Koda Kumi shocking interview on YouTube

[andre2907]

Remember this thread that was locked without any good reason?

So yes, many people PM'ed asking if the interview was on video and it is on YouTube. Thanks to MaiK from Uwasa for uploading. Go here for the videos playlist. There's 5 parts and I think that's not the whole special, just Part I of 3.

For the mods: Can you please not make this news part of the locked thread? Because lots of people asked me and if it's there, I think not many people will see.

[micster]

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...CDFF02D3D5F271

The playlist

[andre2907]

Oops... I forgot the most important part. Thanks Micster.

[ayu_fan929]

Thanks for the link micster!

[Alessia_Tateno]

Thanks so much! but can someone rip it? it would be really really appreciate =)

[xiaou-xijiang]

Originally Posted by Alessia_Tateno

Thanks so much! but can someone rip it? it would be really really appreciate =)

I'll rip it, but the quality will be the same as it is on YT. What file do you want. .avi, wmv, mpeg...

[DerrickRocks]

ha ha the evil moderators are foiled again power to the little people
sike lol no pun intended lol

[jknza2664]

could someone translate this, or maybe just the interesting parts. All i understood was that it takes her 2 hours to do her makeup and stuff haha! but she always looks so good so maybe it's a worthwhile sacrifice...

[andre2907]

There's already a thread with some parts translated. See the link on the first post.

[xiaou-xijiang]

I'm surprised, the quality didn't come out as bad as I thought it would!

for Alessia_Tateno:
part one

part two

part three

part four

part five

Originally Posted by andre2907

uwasa.blogger.com.br, a brazilian blog about Jpop, did a coverage (the post isn't there anymore, I searched in the archives) and some ot the things she said:

- AVEX didn't let her appear on TV at the start of her carreer. Max Matsuura said: "We were looking for a singer and she was the best one.. but she was VERY ugly and VERY fat". Max Matsuura is so mean... and he probably don't have a mirror at home, I mean, he looks like an old monkey... but anyway, she was too ugly and fat to appear on TV and, according to her, she was eating too much because she was very frustrated that any of her singles went TOP 10.

- AVEX said to her "Or you lose weigh or you will be fired". So she didn't had an opition. Her boyfriend helped her and she went on a diet (she couldn't eat anything after 6 PM and she eat mostly fish and drink water and she still does that)

- About AVEX employees she said: "I was always at the building saying Hi to everybody and smiling but everybody just ignored me. It was very hard..."

- Her mother said it was very tought to see her sister, misono, debuting, going on lots of TV shows and winning lots of awards, all of this very quickly while Kuu didn't had a hit single and she was on the musical industry for a long time. It was very hard for the whole family.

- After a Day After Tomorrow concert, Kumi saw how her sister had lots of controls in her wardrobe, set list, etc. She always believed AVEX knew what to do with her, but after seeing her sister, she decided to opinate more on her carreer.

- She only had her contract renewed because of the "FINAL FANTASY" single, which was a hit. But after that, her sales quickly dropped. She was just another singer, with anything special. So her staff (mostly a female agent who always goes to work in very short-shorts) had the idea of the "ero-kakoii" style.

- She was the first very-sexy local artist and her first single with her new image, LOVE & HONEY, was a big hit. From then on, she kept the image and her sales only went up.

- About the ero-kakoii image she said: "I don't like it, lots of people have a very negative view of me. But when I talked to AVEX president about that, he said I couldn't change my image. Maybe in the near future, when I can do what I want, I'll stop with this ultra-sexy style, but 'till this day comes, I'll keep being ero-kakoii"

The third part of the special was "A Month in the Life of Koda Kumi". It starts at the AVEX office. The office isn't glamorous at all, it's just a packed and small room where managers, agents and staff of BoA, Namie Amuro, Ayu, etc works.

They interview the agent who created the "ero-kakoii" image and she takes the reporter to the meeting room. The meeting room is more what we expect, more organized. There is Koda Kumi, they show her taping radio spots, a PV and doing CMs.

At the end, Koda Kumi confirms she had plastic surgery to make her eyes bigger.

[lovemimi40]

PLEASE SOMEONE DO SUBS OR TRANSLATION!!! i REALLY REALLY WANNA KNOW WHAT SHE'S SAYING...AND THE KIDS CRYING IN THE CLASSROOM WHEN KUMI ENTERED...SO TOUCHING!!!

[andre2907]

I don't believe many people in this board really know japanese (for the lack of real translations around here), so maybe that's not the best place to ask for subs?

[kayokyokufan]

Originally Posted by xiaou-xijiang

I'm surprised, the quality didn't come out as bad as I thought it would!

for Alessia_Tateno:
part one

part two

part three

part four

part five

Could someone please reup these Koda Kumi interview rips?

[LacusClyne]

or maybe just a raw translation of the main talk part? so that others will get an idea.

[Syphex]

Is there a good picture of Kuu when she was younger? I'm curious to see how "fat" and "ugly" she really was (I'm betting she's not, and they're just being nitpicky though..)

[*Petit*]

Originally Posted by Syphex

Is there a good picture of Kuu when she was younger? I'm curious to see how "fat" and "ugly" she really was (I'm betting she's not, and they're just being nitpicky though..)

Well, there were these pre-idol clips around, and she really was.... no all that, to put it nicely. That discription from max wasen't all off really. Compared to pre-idol clips of other idols they were really bad. Not because she was physically REALLY ugly because she obioulsy werent (she woulden't had been picked uo by avex if she was), but she had no charisma what so ever. She wasen't idol skinny either. Compared to preidol clips I've seen of f.ex ayumi hamasaki, Ai takahashi and Aya matsuura, she definetly had a lot to improve.

[shadow*puppet]

Originally Posted by *Petit*

Well, there were these pre-idol clips around, and she really was.... no all that, to put it nicely. That discription from max wasen't all off really. Compared to pre-idol clips of other idols they were really bad. Not because she was physically REALLY ugly because she obioulsy werent (she woulden't had been picked uo by avex if she was), but she had no charisma what so ever. She wasen't idol skinny either.

unfortunately, i agree.. I've never found koda kumi attractive, even now. but she look cleaner these days. Better-groomed she looked best in the "you" pv, i think.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by Syphex

Is there a good picture of Kuu when she was younger? I'm curious to see how "fat" and "ugly" she really was (I'm betting she's not, and they're just being nitpicky though..)

In Japan, "fat" means you weigh more than 115 lbs. And people think that the west has impossible standards of beauty.

Originally Posted by greggerz189

she really is the new icon. the way those girls reacted to seeing her, i doubt that ayu's had that kind of effect on people...and the Grand Taishou to top it all off. and now she's beaten KinKi Kids.

Ayu has had that effect and to a greater degree I think, but right now it is Koda's turn to shine. Also, Koda has not beaten the Kinki Kids. Sales from this week:

1 - Kinki Kids - 239.000
2 - Koda Kumi - 207.000

Bad news for Ayu though as that makes Koda's single the highest opening sales for a female artist this year and its total sales will likely surpass any female single released this year so far.

Very interesting video though. Thanks for the link. It helped me understand Koda better.

[ayu_fan929]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Also, Koda has not beaten the Kinki Kids. Sales from this week:

Well I wouldn't say that would be a priority. I wouldn't say Kuu getting #1 singles is that big of a priority compared to Ayu... All she needs to do is just sell well, and maybe pick up some awards here and there (ie: Gold Disc and maybe repeat Record Taishou again this year?) and she'll be fine.

[SunshineSlayer]

Originally Posted by ayu_fan929

Well I wouldn't say that would be a priority. I wouldn't say Kuu getting #1 singles is that big of a priority compared to Ayu... All she needs to do is just sell well, and maybe pick up some awards here and there (ie: Gold Disc and maybe repeat Record Taishou again this year?) and she'll be fine.

I didn't say it was a priority either. I was just replying to some incorrect info.