Broadcast: 2021/12/10 on Cho!A&G+
Archive: https://abema.tv/video/episode/390-7_s1_p50
Introduction
Today’s date is Friday, December 10. How are you all doing?
Good evening, Saito Soma here. If you can believe it, this program has reached episode 50–thank you so much. I already mentioned this a little while back, but after doing this for about a year, it finally feels like I’ve solidified my style of solo radio. I hope it will continue for a long time to come.
♪ memento
TRUE Self
Good evening once again. What I’ve been interested in recently is “TRUE Self.” At my agency, there’s a guy named Nakajima Yoshiki who’s been a great help to me, both at work and as a friend. He’s producing a brand called “TRUE Self,” and I met him the other day so I procured a lot of stock *laughs*. Hopefully I’ll be able to post a picture later.
I modeled for his brand once in the past, but this time I couldn’t because of scheduling. The items are really good, though. I even asked him for a couple of the pieces he didn’t give me this time.
Everyone’s been doing all kinds of different things; even though acting is their main focus, some people are producing things as well. It really is amazing how broad the “voice actor” profession has become. Okay, yeah, the same goes for me *laughs*. I’ve been given the opportunity to do a lot of different things, which I’m really thankful for.
Now then, let’s begin “Saito Soma Strange dayS”. Thank you for tuning in today, everyone.
2nd EP: my beautiful valentine
Once again, this is Saito Soma. Now then, let’s get right to what you’ve all been waiting for. Today, I have a very very important announcement! Saito Soma will be releasing a second EP! *clap clap clap*
It was already obvious that it was going to be some kind of music, though. Anyway, I kept you waiting for a long time, but I can finally reveal more information about my new project.
First off, the title is my beautiful valentine. This is my second EP, and, as I’m sure you’ve already surmised, the name is taken from My Bloody Valentine. Now, my first EP was my blue vacation, meaning that both of them have the initials “MBV,” which I think is a dangerous trend to set, but well, that’s what it is.
Concept-wise, I’d like to consider my albums and singles the music of the “open” Saito Soma, covering a broader range of styles, while my EPs are a little deeper, corresponding to my more hardcore tastes. I think this release might be the darkest out of all of them so far.
As an aside, my producer at the label told me that I can talk about anything I want, which actually makes this harder for me, because I don’t know how much I should say. Whatever I talk about now is all going to become official news. That’s so scary! *laughs*
Scariness aside, let me reveal the release date first. It’s scheduled for February 9, 2022. As you’d expect, it’s close to Valentine’s Day. But, well, this is my music we’re talking about, so it’s not going to be what you’d normally associate with the phrase “my beautiful valentine.” There are songs that are unlike anything I’ve released so far, and I think the lyrics are also a little different.
The recordings and preparation work are going great, and we’re trying several new things too. If I could just say one thing, the recordings are really difficult every time. It’s the usual, “Who wrote this song?!”
I think we’ll be able to present the songs soon. Normally, I’d announce the song titles here, but they haven’t all been decided yet. As I mentioned a little while back, unexpected foreshadowing keeps happening in different places. I think it’s safe to give one example, so on Dameraji, Kaito-kun said something like, “The pomegranate in my heart is bursting,” which really startled me at the time. One of my new songs is called “Pomegranate,” so I was like, “My thoughts are being spied on!” I was pretty terrified of Kaito-kun when that happened… Naturally, the song doesn’t have anything to do with Ishikawa-san. “carpool” was also unrelated to Ishikawa-san.
The vague image I had for this EP was “a collection of weird tales.” I’m a fan of the Cthulhu mythos, and the author, Lovecraft-san, published that series in a magazine called Weird Tales. As such, this EP has a rather “dark fantasy” feel.
I did the photo shoot for the booklet and whatnot, and let me tell you, it’s really something. I’m really glad I grew out my hair *laughs* even though I said last week that I wanted to cut it so badly. The MV is also quite out-there. I think all of the details will be released gradually over the next weeks. We’ve created something really good, if I do say so myself, so please wait for more information.
After this program, the news will be posted to social media and the official website. Oh, that means the artist photo will be released too, right? It’s really nice. If I may say one thing in advance, it’s a little on the “surrealism” side. My keyword for it was “dépaysement,” so I’d appreciate it if you looked that up.
The CD bonuses will also be posted on social media and the official website, so please take a look there.
Gathering industry lingo
Now I’ll be reading some letters from listeners.
This one is from “I want to sit in the kotatsu and eat tangerines”-san. Thank you for your letter.
“Soma-kun, staff members, good evening.”
Good evening.
“Thank you for providing an enjoyable program every time.”
Same here.
“On your radio the other day, you said you were looking for industry lingo–“
Yes!
“–so I’m sending one right away. I work as a pastry chef, and in the patisserie industry we have an interesting term called naku.”
What’s naku? As in… calling tiles in mahjong? *laughs*
“I’m sure you’ve seen white powdered sugar on cakes and whatnot. If one were to use regular powdered sugar, the sugar would absorb the moisture and turn into syrup. We call that state ‘naku’; in other words, ‘naku’ = ‘melting.’ When I first started in this industry, I was struggling to keep up with all of the unfamiliar lingo, but now I’m using it on a daily basis without having to ask what anything means. When I think about that, I feel like I’ve really become a part of the industry.”
Ohhh… This is the kind of thing I was waiting for. The answer makes a lot of sense, though. Sorry to make this about me, but I also use naku with a very similar nuance to “melting” in my lyrics. I really love the concepts of “melting” and “blending.”
This is interesting because the verb naku probably also means completely different things in other industries. I think I’ll take all of your submissions and publish them *laughs* so please keep sending them in.
Next, a letter from “Meaningful Coincidence”-san. Thank you for your letter.
“Soma-kun, staff members, good evening. Thank you for providing this wonderful time every week. I’m sending this letter because on your radio the other day, you said you were looking for industry lingo.”
Thank you very much.
“I’m a dental hygienist, and in the dental field we have ‘basshi’–“
Oh, basshi as in stitches removal, right?
“–but we call it batsuito so that it won’t get mixed up with the ‘basshi’ that means tooth extraction.”
Ohhh.
“One day, I had to get non-dental stitches removed at a non-dental hospital, and I said, ‘I’d like to book an appointment for batsuito,’ but they didn’t understand, which was embarrassing for me. So, I think that term is probably exclusive to the dental industry.”
Oh I see, that’s an interesting case of avoiding mixing up words that sound the same. Batsuito, huh… I want a tooth extraction and stitches removal too *laughs*. I want both, and I’m willing to cry to get my way.
That’s neat, though, and I can see a lot of potential word confusion in dentistry, since it’d be bad if the wrong thing happened. Today I learned about batsuito; thank you very much.
Next–oh, there are a lot of letters. This one is from Azuki Komachi-san.
“Soma-san, good evening. Thank you for providing this relaxing time every Friday.”
Thank you.
“The other day, you were talking about industry lingo, so I wondered if I had any as a childcare student, but I couldn’t think of anything. So instead, I’m sending in one that was used at my part-time job: cue sheet. Since you’ve been on a lot of different radios, including this one, you might already know what it is. I was on a local radio during university, and that was the first term that made me go, ‘What is that?’ It’s a sheet that lists the participants, timeslots, and talk topics for the day. Put simply, it’s similar to a timetable. I remember that when I was told, ‘I’ll send out the cue sheet tomorrow,’ I was confused and had to rely on Google-sensei. Is there any radio-specific lingo that surprised you, Soma-san?”
Oh, it’s called a cue sheet?
Asano-san: That’s something a bit special.
Oh, is that so?
Asano-san: By the way, this program doesn’t use a cue sheet at the moment.
Right. But there are some radios that do?
Asano-san: For live broadcasts…
Ohh, I see.
Asano-san: For example, at FM stations, they list out what time the traffic report will be, what time each song plays, how long the songs are. FM stations sometimes don’t have scripts. They have cue sheets, which are different from the script we’re looking at right now.
I feel my greed coming out… I want to try a live broadcast too.
Asano-san: If that’s the case, our director works on the FM side sometimes too.
Really?!
Asano-san: That kind of thing… (presumably showing Soma a cue sheet)
It’s a cue sheet! *laughs* It does look like a timetable.
Asano-san: It has things like start times and “this has to be done in such-and-such minutes or else the program is a bust.”
Eek! On this radio, we have special endings sometimes, and even those are enough to make me really nervous. But hmm, radio lingo, huh? Do we have anything special…?
Asano-san: The famous one would be this, right? Although it’s not only used in radio.
Oh, kafu? Let’s see, how do I explain this… It’s like an on/off switch for the mic that we can use inside the studio. You can raise and lower it, and the sound only lives when you push the button like this–well, sound “living” is basically lingo too *laughs*.
Asano-san: Do you know the etymology?
Huh? The etymology of kafu?
Asano-san: It’s exactly what it sounds like.
Huh? What it sounds like? Kafu… something that hangs? *laughs*
Asano-san: It’s not “cuff” *laughs*
Not like ear cuffs, huh? *laughs*
Asano-san: It’s “cough.”
Oh, cough!
Asano-san: Because you lower this when you have to cough.
Whaaat?! There’s too much I don’t know!
Asano-san: Are you having fun? *laughs*
I’m having so much fun! I’m the kind of person who derives pleasure from learning new things.
Asano-san: There’s still a lot of letters, so let’s read another one next week.
I almost want to turn this into a regular corner. Thank you, everyone.
And with that, this program is accepting any and all kinds of letters. Please send them to soma@joqr.net – we’re waiting to hear from you.
Song #1
This is the part of the program where I introduce a song I’ve been into lately. I love a lot of artists, but I truly love this one’s lyrics, compositions, arrangements, sense, and most of all, singing voice. Please listen to Utada Hikaru-san’s “Kimi ni Muchuu”.
Ahhh, this song is too wonderful. What you just listened to was Utada Hikaru-san’s “Kimi ni Muchuu”.
Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu (The Vampire Dies in No Time)
Now then, I’m going to talk about some topics that listeners wrote in about. This one is from Mint-san. Thank you for your letter.
“Soma-kun, staff members, good evening.”
Good evening.
“Thank you for always making this radio so enjoyable. My child loves the anime ‘Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu’ and watches it almost every day. Just when I’d been thinking, ‘It’d be nice if Soma-kun appeared in this show,’ I found out that you were added to the cast as the role of Etiquette Breacher, and I got really excited. I watched episode 9, and the contrast between Etiquette Breacher’s stylish appearance and the way he gets giddy like a bratty child over low-stakes bad deeds was hilarious. Your voice was a perfect fit for him, and he was really cute. I came to love this character. I’d really appreciate it if you could share your impressions of the role and any behind-the-scenes stories.”
I was able to record this episode with the other cast members, and it was a lot of fun. Basically, the more comedic a role is, the more passion and seriousness you need, so it was a thrilling recording. I had so much fun.
It was so enthralling that I ended up getting too fired up. Etiquette Breacher is kind of a “small fry” character; he says really grand things while doing minor acts of annoyance. During the first test run, I got pretty into it and the director said, “Um, Soma, it kind of sounds like you’re going to destroy the world, so could you scale it down a bit?” *laughs* And I was like, oh, you’re right. *laughs* I was told to have passion but to keep it in check.
Episode 9 was packed with content, and I rewatched it myself too. Every part was really entertaining, and it made me think, “I like this kind of show.” Even back when I received the offer, I thought it sounded interesting. I’m glad that so many people have complimented me on this role.
Well, when I first received the offer, I was told, “You’ve received an offer to guest in a work called Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu,” and I said, “Oh, thank you. What kind of role is it?” “You’re an etiquette breacher.” Now, being told that made me think, “Huh? Did I say something wrong just now?” *laughs* Like, was it bad etiquette to ask what the role was? And then I looked at the info and realized it was a character named Etiquette Breacher. That was really funny.
I’m really enjoying this anime as a viewer too, and I think this kind of passionate comedy is a joy to watch. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do check it out.
CHILL CHILL BOX 7th
The next letter is from Nenashii-san. Thank you for writing in.
“Soma-san, staff members, good evening.”
Good evening.
“I attended the afternoon show for the reading drama CHILL CHILL BOX 7th ‘Shoukan IP! ~Shachiku to Vamp~’. It was my first time ever going to a reading drama, and I was amazed by everyone’s incredible acting, expressions, and nervousness from performing live. It was a lot of fun, and it was also really funny when you accidentally said ‘nanbei’ (South America) instead of ‘oubei’ (the West). If there are any behind-the-scenes stories you haven’t talked about yet, please share them with us.”
Yes, I participated in this reading drama some time ago. The story was really wacky in a good way, and it even involved a vampire, which made me feel a strange connection to the work.
I was the main character, an office worker who used to be full of hopes and dreams, but after a certain incident, he took on a “don’t rock the boat” mindset. One day, he gets transferred to a new department that summoned a vampire from the demon world, and it’s his job to produce the vampire as an idol. It was quite the exciting premise. That was all I’d heard when I received the initial offer, but I immediately said, “I’ll do it.”
The cast was full of esteemed veterans, and their performances were brilliant. I said this during the talk session too, but I really love both readings and reading dramas. There are so many expressions that you can only do in a live setting. In particular, everyone’s dialogues changed a lot between the afternoon and night shows. Each show had its own highlights, which I think is one of the neat things about live reading dramas.
The summoned vampire was extremely beautiful, and I had a line where I was supposed to say, “He’s like a prince from the West (oubei),” but at the afternoon show, for some reason I brazenly said South America (nanbei) instead. No one could really say anything in that situation, but the atmosphere felt kind of strange. I wondered if everyone was nervous, but apparently I was the most nervous of all *laughs*. I didn’t notice at all, which was why Yoshiki teased me about it during the talk session at the end. Then when it was time for the night show, Inoue Kazuhiko-san who was with me said, “Soma-kun, I’m counting on you to put emphasis on oubei” *laughs*. I took that to heart, and after that, Yoshiki and Nakazawa Masatomo-san continued the ad lib, which I was grateful for. It’s really fun when people follow up on improvisations.
I’ve appeared in many BL works, but I didn’t have much experience with BL-genre reading dramas, so I enjoyed myself a lot, and I’d like to do it again. I don’t get many opportunities to wear suits, so it felt quite fresh. Also, Hatano-san was there too, and he looks really good in glasses, doesn’t he? I think people noticed that I kept glancing at him and thinking, “Ahh, what a beautiful side profile” during the show *laughs*. Yeah, it was definitely during the actual performance.
It really was fun, so I want to thank everyone who came to see it, and I hope I’ll be invited to the next one as well.
Granblue Fantasy
Next, a letter from Tsukapon-san.
“Soma-kun, good evening. I always enjoy listening to your radio. Granblue’s Marionette Stars event was really good. As a long-time Feather fan, I was overcome with emotion because I never thought he’d get so much time in the spotlight. You have a variety of acting styles that you use depending on the character, but Feather is one-of-a-kind. It doesn’t even feel like acting–it really feels like Feather himself is talking. I adore your cheerful–and sometimes insane–performance as Feather, and it gives me a lot of energy. He has a lot of shouting, so it might be quite the burden on your throat, but I want to watch as you and Feather grow stronger together.”
Thank you very much. I’ve been the voice of Feather for quite a long time now, and he’s a top contender for “character who shouts the most” out of everyone I’ve voiced. It’s his unique trait.
The story this time was really good; I won’t say much about it, but please do read it for yourself. It changed my interpretation of Feather a lot, and as Tsukapon-san wrote, he has some “insane” moments. I think you’ll understand exactly what that means if you read the story. It felt like he’d made his breakthrough. It was fun, and as mentioned, it was really hard on my throat *laughs*.
As a general rule, I request to not have any work before or after a Feather recording so that I can expend everything I’ve got on it. Game scripts are split up into “words,” where two lines of dialogue are treated as one “word.” Fifty “words” as Feather are enough to wear out my throat. He’s a cool character, but his shouting isn’t really the “cool” type. I have to shout from my stomach even if it comes out rough, because shouting in a way that’s easy on my throat doesn’t have quite enough oomph. So, every time I voice Feather, I feel like I’m ready to break. I hope that comes across when you hear him.
It really was an incredible story, so if this talk has piqued your interest, please experience it for yourself.
I’m still open to hear what everyone is curious about, so please continue to send in your letters!
Song #2
Now then, it’s time for another song. It’s amazing that this is coming up here, because in a sense, this is a top contender for “Saito Soma’s most ‘insane’ song.” Please listen to Saito Soma’s “Kitchen”.
Closing
♪ carpool
Today’s episode of “Saito Soma Strange dayS” is soon coming to a close. This program is accepting letters from listeners. Any topic is fine, so please send them in to soma@joqr.net.
Now it’s time for announcements. This program has special extra content called “Saito Soma Strange dayS: Fushigi no Tobira”, which is posted on Nizista’s YouTube channel every Saturday. Every week, I talk about a keyword or title that I’m interested in. This content is exclusive to that channel, so please subscribe and enjoy.
As for this program’s broadcast and archive on Abema, the latest episode is updated late-night Thursdays and is available for free for one week. Abema Premium members can listen to the archive all the way from episode 1. Please make use of it if you’d like.
And so, I was finally able to announce my second EP, my beautiful valentine. It’s slated for February 9th. I think the official site and whatnot will be updated after this radio, and there should be more precise information there, so please check that out. I also hope to announce some more things on this radio, so please look forward to that.
With that, see you next time. This has been Saito Soma. Please join me for my curiosities next week as well.
Nakajima Yoshiki replied to this tweet with a heart: