A largest anime event "C3AFA" is held at several places around Asia, including Japan. In the past, several titles, voice actors, and artists participated in this event, and the total number of visitors in these 11 years exceeded 1.7 million people. Here at Anime! Anime!, we conducted a backstage interview for guests who appeared at "C3AFA Singapore", held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, 2019. This article asked the voice actress Nakamura Eriko on her impressions of the interaction with her overseas fans at the event. There were several wonderful encounters at Singapore. ---May I have your impressions on the event? Nakamura: I am not good at speaking English, but the fans welcomed me, so I was happy because the fans allow me to stay as the me. Ash, a translator god, stayed with me, and he translated my words in English, but I was surprised that the fans at the event reacted even before he had finished translating. ---Was it your first time visiting Singapore? Nakamura: I arrived at Singapore yesterday night, and they made my wish to eat Chilli Crab came true. But there was traffic regulation due to the marathon event. So, I used MRT (a subway), and I could see the scenes of Singapore, which I can't see from the car. ---What are your recommendations of Singapore to the visitors from Japan? Nakamura: Singapore has easy access from the center of the city to the other places, so if you came here thinking, "I love anime and manga!", you would not need much time to visit all the place necessary. So it is so appealing. But, I did not research about the souvenirs, so I have no idea where to go lol. The readers of this article, please tell me your recommended souvenirs in Singapore for my next visit! ---So you think that you want to visit next time? Nakamura: I want to go again so much! Among the fans I met, there was a fan from Australia, and I believe that such encounters became possible because the event was held at Singapore, and also I was able to talk and have tea with the performers whom I am not able to see often in Japan, so I hope to have such opportunity again. My next goal is to master own-style English! ---Is there any other foreign country you want to visit? Nakamura: I want to visit Toronto again. When I visited Toronto before, the fans told me that there are many anime fans in Europe. That fan visited me from New York, and I met him again at Singapore. ---World is small, isn't it? Nakamura: I think so, too. It is full of wonderful things, and I don't want to leave Singapore. ---We look forward to your continuing success. May I have your goal for the future at the last? Nakamura: Thank you for inviting me to Singapore! I was happy that the fans understand both my Japanese and poor English, and I did not feel any language barrier. But if I could speak English, I can deliver my thoughts to fans from abroad who visit Singapore, so, I will work hard in studying English. I often use onomatopoeia, and many people call it my uniqueness, so I wish I could deliver my thoughts into English combined with onomatopoeia, called "Eringlish", like Singlish (English unique to Singapore). I said this at the last show, so I do my best not to quit it (laugh). [Interview= Ezaki Dai, article=Yamada Sachihiko, photo shoot=Nogi Akira] Interview cooperation : C3AFA Singapore 2019

"C3AFA Singapore 2019", the largest anime event in Southeast Asia, was held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, 2019. Here is the interview with SCANDAL, who appeared on the first day at the Anisong Live "I LOVE ANISONG Concert". ■ Singapore's fans are free to create a space to enjoy their music HARUNA: I was conscious that the setlist made for "C3AFA" would have been unique. I brought a lot of anime theme songs, in particular, "Shunkan Sentimental" from "Full Metal Alchemist" was very exciting. I asked everyone to sing on the hook, and it was perfect. TOMOMI: Fans were excited to hear new songs that we hadn't even performed in Japan yet. I am looking forward to returning to Singapore on the tour (SCANDAL WORLD TOUR 2020 “Kiss from the darkness”) next May. MAMI: I think there were many fans who liked the anime theme songs, as well as Japanese bands and the music itself. Singapore's fans are very free to create a space to enjoy their music. They are able to greatly enjoy it in their own way, and I feel that the enthusiasm put into it has evolved over the past few years. RINA: I was looking forward to being able to perform in Singapore, so I was really happy to come here. Many fans would have watched our live for the first time, and I would be glad if they came to see us at SCANDAL's one-man live or our live in Japan. - Did you enjoy the sightseeing and food in Singapore? TOMOMI: Before the live, we... HARUNA: We went to Gardens by the Bay. RINA: We have been in Singapore several times, but we didn't have the opportunity to go there. MAMI: We're usually enjoying the chili crab and chicken rice every time we come here. TOMOMI: It was so impressed! Today, after the show, we're looking forward to dinner! ■ Highlights of SCANDAL's second phase ――Please tell us about the glamour of this event. RINA: "C3AFA" is not only a live, you can also enjoy the goods corner. It is a great opportunity to see these combinations of artists which is a rare sight. In our one-man live, when we go on the partly outside stage, the squall comes down making the moment so natural and unique in Singapore. The night view on the way back is also the best. TOMOMI: We realized that the local fans love each of our works as much as Japanese fans. I felt like they could enjoy the live more than anything else. MAMI: Singapore's fans know very well not only the new works, but also old masterpieces. For example, "Gegege no Kitaro" is an anime we are familiar with since our childhood, so we are glad to see that the local fans also feel as close as we are. Here at C3AFA, we learned a lot of new information which makes it a place where we can relearn about the Japanese anime. RINA: Yesterday, HARUNA and I went to see the booth during the preparation for the rehearsal, and it was fun just walking around. We were surprised to see Butlers Café, and while looking at the drinks, we were glad to find out that Singapore has something in common with Japan as "Tapioca is also popular here!". - Finally, please leave a message to your fans. MAMI: It's about a year after launching the new label, we will release a new album titled "Kiss from the darkness" in Feb. 2020. I hope you will enjoy the second phase of SCANDAL, where we are able to express our own way of life into a song. It would be so great to let other people know more about Japanese culture at such events. I feel like anime has an inseparable bond with us. RINA: For 13 years, we have been able to continue to play music without ever stopping with the four of us. I feel like the reason behind that is because the fans fell in love with our style during the overseas concerts in our indie era. We consider our live performances abroad very significant, and we want to continue with them. We would like to take what we have gained from overseas and turn it into music, and bring it to Japan as well. Please enjoy SCANDAL's next activities! HARUNA: "Kiss from the darkness", the first album released after launching the new label, is challenging in terms of both the sound and lyrics. I'm so excited to be able to put myself into new works even after 13 years, and I'm pretty sure there is much more to come. We made the album while thinking "I want to enliven the audience". After doing Japan and overseas Live and the world tours, I want to come back more cool than ever! TOMOMI: Every time we release an album, we do a world tour, but every time we play a concert around the world, we feel that our understanding of each song deepens. That is very significant. We enjoy every tour as the songs we play in live around the world get a lot of popularity. The growth of the new album makes me excited. I was so impressed today to see how much the fans were enjoying our new songs, and I'm also looking forward to seeing how popular we have become after our return from Singapore. > In addition, click here for "C3AFA" Backstage news articles Photo taken by Nogi Akira