Shining Agency Office Organization Chart, Part 1

All of the translations linked here are my own work. Please DO NOT re-post or screenshot my work without permission.

---

The Office Organization Chart is a diagram of the relationships between characters. There is also a brief explanation of relationships outside of musical activities, such as in the classroom, in their private lives, and in television programs.

This chart can be found on pages 148 and 149 of the 5th Anniversary Book.

---

The arrows are easiest to understand at the top level: Shining was a teacher/mentor to Ryuya and Ringo (his students), who are direct seniors to Reiji (their “junior”). At the senior/peer level, the arrows indicate how one character views another. Using Reiji and Tokiya’s relationship as an example, Reiji thinks of Tokiya as a serious, yet hardworking junior. In turn, Tokiya respects Reiji as someone who is flexible and adaptable.

If you have trouble reading the chart, here's a text explanation below:

---

Shining Saotome: President of Shining Agency. Has two former students, Hyuga Ryuya and Tsukimiya Ringo.

Hyuga Ryuya: Idol, Representative Director and in charge of accounting. Senior to Kotobuki Reiji.

Tsukimiya Ringo: Popular "Crossdressing Idol" in Shining Agency. Senior to Kotobuki Reiji and Shibuya Tomochika's teacher.

Shibuya Tomochika: Talented young female idol.

---

Kotobuki Reiji: Senior to "obedient and cute junior" Otoya and "strict-but-hardworking junior" Tokiya. Mentors them in the Master Course.

Ittoki Otoya: Thinks of his senior Reiji as friendly and brotherly. Former roommate of Tokiya and thinks of him as a "super idol" who can do anything.

Ichinose Tokiya: Respects Reiji's flexibility and ability to adapt. Thinks of his former roommate Otoya as having natural talent for being an idol.

---

Kurosaki Ranmaru: Senior to Masato and Ren. He guides Masato on being more flexible and demands a full-power performance from Ren. Mentors them in the Master Course.

Hijirikawa Masato: Admires Ranmaru's passionate attitude towards everything [concerning music]. Thinks his former roommate Ren has a hidden passion underneath his light attitude.

Jinguji Ren: Driven by Ranmaru to go into "serious mode." Thinks his former roommate Masato's over-seriousness is interesting.

---

Mikaze Ai: Senior to Natsuki and Syo. Instructs Natsuki on taking advantage of the gap between his ordinary qualities and his songs, and believes that Syo has a talent for perseverance. Mentors them in the Master Course.

Shinomiya Natsuki: Thinks his senior Ai is cute and reliable. Thinks of his former roommate Syo as a strong and cute prince.

Kurusu Syo: Respects Ai's perfect work. Even though he's pulled around by his former roommate Natsuki, he's a childhood friend that he can't neglect.

---

Camus: Senior to Cecil and believes he has effort. Mentors him in the Master Course.

Aijima Cecil: Thinks Camus is a bully but believes is music is genuine.

---

Translator's Notes:

Some parts of this were confusing at first because a lot of the notes are not written in complete sentences, which means knowing background information was very important. I used my understanding of the Debut storylines to determine the translations for Ranmaru/Masato/Ren especially. Ranmaru might not seem like a flexible person when it comes to personality, and one might think that Masato is flexible because of his respect for Ranmaru and willingness to learn, but if you remember the Idol-type mapping you can see that Masato is rated as being more stubborn than Ranmaru. Therefore I determined that the flexibility is probably in terms of music--Ranmaru loves rock music but also has experience with classical music as well as jazz (as explained in All Star).

June Translation Roundup

June was a wild month. I ran into a huge issue within the UtaPri fandom which caused me some distress, and for the next few days after that it was hard to work on translations without my feelings get in the way.

But the best thing about the past month is that I finished more than I expected I would. The special messages for the voice cast of ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT are done, AND I finished all but Tokiya's Q&A (which was just completed as my first post of July).

I've gained quite a few followers and some new friends on Twitter and Facebook and it's been really fun chatting with people about one of my absolute favorite series. It was a pleasant reminder that fandoms contain a lot of very nice and supportive people.

With all of the Q&A's finished, I will have to change gears as I start working on other parts of the book. I am also closing in on one month before Otakon (my next convention) as well as my trip to Japan. I not only have costumes to be made and prepared, but I also need to start packing to be overseas for a month!

My visit will mostly be related to my future career goals. First and foremost, I will be applying for graduate school this fall and hope to be attending a school in Japan in a year. Next, I am also visiting to make sure that my Japanese language skills stay sharp. I'm already a little nervous about visiting my former employers and speaking to them because I haven't had a full spoken conversation in Japanese in almost a year. I also hope that I will be able to enjoy some UtaPri-related activities while I am there and share my experiences with everyone.

When I planned my trip, the exchange rate was favorable for me to travel to Japan. But over the past few months, and now with the Brexit crisis, I'm uncertain about how much more money it will cost for me. I'm trying my best to earn some extra money to cover costs.

The reason I mention all this is to announce two updates:

1. A few days ago I added a PayPal "Donate" button to the side of my blog. I don't require anyone to pay to read my translations, and this project will always be free! But if you would like to help and show some appreciation in the form of a donation, I have left the option there for you to give any amount that you want to contribute.


2. I am working on a Storenvy shop where I plan to sell UtaPri and Sailor Moon goods. It will mostly be small items like cellphone straps and can badges, but occasionally I may have some bigger items available. I plan to set prices at very reasonable amounts compared to eBay and what you may find in anime conventions, so if you're interested in buying goods keep an eye out for updates! For now, you can look at what I have listed for a limited time on eBay.

Both donations and item sales will help with my expenses for graduate school, starting from my Japan trip next month.

To conclude, I hope that I can continue to make more translation progress this month! Thank you for your continued support! これからもよろしくお願いします！

Ichinose Tokiya Q&A Session

All of the translations linked here are my own work. Please DO NOT re-post or screenshot my work without permission.

---

Each of the 11 idols have a Q&A page adjacent to their solo interview page. There are 15 questions about private life and hypothetical situations, and the questions are the same for all characters. 

Tokiya's Q&A can be found on page 89 of the 5th Anniversary Book.

---

Q1 What about you has changed compared to yourself from long ago?
I suppose I’ve made room for more tolerance towards various personalities. There was a time when I couldn’t accept ways that were clearly different from myself.

Q2 What is considered a precious possession to you?
Since I’m not one to cling to material things, there isn’t anything specifically, but I always want to have the books I like on hand.

Q3 About how many hours of sleep do you get on average?
I want to secure about six hours. It depends on the previous day’s work, but I’m dedicated to waking up early in the morning to go jogging or do other exercise.

Q4 What animal would you have as a pet?
I have so much on my plate that I don’t give thought to taking care of a pet. I’m also away from home a lot. Caring for a life is a serious responsibility.

Q5 What physical feature do you like about yourself?
My ears, I suppose? Not the shape of them but their function. I think that my hearing is better compared to others. For work, they’re very important.

Q6 If you could use a time machine, would you travel to the past or the future?
The past. Everyone thinks about how they’d do things during that time, right? I want to give my past self advice on more efficient and effective techniques.

Q7 If you could do something else for just one day, what would it be?
I’m interested in trying a completely different field of work. It would be good to acquire life experience as an office worker. I would be even happier if it was work relevant to music.

Q8 What do you often spend time doing while you’re waiting around?
I confirm my work. Even during a break, I cannot waste time. I maintain my motivation through image training and so on.

Q9 If you were an animal, what would you be?
I don’t really know. I also don’t like to have a fixated image put on me through my remarks. I’ll leave it up to everyone’s imagination.

Q10 What have you been into lately?
I’m collecting items that are good for the throat. I especially have a variety of honey. I choose one in accordance to my condition at the time.

Q11 What’s your favorite amusement park ride?
There isn’t an attraction I like in particular. I think I would go along with whatever my companion would want to ride. It’s more rousing for a person I love to decide.

Q12 What item of stress-relief do you like?
I do half-body bathing* often, so I suppose my bath items? I stock up on fragrant bath additives. Relaxing is also important.

Q13 What place would you currently like to try visiting?
If I had the time going overseas would be nice, but since there are many places within the country that I’ve never been to, it might be good to start by getting to know Japan first.

Q14 What does work mean to you?
It’s my life. Since I’ve been involved in this world from the time I was small, I have a lot of memories related to work. It’s always occupied the majority of my life.

Q15 What do fans mean to you?
They’re the ones who push me. The feelings of those who support me are what drive me forward. I will continue to count on you.

---

Translator's Notes and Thoughts:

Tokiya's Q&A was pretty easy to translate since his way of speaking is formal and considered pretty standard. I find a lot of things in common with him, such as how he hates wasting time and will even use his free time to try to do something productive. His answers are incredibly thoughtful too, I enjoyed reading them! ☆

*"half-body bathing" is the activity of sitting in a bathtub that is halfway-filled with hot water and soaking the hips and legs for about 30 minutes to improve blood circulation and as a way to detox. I've read in some places that it's a "recent" trend, but I'm not exactly sure how it's different from the customary practice in Japan of soaking in the bath after a shower, which has been around for a long time as far as I know.