
• I went back with my mind to all the games I played when I was a kid, the things I saw and touched. I went to walk around the Mitake Park mentioned in the novel so many times, doing that I remembered so many things. Adding imagination to those memories I got an impressive development. It was hard but also amusing, like doing a puzzle.
Hon no Tabibito 02.2012
• I like to think to the reasons that make something interesting, reading and asking the opinions of people.
• I wrote my jweb for the fans, I can't call it a "work". The blog there was pop and bright, for some reason the novel turned out serious. I guess it's because I really like those kind of things. Writing for the fans is funny but I want people who are not my fans to think it's interesting too.
• If I wrote something that I find boring I wouldn't have been happy. If the things that I like aren't accepted I want to go on writing until they will be.
• (Asked if he ever experienced a break-up with somebody he cherished, since it's the main theme of the novel)
I never experienced something like that in my life but NEWS formed 8 years ago, since then everybody grew up and changed little by little. In the past we used to go all together to do shopping and stuff but now we don't do that anymore of course (lol). The two members left when I already wrote the book, anyway I guess I was influenced by the fact that at the beginning we were 9 and we decreased little by little. I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't want to write about that, anyway I think I felt the loneliness.
• Looking back at my life of course I had bitter experiences. I've been worried because of relationships, I lost some friends...Of course this was all sad and bitter. When I debuted I had friends who didn't. I was happy but in front of them I couldn't rejoice and I felt sorry.
• Somebody asked me if I had a ghost-writer...it made me kinda happy (lol). It made me think that maybe they found the book so good that they thought it was impossible that I wrote that by myself.
Yasei Jidai 03.2012
• When I decided to write the novel I stopped reading books. They made me think "There are such great novels already, there's no need for me to write one!" (lol)
• The motivation to write was my imagination. I've always loved to fantasize, when in magazines I'm asked "Compare a member to an animal" I'm always the one who answers most excited (lol). Sometimes I have group chat with my friends and I like to play building a story out of nothing. For example one writes "I'm a cool guy like the ace on playing cards" and I go on with "He said flowing down the Meguro river" and like this we form a story. It's funny (lol). My friends like to play with imaginations and they were one of my influences to write the novel.
• I wrote thinking "I might lose some jobs with this" (lol). There's some reality in it but it's not the whole. I didn't want to write a "revealing novel" or something like that.
• I created the lyrics of "Phalaenopsis" (the song written by Gocchi in the novel). I wanted to use it casually but in the end it got an important meaning, I was surprised to me by myself. Now I understand when writers say that the characters start to do whatever they want.
• The chapters have as title the age of the main character and the name of a drink. The drink and the age are connected. It starts with the strawberry milk and ends with the whiskey, I think it conveys the change and the maturation of the person.
Personally I like alcohol, I had fun writing it. I described the atmosphere of the bar and the people in there thinking to the place where I usually go. Of course I never drank while writing. I think I wouldn't be able to complete the book if I did (lol).
• (About being the first novelist in JE)
That's the thing that makes me happy most of all. I would have never think of something like this to happen.
• Just like Daiki and Shingo, to me NEWS members are like a family, my irreplaceable people.
• Even if I'll receive criticism I would never think "I won't write anymore". Well, of course I'll be upset though (lol). Then somebody would tell me "Shige, you're cool!" and I'd go out to drink with him. That's my usual way to cheer me up.
Anan 02.2012
• I've been often asked who is who in the novel, hinting to NEWS members. There's nothing like that. I think that all the characters that appear are me. Anyway, basically I don't care about the various interpretations of people who read it, after all I think that who will read will properly understand.
• I really wrote without sleeping. When I was writing on the emotional level I turned myself completely in Riba-chan, basically I was always depressed (lol).
• I don't want to be "the idol writer" I want to be "idol and writer". Writing is not my side job, they both are my work. When I was 21-22 years old I didn't know what to do anymore, I couldn't find the meaning of being in the showbiz anymore. Writing the novel became my way and field of fighting.
Q. Your favorite book?
"The Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger. It made me become annoying like its main character (lol). I read it in my crisis period and I think it kinda saved me.
Q. When do you feel like reading?
Always! I always bring along a book with me. Also during the Countdown I was reading "Franny and Zooey" by Salinger. I started the 2012 with an heavy story (lol).
Q. Did you like to read when you was little?
I didn't read too much but I liked the series by Akagawa Jiro. Lately I liked "Ashura Girl" by Maijo Outaro too.
Then Pink & Gray's twitter is posting little by little comments about the book:
• "It's painful, sparkly and acute. It's a novel sharp as a lethal weapon". Sekiguchi-san, editor chief of "Da Vinci" magazine.
• "For an idol to write something like Pink&Gray courage and intelligence is required. I'm not flattering him,it's really amazing!" Utamaru, speaker at TBS radio.
• "Kato, it was interesting! You wrote it well!". Oota from Bakushou Mondai.
• "A natural suspence, compact as if it can't mix with water. The last chapter that push ourselves to the end is an evaluation of the entertainment world. I want to congratulate the arrival of this new talented writer". Sugie Matsukoi, writer and literary reviewer.