――Congratulations to everyone at LOONA for their debut in Japan!
Everyone: "Thank you (clapping your hands)!"
――Kansta! Every time LOONA makes a comeback, we post a stage report of the popular Korean music program "M COUNTDOWN", which is very popular every time. Please start by greeting the readers
Everyone: "Hello at LOONA!" (continued on the next page)
Haseul: "Hello, I'm Haseul. My representative animal is a white bird. Thank you."
Kim Lip: "Hello, I'm Kim Lip. The representative animal is an owl and is in charge of red. Thank you."
Heejin: "Nice to meet you, I'm Heejin. My animal is a rabbit. Thank you."
Hyunjin: "Hello, I'm Hyunjin. The animal is a cat. Thank you."
Go Won: "I'm a butterfly, Go Won. Thank you."
Yeojin: "I'm Kerokero (frog), Yeojin. Thank you."
Yves: "Hello, I'm Yves, the baby apple of Orbits. Thank you."
Vivi: "Hello, I'm Vivi, LOONA's No. 1 Nee-chan (oldest member). Thank you."
Chuu: "Hello, my animal is a penguin. I'm Chuu! Thank you."
Choerry: "Nice to meet you, I'm Choerry! Thank you!"
Jinsoul: "Nice to meet you, I'm Jinsoul. I'm in charge of "soul" among the members. Thank you."
Olivia Hye: "Hello, I'm Olivia Hye, the scary eyes of LOONA (laughs). Thank you."
――First of all, please tell us your impressions of Japan's major debut.
Olivia Hye: "I'm very happy to now make my debut in Japan. I've been preparing for a long time, so I'd like to continue to show you a cool and beautiful self."
Hyunjin: "I'm very excited to make my debut in Japan, and I'm very happy. I want to continue to do my best."
Jinsoul: "This time, we’ve decided to make our debut in Japan and challenge ourselves with a concept that is a bit different from our Korean activities. We will challenge ourselves with various concepts from now on, so please support us."
Choerry: "I'm very sorry that I couldn't go to Japan directly, but I'd like to show "HULA HOOP" and "StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~" in front of the fans after this situation is over soon!!"
Vivi: "I'm very happy to make my debut in Japan. I'm looking forward to future activities, it’s kind of a strange feeling."
Chuu: "I'm very happy to make my debut in Japan this time, and I'm excited! I'm really looking forward to future activities in Japan."
Yves (in Japanese): “I'm happy to finally make my debut in Japan. Please keep an eye on me moving onwards."
Yeojin: "We prepared hard, because Japanese Orbits were waiting for us. I'm nervous, but I feel happy."
Go Won: "I think I've come this far due to the support of all the Orbits out there. I want to return the favor, and I feel that this is a good opportunity. I'm very happy."
Heejin (in Japanese): "We all wanted to make our debut in Japan before we made our debut in Japan, but I'm really happy to make our debut now! I want to meet Japanese fans soon."
Kim Lip: "I'm really looking forward to debuting in Japan. I recorded in Japanese for the first time this time, but I worked hard so that the fans wouldn't feel that the Japanese was strange. Thank you for your support."
Haseul: "Debuting in Japan hasn’t really hit me yet, but I'm nervous. I've been feeling a little more about this online talk event, but I feel strongly that I want to go to Japan and work. I look forward to working with you. "
――LOONA is a girl group that is attracting worldwide attention, but there are some people in Japan who don't know yet, so please tell us what kind of group LOONA is.
Heejin: "LOONA had a distinctive debut project slogan, ’We meet a new girl every month’, and each member made a solo debut before our official debut in Korea. Like the seasons looking different, from January to December, each member has their unique charms. We’re a group that always has aspirations to challenge ourselves to show performances that break typical current patterns and expectations.”
――LOONA debuted one by one every month as you just said, but all of you really have the looks and performance ability to stand in the center, and I myself was shocked.
Everyone: "Thank you!"
――Among others, what is the appeal of LOONA?
Hyunjin: "After all, we made our debut solo before we all made our official debut in Korea, so I think it's attractive that each member has a solo song. Each member has their own individuality, and of course the feeling of the song is different. I think that fans will be happy to hear this."
――LOONA members are showing cool performances that are mainly full of girl-crush charm in Korea, but when you go off-stage, Chuu-san invented the "Chuu Heart." Do you think this gap is also a big attraction?
Chuu: "Thank you! (Makes a Chuu Heart, making a heart by biting.) This Chuu Heart was made at a fan signing event. I was so glad to meet all the fans, and I just made it. However, everyone seems to be enjoying it, so I feel very happy (laughs). "
――So, please tell us what kind of single the long-awaited Japanese debut single "HULA HOOP / StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~" is.
Haseul: “LOONA’s Japan debut single, 'HULA HOOP / StarSeed ~Kakusei' consists of 4 songs; 'HULA HOOP', 'StarSeed ~Kakusei~', 'PTT (Paint The Town)' and 'HULA HOOP City Pop Version'. 'HULA HOOP' and 'StarSeed ~Kakusei~' are double titles, and both songs contain a positive message about 'infinite possibilities in us'. Unlike the previous song 'PTT (Paint The Town)', we tried to create a cute and lively atmosphere for these songs, and we enjoyed the recording sessions. Since these songs are the first songs to be in Japanese for us, we were very careful in how we pronounced everything. We are very grateful to the fans who said they felt happy from listening to the songs, and we wish to go to Japan to show them face-to-face.
――I have listened to the songs as well, and your Japanese was very good. I could understand the Japanese lyrics without reading the written lyrics, and the nuances were perfectly delivered. It was really lovely.
Everyone: "Thank you! (happy applause)"
――How do you usually study Japanese?
Hyunjin: "I usually have a lot of schedules, so I studied by looking things up in a dictionary myself, and of course I had lessons too. With this being my first song in Japanese, the experience from past studies showed its strengths, I think."
Heejin (in Japanese): “Japanese is a little soft but ‘PTT (Paint The Town)’ is a kind of strong song so it was difficult. ‘HULA HOOP’ and ‘StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~’ are bright songs so it was fun."
Jinsoul: "My brother majored in Japanese at university, and I studied by sending video messages to see if my pronunciation was correct."
Choerry: "I like movies and anime, so I watched a lot of Japanese anime to accustom my ears to more naturally listen to Japanese."
Chuu: "I studied while watching Japanese peoples’ vlogs."
Yves: "When I received a fan letter from Japanese fans, I looked up various words and studied while thinking about how to answer in Japanese."
Vivi: "I learned basic Japanese through lessons. I think I learned Japanese better because there were many people who taught me when I went to the site."
Yeojin: "I searched online when I didn't understand lyrics and Japanese words, and asked the member unnies, ‘what does this word mean?’ and studied."
Go Won: "Similar to Yeojin-san, I studied by searching the internet for lyrics and Japanese words that I didn't understand."
Kim Lip: "I think I got the basics while taking Japanese lessons with everyone. I did my best with the help of everyone at the company during the recording."
Haseul: "I still don't know much about Japan, but I would say that I originally liked Japanese movies and anime, and learned pronunciation and nuances by watching them. From the producers and composers who were in Japan while recording, I got advice on pronunciation and nuance from everyone there and learned that way."
Olivia Hye: "I think I improved my ability to write sentences by keeping a diary in Japanese. I studied listening while watching Japanese anime and movies. Even right now, I'm learning by listening to the interpreter, thinking about words and what they mean.”
――The CD jacket seems to be very cute, but please tell us the points of the outfits and what left an impression on you during the shooting.
Yeojin: "It's a personal impression, but this outfit has a lot of plaid and uses a lot of colors. I tried to make it look cute, unlike previous concepts. This time,I took pictures with a big balloon, but I remember that it was soft and I wanted to fall asleep while hugging the balloon (laughs)."
――Please tell us about the songs. First of all, what kind of song is "HULA HOOP"?
Kim Lip: "When I first listened to this song, I was surprised at how soft and cute the song was, unlike the previous songs. To be honest, I wondered if we could do it (laughs). But we can do it, after all thinking about pulling it off perfectly helped. 'HULA HOOP' is a song that says that you can be yourself as you are, or you can be yourself without putting on a facade. I liken myself to a hula hoop and convey a positive message that I can do what I want to do freely, even if I make a mistake while spinning around and around I can always just restart."
――What is the point choreo?
Vivi: "This dance has a lot of gestures called 'fuu', and after all there are many movements like turning a hula hoop. Point dance is a "bubble gum dance" that inflates the gum by going 'fuu'. I imagined what each member’s dance would taste like if it were gum (laughs)."
Olivia Hye: "'Bubblegum Dance''s 'fuu' movement is the hook, and it’s a very bright and cute dance. We are planning to upload a video in the form of a challenge on SNS, so everyone please try to imitate the dance."
――Please tell us the highlights of the music video and the story behind the shooting.
Jinsoul: "This music video has a bright concept and there are a lot of dances. I think I was able to give 100% of the facial expressions and gestures to be lively and cute. This time, we made full use of chroma key composition. I hope you enjoy it in the music video."
――Next, what kind of song is "StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~"?
Choerry: "'StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~ ' is a very cute song with an attractive synthesizer, like a fusion of K-POP and J-POP. When I first listened to this song, I was interested in it because it was a song with a concept I had never experienced before, and I thought it was a very fun song."
――If Yves, who is good at dancing, choreographed "StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~", what kind of image would we see?
Yves: "'StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~ ' may feel very cute to everyone, but when I first heard it, I thought it was a refreshing song, including the lyrics. I love the Japanese anime 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time', and I felt that the atmosphere is similar to that of the anime, so I would like to choreograph with that image. Maybe it suits Chuu-san very well."
―― "StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~" is "cho cho joayo (super super good!)", so it's very cute and memorable.
Everyone: "♪ (singing) cho cho joayo ~"
--Thank you! What is the "super super good" (cho cho joayo) that you have recently encountered?
Olivia Hye: "We held an online showcase to commemorate our debut in Japan, and I was happy that Kim Tay MC’d and took great care of us. We received a letter and organic soap as gifts. After receiving those, we decided to do our best with my debut in Japan and do our best in the future. "
Hyunjin: "At that time, we received a cake with our faces on it at the Japan debut showcase. I was very happy to see that cake and realize that we are making our debut in Japan."
Heejin (In Japanese): "Something very good for me was that I personally made my debut in Japan and was really surprised to receive more support and love than I had expected. I thought from now on I need to do my best with training and other things."
Jinsoul: "When I made my debut in Japan, I tried to brighten my hair. This time, I'm very happy and feel good with my eyelash perm (laughs)."
Kim Lip: "I'm very happy that the clothes I had ordered that I hadn't received before arrived the other day (laughs)."
Haseul: "This time, when I was practicing ‘HULA HOOP’, the straps of my shoes suddenly came loose, but at that time, Olivia tied them back up. After that, I felt happy enough to brag to the members for about 3 days (laughs)" (Olivia is shy)
Choerry: "Recently, I went to eat hagfish grilled with Jinsoul. It was very delicious and I was happy. (laughs)"
Chuu: "I was very happy that the vitamin I was asking for arrived the other day (laughs)."
Vivi: "I'm very happy to make my debut in Japan, and I'm very happy to hear that the Japanese Orbits are very happy."
Yves: "I like the sea, but when I was lonely because I couldn't go, Haseul told me to go for a while and I went with her. I was very happy (laughs)" (Haseul also made a peace sign and smiled)
Yeojin: "The other day, I was watching a scary horror movie on the sofa, and Olivia-san surprised me with 'WA~!' Of course I was scared, but it was very fun (laughs)"
Go Won: "The other day, I got Olivia's pants that I've always wanted! I was very happy!" (Member, envy)
――Olivia is quite popular,
Olivia Hye (in Japanese): "No, no (laughs)"
――Now, please tell us about "PTT (Paint The Town) Japanese Ver."
Chuu: "This song has a music video that has an important point that leads to our music videos so far. For example, there is a scene where Kim Lip puts on a uniform. It's also my favorite song, and I was very proud of the fact that the Orbit people also liked it. "
――Energetic dance was attractive, but what is the point choreo?
Go Won: "Point dance is a ‘water strider dance’ that’s like a water strider floating on the water, and there is also a dance like playing guitar in the air." (Hyunjin shows us the dances)
――You talked about a music video a little, but how was the shooting?
Olivia Hye: "I personally find this song difficult, and in the music video I shot a scene where I play a drum in a circle of fire, and I shot a lot of different scenes with the members. I hit the drum over 100 times, but when it was over, I remember Jinsoul taking a nap a little and talking in a slightly faint voice during the interview (laughs)" (everyone burst into laughter)
――Please give a final message to Japanese fans.
Yeojin: "The Japanese album has finally come out and we are making our debut in Japan. We will do our best as much as you have been waiting for us. Thank you!"
Go Won: "This time, we will meet you with a new concept. I am very grateful to all the Japanese Orbits for their happiness. Thank you for your continued support for many activities."
Hyunjin: "I'm making my debut in Japan this time. I want to do my best to meet the expectations of Japanese fans. Let's make a lot of memories!"
Heejin (in Japanese): "Please listen to LOONA's 'HULA HOOP / StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~' a lot! Let's meet in Japan soon ~. I love you 💓"
Kim Lip: "I am very grateful that I will be loved by many people for my debut, even if I can't meet you in Japan this time. LOONA will continue to play an active role in the future. So please give us a lot of interest and affection."
Jinsoul: "I'm very sorry that I couldn't meet Japanese fans in person, but I think I was able to give everyone a present with this album. I'm very happy. Later, I want you to tell me about the delicious restaurants that are popular in Japan. I definitely want to go and enjoy it."
Haseul: "I'm officially making my debut in Japan this time, but I'm very sorry that I couldn't show you ‘HULA HOOP’ and ‘StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~’ directly. I hope there will be various opportunities such as concerts and fan meetings in the future. I want to meet you guys! I love you 💓"
Olivia Hye (in Japanese): "I would like to go to Japan and show you ‘HULA HOOP’. Please wait for us, thank you!"
Choerry (in Japanese): "I really want to meet you guys. I love you ~ 💓 I’m Choerry ~ (waving)"
Chuu: "We prepared a lot for ’HULA HOOP’ and ‘StarSeed ~ Kakusei ~’. I hope you enjoy it! Please provide support!"
Vivi: "It's still difficult to meet in person, but I'll fly over as soon as the situation improves! Just a little more patience. Let's meet again later! Bye bye!"
Yves: "I would like to give back with a bright song and a chemi (good compatibility) of the members to always support me. I will deliver it to everyone with happy energy, so please watch over me. I love you. 💓"
Everyone: "This was LOONA!"