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【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 80

•The episode starts with this.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who asks them about their outfits and why they went with white tops layered over black. TOMO says that since they worked with the company NAKED again (like they did for SEASONS last year) and had them make videos, they wanted to wear something that had no color in it/something that wouldn't get in the way of the videos, which is why they went with white. RINA says that they told their long-time stylist about the color and what they wanted, and gave him freedom to pick whatever he thought would work best since they believe in his fashion sense.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who attended the concert in person and attended a concert with their girlfriend for the first time. When he asked her what she thought afterwards, she said she was glad they both got to go together but wishes she was more on his left side (referencing the lyrics to "Kinenbi"; You have a cute girl - Who looks good on your left side), and he says that his heart wouldn't stop pounding. The others go, "That's so cute!" (TOMO: "I'd want to date that girl, too - That's too cute").

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who attended the concert in person and went with her significant other. She says that her SO basically only somewhat knew of the band members' names before it, but attending the concert made them a fan of the band and they'll keep attending SCANDAL concerts together. HARU says that hearing someone becoming a fan of them after seeing them live makes them most happy. RINA wonders if they've memorized the band members' names. MAMI laughs and says they don't need to know them - it's enough to listen to their music. RINA says they should at least know what instruments are played in the band (like guitar, drums). HARU says that it's fine to just know that there are four members. RINA says, "That's such a low bar!"

•HARU reads the next message from a listener who got into SCANDAL because of their ex-boyfriend; she wanted to like the same things that he did. They also attended SCANDAL concerts together. In no time she fell in love with both him and SCANDAL. They dated for four and a half years, but he dumped her after telling her he was interested in someone else. Since then, she's done stuff like joined SCANDAL's fan club, watched their livestream last year, and attended their fan club tour earlier this year (their first time seeing SCANDAL alone). She says that the OJH performance this year was also something special for her. The first place she and her ex traveled to was Osaka five and a half years ago, and although they had planned to visit OJH, they enjoyed the aquarium too much and wouldn't be able to make it to their flight on time, so they decided to visit it the next time they were in Osaka. So, her deciding to go to OJH for this anniversary concert was very meaningful for her. However, she decided not to go in person due to everything going on and instead watched it at home with a good friend. After the friend went home, she thought about the concert and her ex and started to cry. She then thought she needed to properly end things with her ex, so one week later she contacted him, saying that she can't move forward so she's erasing his contact info and that she doesn't plan on seeing him again, so take care (reference to "Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne"). He then told her that he had gotten married the previous month. She says she didn't really want to say it but thought she had to, so she thanked him for everything and things are truly over between them now. She doesn't know how many more years will pass until she gets married herself or if she even will get married, but she wants to be able to tell her ex from the bottom of her heart that she wishes him happiness and to congratulate him on his marriage. She thanks SCANDAL for the precious moments with her ex. HARU says she's happy the listener is still a fan of SCANDAL. RINA says she thinks it's really nice when a woman can say goodbye to their ex without hating them as it means they can move forward. They're really strong for choosing their own way of living. MAMI says, "Why not marry SCANDAL? We're not going anywhere," which they all laugh at. TOMO says she hopes the listener finds someone whom she loves just as much as her ex.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who livestreamed the concert, though they did want to attend in person and apologize for not doing so due to the pandemic. They say they hope to see SCANDAL's next performance at OJH in person. The band says that there was no correct/incorrect choice for attending/watching the concert, and that the next time they play there they hope to have it completely filled (since the rules are that crowds of no more than 5,000 can gather).

•RINA reads the next message from a female listener in her 50's who has known about SCANDAL for about 10 years now. Her boyfriend at the time was a fan and had her listen to their songs as well. He went to SCANDAL's first concert at OJH in 2013 by himself, but they decided that they'd both go together to their next concert there in 2014. However, he passed away before the concert and she ended up going with a friend instead. When she heard about the 15th anniversary concert she had been thinking of going in person and carrying on the sentiment of her bf but ultimately decided to watch the livestream instead due to the pandemic. She enjoyed the concert while thinking of him and thinking of how he definitely would have wanted attend more than she did. She thanks them and says that she wants to keep going to their concerts and carrying on his sentiments. TOMO says that you really don't know when your time will be up. HARU says it's amazing that the listener has kept being a fan of theirs for all this time. RINA talks about how this listener's been living their life while being rewarded and being saved by their late bf's spirit, and that she's been having fun at their concerts with his sentiments by her side this whole time. She also says that this message really conveys how thoughtful the listener is, and that she thought of how she wants to keep bequeathing music while remembering that all kinds of people are watching them while feeling all kinds of things. TOMO says that it's a given that they want to keep being a band forever--they said during their MC that they don't know how to quit, after all--but they don't know what'll happen in the future, and of course the same can also be said for their fans. No one knows what the future holds, and it's possible that a fan might start disliking SCANDAL tomorrow. She says that the pandemic has made them feel that they really need to cherish the spaces where they're able to see their fans. MAMI says that she's sure the bf was right alongside the listener as she was watching the livestream, and if the bf was still around then it's possible he may also have made the choice to watch the livestream instead of attending in person. She also says they'd like for everyone to come out to a concert of theirs at OJH if a well-prepared system is achieved one day. TOMO says that they need to continue being a good band, which the others agree with. They thank the listener for telling them all this, and that they want them to keep following them.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who attended the concert in person, and who says that the first SCANDAL song they heard was "Departure," which they happened to hear seven years ago when they were a middle schooler. When they heard it live at the concert, they felt super emotional. They also say how they've been playing the bass for a year now, and seeing TOMO playing live made them want to get better at it. They mention that they're currently trying to play the octave in "SCANDAL BABY." HARU says that when you hear live the first song you hear from an artist, it totally can make you cry. TOMO says that they'll be able to suddenly play that octave one day. She says that playing octaves is pretty tiring--it's something you need stamina for, but you'll suddenly be able to play it one day. MAMI asks if that means that after not being able to play it, that one day they will just suddenly be able to play it. TOMO says yes, and RINA says it's like that with instruments; you're not able to play something, but then you sleep on it and absorb it all, and the next day you wake up and will feel like you'll be able to play it. TOMO tells them to get a lot of sleep. MAMI says that if they keep repeating that (try to play, sleep), they'll be able to play one day. They say not to give up and to keep going.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

"SCANDAL will continue forever!" What are their thoughts on what HARUNA said during their concert?

Episode ＃80 blog

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HARUNA: Even though it's the middle of September we'll still be doing this...

RINA: It's being quite dragged out...

HARUNA: We'll keep reading all of your messages about our 15th anniversary concert.
Titled...
「MY INVITATION 〜Re: 2021.8.21」

HARUNA: Let's get right to it...

Sokonashi Blue Megane

Your concert was the best! I watched the livestream and was so moved that I couldn't stop crying--in particular the flow from the new song "Ao no Naru Yoru no Sukima de" to "Tonight" was amazing! Since "SCANDAL BABY" was the third song played and you had opened with "eternal," I was wondering what the last song would be--that's when you concluded with "Masterpiece." It did feel like SCANDAL is off to a new start. During the MC you guys even said that you "don't know how to quit being a band," so I'm relieved and delighted that I can keep supporting SCANDAL and that you guys will give me strength. I'll support you forever! By the way, when did you do "ILLUSION" during the concert?

RINA: Hm? They didn't notice?

HARUNA: Even though we did do it.

RINA: We did do it during MCs.

MAMI: The number of balls kept growing during "Take Me Out"... Didn't you guys notice?

RINA: We created an illusion without anyone noticing because it was real magic.

TOMOMI: We hear the part where we did the illusion will be cut out for the DVD release.

HARUNA: That's right.

RINA: As expected.

HARUNA: It might have been something fun just for the livestream.

*The staff was also curious to see if they'd remember the tricks they learned...


HARUNA: Also, we did say that we "don't know how to quit being a band."

RINA: It's been a while since we've had this "We'll be doing this forever" feeling, and HARUNA was the one who said those words... For the past few years, especially since starting our label "her," we've been saying how there's no such thing as forever, which is why the present is important and that we want everyone to take a look at who we are right now, and that we'll play the music we want to play right now. That's the truth, and we of course still feel that way. I'm glad that really understood the feeling in her words of "We'll be doing this forever for as long as we're able to."

HARUNA: I thought, "Well, that just popped out of my mouth."

RINA: Totally get that.

HARUNA: Of course we're planning to stay as a band, but we've tried not to make promises... It just unintentionally popped out. But I think that's because I like who the four of us are right now.

RINA: That was really nice.

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 79

•The episode starts with this. Also, they play the recorded version of "one more time" at the beginning of the episode - you can listen to that here (starts from 1:17).

•TOMO says that they're grateful their instruments are noticed and that it's not a bad habit. As they laugh they basically say to look forward to more info on their instruments at a later date as things aren't completed just yet. MAMI confirms that the new guitar she played at the concert is a different one from the Modern Strat she played before.

•HARU says that the band themselves haven't really gotten a chance yet to talk about the concert together as they had been taking some time off afterwards. First, she asks RINA how the concert was for her. RINA says it made her very happy and that she's thankful fans came out during this tough time. They had put a ton of thought into it all and digested a ton of feelings in their own way before standing on stage, which they then delivered in the form of music--she thinks they were able to convey everything. For her, it was a really great, fun concert. MAMI says that they were able to play a very relaxed set despite being nervous/having a lot of things to be nervous about. She says that she enjoyed everything about it. HARU confirms that they were really relaxed during the concert, which is something she's very glad about.

•TOMO says that it was such a happy time, and that she's happy they got to celebrate their 15th anniversary with everyone despite the COVID situation getting worse around that time. She also mentions how there were a lot of comments from people overseas as well [not that they actually showed overseas comments on screen during the concert lol], and that they've made so many comrades over the past 15 years--that also includes their concert team. She's happy to have a team that they can create concerts together with and entrust everything to. HARU talks about how a lot of overseas fans sent in messages to the program saying that they watched the concert, and that getting to celebrate it with everyone despite all of the time differences made them very happy.

•TOMO says that it's now September but they're still basking in the afterglow of the concert. RINA says that they feel super accomplished. She wonders when's the next time that they'll feel this accomplished. TOMO says that it'll probably be their 20th anniversary. RINA says that that'll come around in no time. Going back to the concert, they again say it was fun and that they're grateful they got to hold it. They talk about how it'll be released on DVD and Blu-ray. RINA says that they'd like everyone--those who attended, those who watched the livestream, and those who did neither of those--to enjoy it while watching it at home.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener who wrote this message on way back home from the concert. They say they're grateful the band held this concert, they thank everyone involved, and mention other things that are too hard to understand due to HARU's audio being distorted/muffled. They thank the listener and say they said such nice things.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who say they haven't really been in a mood to listen to music and was unsure whether or not to go to concert in person. They decided at the last minute to since they didn't want to later regret not going. They say it was a lot of fun and say they feel like they can start enjoying music again starting the day following the concert. RINA says she really understands not being in the mood to listen to music, which TOMO and MAMI agree with. She says that she's not sure how that comes off, with them being musicians, but they don't really have a lot of time to listen to other kinds of music and sometimes there isn't any music that fits the current mood they're in. MAMI says that sometimes there's too much new music to listen to that you don't know what exactly to listen to. She also says that she feels she didn't really listen to much music during the pandemic, which RINA and TOMO say is the same for them. RINA says that the act of deciding to go helps the band out a lot and makes them feel grateful.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who had originally had tickets to go see the concert but decided to switch to the livestream due to everything going on. They say they felt sorry about not going in person, but what HARU said during their MCs really helped them out and they even cried. They say that above all, they felt the infinite power of music. HARU says that things that people who switched to the livestream have said regarding merits unique to watching via livestream are things such as being "closer" distance-wise to the band and seeing things you wouldn't normally be able to see, and hearing things like that makes them happy. RINA says that what you see live isn't what it's going to look like on the recorded version, so what you saw live is special in its own way. She also mentions the KFTD livestream last year and how it was their first worldwide livestream = they were really nervous, but this time she looked at the camera more than last year, which she and the band laugh at that. They say that they'll continue reading messages from the listeners next week.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

Looking back on "SCANDAL 15th ANNIVERSARY LIVE 『INVITATION』" while basking in the afterglow!

Episode ＃79 blog

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HARUNA: On August 21st we held our 15th anniversary concert at Osaka-Jo Hall

This week we'll be recording for the first time since that concert, meaning...
We'll just be reading the many messages about concert impressions from everyone.
It's called...
「MY INVITATION 〜Re: 2021.8.21」

RINA: Oh...

TOMOMI: Exactly as is...

MAMI: Yeah...

HARUNA: It's a bit of a serious title.

*Staff's note: It's okay to be serious once in a while!
Thank you for waiting. We'll be introducing as many concert impression messages as possible.


HARUNA: Let's get right to it...

fujippy

Good evening, SCANDAL. Good work on your anniversary concert. It was so satisfying amidst this "new normal" era where what you can do is limited. Thank you very much for the wonderful concert and best night. I'm happy I got to participate.

I've been attending SCANDAL concerts since January 2015, and since that was after your previous OJH concert, my want of seeing you perform there came true. I've attended about 20 SCANDAL concerts per year, so that concert was my 88th one. I'm around 50 years old, so once I attend 100 SCANDAL concerts, I think I will retire from going to concerts. As such, I'm very happy I got to see this concert at OJH.

As for the anniversary concert itself:
I once again realized how charming SCANDAL is, who shows us a great live performance whether it be at live music clubs or arenas. As a person in the video industry myself, I felt the greatness of the videos show on the big screen on stage, and what I was interested in during such a wonderful concert is that you have even more instruments now. There were many new instruments!

Since RINA had posted about her new drum set in advance on Instagram, I was looking forward to seeing the wonderfully colored drums on that day--but I was surprised that everyone else had new gear as well: Timo's pink Jazz Bass, HARUNA's white Telecaster with a stoptail bridge. (The Tele looked like the one used in the "A.M.D.K.J." music video, but it is a different guitar since the headstock is the same color as the body.)

MAMI's Telecaster [Note: It's actually a Stratocaster!] was also new. Is that the Telecaster you used at a previous Fender event? [Note: It's not, as that one was a MiJ Modern Strat, but it is similar in appearance to this new one; we don't know the model of it yet] I saw it several times in magazines and in shots from your Wednesday rehearsals posted on IG, but it was refreshing to see MAMI using it live! I used to play a band when I was a kid, so it's a bad habit for me to be interested in musical instruments live, but I'm also happy to know the evolution of the band via instruments.

Speaking of which, my question about musical instruments was used during the question corner of the HONEY tour in Osaka. That's a good memory for me.

Hard times will still continue on, but I will take the utmost care and participate in up to 100 concerts. I'm looking forward to updating my best concert memories from here on out too. Will I reach 90 concerts if I'm able to get tickets to the joint band tour, I wonder... See you later.

All: Thanks so much!

HARUNA: They said they've seen us live 88 times...

RINA: That's really something... We're grateful.

HARUNA: By all means, please come see over 100 of them.

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 78

•The episode starts with this.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who says that when they hear the band talk about Parque, they thought of the Kobe performance of SCANDAL's arena tour in December 2015 - apparently, they had sang the song for Parque aired during commercials. RINA laughs and goes, "We did do that!" while TOMO wonders if they did in fact do that. She reads the last part of the message, which the listener mentions how the band has said they've been talking about the same kinds of things for the past 15 years, and says that they really do talk about the same things. The band laughs very hard at this. HARU wonders the same thing about them singing the Parque song during that performance. RINA says again that they did do that, and the others wonder why they did that, especially since the performance was in Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture) and Parque is in Mie Prefecture (about four hours via car). RINA says that the fans requested them to do so. TOMO, who is from Hyogo Prefecture, says that commercials for Parque don't air there (or at least in her hometown of Kakogawa), which RINA is surprised about. HARU says that TOMO didn't know about Parque before that, after all. HARU then says that she does seem to have memories about them singing the song, but TOMO says she has none at all. RINA says that they listened to the song on YouTube before the concert and memorized its harmony. TOMO goes, "Ehhh??" HARU wonders what kind of commerc ial it was that they watched. She says that they certainly did sing the song, and RINA corrects her and says, "We covered it." She laughs while HARU goes, "You call that a cover??" RINA says she wants people who have never heard the song before to Google and listen to it - they'll probably start wanting to sing along to it (TOMO: "You'll want to harmonize with it").

•MAMI says that she wants people to listen to the theme song for Shirakaba Resort. RINA asks how that one goes. MAMI is surprised and wonders if they don't show commercials for that in the Kansai area. RINA says that she might recognize it if she hears it. HARU starts singing it and TOMO seems to recognize it, but she isn't sure if it's something she heard on TV, or if it's something she heard HARU and MAMI singing it. RINA thinks that they must know about it via hearing the two of them singing it. TOMO says that they've learned a lot of things from each other due to them being together for 15 years, and that she hasn't really seen local commercials aired in Aichi Prefecture (where HARU and MAMI are from) but she knows all about them because of HARU and MAMI. RINA agrees with this. TOMO reads another part of the message where the listeners asks them to talk about the same things 10 years from now too. RINA laughs and says they'll be in their 40s, and MAMI wonders if they'll still be talking about the same things then. HARU says they definitely will. RINA says that she wants the 10 years of their 20s and the 10 years of their 30s to be completely different things. TOMO says that she didn't think they'd still be talking about those things in their 30s, which the others laugh and agree with. HARU says that they should be grouping this with the topic of Parque, though. RINA says that she does want to visit Parque one day. TOMO says that she visited it once, and RINA says that she wants her to bring them along next time. TOMO says that maybe they can do an outing for their fan club serialization there.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who said that TOMO had mentioned in a previous episode that commercials for Parque weren't shown in Hyogo Prefecture, but they say that they do in fact air there. The band all laughs and TOMO goes, "No way!" HARU teases her that she just mentioned earlier this episode that CMs don't air there. RINA reads the rest of the message: the listener says before the pandemic they'd seen a CM for it air at least once a week. RINA says that maybe TOMO just never happened to catch a CM when it aired. TOMO says, "Isn't airing one CM once a week too little?!" RINA laughs and agrees. TOMO says that she doesn't have any memories of seeing a CM for it, and that the first time she learned about Parque was when the band learned the theme song. MAMI says that maybe they aired CMs for it during sentai series/hero series, but TOMO says that she's never watched a sentai-like series even once. HARU asks that includes Ojamajo. TOMO says she did watch that, and wonders if a Parque CM was aired during it. MAMI says that she thinks so. TOMO goes, "Ehhh!" and says again that she learned about it via the other band members. RINA says that maybe TOMO did see CMs but they never piqued her interest, but TOMO says that no one would probably *not* remember a song with such a catchy melody. HARU says she seems like she does like the song, and TOMO says that she loves it and that she wants to sing it right now. RINA says to do so, and TOMO does start singing it. They laugh and then discuss how the lyrics are great - a lyric RINA mentions is it being a place where you seek the sun and songs. TOMO says it's like Cuba. HARU goes, "It's Spain." They laugh and TOMO says the "sun" could also apply to Cuba. HARU says that the island was formely Spanish territory, which TOMO is surprised at and goes, "Oh, really?" They laugh again and HARU says this topic is very interesting/funny, and that there are a lot of messages related to Parque. TOMO jokes and says that all of the messages are only about Parque.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who says that the roller coaster at the theme park Onokoro that TOMO talked about riding before closed down a while ago and there are things like a zipline and VR games instead. HARU wonders what a zipline is. The others aren't quite sure what it is until they are shown a picture of it and recognize what it is. HARU and MAMI say they'd want to try it.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener from Hyogo who mentions the previous episode about theme parks (TOMO: "All of them really are about Parque!") and says that they used to love going to Hanshin Park, Takarazuka Family Land, and Miroku no Sato in Hiroshima. They ask if TOMO knows about the latter. TOMO says she knows nothing it at all, which the others laugh at. She says that she does feel like she's heard about it before. HARU asks if she knows of the other two parks mentioned, which she doesn't. HARU is surprised, especially when Hanshin Park sounds like it'd be a famous/well-known one [due to how it has 'Hanshin' in its name, the same as the well-known baseball team Hanshin Tigers]. RINA wonders if it's near Koshien Stadium [it is], but thinks she might be wrong. TOMO seemingly Googles the park and reads some info about it, like how it is by Koshien and that it closed a while ago due to the opening of Universal Studios Japan. They Google Family Land, which also seemed to have closed due to the opening of USJ. They say that USJ is way too strong.

•HARU asks the others what theme park they'd like to go to right now. TOMO answers right away that she wants to go to Seibuen Amusement Park. They say it seems like it'd be a fun place to go to. MAMI says that she always wants to go to Fuji Q. HARU says she's never been there before, and TOMO says that she'll drive them over there whenever they'd like. TOMO and MAMI, who have gone quite a few times in the past, say that they've gone on pretty much all of the rides there. MAMI also seemingly looks up new attractions and such there, which seem to be Halloween-themed. RINA asks them what's the most scariest roller coaster they've ever ridden on. TOMO says that it's Fuji-Q's Eejanaika because your legs are dangling in the air/there's no floor. HARU says that the scariest one for her was the same type of roller coaster where your legs are dangling. She says it's one at Six Flags Magic Mountain in the US but doesn't know the name of the ride [it's most likely X2].

•HARU reads the last message from a listener who talks about Benyland in Miyagi Prefecture and tells them to visit it. MAMI looks it up and reads something about how you can have an imoni soup party there, which the others say they'd like to do. It will run from September to November but reservations opened up in August; they say they probably won't be able to make it, then. They say the park looks cute and that they'd like to go.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

The overflowing "Parque love" sent in by listeners! Things get heated up with the topic of hometown theme parks!

Episode ＃78 blog

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HARUNA: This week too, on-air wise,
Although our 15th anniversary concert on August 21st has passed,
We recorded three weeks' worth of episodes prior to it on August 10th.
This is the third one.

*Staff note: As such, there will not be any discussions about the concert yet.
Please note that a special featuring thoughts from fans will be done at a later date.

HARUNA: So, this week we'll just be reading a bunch of messages. Getting started right away...

Harupon

Your previous discussion about theme parks was intense!
I'm from Kyoto, and I had gone to "Parque" [Shima Spain Village] in Mie Prefecture for an elementary school trip!
I thought it was as famous as Universal Studios, so as I was listening I thought, "Eh? There are people who don't know about it?"
Also, a place that I went often as a child was an amusement park called Dreamland in Nara, which RINA likely knows about.
It seems that it's closed now, but I remember the caterpillar roller coaster than even  children could ride.

HARUNA: Parque...

TOMOMI: Spain Village.

HARUNA: It seems that we got a bunch of messages about Parque.

RINA: Let's keep reading them.

TOMOMI: There are many people who have a strong love for Parque.

HARUNA: And what about Nara Dreamland??

RINA: I never went but did hear about it.

HARUNA: It's already closed down.

RINA: Seems like it... But looking on Google, the search term "Nara Dreamland ghost" pops up...

HARUNA: Eh...that's scary (laughs).

RINA: I'm kind of concerned...

TOMOMI: Was there a haunted house there?

RINA: No, it might be that the ruins are haunted.

HARUNA: As in right now, right?

RINA: Yeah〜.

HARUNA: Ah〜. They said they remember the caterpillar roller coaster.

RINA: It's nice to have an attachment to local theme parks.

HARUNA: It's because you have memories of going with your family.

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 77

•The episode starts with this.

•TOMO says that something's she's kind of worried about is getting all emotional during the concert since they haven't seen their fans in a while, and if she'll be able to sing properly. HARU agrees and says that might be the top thing she's worried about too. TOMO talks a little more about it and says that the combo of it being their 15th anniversary and seeing the fans for the first time in a while might make it very emotional, and says that she doesn't want to perform while bawling her eyes out. RINA says, "You want to be happy while you perform." She also says that there are too many moving parts to it all. TOMO again mentions getting to see the fans again for the first time in forever, and RINA says that she's kind of worried the MCs will turn out to be ridiculously long because they're so happy and might turn out to be like the ones on their fan club tour held back in April. HARU goes, "I'm worried too!" RINA says that they talk so much during MCs that they could talk for the length of three songs. TOMO goes, "We need to take the current state of things into consideration and make sure to end on time, so we should reduce the number of songs we play." The others laugh and say they can't do that. TOMO then goes, "Are we going to be okay when we're talking about things like this?" as they all laugh. HARU then says how she got all teary-eyed just by checking the opening video, which RINA says she totally understands. They say that they're worried about very real things that could happen. HARU says it'll be okay as long as the four of them do this together, and that even if there is something that comes up that they could easily get through it. However, they won't know how they'll do emotionally until they actually play.

•HARU then reads a message from a listener who is a second-year high schooler and says that the OJH concert will be their first ever concert - It'll be an important place not just for SCANDAL but for them as well. HARU says that she feels like crying just with this message alone, and that it seems like they will be able to hold the concert. RINA says she wants to perform while thinking of those people whose first concert ever will be this one. HARU talks about their previous concert at OJH seven years ago and how she personally wasn't at her best then (she's likely referring to her voice problems she had primarily between 2011-2013), and so has regrets when it comes to performances at OJH - That's why she definitely wants to make this concert a success, and she's completely confident in both herself and SCANDAL as they are right now. She also says that she feels that this concert will be a great one. They all say, "Let's make it a great one!"

•HARU reads one more message from a foreign listener who had previously written in, and says that they'll be watching the livestream from 6 am. The band is surprised about the 6 am part and says they're grateful. TOMO says sorry for making them wake up early. RINA says that holding a concert at a time like 12 pm in Japan is usually a good time for everywhere else in the world too, but nighttime usually isn't a good time for it. They say they're glad they're able to do a livestream for this, and that they want to have fun with fans around the world. HARU then asks the staff what their worries for the concert are. A staffer says something but it cannot be heard in the recording. TOMO says, "Worries that the staff has?" HARU says yes, and that it seemed like they did have some but the air has turned cold, which the staff laughs at.

•The first half of the program ends and the second then begins right after the 15th anniversary concert where they are recording in the dressing room. HARU asks TOMO how it was. TOMO says it was a ton of fun and mentions how playing at OJH was a venue they had dreamed at playing, but this time she felt like she was able to have fun very naturally. HARU then brings up how they had worries before the concert and asks MAMI her thoughts. MAMI asks what they had been worried about. HARU says that potentially tearing up was a big one. MAMI says that she didn't cry once, which the others laugh at and say they totally understand. MAMI says that she did feel like she was about to cry but didn't, especially during the MCs where it was like they were talking normally together in the dressing room. She then talks about how their videographer was filming her while the opening video was playing and looked like she was on the verge of tears, which made MAMI almost cry as well (MAMI: "Even though we weren't yet on stage!"). HARU mentions that it's also RINA's birthday and they all congratulate her. RINA says it was a very happy 30th birthday.

•Next, they read and answer questions from the "past" selves that were recorded during the recording of part 1 of this episode. The first question is from RINA to TOMO. RINA says that this is a very important question and then reads it: "What do you want to eat the most right now?" TOMO goes, "Yakiniku!" They say that they did eat packaged yakiniku bento for lunch earlier, but they would like to grill some yakiniku themselves. TOMO says that they can't go to places like that right now due to the pandemic, which does make her miss them and want to go to them. She says that although yakiniku is what she wants to eat the most right now, she will hold off on doing so (RINA: "How admirable").

•HARU laughs and says the next question is from TOMIMI (typo in the script, most likely lol) to HARU, which has to do with driving. They laugh and say that the listeners probably don't know the backstory, so HARU explains it. She says that she really likes the car she has currently, which is a Volkswagen New Beetle (MAMI: "It's so cute"), but it's been having a lot of problems recently and often has to send it in for repairs so she was thinking of changing cars. However, since she does like the car, she was thinking that maybe she'll get a new one in a different color. The others laugh and RINA says, "That's so HARU-like!" TOMO says that HARU's current car wasn't her top choice. HARU says that it wasn't color-wise, and that she wanted a blue one instead of a red one she has now.

•The next question is from HARU to MAMI: "Are you the type to put takoyaki sauce on your takoyaki, or the type to put soy sauce? I'm the type to put salt sauce on it." MAMI says, "I'm the type to put takoyaki sauce and spicy mayo on it!" The others laugh pretty hard (RINA: "What's with that?"). She says she does like sauce, soy sauce, and salt, and that she would put all three on along with mayo.

•The last question is from MAMI to RINA: "What was the most moving part or happening of today? Aside from the concert." The others laugh at the "aside from the concert" part. MAMI says that it could be from before the concert when people were wishing her happy birthday, or seeing the message boards from the fans. RINA says that she's really happy the four of them were able to play a concert very naturally at OJH, a venue that's very special to them. The others agree and say it was a great concert. They also say that they're looking forward to seeing everyone who watched via livestream at a concert in person one day.

•They then switch back over to the "past" SCANDAL to close out the episode. HARU says that while they have their worries, they're more excited about it all. They say to send in any thoughts one may have about the performance.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

A recording completely monopolizing SCANDAL right after their 15th anniversary concert!

Episode ＃77 blog

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HARUNA: Our "0821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series" is still continuing.

However, on-air-wise,
SCANDAL 15th ANNIVERSARY LIVE 『INVITATION』
at Osaka-Jo Hall has just finished

Since the recording before the concert is being done remotely...
We'll be doing it in this way:

"Before and after" at Osaka-Jo Hall!!

RINA: Ohh, we're going with a literal title.

TOMOMI: What's with this project?

HARUNA: But we're going with it as is

Part 1 is us talking before the concert
Part 2 is us talking after the concert
That's how it'll be structured.

...Before that,
8/21 was RINA's birthday!

RINA: Thanks!

All: Congrats!

HARUNA: It's also our anniversary.

RINA: Yeah, living alongside SCANDAL. I've been in the band for half my life, huh...

HARUNA: It's also a milestone age. How do feel about turning 30?

RINA: Ehー! How do I feel...

HARUNA: Have you changed?

RINA: No, I don't think so...

*Staff note: Please note that this episode is airing after 8/21, but since this remote recording was done prior to that, RINA wasn't actually 30 yet at that time.

RINA: But I think I'm now okay with taking things slow.

HARUNA: I think that's what motivates me in my 30s. It's important for me to accept myself for who I am. I'll treasure myself more.

RINA: Yeah, I'm looking forward to being 30.

HARUNA: So, again, this is ＃3 of the "0821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series":
"Before and after" at Osaka-Jo Hall!!

What we'll talk about is what we're worried about before the concert.

RINA: That's not a great subject...

HARUNA: It's a little negative because we're worried.

Staff: It's true it is negative...

HARUNA: The staff said that that's true.

RINA: You just realized that??

Staff: The second half will be after the concert, so we thought those worried wouldn't matter! We just want you to feel comfortable with the content...

RINA: I see. There are times when you feel less worried if you say it out loud.

TOMOMI: But, on the contrary, isn't that exactly the case?

RINA: Cut it outーcut it outー

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 76

•The episode starts with this.

•TOMO says that she got it mixed up with the build date for Osaka-Jo (the castle). The others laugh and RINA says that TOMO can't change her answer. TOMO then jokes and says, "Osaka-Jo Hall was built in 1583." RINA goes, "That's too historic!" She then asks MAMI what she answered, which MAMI says was B (1973). She thinks it was then because she thinks it's been around for about 50 years. HARU says that she and RINA answered the same, which was A (1983), but is unsure of her answer. They wonder who got the right answer. RINA wonders if the three of them aside from TOMO got it right. HARU then reads the correct answer, which is A - it opened on October 1, 1983. She also says that 1583 was the year that samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi commenced construction of Osaka Castle. TOMO goes, "Then I was right!" and the correct answer bell sound is played. HARU also says that OJH was the main event venue for the 400th anniversary in 1983 of the construction of the castle. TOMO says it's awesome that the venue's almost 40 years old. RINA says that despite that, the venue doesn't have an old/outdated look to it.

•HARU reads the second question:

Question ＃2: The nearest station to Osaka-Jo Hall is Osaka-Jo Koen Station on the JR Osaka Loop Line. How many minutes does it take to get from the station to OJH on foot?

A. 5 minutes
B. 10 minutes
C. 15 minutes
D. 1 minute

•Before the choices are read, RINA says that walking from there is something they've done a lot. After they're read, she says that she feels she knows the right answer. HARU then goes, "Eh...? Is this a trick question?" RINA asks what she means. HARU says that it's right in front of the venue. RINA says that the venue is straight ahead from it, which HARU agrees with. They then say their answers. Right after, HARU goes, "Oh, is that what it is??" The others ask her what she's talking about. HARU laughs and then asks who answered A. RINA and TOMO say they did. HARU says she and MAMI probably answered the same. MAMI says she answered B, and HARU says that she answered D. TOMO says that it does depend on how fast you walk. They say how it's difficult to guess what the right one is since they're both so close together; you can see the venue as soon as you exit the station. HARU then reads the correct answer, which is A. TOMO and RINA go, "Yay!" HARU says that a minute is a little too short, but she felt like, before learning the correct answer, she could have made it there in a minute. RINA says, "Yeah, if you hurry." HARU says, "Yeah, if I hurry a lot." She reads that getting off at the Osaka Business Park station on the Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (part of the subway), it will also take 5 minutes to get to OJH. MAMI is surprised it takes the same amount of time. TOMO says that they've never gone that route before. HARU says that it feels like Osaka Business Park is further away. RINA says that this all makes OJH easy to get to.

•HARU reads the third question, which she says seems difficult:

Question ＃3: Osaka Castle has a time capsule that was buried at the time of the 1970 World's Fair. How many years after 1970 will it be opened?

A. 100 years
B. 200 years
C. 500 years
D. 5,000 years

•After HARU reads the choices, MAMI says that those were off from what she was thinking, which was more in the immediate future. RINA says that it's not likely they'll still be alive when it's time to dig it up. HARU laughs and agrees with that, but then says that it's possible they could be if the answer is A. RINA laughs and goes, "No way! I'd be 133 years old then!" The others correct her and remind her that it was buried in 1970. RINA says that she might be able to just barely make it, then. HARU laughs at her "just barely make it" comment. They then say their answers: A for HARU+TOMO+RINA and B for MAMI. MAMI says that the majority's for A. RINA then goes, "Ah, is that what it is?!" HARU goes, "Eh?? What do you mean??" RINA says, "Aren't all of the answers 'A'?!" (like what's been done in the past). HARU says that she kind of got that impression too. TOMO goes, "At least make all of the answers 'B'!" HARU then goes to read the correct answer and gasps before she says that the correct answer is D. They're surprised by the answer. RINA goes, "That's completely impossible then [for me to make it to then]," which the staff is heard chuckling at. TOMO wonders if the capsule can actually stay intact for 5,000 years and what it's buried in it. HARU wonders where it's buried. She then reads the year it's set to be opened: 6970. TOMO says she thinks the shape of humans are likely to change by then. HARU reads more about the capsule and says 317 cases were buried with a total of 2,098 items, which can be roughly divided into goods and records of things. She lists some of the things such as sound recordings of snoring and teeth grinding. RINA goes, "Whose teeth grinding is that even?!" They laugh and HARU wonders why they'd include that. TOMO says that in 5,000 years teeth grinding won't be a thing anymore due to techniques developed. MAMI says that they might not have any teeth. TOMO says that maybe they'll be injecting food into themselves. RINA says that that seems likely. MAMI says that humans 5,000 years from now might look at things like Guinness World Records and think humans now were so lesser that they'll laugh at it. The others chuckle at that. RINA says that it might get to a level where they'll get angry if they look at things in museum of history. HARU says that it'll probably all be about data then, as in actual museums and stuff probably won't exist. They again say that they had no idea this existed, and how crazy it is that it's set to be opened 5,000 years from now. They also repeat that the correct answer wasn't actually A. HARU then reads whose snoring and teeth grinding were recorded and they wonder how these people were chosen for that. They then say how they previously had no knowledge about things like this that are related to OJH. For anyone interested, you can read all about the time capsule here.

•HARU reads the last question:

Question ＃4: One of the special characteristics of Osaka-Jo Hall is its sound, which many people praise. The reverberation time, which is the length of time the sound reverberates, is the ideal time for how big OJH is. How many seconds is it?

A. 1.45 seconds
B. 1.55 seconds
C. 2 seconds
D. 2.15 seconds

•They say they have no idea and that this is a difficult question. RINA wonders if this means that the shorter the reverberation time is, the better. She also says to try to think back on the times they did play there. They then say their answers: HARU+TOMO+RINA go with A while MAMI goes with B (she says she's been going with only B answers). HARU then reads the correct answer, which is A. She says the answer went back to being A again and then talks about how OJH shortens the reverberation problem, which includes lots of sound-absorbing material in the ceiling and having all 9,000 seats in the 2nd+3rd floor stands be made of cloth. They say they're grateful that they were so thoughtful about this, and that OJH certainly is easy to perform at. HARU says that when playing arenas, it's hard to hear anything if they don't have in in-ear monitors because the sound echoes around the venue. RINA says that depending on the venue that even if you wear in-ears, sounds like the drums will be doubled, which makes for a difficult time for them. They again say how OJH certainly is an easy venue to play at. HARU says she's glad they learned all this info about it before performing there again. RINA jokes that this now means that a perfect performance is required since they now know all this info. They say that doing quizzes like this are always fun to do.

•They then close out the episode. They mention the song poll, thank everyone for voting in it, and mention again that they'll be announcing the results during their 15th anniversary concert. HARU says that next week's "Catch up" will be another episode related to OJH.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

Taking a quiz related to Osaka in preparation for SCANDAL's 15th anniversary concert!

Episode ＃76 blog

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HARUNA: We're doing the "821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series" this week too.
"SCANDAL 15th ANNIVERSARY LIVE 『INVITATION』 at Osaka-Jo Hall" is just around the corner.
So, we will be bringing this episode to you remotely as an infection control measure.

Now then, "821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series" ＃2...

TOMOMI: Hold on a secー! Before that,
HARUNA-chan, happy...

MAMI: birthday...

RINA: to you! 33 years old!

HARUNA: Thank you! Wah, that surprised meー!

TOMOMI: ...what was that...

Note from the staff: The day of this remote recording was on HARUNA's birthday on August 10th. However, since this remote recording was decided on at the last minute, they were confused about when to say happy birthday to HARUNA and ultimately revealed it to her - and since they decided to do it during the opening, we asked HARUNA to act as if she didn't know about the surprise, which was a bad thing to do. So, it all depended on HARUNA who was tasked with the mission of knowing about the surprise but acting surprised by it. At any rate, happy birthday. Sorry for all of this...


HARUNA: I'll do my best at 33 too.

Again, this is "821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series" ＃2,
Which is titled "Osaka-Jo Hall Mini Ultra Quiz!"

All: Wahー!

HARUNA: The subtitle is "A collection of information about OJH."

MAMI: I see.

HARUNA: In preparation for our concert at Osaka-Jo Hall on 8/21,
We will bring you "Does SCANDAL actually know things about Osaka-Jo Hall?" while organizing it in a quiz format.

The quiz about OJH was put together by the staff,
So we'll start it at once.
Now then, for question ＃1!
I will be reading the questions but will not know the answers. Rankings will not be determined based on the number of correct answers. This is simply for study's sake to learn about OJH.

TOMOMI: It definitely seems like an actual quiz...

HARUNA: Yeah, it seems like they did it properly.

TOMOMI: I see.

HARUNA: Now for the first question!

Question ＃1: When was Osaka-Jo Hall built?

A. 1983
B. 1973
C. 1988
D. 1583

TOMOMI: It is a proper quiz... This is difficult.

RINA: Do we give one answer collectively?

HARUNA: We each have to answer it.

Okay, on the count of three...
One, two, three...

All: (*All of them answer)

HARUNA: Ah, aren't our answers all different?

MAMI: TOMO-chan, what did you say?

TOMOMI: Eh... Ah!

MAMI: TOMO-chan, what did you say?

TOMOMI: I got it wrong.

HARUNA: What'd you say??

TOMOMI: I said D...

HARUNA: D? D?

Did TOMOMI answer correctly...?

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 75

•The episode starts with this. Also, please feel free to check out this thread for more info + lots of other info regarding their very first live performances, which will help give context and more info to what the band talks about during this episode!

•They continue talking about what being a band means to them. MAMI says that it's like her memories from before the band are being written over and getting fainter. TOMO mentions that they'll soon be in the band for half of their lives. They then mention how it's already exactly that for RINA with this upcoming anniversary (the band formed on her 15th birthday, and now she's turning 30). RINA says that being a band for half of your life is an awesome thing, and it's not something that they were ever really expecting.

•They then talk about what Osaka means to them. HARU says that Osaka was something that she really longed for. The others are surprised and TOMO goes, "Not Tokyo?" HARU says that she did long for Tokyo too, but she suddenly started to really long for Osaka starting in middle school, which is likely due to her liking musical artists from Osaka. She says she also admired Osaka dialect and still likes it now. She also says she wanted to go to Nanba (a popular area of Osaka), and that she was happy that their dance & vocal training school was located in Osaka--being able to commute there made her happy as well. She also mentions that the first time she lived on her own was in Osaka. So, to her, Osaka is an important place that she had longed for.

•MAMI is asked next what Osaka means to her and thinks about it for a bit. She finally says that to her it's a place that she would go to to train as they would all meet up there on weekends to practice. She says that she and HARU used to commute together at first but then had to start commuting alone due to HARU moving there. She felt a sort of confidence in going to Osaka to practice, but at the same time she also was a little scared since they didn't know how to play instruments, nor did they know any chords. For her, it was half feeling pressure and half having fun. She says it's a place that made her nervous going to, but it's also a place that toughened her up mentally. RINA says that it's not something she could ever go through doing again (HARU: "Definitely not - I'd have wish to have a completely different life"). MAMI says that she's happy it's something that they can laugh about now, and that going there on tour and such on weekdays gives her a completely different impression of the city. She also says that it's perhaps the place that created the personality of MAMI of SCANDAL.

•TOMO says that Osaka = her youth. She started going to Osaka and attending dance school (Caless) in her first year of middle school (~12 years old), and would go there every day after regular school. Most students have club activities after school, so she likens going to dance school to that. She also says that getting off the train at Kyobashi brings back a lot memories from that time, which is another reason why it was basically like going to an after-school club. She also made many lifelong friends there. She says that Osaka to her equals happiness, fun, and tears. Another thing she talks about is how she'd eat popsicles from 551HORAI every day, and that she kept recommending them to the other members but they never did try them. MAMI says that they watched her eat them. TOMO goes, "You watched?!" while everyone else laughs. MAMI also says that when they'd go to the shop they'd see the popsicles and would be impressed by them, but ultimately they'd order pork buns (which is what the shop is famous for) and Japanese meatballs. TOMO goes, "The popsicles are delicious, which is why I want you guys to try them some day - I still think that after 15 years!" The others laugh again and HARU says that she seems to still be a little spiteful. TOMO says that it's the only thing she's spiteful about. MAMI says that they should finally go eat it next time. TOMO says that if they do, she'll no longer have spite left.

•RINA is then asked what Osaka means to her. She says she was born in a part of Osaka called Fukushima and lived there with her family until she was in kindergarten. Then, when she was in elementary, her family moved to Nara due to her mom having asthma and wanting to move somewhere where the air was better. When she was in middle school, the band started and she began commuting to Osaka for that as well as for school - she says she attended an all-girls' middle school that was close to Asaka Station. All these reasons are why she feels that Osaka is a city she's lived alongside with ever since she was little. She was born in Osaka, live there until elementary, came back, and the band started there, so to her it's a city of opportunities and one that she's proud to be from and happy to have been born there. She also says it's a cozy city that she loves and that suits her. HARU says that the image of SCANDAL being an Osaka band largely has to do with RINA, with RINA agrees with. She agrees with that, like how peoples' first impressions of them might be that they speak in dialects and that upbeat energy that Kansai people are usually associated with. HARU says that that really helps to give off the impression that they really are an all-girl band that originated in Osaka. RINA conludes by saying that she really loves Osaka.

•They then move on to the next topic, which are what kind of efforts were they making to achieve their goals when they first formed the band. MAMI says she thinks their first goal would have been to play a cover song for their first ever live performance exactly a week after forming. HARU explains how the four of them first met on August 21st (their day of formation), and since it was summer vacation at the time they would basically stay at the school to train and practice. Their first task as a band was to practice for a week and see if they could serve as the opening act for the school's recital exactly one week after their formed. They practiced for 12 hours a day for that entire week and managed to learn how to play one song ("Time Machine ni Onegai" by SADISTIC MIKA BAND), and did end up playing at the recital. It was held at Namba Hatch, a pretty well-known venue in Osaka, and TOMO says how cool it is that their first performance was there. HARU and MAMI laugh and say "It was only one song, though." RINA talks about they were the only band who performed and everyone else after them were dancing, which meant that people wouldn't realize how bad they were no matter what kind of performance they put on. She says it made them felt cool and unique to be the only band performing, which gave them confidence. She also says that they played pretty badly but they really felt happy that they were in a band. HARU says that the fact that they were the only ones at the school who could play a song on instruments made them feel super happy and unique.

•RINA then brings up how MAMI tried to throw away her guitar after the performance. MAMI explains how she thought that guitars were disposable - once a string breaks you would throw it out and buy a new one. One of her strings broke at the very last chord she played at the performance, and she thought that that was it for her current guitar. She also thought how expensive they are despite being a consumable item. Back then she'd use guitars made for beginners which cost about 10,000 yen ($100 USD), which isn't that expensive but was expensive for her back then. However, upon that string breaking, she learned for the first time that strings can be changed out. HARU says that that was how much they knew about instruments back then. RINA also mentions how they thought that if you tuned your instrument once then you'd be set for life. TOMO mentions how they were asked [by their teachers, most likely] if they tuned their instruments, and they answered, "Ah, I tuned it yesterday!", which their teachers would get mad at them for. MAMI says that that very incident happened right before they went on stage. They got yelled at and were told, "What are you doing?! Tune it right now!!" and HARU had to hurry up and do it. They laugh and RINA says that the four of them were just super adorable back then. MAMI says that she has a lot of memories of them being in a panic. They also mention how one time RINA just stood up during the middle of a performance to go get a drumstick that had flown off somewhere but no one else in the band realized that, and that the rhythm had disappeared.

•One of their staffers then asks them when they first met. HARU says, to be precise, she, MAMI, and TOMO had been practicing their instruments for about a month prior to when the band formed. At first they were to have a drummer (that wasn't RINA), but they never did meet that girl - when they had decided to meet up face to face, the girl never showed up. They say that that was par for the course as they were attending a dance and vocal training school after all--not a band one. TOMO says that she and RINA had met once before that a few weeks prior since they both attended the Osaka branch of Caless. They met and RINA had said that the next time they'll meet she'll be joining the band. Then, on August 21st, all four of them met each other and formed the band. RINA says that the way they met each other sure is something. She also talks about how she was really scared to meet the other three since they were in higher classes and were good at singing + dancing, as well as dancing really well while singing songs in English. They also talk about how they had to adapt to things quickly since once they formed they had more chances to interact with adults but had to keep their own mentality together, which made them feel on edge all the time. They say that they were doing their best, though.

•Next, they talk about any memorable places in Osaka. RINA talks about their street performances and how they wondered to get more people to watch them, which is when they decided to make their own flyers. They would also research who would be playing at Osaka-Jo Hall and then cover their songs. They also talk about how they weren't set on what kind of music they wanted to play. Like for rock 'n roll, they vaguely imagined those kinds of bands to always be tough guys playing hard music and wearing leather jackets and sunglasses. They'd watch performances from bands like that and would go, "That's rock 'n roll??" Another thing they mention is how many all-girl bands there were back then, and they were all sort of influenced by them. TOMO mentions how they used to look up to Za Bon, one of the bands they had played joint concerts with back in 2007, and that she and HARU reunited with them on a TV program (Locarhythm back in 2016). She also says that they took in so many different influences that that's why they ended up who they are now. MAMI giggles and HARU says that they're quite a mixture of different things. They talk about a band they played a joint shows with who would be smoking in the dressing room. That was when SCANDAL had just formed, so they were kind of intimidated and thought, "This is the kind of world we're in now??" They also didn't know what they could talk to them about. HARU says that thinking back on it now, it's kind of weird how SCANDAL would be booked for a performance like that. TOMO talks about how they were influenced by Za Bon's positivity - when they'd barely get any response back from the audience during MCs, they would say things like, "We can hear the voices of your hearts!" HARU says in that vein, fellow Caless students used to come to SCANDAL's live performances at venues (not street performances, since they too were busy with practice) and hype things up. They say that some would come to the band's practices and stomp along to the beat. TOMO says that they too have a habit of moving along to a beat when they hear one, which is probably due to them being dance school students. HARU goes, "What odd memories."

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

What does being in a band mean to SCANDAL...? How do they answer such a grand question!?

Episode ＃75 blog

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HARUNA: Our "821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series" starts this week.
It's a special series for "SCANDAL 15th ANNIVERSARY LIVE 『INVITATION』 at Osaka-Jo Hall."
This is the first one!

TOMOMI: Because we're a band born in Osaka...(by TOMO)

HARUNA: SCANDAL will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in our birthplace of Osaka, and we will be talking about what Osaka means for us more seriously than ever before.
...that being said, the [staff] went with that title.

MAMI: Can't help that, being the program that this is. Actually, we should be thankful!

RINA: It's over the top.

TOMOMI: Why did you use my name?

Note: It's an homage to a line in the popular song "Osaka de Umareta Onna" (大阪で生まれた女; [i]A Woman Born in Osaka).
Since it's sung by the singer "BORO," "TOMO" was substituted instead.[/i]

HARUNA: The idea is to teach SCANDAL more about Osaka, not only for those who have been fans for 15 years, but also for those who have become fans via this program. Please send in your messages for this.

Ennui Ayu

Hello, SCANDAL.

SCANDAL is celebrating their 15th anniversary this year, but who you are currently is always the best. So cool. I have so much respect.

So, I have a question for SCANDAL. As you celebrate your 15th anniversary, what does being in a band mean to you all?

RINA: Thanks for the passionate message!

TOMOMI: Thank you.

HARUNA: As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, what does being in a band mean...

TOMOMI: That's such a grand subject.

MAMI: I wonder...

RINA: Hm... It's like a heart, isn't it? It's used by the band, sometimes times are hard because we're a band, and it affects us for better or for worse. It's become something that's inseparable from us. It happened before we knew it.

HARUNA: It's uncommon to continuing doing something for over 10 years. I can't imagine the band no longer existing. I can't imagine myself like that.

MAMI: This is a super rough way to put it, but the band started when I was 16 years old, and ever since then I've been inputting everything as MAMI of SCANDAL for the past 15 years.

TOMOMI: As for SCANDAL, the four of us spending time together = band. If you were to give a name to the space the four of us have, it probably would be a "band."

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 74

•The episode starts with this.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who is from Awaji Island located in Hyogo Prefecture and writes in for the dialect segment. The first one they mention is when water is overflowing (水があふれている; mizu ga afureteiru), they say "water, bonjour" (水ボンジョル; mizu bonjoru). The band is surprised/confused by that. RINA goes, "French?" The listener says that whenever they say that in front of a friend who's not from the island, they always laugh and go, "'Water, bonjour'? Is that French?" The second one they mention is for piggyback rides (肩車; kataguruma), which is "dondemakka" (どんでまっか) [but I can't find anything about it on Google?? lol]. The band is again surprised/confused. RINA says she's never heard of that before. The listener says that Awaji Island's dialect is unique, so they thought that TOMO, who is also from Hyogo Prefecture, wouldn't know about them. TOMO does say that she's never heard of them before. HARU laughs and says that sounds strong and that whoever's giving the ride sounds likely to fall over. RINA says that it sounds like the name of an attack. They also say they've never heard of the "bonjour" one either, and that Awaji Island does have some unique dialect words.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who had sent in a messages previously about being a shimeiji (mushroom) farmer and says they're happy the band said they want to go mushroom picking. They then say this message is for the dialect segment and asks them what "zuku" (ずく) means in Nagano dialect. They say that you use it like "Zuku ga nai" (ずくがない; You have no ___") or "Zuku wo dasu" (ずくを出す; Bring out your ___). The band is super unsure of what it could mean. TOMO goes, "Coffee?" The others and their staff chuckle. RINA says it's more of a mental thing. TOMO then answers "dissatisfied" (不満; fuman), which isn't right either, but RINA says she's getting closer. MAMI says "stress" and HARU says "desire" (慾; yoku). RINA says that it seems like the band's stressed right now since they're all giving negative answers, which they all laugh at. She then says to throw out more positive words. HARU says "idea" and MAMI says "compassion," which are still incorrect. RINA says it's something that can be said before a concert. TOMO says "fighting spirit" (気合; kiai). RINA says that's super close. TOMO then says "passion" (情熱; jounetsu); also not quite right. HARU says "motivation" (やる気; yaruki), which is the correct answer. RINA reads the rest of the message from the listener who says that it can mean "motivation," "perseverance" (根気; konki) and "guts" (根性; konjou), but also that they actually don't know how to properly translate it into standard Japanese.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who is from Nagoya (in Aichi Prefecture) but moved to Saitama Prefecture two years ago and gets teased at work for the dialect words they use like "samuboro" (さむぼろ; goosebumps). RINA asks HARU and MAMI, who are from Aichi Prefecture, if they understand all of the words that the listener listed. They say that they know "samuboro" and tell the others that it means "goosebumps," which they're surprised at [the standard word for that is completely different - 鳥肌; torihada]. HARU and MAMI say that they forgot about that word, though. They talk a little more about the other dialect words, but it doesn't translate well to English = it will not be translated.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener who mentions that "desk discussion" on a previous episode and says that they also say "tsukue wo tsuru" in Mie Prefecture too. The band then talks a little about Mie and mentions things like the Spain Village, and also talks a bit about local amusement parks.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

RINA calls the Meiji sweets that listeners want to come back "Cute and retro!"

Episode ＃74 blog

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HARUNA: It's now August. "ILLUSION" is this month!

RINA: It's already this month, huh...

MAMI: "ILLUSION"!? That means...

HARUNA: Please listen to past "Catch up" episodes...

So, we'll just be reading messages this week.
Before that, we have an important announcement,
And it's that starting next week, we'll be doing a "821 Osaka-Jo Hall Strengthening Series."

TOMOMI: "Strengthening Series"...?

HARUNA: It's a special series for "SCANDAL 15th ANNIVERSARY LIVE 『INVITATION』 at Osaka-Jo Hall" on 8/21.

We want messages from things like questions/memories about Osaka/Osaka-Jo Hall, to unimportant information!

Let's get to some messages.

Moechi

Good evening, SCANDAL.

I love Meiji's sweets such as Poiful, Chelsea, and High Lemon, but the one I love most is Coffee Beat. A little adult coffee taste that used to feel bitter. I've bought a lot more often since listening to "Catch up"! haha. Sometimes I use it as a snack or a side dish.

I've been buying a ton of the "Aroma Rich" version of Coffee Beat at convenience stores recently. The coffee flavor is stronger and the bag smells exactly of freshly ground coffee! Please try it.

Now, are the four of you on Team Coffee Beat or Team Coffee Beat Aroma Rich?

The latter seems to be a Family Mart-only item!

MAMI: We'll check out the Aroma Rich one later.

TOMOMI: Let's go.

RINA: We'll pick some up.

HARUNA: There's a postscript...

P.S. This is to Meiji. Do you know Calmin, one of your sweets that doesn't exist anymore?? It's a soothing, tablet-like candy, and it's a memorable one that my late grandmother always gave me when I was young. Please bring it back.

*The band looks at a picture of it together

MAMI: Ah, I think I know this oneー!

RINA: I know it!

MAMI: I thought it was a mint.

RINA: I think it is.

※It was discontinued in 2015.

RINA: I remember this packaging.

MAMI: Why do I know about this?

HARUNA: It seems like the packaging was kept the same for 90 years...

TOMOMI: The same for 90 years??

RINA: The packaging is cute and retro.

HARUNA: Please bring it back for Moechi-san!

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 73

•The episode starts with this.

•They continue talking about the fine line between "persistence" and "proactiveness." RINA says that "persistence" (しつこさ; usually used negatively; can also be translated as obstinance) is usually a one-sided thing, and "proactiveness" is usually when both sides are accepting/feelings get through to both. HARU says, "Isn't 'persistence' something that the other party decides?" They agree, and RINA says it's like the one being persistent doesn't notice. TOMO says that you may think you're being proactive but the other party thinks you're actually being persistent (RINA: "How sad lol"). MAMI says the listener should only call once a week, not twice. They say to stop talking on the phone and just message on LINE. RINA says "Don't look at Twitter!" The others and the staff laugh, and TOMO repeats how the listener said they just happened to find the account, but that probably means that they were in fact looking for it (HARU: "You won't find something if you're not looking for it").

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who mentions what MAMI said in the June episode of "her" Diary about wanting to keep the lettering for "Ivory" in katakana, and asks them how they decide to stylize song titles (katakana, hiragana, kanji, romaji, English words)--essentially, they ask where the fine line is between them. MAMI says that for "Ivory," she considered putting it in hiragana, katakana, or English. By writing it in hiragana or katakana, it can also refer to the color ivory. Also, in Japanese, "ivory" is usually written in katakana. She says the reason she didn't put it in English is that it wouldn't really go with what she was feeling at the time when the song was made, and that it would seem pretentious-like. She went with katakana because it looked good and had a softness to it, and that it also has to do with feel/coloring of the letters. When she checked it against the song, she thought that katakana was most suitable. RINA agrees that it has to do with the feel of the song and what you think would best suit it. For "A.M.D.K.J." for example, they wanted it to have this blended effect by having the title be a Japanese word but write it in English--the latter is something they all said had to happen. TOMO says that what something is written in can change its image quite a bit, and they're always careful with how they write things. RINA says that it's basically what they personally feel works best for the song. HARU says that it's the same for lyrics and music videos, and that how a title is written is one of the ways it can be expressed.

•They decide on the next few topics by picking cards with topics written on them. TOMO draws the first one which says "Pond, swamp, and lake (池と沼と湖)." TOMO laughs and says that's a difficult one. MAMI wonders if they have to discuss what the differences between them are, which the others think is the case. Some things they mention is size and depth. RINA says that she thinks there are differences in the sand/grit/dirt that each has. MAMI says that the image she has of a swamp is that it has water but it's muddy. TOMO says that swamps have a dirty image to them. They agree and HARU says that you picture it as being a brown color. TOMO says that they also seem dangerous and have a "keep out" feel to them. MAMI says that the three things should have something related to each other, which both TOMO and HARU immediately say is water. MAMI wonders if that would refer to the differences in the clarity of water. RINA wonders if it has to do with whether or not they have salt in them. The others say that all of them don't have salt. RINA says that their commonpoint might be related to dirt. HARU says that in that sense, swamps are different. TOMO again goes, "Swamps are dirty!", which makes HARU laugh. They then go back to the "all of them have water" commonpoint. TOMO says that she imagines ponds to be clean, but the others say she's just thinking of ponds in her hometown because not all ponds are clean. TOMO then talks about lakes and says that she also pictures them as being rather clean, but it does depend on the lake. MAMI wonders about the creatures living in those three places. HARU thinks that each of them have different ones. TOMO says that she imagines swamps to have unidentified creatures living in them. They ask the staff if there's a correct answer. Their answer can't be heard, but after they say it, TOMO and HARU go, "Size? Depth?" They say that lakes are the biggest, followed by lakes. HARU then reads seemingly the correct answer: The difference between ponds, swamps, and lakes lies in their artificiality and depth. She also says that ponds are artificial while lakes are natural, and the difference between a swamp and a lake is its depth. Swamps are less than 5 meters even at their deepest point, and the deepest part of lakes is 5 meters or more. They list a few more facts but I will not be listing them as they're not too interesting/they're things you can probably Google for yourself if you are interested lol

•The next topic they discuss is "onigiri vs. omusubi" (both mean and refer to "rice balls" - rice stuffed with a filling). TOMO goes, "That's such a great topic!" RINA wonders if it has to do with their shapes. MAMI wonders if it has to do with regional differences again, and also if it has to do with how firm/soft it is. She says that she pictures omusubi to be more fluffy/soft and onigiri to be more firm (the latter since it has the word for "grip" [握り; nigiri] in it). TOMO goes along the same lines and says that for omusubi, maybe it's more like they're "tying" (結ぶ; musubu) the rice together. The others laugh and HARU says, "They're doing it gently, right?" RINA says that omusubi has an "olden days" feel to it. MAMI reads the correct answer which makes no sense and the others laugh and go "What??" Essentially, they both mean the same thing--it's just that the eastern part of Japan tends to call them "onigiri" while the western part calls them "omusubi."

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

What's the advice given to listeners unsure of the fine line between "persistence" and "proactiveness"?

Episode ＃73 blog

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HARUNA: This week we'll be doing everyone's favorite "Fine Line Association."
Incidentally, in English that would be...
"Association of Borderline on Catch up"
Or "ABC" for short.
This "ABC"'s quite pervasive...

(Staff: It's not...)

HARUNA: It's not...

RINA: It's because we also have overseas listeners.

HARUNA: Yeah... So this is meeting ＃5.

TOMOMI: The association members have submitted a new fine line subject. Let's read the message.

Kousei

I'd like some love advice! There's someone I'm currently interested in.

We had the same college classes but only talked in person like one time. Then, the first state of emergency was declared. We are currently chatting and calling each other via LINE. I happened to find their Twitter account and saw they had tweeted about me. They had written that our phone convos are fun but bothersome to talk with me every single week on the phone. We haven't seen each other in person, and I regret trying to close the distance just with LINE. Incidentally, we talked twice per week.

We said we'll go clothes shopping together after the SOE's lifted, but I'm unsure if I should go. How should I treat them from here on?

Also, where is the fine line between "persistence" and "proactiveness"? Please tell me!

All: I seeー

HARUNA: That's difficult...

MAMI: They wrote that it's bothersome talking once a week...

TOMOMI: I wonder if their convos are boring...

RINA: If the listener didn't find those tweets saying it was bothersome, it means that the other person responded like they don't think of it like that. Isn't being considerate like that really hurtful? They seem like they're enjoying it but are thinking those things.

HARUNA: Yeah...

RINA: I mean, what do they talk about on the phone??

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 72

•The episode starts with this.

•They then read messages from listener who attended the joint band concert with Hump Back. HARU reads the first one from someone who wrote this message on the train back from the concert. They say they're big fans of both bands and felt like this concert was meant for them. They talk about how, like the "A Stronger Sound" title suggests, powerful they both sounded. TOMO reads the next message from someone who was really looking forward to it after giving birth in May--it was like their reward for working hard. They say both bands were cool and that they liked the bonus pictures of the bands in RINA's blog entry about it.

•The band says that that concert was a lot of fun. They first talk about how it was rescheduled from its original date in June and that they were really glad they were able to hold it after all. RINA mentions how they're grateful for everyone who came out since everything (the date, it being on a weekday, moved to a new venue) had completely been changed. HARU says it was their first double band concert with another all-girl band in a long time. RINA wonders how long it's been. They don't seem to remember as it's not something they do often [Note: I can't find any past concerts that were similar--I wonder if it's actually their first with an all-girl band]. They do say that they have at least played a ton of events and the like with all-girl bands. RINA says that holding an all-girl band joint concert at a slightly large venue wouldn't have been realistic 10 years prior. She finds the progress of this era a bit impressive and it made her happy to be able to hold it. HARU says that although they both have different approaches to music, it seems like they can become good friends with each other. They say that the first time they met in person was on the day of the concert, but that day did feel very long. TOMO says they got to talk to each other for a bit after the concert. They talk about how after rehearsals were done before the concert, they all took photos together and Hump Back went to look at what kind of settings and equipment SCANDAL uses (those are the photos posted in the blog). They say they hope they can do another concert with them. TOMO goes, "Tsuyoku Naru Oto 2?"

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who also attended the joint concert and says that it was a lot of fun. Then, they say they're changing the subject to dialects. HARU goes, "...eh??" while the staff laughs in the background. The listener says they live in Gifu Prefecture and says that HARU and MAMI might already know these since they're from around that area too, but there are some dialect phrases like "Tsukue wo tsuru" (机をつる; literally means 'lift up a desk' - it refers to picking up a desk and moving it) and "Okane wo kowasu" (お金を壊す; literally means 'to break money' - it refers to breaking a bill). The band laughs and says they were surprised by that sudden curveball of changing the subject. TOMO says that she knew the first one since HARU and MAMI say it often, but the second she's never heard. She can infer the meaning of it, though, since the standard way you say to break a bill is "Okane wo kuzusu" (お金を崩す). RINA asks if they also use "kuzusu." HARU says that they don't really use it often. MAMI says that she hasn't really used "kowasu" since moving to Tokyo, which HARU does agree with. RINA says that she's never heard them say "kuzusu." TOMO says that she thinks they've been using "kowasu" since they first met. HARU says that she means she understands what it means when "Okane wo kowasu" is said, even though she doesn't use it herself.

•They then talk about the first phrase. TOMO wonders if the standard way to say it is "Tsukue wo okuru" (机を送る; literally means 'to send a desk'), but HARU and RINA think that's also a dialect way to say it. A staffer confirms that that's also a dialect phrase. RINA says that's also the first time she's heard of a phrase like that. TOMO asks her what they say in Nara. RINA says that they say "Tsukue wo sageru" (机を下げる; literally means 'to lower a desk'), which the others say they don't use. MAMI says that everyone says this phrase differently. HARU says that she thinks the standard way to say it is "Tsukue wo hakobu" (机を運ぶ; literally means 'to carry/move a desk'). She and MAMI say that "Tsukue wo tsuru" is only used when school desks are being moved; it can't really be used for any other time. RINA says that it's really limited as for when that phrase can be used. HARU says that that phrase is pretty famous when it comes to Nagoya dialect--it might even be one of its representative phrases.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who mentions the previous episode where they talked about the dialect phrase "tege" (てげ; very, really). HARU had said that she thought it was a dialect from the southern part of Japan, but the listener says that it's from the dialect used in Miyazaki Prefecture. They're from Miyazaki, and when they heard the band talking about it, they thought to themselves, "That's Miyazaki dialect!" The band says that's a very cute dialect word. HARU says that she thinks there's a word in Korean that sounds like that and means the same thing (which is true). RINA says that she wants to visit Miyazaki. MAMI says that she wants to eat mangoes from there.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener who says there's something they really enjoying doing by themselves this time of year, and that is to eat a lot of melons, which they say MAMI loves as well. Their family sends them melons that can't be sold and/or are damaged. So far they've eaten about 14 melons. They ask SCANDAL if there's anything they can eat a lot of. HARU asks MAMI how many melons she thinks she could eat. RINA says that when they appear at ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL, which always has melon soda that comes in actual melons, MAMI always has about two of them. MAMI says that it's water, and RINA goes, "...I think you're mistaken." They and the staff laugh and MAMI goes, "What?" and then explains that she can drink it so quickly it's basically like drinking water for her. RINA goes, "Oh, that's what you meant? It's at that level for you?" MAMI talks about how they usually have fruits for refreshments on concert days, and one time the melons were replenished every time she ate one (i.e. she came back from rehearsals and they had been replenished, and the same thing happened after the concert). RINA says to say thanks to their event planner, which they all laugh at and MAMI does say thanks. HARU does say that it was funny how often they were replenished. HARU says that in that same vein TOMO can endlessly eat fruits. TOMO says that fruits like strawberries, kaki (persimmons), and pineapple she can eat endlessly. She then adds that she can eat Meiji Apollo chocolates endlessly, making the staff laugh. MAMI says that she can probably eat chocolate endlessly, which RINA agrees with too.

•HARU says that one thing she thinks she can eat a ton of is soba. The others loudly go, "Aahh!" TOMO mentions how HARU can eat a ton of wanko soba [and here HARU mentions her previous two attempts before that]. HARU says she can't eat huge servings of things, but she's able to eat a ton of wanko soba since the amount in every bowl is pretty small. RINA says that was seriously impressive. TOMO says that she has no idea how HARU's stomach is shaped [as in perhaps it's like a black hole for soba]. MAMI wonders if it's she can eat a lot because they're noodles and can eat a lot at once. HARU says that doesn't think she could eat a lot of ramen due to how rich the broth is. RINA says that eating several bowls of ramen at once is impossible, but when they're in Sapporo, for instance, they can go out to eat ramen for dinner and again and breakfast, although MAMI's not able to do that. She also says that it's totally doable to eat ramen during the course of several days, which HARU agrees with.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who had written in previously about a girl [not sure which one he is], and although it's not the same girl he had mentioned, he now has a girlfriend who has been classmates with him since elementary school. He says, however, that there's a very big problem: They're both students who are studying for college entrance exams and can't just hang out all the time. He says he thinks it's good to have a proper sense of distance but isn't sure what a proper sense of distance is and asks SCANDAL for advice. TOMO says that since they've been classmates for so long, they probably live close by to each other and wonders if it possible that they could see each other every day. She says that they could just have enough time for each of them to study. HARU says that's possible if both of them can come to an understanding on that. MAMI says they should take a day on the weekend to let loose and have fun since just studying is boring. RINA says they should support each other while doing what needs to be done, and that it's better to be in a relationship while enjoying your time together and working hard--if you're able to do that as a student, you're likely to continue that romance when you're adults. TOMO says that if there's a curfew they can use the time afterwards to study, and that they should just spend their time together normally. RINA says they could decide on rules, like they'll only hang out until 7-8 pm. They tell them good luck with their studies/entrance exams.

•RINA reads the next message from the same listener who sent the previous message above this one. As soon as she reads the name, TOMO goes, "Hold up! I just read his message!" RINA says that it seems like this is part 2. TOMO goes, "Did something happen?" RINA continues reading the message. He says that he sent in a message a week prior to this one about getting a girlfriend, but they broke up within a week. HARU goes, "Ehhh?!" The listener says that there's no helping it if his first message is read, but if possible to not read it. HARU chastizes their program director and goes, "Ono-san!" TOMO says, "You're so bad!" HARU says that they just answered the question so seriously. They wonder what happened between them. TOMO goes, "They couldn't maintain a sense of distance." They say they'll give him an Apollo pick, though, and tell him good luck with college and studying.

•MAMI reads the last message from a listener who was sick and had to have their leg amputated below the knee last October. They credit SCANDAL with making them feel uplifted and positive, and that they're not afraid of change. They can now walk with no problem and credit SCANDAL for that as well. They thank them for existing and say that they got tickets to SCANDAL's "magic show" at Osaka-Jo Hall. The band laughs at this and TOMO says that she completely forgot about the magic tricks. HARU says that she forgot as well. They mention how last October is pretty recent and that the listener worked really hard with their rehab. MAMI is surprised someone would be able to walk normally in such a short amount of time. RINA says that knowing their music makes people feel positive in turn makes the band themselves feel supported. HARU says they'll do their best with their "magic show."

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

SCANDAL's stamp of approval! The Apollo pick and stickers merch for the program are finally complete!

Episode ＃72 blog

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HARUNA: Since's this is episode 72, it's "72 Desu na" ("It's 72 / It's Summer") ["72" here is pronounced "natsu"; it's a pun on a lot of words - "natsu" = summer; 7 in Japanese = nana; 2 is pronounced as "tsu," which is the Japanese spelling of the English word "two"]...

RINA: It really is!

MAMI: It's 7 and 2.

TOMOMI: The rainy season has just ended (*as of the day this is being recorded).

RINA: It's gotten super hot.

HARUNA: We'll just be reading messages this time.

Before we read them, we have an important announcement...

Unbelievably, finally, the stickers for this program are here!

All: They're hereー! (*Super excited)

HARUNA: That's not all... The Apollo picks are also here!!

All: They're hereー! (*Super excited)

HARUNA: It was worth it to have a ton of meetings with the staff about them.

RINA: They're right before us... The quality's so good!

MAMI: They're adorable!

TOMOMI: The picks are a bit stiff.

RINA: They're rigid ones that can be used regularly.

MAMI: Yes, yes! They're great for acoustic guitars!

HARUNA: But they're too good to use - they're too cute!

RINA: Aren't the stickers awesome? The quality's wonderful...

HARUNA: There are two types of stickers. A program sticker and a "Fine Line Association" sticker.

TOMOMI: They're super simple but took forever to figure out.

RINA: We were super picky about them.

TOMOMI: Yeah, we were surprisingly picky.

RINA: An explanation of the segment is written on the back... You can feel a culture to it.

MAMI: Yeah, I think it being surreal is good.

RINA: You can stick it on your phone or put it in a case.

HARUNA: There's a reason why we have such a full lineup of picks and stickers... Also, getting an Apollo pouch is quite the hurdle in a lot of ways...

All: Yeah...

HARUNA: The production cost is high... Therefore, the hurdles given to listeners will be higher as well...

※The staff also apologizes...

HARUNA: So, we made picks and stickers. Starting today, if there are any messages that make us go, "Should we give this listener something?", we will give them something.

All: Yes, we will.

HARUNA: We won't give them to everyone, so please send in good messages!

All: We'll be waiting!

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 71

•The episode starts with this.

•While TOMO goes off to practice, RINA reads a message from a listener whose message had been read during episode 64 (the one who asked them to say "Hey! Barber!"). He talks about some dialect words in Kyushu related to hair, which is honestly too hard to translate into English lol. The band discusses what those words would be where they're from, and at the end MAMI says to have pride in the words used in the region you're from.

•TOMO finishes practicing, which the others say was really fast. TOMO explains that the trick first consists of drawing a hole on the memo pad, passing a coin over the hole, and the coin disappearing by "dropping" into the hole. MAMI goes, "Even though it's a flat surface?" TOMO says yes. She does the trick and the others go, "Eh?? That's so awesome!" TOMO laughs and says she's super happy it worked. The next part of the trick involves her making the hole into a bucket and dropping another coin into it. She goes, "Disappear!" and then asks if they heard a sound just now. They say yes, and TOMO says that was the sound of the second coin hitting the first one. She goes, "That's my magic trick!" Everyone applauds and say that was awesome. RINA wonders where the coins went. TOMO says, "They disappeared." RINA goes, "Ehh??" HARU says that was great, and TOMO says that makes her happy to hear. RINA says she doesn't understand at all what happened. MAMI thinks that's a difficult trick to do. TOMO says that she thinks MAMI might be good at it since her hands are big. MAMI laughs and says that it seems like big hands are good for doing these tricks. TOMO says that all magicians might have big hands. They again say that that was a complete success and that they really could these at Osaka-Jo Hall. [Here's what the trick looks like]

•RINA then goes off to practice. The others say that it seems like it'll be difficult to do. TOMO then reads the next message from a listener who says that after they get back home from work, they drink while listening to SCANDAL songs. They ask the band what they do while drinking. They say they don't really drink at home by themselves, but if someone's over then they'll eat while they drink. TOMO says that they don't really drink much to begin with. HARU says that they haven't really drank much since the pandemic started. MAMI says that she'd sometimes drink when she'd go out with friends, or would drink while eating during get-togethers with friends, but since no one's really getting together, you don't really drink. They agree and HARU says that she hasn't drank any alcohol at all recently. TOMO says that since she and HARU live in the same direction, sometimes after work she would drive back with HARU to her place and visit her dog and go on walks, and would also eat dinner. On very rare occasions would they drink some alcohol. HARU mentions that TOMO's only became able to drink a bit of alcohol within the past year, and so they had more occasions to drink. TOMO says that since she doesn't like to drink alone, she'd bring some alcohol with her to HARU's and they would drink together. MAMI starts to bring up how TOMO was hooked on drinking at home at one point during the past year. TOMO says that drinking while staying at home = happiness. She says that when she does that, she usually watches TV. MAMI says that during those times you're just casually watching things instead of really being into what you're watching. HARU says that it sets a mood. TOMO says that drinking occasionally is fun.

•RINA and the staff are heard making a lot of noise. TOMO wonders if RINA's done practicing. RINA is heard saying that she doesn't like it. The others are surprised and wonder what she means. TOMO wonders if that means she's done preparing, and MAMI wonders if that means she's prepared too much that she doesn't like it. RINA is then heard saying, "How does this work??" HARU goes, "Ah, she doesn't understand it. Can you really call that magic, then?"

•They decide to read one more message in the mean time. MAMI reads the next message from a listener who says their message about how they're married but still loves their ex-boyfriend's face was previously read in a past episode [I don't remember which lol]. She says that there's been a development and someone who looks like her ex happens to be on the same survival show (related to idols) that her friend's been making progress in. She's happy to be able to support him without hiding the fact that she likes his looks from the people she knows. She says she can't tell her husband the fact that the guy looks like her ex (HARU: "Well of course"), but she has bought merch that is delivered when her husband's at work--she's legally savoring her fill of good-looking guys. The band laughs and MAMI says that that's a healthy way to go about things. HARU wonders what program he's on. MAMI seemingly reads another line that says the listener sometimes has dreams about him, but she doesn't know if it's the ex or the idol guy. The band is surprised and goes, "They look that similar??" MAMI says, "On the contrary, isn't that crazy?" TOMO goes, "Isn't that guy the ex, then??" MAMI and HARU laugh and say it could be possible. Since the listener said she bought merch, the band deduces that this group must have already debuted. They go, "Wow, her ex debuted!" and laugh. TOMO talks about how bassist SiN from the band SiM reminds her a lot of Reo from the group GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE. HARU says she totally gets it and that they don't really look alike, but their personalities are similar. TOMO says that she does think they look alike--she was watching a TV program with Reo and thought he was SiN. MAMI says that SiN does dance around while he plays bass. TOMO says that no one would likely notice if they switched places, and that she wants them to do it. She says, "How do I tell them that??", which MAMI and HARU laugh at. HARU says that there are a lot famous people in all kinds of places that can look like each other. MAMI wonders if there's anyone [famous] who looks like them. TOMO says that she doesn't think there's anyone who closely does. MAMI says that they don't really often get told that they look like someone else, which TOMO and HARU agree with.

•RINA is done practicing her trick. HARU asks her what kind of trick she'll be doing. RINA says that she'll be guessing the card that someone draws. She starts explaining while shuffling the deck, which HARU says very pro-like. TOMO says to do it one more time. She does so and the others laugh while going, "Ohh!" RINA says that she'll have someone put their finger on whatever card they want, and HARU tells MAMI to do it. RINA tells MAMI that she can choose whichever one she likes. MAMI chooses one and then shows the card to everyone but RINA. RINA asks her if she's memorized her card. MAMI says yes. RINA then says, "Five of diamonds." They all go, "Eh?? Eh??" RINA asks if that's wrong, but they say she was correct. RINA goes, "I did it?" They also say that she knew it so quickly. RINA goes, "I guessed correctly!" and they clap for her. HARU keeps saying, "How'd you do it??" RINA says that she knew the moment the card was drawn. TOMO says that she wants to try doing it too. RINA pauses for a second and then goes, "I can't." They all laugh and go, "You can't??" RINA laughs and says she can only do it one time. TOMO jokes and says that the card picked will always be the five of diamonds. RINA says that she was really nervous about doing it. HARU says that she was surprised at how fast she knew the correct card. RINA says that she knew that right away. MAMI says that they probably can't do this trick at OJH. They ask RINA again, and she again says that she can only do the trick once. A staffer says in the background that she could if she practiced more. RINA pauses for a second and then says while laughing, "I can't." She says that she could do another form of magic, just not this one. TOMO says she should do the trick again when everyone forgets what card was drawn. MAMI says that they might forget by the time OJH happens. TOMO agrees and says that it's a month away. RINA says that she was really scared while practicing this trick since it was so mysterious. HARU asks if she understands it now, and RINA says that she does, but she was really scared. MAMI goes, "What were you scared of??" RINA says that she was scared of messing it up, which the others understand. MAMI and HARU say that they don't at all understand how this trick works and that this was impressive. They all clap again for RINA. [This is basically what RINA does, sans the envelope part.]

•They then close out the episode. HARU says that surprisingly they can do these tricks with a little bit of practice. RINA says that it was fun. MAMI says it probably doesn't go over well on radio, but it was a lot of fun. TOMO says that it makes you really happy to impress people with your tricks. HARU says that it'd probably be even more interesting if they had a lot of time to practice. HARU again says that it was fun, and she wonders what it was like for those listening. They say that maybe they can do this on video so that people can see what's going on. A staffer seemingly says to do it at OJH since the band laughs and HARU goes, "They really want us to perform these at OJH." HARU says that RINA seemingly can't do it again. RINA says, "Thanks so much! I'm retiring as of today."

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

The second half of "ILLUSION" at Osaka-Jo Hall! SCANDAL will make miracles happen with magic!?

Episode ＃71 blog

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HARUNA: Continuing from last week...

RINA: Those were awesome. Complete successes.

TOMOMI: Yeah, they were impressive.

HARUNA: We somehow did them in a short amount of time.

MAMI: Somehow.


[*TOMO and RINA will be doing their tricks this week.]


HARUNA: It takes quite a long time to prepare.

RINA: It's pretty complicated.

TOMOMI: It requires a bit of initialization.

HARUNA: Maybe the difficulty is getting higher and higher...
So, ＃3 is TOMOMI.

TOMOMI: I'll go practice.

HARUNA: We'll be reading messages while you're preparing.

Suzu Castella

Hello, SCANDAL. I'm sending this message after getting nostalgic hearing you talk about Aomori dialect.

In my hometown, when you're "getting rid" (捨てる; suteru) of trash, you call it "throwing out" (なげる; nageru) the trash. I remembered that when I moved to Tokyo, people didn't understand me when I said I'd throw out the trash...(haha)

I remembered how happy I was when you talked about things regarding my hometown, like the double doors at convenience stores and English toast, when you talked about your 47-prefecture tour the other day. Topics like that make me feel so nostalgic and happy as I can't return home due to the pandemic, so it'd be great if you could tell us more memories of dialects from when you were on tour. I'm looking forward to future episodes.

There are still many places in Aomori that use "tage" or "waya" (すごい; sugoi = very, really) if you look for some, so I would also like to hear dialects from other regions.

I'm really looking forward to future episodes [This was said using a bunch of dialect words] (haha)

MAMI: "Tage" sounds cute.

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 70

•The episode starts with this.

•HARU, TOMO, and RINA do another round of janken to determine who goes next. HARU wins, with TOMO being the runner-up. and wonders which one she should go with. MAMI looks at the remaining items and says she has no idea what "mental magic" entails. RINA says that she thinks mental magic would be good for HARU. The others laugh and say that RINA's already gone and decided that, so HARU does go with mental magic (AKA "ESP cards"). RINA says that HARU would have the best poker face and thinks that she'd be good at doing those tricks. TOMO, the runner-up, is the next one to choose. RINA asks her which one she'd want to do, and TOMO says that both of them look difficult to do. MAMI explains the "coin magic" one, which is actually more of a "magic memo pad"--you draw a cup on the pad, pass a coin over it, and it disappears (info + a video on it). HARU says it looks difficult. TOMO says that she'll give it a go. She's handed the box and says it's heavy. By process of elimination, RINA gets the card magic. MAMI says that all cards have the same pattern on them. HARU goes, "There's such a thing?" RINA wonders if she'll be able to do it.

•HARU says that the first person will go into a separate room to practice. The others are surprised by this until the staff says something inaudible, which is likely something about keeping the trick a surprise. MAMI opens her item and goes, "Eh, will I be able to do this??" and says that the balls are pretty big [lol]. She says, "Seriously, how do I do this?" While she heads to another room, HARU says that since the other members will just be waiting until she's ready, they'll be reading messages to pass the time. RINA and TOMO laugh, and RINA says, "That's such a crude way to introduce that." MAMI reaches the place where she'll be practicing and HARU goes, "That's where she's practicing?" while the staff laughs in the background. TOMO goes, "That's not a separate room!" HARU says, "We can totally see her!", which likely means that MAMI's simply in a different part of the same room.

•HARU reads a message from a listener who used to be a fan starting from BABY ACTION (their 3rd album, released in 2011) but started drifting away after he started listening to other artists, and has recently come back to SCANDAL after learning about this program. He says that he'll share an "Eh? Seriously?" story. His wife also started listening to SCANDAL after hearing him play them while in the car or while doing chores. He says that she also applies to lotteries for tickets to concerts of musical artists that he's a fan of. When he came home the other day, she asked him if he can take July 12th off. That usually doesn't happen, so he was wondering why and suddenly remembered that it's the day SCANDAL is playing a concert (the joint one with Hump Back). He wasn't able to get tickets and therefore decided not to go, but his wife actually won some. He appreciated how kind she was to get them for him. As this is his first concert, he asks the band if there's anything he should bring with him. They say that makes them happy. RINA says that they're a great couple. HARU says that anything's fine to bring. RINA says, "The tickets, right?", which the other members and the staff laughs at. RINA says that since towels aren't allowed to be spun at concerts right now (as it agitates the air), it's more of a chill style at venues. TOMO says that you can still bring one to wipe away sweat. HARU says that you can just wear it around your neck. TOMO says that people can pick up merch before the concert (online). As for things to bring, RINA says to bring money. They all laugh and HARU goes, "Yes, money is a must-bring." HARU says that the band will do their best so that everyone can enjoy the concert, and also says to look forward to it. Then, they wonder if MAMI is done practicing. She's not. They laugh and RINA goes, "She's so serious about it!" TOMO says that the staff is helping her out. HARU says that it looks like it'll take a little bit longer since it's pretty difficult.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who had previously sent in a message about rescuing a cat. They say that they actually have resigned from that company. They weren't sure about resigning, but when they thought about their age and future, they decided to live true to themselves. They decided to go into video production, which was something they had previously gone to vocational school for a few years ago but gave up on. They fortunately have someone that can help them and are studying with that person. When they listened to "Ivory," the lyrics resonated with them and thank them for making a wonderful song. The band thanks them for the nice, heartfelt message. TOMO says that MAMI's still practicing her magic trick and the others laugh, saying that she unfortunately wasn't able to hear the message. RINA says that the moment you decide to take on a challenge is when you're most filled with courage, and although this is a kind of obvious thing to say, it's better to do what you want to do since life only happens once. She also says that they hope to support them with their music so that things will turn out well. They say that perhaps they'll meet/work with them one day. HARU says that the band also needs to work hard. She also says that that "Now I feel like I can do this" attitude is so mysterious, even if there's no basis to it. RINA says she totally gets that. They tell the fan to take care and to do their best. TOMO wonders if MAMI's ready to go, but she's still practicing. RINA says that it looks like she's having a pretty hard time. HARU says that it looks like they'll be reading a lot of messages today.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who says that their first impression of SCANDAL was that it was like George Harrison from The Beatles released a single. They also say that they thought HARU would always do lead vocals on singles, but it does seem like the pandemic has had an effect on a lot of people and that their lifestyles have changed. TOMO says that this is the first time someone's said they remind them of George Harrison. RINA says that they sometimes are told they remind people of The Beatles, including their staff. HARU says that like what's going on the world now, it's not always a given that she'll do lead vocals on a song.

•HARU then goes, "Oh, is MAMI done?" MAMI says something like how she can only do the trick with two of the balls at this point with that much practice. RINA says that's still an impressive thing, and that MAMI could be the only member who could do that. TOMO says that it's impressive to learn how to do a magic trick in only 10 minutes. MAMI says she can only do one ball, and the others go, "Wait, you're starting to do the trick??" They tell her to wait for a second and she seemingly goes a little further away from the recording area to do the trick. She says she'll split one ball into two and then does it. HARU and the staff laugh and TOMO goes, "Aaahh..." RINA goes, "Eh, that was great!", which the others do agree with. MAMI says that she still needs to practice more to do three of them. RINA says that the ball multiplied into two very smoothly. They again say it's really impressive, and MAMI goes, "Really?" TOMO goes, "Do it at Osaka-Jo Hall!" There's a second of silence before the staff and HARU laughs, and MAMI goes, "Eh?? Seriously?" HARU says that MAMI won't be able to play the guitar if that's the case, and then says she should do it in between songs. RINA again says that that's awesome. HARU says that people who can do this trick with four of those balls are awesome. MAMI says again that as of right now she can only split them into two, which the others again say is impressive and clap for her [if anyone's interested, this is what the full trick is supposed to look like]. HARU says that it's crazy she learned that in such a short amount of time. MAMI says, "Next!", meaning HARU, and she goes off to practice. MAMI wonders what "mental magic" is, and if they might be manipulated/controlled. RINA says that talking is probably important to this trick. TOMO asks MAMI if her trick was difficult to do. She says it was, and that the box it comes in is small and that the instructions took up about half of that, and that they were very abridged. She says that you have to return a ball to its original place once you multiply it, which she wasn't really able to do. She also says that like what RINA said earlier, the spaces between your fingers is very important for this trick and that it's better to have big hands to do it. RINA says that it *was* the right answer to have MAMI do this trick. MAMI says that playing the guitar might not be relevant for this, especially since her left hand is the one that can stretch far and she used her right hand for this trick, which everyone laughs at. RINA and TOMO tell her good work. MAMI says thanks and jokes to pardon her for only getting so far today.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who says they discovered SCANDAL when they were in elementary school and happened to see the music video for "Shoujo S," and says that from that time on they were their "goddesses." They turned 20, the age you're considered an adult in Japan, at the end of June but is still pretty unsure about the future and all that. They ask SCANDAL for any advice or words of encouragement and tell them to take care of themselves (ご自愛ください, which is a polite term not often used). The band congratulates them on turning 20 and comments on their use of politeness (TOMO: "We never used that term when we were 20"), and MAMI says she totally thinks they can make it in society since they're able to write such polite things.

•TOMO asks the others what they released when they were 20 (which would be 2010-2011 for TOMO and MAMI, 2011-2012 for RINA). MAMI says, "'Shoujo S,' right?" and thinks they might have released it in 2010, but TOMO says it was in 2009 [yes, it came out in June 2009 lol]. Then, both MAMI and TOMO go, "What about 'ShunSen' ["Shunkan Sentimental"; released in February 2010]?" RINA talks about the one where they wear kimonos, which TOMO says is SCANDAL SHOW (which was early 2012). RINA says they played their first show at the Nippon Budokan when she was 20 (SCANDAL vs Budokan, March 2012). MAMI isn't sure of the year and goes, "2012? 2011?" [lol MAMI apparently isn't very good with dates]. RINA then laughs and mentions "ScaButto" (Scandal Nanka Buttobase, released in November 2010). TOMO goes, "Aah, 'ScaButto'!" RINA says that they played it at Budokan. MAMI wonders who shortened the song as "ScaButto." Both RINA and TOMO say fans did. TOMO says it's probably likely that when they first released that single, fans on Twitter were like, "I bought 'ScaButto'!" and the band started calling it that too.

•As for giving the listener any advice or words of encouragement, RINA says that it'll be fine, though they are saying this as misfits of society with being in a band and all (TOMO: "That's totally true, though"), and that they hope they can continue to play music for a long time together. MAMI wonders if the listener is working or if they're a student, but either way, she says that they support them so they can continue doing whatever it is they're doing right now. TOMO says to live positively and that if you look at things negatively when you can't find what it is you want to do, you do end up not being able to find it at all. She says that it's important to stay positive.

•They then wonder if HARU's done, but it seems she needs a little bit more time. TOMO then reads the next message from a listener who, like the previous listener, is 20 and says that he's a third-year college student who has been listening to SCANDAL since they were in elementary school. He says he'd like to thank SCANDAL for the song "Fuzzy." When he was a first-year student, he and his girlfriend had broken up because of stuff about the future and their mutual values. At that time SCANDAL had released "Fuzzy," and the lyrics about wanting to keep loving someone forever despite not knowing what the future will hold left a deep impression with him and told his girlfriend he wanted them to give it another try. As a result, they're still going out to this day. He's gotten her hooked on SCANDAL and so will attend the OJH concert with her. They also started a SCANDAL cover band and he says that he wants to cover "Fuzzy." The band thanks him for the message and mentions how these two messages were from 20-year-olds that have been SCANDAL fans since they were in elementary school. TOMO talks about how they know a lot of people who were kids when they first started going to SCANDAL concerts and how they've grown up so much. RINA says that sometimes they can see those people from on stage, and when they're back in the dressing room, they'll talk about how much those kids have grown. TOMO mentions that there used to be twin boys from Fukuoka who would always be in the front row of concerts they'd hold in the Kyushu region, which made her look forward to going to that area. She wonders what they're up to now.

•One of the staff members says something in the background, signaling that HARU is done practicing. The others say that that was really fast. Right away she starts doing her trick and asks RINA to choose a card (the cards are not normal playing cards but have symbols on them) without showing it to her, set it aside, and she'll guess what the symbol RINA chose is. RINA does so and HARU says she's divining right now. RINA goes, "You can get that much power in 10 minutes??" After a few seconds, HARU goes, "Ah, I think it's coming into view." MAMI and TOMO go, "That's so scary!" HARU keeps saying things like, "Ah, I think I know! I think I see it!" MAMI says there's no real "mental" aspect of this for the player, and HARU says that the mental aspect is for the one doing the trick. They all laugh and RINA says, "This is totally a game for HARU!" HARU asks if it's okay to reveal what it is. RINA says yes. HARU says it's the card with the three wavy lines on it. RINA goes, "Ehh! Wow!" since it is the card that she had chosen. HARU goes "Yay!" and they clap for her. RINA and TOMO go, "How'd you know??" HARU says, "I divined it." TOMO says that's super impressive. HARU says she'll do another one and RINA says, "She's so confident, isn't she?" HARU says that she might not get it right but MAMI doesn't think so. RINA picks another card and right away HARU goes, "Ah, I think it's coming to me." RINA says, "What is coming, I wonder?" HARU says more things like, "I think I can do this. It's coming to me a little at a time. The correct answer is...the plus symbol." That is the correct answer, and everyone again claps and RINA goes, "Wow! That's so impressive!" TOMO wonders how she's doing it, and that she thought she wouldn't get any of them right. RINA says she has no idea how HARU would know what she chose. They seemingly go over to look at the cards and MAMI goes, "Wait, they're kind of all different, aren't they? You should do this at OJH!" The staff and the members both laugh and RINA goes, "We won't be playing music at all at this rate. It'll just be a magic show." They again say how impressive it is at how HARU learned this in such a short time span. HARU says she learned how to divine, which the others clap for and again say it's impressive. She also says that there are quite a few different ways to do this trick, and she learned how to do the one that she'd be able to do in a short time frame. RINA says that both HARU and MAMI are just plain awesome. TOMO says that she's lost confidence in her being able to do her own trick. HARU says that the next episode will feature TOMO's and RINA's tricks and to look forward to them. [This video explains the trick, and this video is of the exact cards HARU used]

•They then close out the episode and say that this was "Catch up"'s first magic show. HARU says that nothing probably was conveyed to the listeners (due to how you can only listen and not watch anything). MAMI says that it feels like she didn't do anything, but the others say how she turned one ball into two and that it was impressive. MAMI goes, "Ah...got it. Thanks!" They go back to what HARU said about nothing being conveyed. TOMO says that it's always like for "Catch up," like with the "spot the mistakes" thing they did before, and that they're always doing things that are better meant for video rather than radio. They and their staff laugh and RINA says that the listeners can somehow follow along, despite that--or at least that's what the fans seem to tell them. They laugh again and say that they're being indulged by the listeners. They say that they'll do their best with the remaining tricks.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

SCANDAL will show off magic tricks at their Osaka-Jo Hall concert in August

Episode ＃70 blog

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HARUNA: So, for this week...
We're preparing for our 15th anniversary concert "INVITATION" at Osaka-Jo Hall next month...
And our "Catch up" staff wants to help us as much as possible for this big moment...
What they concluded on is: "We think it's better for the band to learn tricks for this concert"

TOMOMI: It's not like that...

RINA: But it depends on what it is.

HARUNA: And so, it's "ILLUSION" at Osaka-Jo Hall!

All: *silence*

TOMOMI: (*whispering) That's not right...

TOMOMI: That's going in an entirely different direction.

MAMI: "Illusion"??

Staff: The concert's called "INVITATION," so this is called "ILLUSION"...

HARUNA: All of us will learn a magic trick and show it here...

TOMOMI: Right now!?

MAMI: Not at Osaka-Jo Hall?

HARUNA: They're "tricks" in preparation for OJH... Well, we'll be given the topic.

All: (*reluctantly*) Understood.

HARUNA: They've prepared some magic-related items, so let's get right to it.

TOMOMI: It's unusual to have four pages in the script. They must be excited.

RINA: It's twice the normal amount.

HARUNA: It's like two weeks worth of illusions.

TOMOMI: Two weeks worth of excitement.

HARUNA: There are four kinds of magic-related items.


※Four types: ball magic, coin magic, card magic, mental magic


RINA: They look pretty difficult. We'll be able to do these?

HARUNA: Now we'll each practice and then show them off.

MAMI: I wonder if we can do these.

TOMOMI: I'm not confident...

MAMI: I know how to do simpler magic tricks...

HARUNA: Then shall we start from MAMI-chan?

MAMI: What? Let's decide by janken (rock-paper-scissors).

※Janken


MAMI: I won...

HARUNA: Choose your favorite magic item.

MAMI: What should I go with...

RINA: I think the "magic balls" would be good for you, MAMI.

MAMI: Why's that??

RINA: Because it's advantageous to have someone who can open their fingers super wide.

MAMI: I see... But I don't know...
Okay, why not? I'll go with the "magic balls."

RINA: There was no point in doing janken.

With that said, the small first step has begun for each of the four SCANDAL members to make a flower named "ILLUSION" bloom at Osaka-Jo Hall! The results will be revealed during this episode and the next.

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 69

•The episode starts with this.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who is a 25-year-old shimeji (a type of mushroom) farmer in Nagano prefecture. Until last year they were the manager of a national izakaya chain in Tokyo, but due to the pandemic they had to close. The listener decided to succeed the family business (shimeiji farming) five years earlier than expected. Their lifestyle has changed dramatically and now wakes up at 4 am and sleeps at 9 pm. On their days off they want to stay up late and sleep late. They ask the band if when they have a day off do they stay up late and go to bed late, or if they get up early to make the most of their day. They also tell the band they can come mushroom picking. The band says they'd love to do so. Answering the question, TOMO says that there are days that she wants to sleep a lot, but there are also days when she wants to do something like fishing the next day and would need to get up at 3 am. She says it's difficult to choose one and that both are good. HARU says that she thinks they're all basically the type to wake up late in the day. RINA says that it's because they all basically stay up late. MAMI says that it doesn't really change whether or not they have a day off the next day because they always go to sleep late. HARU says that there are a lot of fans that have to wake up early to go to work and will sometimes get really worried about the band if the members post at 1 or 2 am, saying things like, "You'll get sick so hurry up and go to sleep!"

•MAMI says that no matter how early she takes a bath she can't go to sleep early (RINA: "I totally get that"), and that she feels a little guilty about sleeping early. HARU says that MAMI's been that way for about 10 years now. MAMI says that she'll always be likely to be awake at 3 or 4 am. RINA says that writing music usually occurs late at night, and both she and MAMI go, "Seriously, why is that?" MAMI talks about quizzes online that'll tell you what kind of person you are (i.e. early bird, super early bird, night owl, super night owl etc.), and she says that she's basically one step away from being a "super night owl." RINA says that among the four of them, HARU is the one who wakes up early. TOMO says that it's because HARU has a dog, and HARU says that is one of the reasons why she needs to wake up early every day. TOMO says that she would love to be an early bird. RINA says that that is the most healthiest to be. HARU says you can feel how long the day is when you do that. She also says that it's pure happiness when you don't have to set an alarm for the next day, which they all agree with. MAMI sums it up by saying that they're all night owls.

•MAMI reads the next message. The listener mentions a message that was read during episode 64 (the last listener who mentions the type of girl the guy she's dating likes is one that's like an "unknown creature"), and says that he's the boyfriend in question. The band all goes, "Ehh?!" The message is kind of hard to understand haha but he says that in reference to his type that he's referring to humans. His girlfriend is a very cute human, though he doesn't know what she's thinking and can't read her train of thought. He does, however, like that fantastical side to her, and says the band, whom she loves, probably also has a weird way of thinking like her, so he asks them to share any fantastical stories that have happened to them recently. He closes it by saying that both he and his girlfriend will be attending the 15th anniversary concert. MAMI goes, "What the heck?" and HARU goes, "He's quite blunt," which they all laugh at. They say that they worried about them for no reason; they seem pretty lovey-dovey. RINA says that what he's talking about is that he wants the person's personality to be distinctive, and that they both seem to go well together. They wonder if the bf sent this in after talking with each other, and TOMO wonders if it was sent as a surprise. They say they'll do their best for the concert.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener whose message has to do with appearances. He's not very confident in his appearance, but the other day he was suddenly praised by a business partner at work for being handsome. He thinks the person was joking, but for a while after being told that, every time he saw himself in the mirror or in the window, he would be like, "Oh? I'm definitely a little cool." They laugh and TOMO goes, "That's so cute!" The listener says that if you look at the comments on SCANDAL's Twitter and Instagram you'll find a lot of ones that say "kawaii," "pretty," or "cute." He asks them if those make them happy, or if that isn't the case. He also asks if they think if you praise the appearance of a friend or lover, that person will become more and more cool and cute. As an example, he says that when he praised his quiet ex-girlfriend and called her cute/beautiful, she became even more cute and started smiling a lot. She was, however, taken by a handsome guy, so he thinks that the more you praise someone, the more you grow and smile more. The band says that was a great message and TOMO again says how adorable this story is. They also agree with the "praising appearances" thing. RINA says that it's a positive thing for both parties and makes everyone feel good. TOMO says that it's the same for plants; they'll get cuter if you praise them. HARU mentions this theory about water. They say that words have magic to them.

•TOMO reads the last message from a listener who writes their nickname as "Mouhin," but they write "Mouhiin" in their message, which makes TOMO goes, "Wait, which is it?" The others laugh and say it's not really important. A staffer speaks up and says that it was their mistake for writing the name wrong (the one that came first) and that the listener's listed nickname actually "Mouhiin." Getting back to the message, the listener says that they became a SCANDAL fan because they worked in Thailand six years ago. At that time they were in a long-distance relationship and would go between Japan and Thailand. They were dumped by their girlfriend and returned to Japan temporarily, and on that flight they heard "Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne." Then, they say, "This is sudden, but I have a question for you. It's 'I see - The Catch up'!" The band laughs and goes, "Eh?!" The question goes, "In Japanese, the word 'kirei' = 'beautiful.' Thai has a word that sounds like 'kirei' - what is it? The correct answer is 'ugly' (見にくい; minikui)." HARU and RINA are surprised and say that it's the opposite. The listener says that if you say "kirei" to a Thai woman, they'll be like, "What are you saying to me, looking like that?" They also mention that the Japanese name "Arai" means "What?" in Thai, so if you introduce yourself as Arai, the Thai person will be like, "What the heck is your name?" They close out the message by saying that after being dumped they became friends with a Thai woman who was a senior at work and was helping him out, and they got married a year later. They now have two children and are doing well living in Japan. MAMI says that if someone from Japan went to Thailand, saw the sights and said "Kirei," it would have the opposite effect to whomever hears it. She also wonders what the word for "beautiful" actually is in Thai. They say that they need to be careful with things like this during their concerts in Thailand when they're speaking Japanese.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup

SCANDAL is also confused by the slightly scary dialect of Fukui Prefecture!?

Episode ＃69 blog

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HARUNA: We'll be reading messages this week.

Tomatoma

Good evening, SCANDAL. I'm the one who had written in previously about Tsugaru dialect.

I've sent in this message because I wasn't thorough enough in what I said.

The "は" [can be read as either "ha" or "wa"] character in "わいは" (oh my) is read like the "ha" in "happa" (leaf) [in that episode they pronounced it as "waiwa"].

HARUNA: It seems it's actually pronounced "waiha."

TOMOMI: When you say "waiha," I immediately think of "Hawaii"...

〜People in Japan used to call it "Waiha" instead of "Hawaii"...
(An industry term used in the music and TV industries. A "Gyo-Kai" term, if you will)


HARUNA: We got another message about "waiha"...

Nao-san

Good evening, SCANDAL. I'm from Aomori and now live in Tokyo.

This is in regards to when you talked about Tsugaru dialect in your episode released on June 7th. You read it as "waiha." Incidentally, the emphasis is on the "wa."

Since you read it as "waiwa," the anime series "Pro Golfer Saru" came to mind and I couldn't concentrate on what you were talking about lol

TOMOMI: I see.

HARUNA: The emphasis is on the "wa."

MAMI: WA-iha!

〜The quartet lets loose a barrage of "Waiha!"'s


RINA: Thanks for letting us know.

Reーkun

Good evening, SCANDAL!

As you now have the new segment "Yappa Hougen Suki Ya Nen!", let me introduce you to my home, Fukui Prefecture and Fukui dialect!

Typical Fukui dialect words include "tsurutsuruppai," "kazenetsu," and "jamijami." "Tsurutsuruppai" = the state where drinks, etc. are poured into a cup. "Kazenetsu" = canker sore. "Jamijami" = TV static!

One dialect word that surprises those outside of the prefecture is "hayoshine." You might be surprised if someone were to suddenly say this [in standard Japanese, this would essentially mean hurry up and die lol] to you, but "shine" here means "__shinasai" (do this). Basically, "hayoshine" means to "hurry up and do this." Even when citizens of Fukui mean to say "yukkuri shinasai" (take it easy) in a welcoming kind of way, they say it as "yukkuri shine" (die slowly lol), which instantly confuses the other party and makes them go, "What?!" haha

All: Ehー!

HARUNA: That surprised me... How scary

RINA: In Kansai we also say "shii" [also means death lol], which means "shite" (to do).

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 68

•The episode starts with this.

•Continuing what RINA was saying, she says that they're bad at recording for things like TV. She says they did a recording for TikTok recently, and even though they were warmed up by playing other concerts recently and were warmed up physically and mentally, it had been a long time since they did a TV program-like recording and they were really nervous. She says that for the rest of her life she'll probably always be nervous about doing recordings, despite having played thousands of concerts in front of people--it's like if they don't have an audience, they can't really do it. HARU says that speaking of reflections, she says that they're bad with doing recordings/tapings for things. RINA agrees right away and goes, "It's like, 'Don't record us! Stop the cameras!'" The others and the staff laugh and HARU says they were really tired on that day since the recording started in the morning and ended in the afternoon and so they had time to do other stuff afterwards, but they were too tired to do anything. RINA says that they were so tired that they went to a Candy Stripper exhibition while reflecting on it, which they all laugh at. She again goes, "Why are we so bad with tapings and being in front of the cameras?" and talks about how at home she watches the TV programs they appear on, but when she watches them, it's like she's not watching her own self. She's talking normally and like she does on "Catch up," but there are times when it's like she's trying too hard. HARU asks if it's done unconsciously, which RINA says yes to.

•RINA says that it might be weird coming from them, but since they're all very mindful that perhaps it's a bad thing. They all laugh and HARU says it's the opposite: being mindful is a good thing. RINA says that it always feels weird. TOMO goes, "Shall we just quit it all?" and everyone laughs. Their program director says not to quit, and HARU and RINA say that he's saying that because he works in the TV industry. HARU says that they're nervous to stand in front of the camera and they're always thinking about how they'll appear on film. RINA says there's also editing that's involved with that, and says that that's why she only wants to play concerts [and not appear on TV and the like]. Their director goes, "Is that a reflection?" They laugh and RINA says that it's not. They talk about it a little more and RINA says that they're a delicate band. The others laugh and the staff says things in the background that are very hard to hear that I will not try to translate lol

•TOMO says that they do get nervous if they don't continue playing concerts. She mentions that they didn't see the fans for about a year last year, and when they did get to see everyone at their concert near Christmas, they did feel super nervous. HARU says that they also felt nervous during their livestream concert last August. RINA says that musicians ought not to be feeling this way, which the others laugh at. TOMO says that them feeling nervous probably also has to do with the pressure that they put on themselves.

•HARU talks more about the TikTok recording they did the other day and says that after listening to the recorded audio she has a lot of personal thoughts about it, but it was better than she was expecting it to be--she thought it'd be worse since she was really nervous, so when she watched it objectively later, she found that she didn't do anything as "bad" as she was thinking she did. That's why she thought about how it'd be great to not worry about things too much and do things more roughly. TOMO says that she doesn't think the recording hasn't aired yet, which HARU also thinks. TOMO then goes, "What's everyone going to think when watching it now?!", which they laugh at. They do say that the finished recording did turn out well. MAMI says that it seems like they'll probably get a lot of messages from fans saying that it's all good and to not worry. They laugh and RINA says to send them because it'll encourage them.

•They then talk about their outlook for the second half of the year. MAMI says that they should start with August, which means their 15th anniversary and their "INVITATION" concert on their anniversary. HARU hopes that they can pull it off. MAMI asks how long it's been since they last played at Osaka-Jo Hall. HARU and RINA say that it's been seven years (June 2014). TOMO says that they'll never get used to playing at OJH, especially since it's been seven years. MAMI says that because it's a memorable and super important place for them, it's like a switch is turned on that makes it like a sacred place for them and they get fired up. HARU talks about when they went to the venue to take promo photos for the concert announcement. She says that when they went inside for the first time in so long and saw it all, she thought about how it felt like things were going to be okay this time since the previous times they felt pretty nervous. RINA says she totally gets that and that it felt overwhelming back then. HARU says that they were so nervous back then that it felt like they were going to get swallowed up, but this time it feels like they can stay grounded. TOMO says that she hopes they remain feeling this way until the concert, which the others agree with. HARU says that she hopes they can keep that momentum going through their performances in July and August that will be held before "INVITATION." She also says that they're making new songs and hope they can release them.

•RINA asks the others if they have any personal goals they want to achieve. The others pause for a second and then go, "Personal...?" They think for a little longer before MAMI says that she wants to go peach picking. A staffer goes, "...that's a goal?" They laugh and RINA says, "Plans, then?", which MAMI agrees with and says that she wants to go picking for something every season. She talks about how she went loquat picking recently where it was all-you-can-eat and it was great. She says that she wants to go picking for stuff in summer and the other coming seasons. MAMI asks the others if they have anything they want to do. They again pause and HARU says she hasn't thought about it at all. MAMI says that finding things you want to do are usually things that just suddenly pop into your head. TOMO says that she'd like to do another on-location recording of "Catch up" like they did last year. The others say that it'd be nice. MAMI says that recording on-location is nice. TOMO says that it'd be nice if they could go on-location and do peach picking. HARU suddenly says, "Live life to the fullest," which is seemingly in reply to MAMI's question of what you want to do. There's a pause before the others laugh and go, "That's so rigid!" MAMI says, "Let's lead healthy lives!" RINA adds on "peaceful" too. HARU also says that she wants to improve her stamina a bit too, which she thinks has fallen a bit. She says she'll do her best with training.

•They then close out the episode. RINA says that she's glad they were able to openly talk about stuff and unravel it all. HARU says that perhaps some fans may have realized that. RINA says that there probably are, but there are probably also those who think the band's a super-strong, invincible female band, and they'd like those people to understand that the band consists of four normal human beings. HARU says that with this episode, ultimately, they've determined they'll do their best to lead healthy lives, which they laugh at. RINA says that they also want their 15th anniversary concert to be great.

*As always, you can send in a message to the program here. I've made a guide as how to input your info and message for those who need assistance (click to enlarge):

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*A list of all episode summaries can be found here

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#front-page #catchup