Talking about new song "eternal" that fits the current SCANDAL!

Episode ＃50 blog

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HARUNA: This is the 50th episode of "SCANDAL Catch up"!

All: Thanks so much as always.

HARUNA: Our new single eternal is releasing on March 3rd.
So, we're going to be talking plenty about our new song.

MAMI: Where should we start from...

RINA: It's been two years since we last released a physical single...

All: Eh?

TOMOMI: No, no, that can't be right...

HARUNA: We've been doing digital releases.

MAMI: Two years have already passed? How scary...

RINA: It's the era of subscription services.

HARUNA: This year is our 15th anniversary, after all.

RINA: Aside from it releasing on CD and streaming services, it'll also be on vinyl and cassette...and we've also made a bunch of merch for it. Having a CD release is now a special thing in and of itself, which is why when releasing something physically we'd usually be thinking of how to make it more fun such as holding events, but that's completely changed now.

HARUNA: The CD has become merch.

TOMOMI: It's for your collection.

HARUNA: When was this song made, again?

MAMI: I think last summer.

HARUNA: At first it was a demo sung and played by MAMI.

MAMI: I usually complete demos with all of our instruments in it and have everyone listen to it, but this time I pruned it down and sung to my own accompaniment.
Normally I'd then add stuff on, but since this was the opposite approach to how SCANDAL does things in a sense, I think it was a new challenge for me.

HARUNA: In the early stages we decided to have Satori Shiraishi-san do the producing.

TOMOMI: I wonder if the unique atmosphere we have with Satori Shiraishi-san was the key. We recorded it while just chatting and relaxing.

RINA: In a good way, we were able to relax while making it. We wanted to make it with a sense of leeway. We jointly contributed to how we wanted the song's image to be.

HARUNA: They were all abstract words, though.

RINA: That's right, but somehow the four of us shared the same image, such as a slightly mellow atmosphere, a gentle feeling, an image of light.
We made all of those words into a song. Also, we decided on them from the tempo.

HARUNA: That was also unusual. The way we recorded it was also done in a way we never have before.
We each went to the producer's studio and recorded individually.

MAMI: The video on YouTube of HARU-chan speaking, where she recorded vocals several times during the production process, is from the first round of recording.

HARUNA: Normally, we'd decide on one day to record everything.
Not having any direction from the other members put a good feeling of pressure on me. There was also a sense of responsibility to keep doing it until I was completely satisfied with it.
Since the way we recorded our instruments was different, I want to deliver a song like never before... I also wanted to record it as if I was speaking normally. Rather than being conscious that I was singing,
I wanted to record it as if I was reading it, but I had a hard time with that...
Also, I like the title too.

RINA: Oh! That makes me happy.

HARUNA: A recent theme of ours is to not perceive eternity as fantasy—or rather, we want to perceive it realisitically.

RINA: As we approach our 15th anniversary, we don't have any dreams that we can clearly state right now, and we don't have any easy-to-understand dreams or goals...
That may sound negative, but instead, we're just happy about this miracle of us being together for so long, and it's something that we're a bit proud of.
It doesn't mean that everything lasts forever, but that's why the present is important and why we think it's amazing we're still around today.
We're always thinking of the four of us continuing to move forward without the band coming to a halt, and these were words that came out.
We had a lot of time to do some soul-searching in 2020, so I think that's why we were able to make this song. So, it really fits who we are right now,
And I hope you like this side of SCANDAL too.

HARUNA: Although this song was created from abstract words, it became our own song.

RINA: It hits hard, even when we're performing it.

HARUNA: We also wanted to make a new wind blow.

RINA: It's been 15 years and I think we now have an image of ourselves, but this was the point in time when we thought we'd make ourselves into a song over time.

HARUNA: When was this song made, again?

MAMI: I think last summer

That's interesting, they'd written the song as early as June to September but waited till March to release it  

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 50

•The episode starts with this.

•They talk about a few more things relating to "eternal." RINA says that the title of the song was decided on after the lyrics were complete. She also says that they need to set a goal of deciding when something is finished, and that every time they work until they reach the point where it seems like something is stuffed full of what they can currently do. MAMI says that they try to push the limits of their skills. HARU says that they usually have to solve any problems within one day (the day that they're in the studio recording for a song), but since this time they took their time with recording it, they had a lot of time to let things rest. After listening to it afterwards, they had time to fix whatever they wanted, so the song was recorded over the course of several days--this as a whole was a big thing for them. Like, if they recorded vocals and then decided to redo some drum parts, they wouldn't be able to do so at a normal studio since it takes time, money, and it may not be possible to rent out a studio again at the time. They were able to record things in this way thanks to working one-on-one with Satori Shiraishi at his home studio.

•After this, they announce that they will be doing a third live broadcast of "Catch up" on TOKYO FM on Wednesday, March 4th at 8 pm JST, which is the day after the eternal single comes out.

•The next and last thing they cover are program merch ideas sent in by listeners. The message that HARU reads suggests merch such as a real-sized Apollo ring, which they say was already mentioned in episode 3. They then suggest items based on the program's segments: an Apollo ruler to draw boundary lines, an Apollo memo pad that can be used when you don't know the right answer, an Apollo "spot the basic mistakes" book (which the staff laughs at), an Apollo hand mirror that gives you confidence in your romance. They also suggest making up a character for TOMOrocco, or something lol, and also stickers of each of the members. MAMI jokingly says that the listener's greedy. TOMO says that probably not a lot of people even remember the TOMOrocco thing, and also says that she'd like to do the same thing again with other countries.

•The next message read by TOMO suggests an Apollo chopstick rest since everyone's spending more time at home. They're imagining a slightly melted Apollo for it. They also suggest an actual-sized Apollo key chain and a Fine Line Association sticker with colorful borders on it. The band thinks the chopstick rest sounds cute, but it would probably need to be really melted-looking (since Apollo are triangular shaped). TOMO says that a piece of chocolate as a rest seems a little unnatural to have when eating meals. They agree that items that can be used at home are good.

•The next message read by RINA suggests items the listener came up with when thinking about what could sell, or what uses puns. They suggest an Apollo handkerchief, an Apollo candle, an Apollo wax figure, a Catch up-plique (applique), and also a tote bag (All: "That's the best one"). MAMI says that a candle is doable and would be cute. TOMO says it could have a strawberry scent. They also like handkerchief and say that a tote is doable. TOMO says that an Apollo wax figure sounds scary, in the sense that an Apollo candy would probably be anthromorphized. She says that maybe it would be made to look like the band, which the others laugh at and say that does sound scary.

•The next one read by MAMI suggests an Apollo (guitar) pick since a piece of Apollo is triangular in shape like a pick. They say that sounds good. Before they talk further about it, HARU reads another message from a listener who also suggests an Apollo pick but calls it an "Apollo-ck pick" (Apollo + rock, since "Apollo" in Japanese is アポロ  [Aporo]). RINA wonders if they need to ask Fender to make something like that, but TOMO and HARU say that they don't necessarily need to since picks can be mass-produced by other companies too.

•They close out the episode by saying that they hope to announce what merch they'll come out with next during the live broadcast on March 4th.

*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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Reading a bunch of messages this week! Could it be that the members of SCANDAL are perhaps "non-Japanese celebrities"!?

Episode ＃51 blog

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HARUNA: We'll be reading a bunch of messages during this week's episode!

Hurry Hurry

I have been supporting you guys ever since I watched a TV program you appeared in with Ryudo Uzaki.
Since the 15th anniversary fan voting has started, I checked Spotify as a reference for ranking. It was then that I found an item called "Listeners' locations" near the end of the page,
And I was surprised to see Jakarta in 1st place, Santiago in 2nd place, Tokyo in 3rd place, and Singapore in 4th place. As I live in Japan, I'm unsure of what to refer to for voting purposes (do your best, listeners in Japan).
Could you please tell me if there is a difference in song preferences between Japan and overseas fans?
By the way, I'm thinking of centering all of my votes on "LOVE SURVIVE," "Bitter Chocolate," and "LOVE ME DO."

HARUNA: Jakarta's in 1st place...

RINA: Our main activities are of course in Japan, but half of our listeners are overseas ones.

MAMI: It's the same for Instagram, right?

RINA: 50% are overseas fans.

MAMI: I wondered which countries were checking out my IG and saw that ＃1 is Japan, but ＃2 is Hong Kong...

TOMOMI: (*Checking IG) ＃1 for me is Hong Kong...

Staff: Eh, could it be that you're non-Japanese celebrities?

RINA: We of course want to do our best in Japan too.

TOMOMI: ...but we might be reimports to Japan...possibly.

RINA: That's awesome, even though we only post things in Japanese.

MAMI: (*Checking IG) For me, ＃2 is Indonesia, then Philippines, USA, Mexico.

RINA: This is purely an inverse theme, but are we trying to do our best in Japan?

MAMI: We would like to reach those in Japan too (laughs).

HARUNA: Do your best, listeners in Japan! (laughs)

RINA: There are places where we have better concert turnouts overseas...that's true.

HARUNA: We played at a 2,000-capacity venue in Mexico...that's surprising for us too.

TOMOMI: We played at an arena in Hong Kong.

RINA: Yeah, a small arena.

TOMOMI: The capacity was close to the Nippon Budokan's [Budokan's capacity is 14,471].

HARUNA: We get a lot of comments from overseas fans on our YouTube.

MAMI: Sometimes Japan fans will write that there are no comments in Japanese at all...

Staff: This program is on Spotify too--that's probably a big factor too, right?

MAMI: I think so.

RINA: Not only Japanese fans but overseas fans too are very supportive...

TOMOMI: The 15th anniversary fan voting has begun. Since this is a popularity contest, please vote in it!

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 51

•The episode starts off with them reading a message from a listener who asks each member a question relating to their instrument equipment. They ask HARU how she uses three types of her overdrive pedals (Archer Ikon, OCD, Fender Santa Ana) on her pedal board. They also say that they noticed while watching the KFTD livestream Blu-ray that HARU has commercially available pickups by Kluson on her signature Fender white Telecaster and asks why she has them on there. They ask MAMI what pedal she uses for "DOLL." They ask TOMO why she uses a pick only during the intro for "A.M.D.K.J." and how she makes that distorted sound. For RINA, they say they get the impression that she's been using drum triggers recently to add synth drum sounds and ask how/why that started. They also suggest a few program merch ideas: an Apollo pick, guitar strap, and a Flying V Apollo guitar.

•The band says that the listener's very observant and that this was a very novel message. MAMI wonders if these things were something the band mentioned somewhere. RINA says that the listener just really paid attention to stuff like their DVDs. HARU says that's impressive they even knew about the (commercially available, as opposed to fully custom) guitar pickups, and RINA asks what's with those anyway. HARU laughs and says that, to be honest, it was a budget-related issue. As you may know, HARU's Fender model is offered for sale, and since they needed to offer it at a price point that would be affordable for many people, she wanted to make the ones being sold the same as the one that she actually uses in order to produce similar tones, so using those commercially available pickups couldn't really be helped. RINA says that that's the same for any artist and instrument when making a signature model. HARU says that her pickups are a little different from the commercially available ones, but she is getting the tone that she likes. She then answers the overdrive question and says that the way she uses them depends on the era and/or the song. She's been using the OCD pedal since their major label debut (late 2008) for heavy distortion, and has been using the Archer one the past few years for crunch distortion.

•For MAMI's question, she says that she uses a Little Big Muff pedal for "DOLL" since the fuzz tone is a bit more spicy than overdrive ones and is more distorted. She mentions that when she was looking to see what fuzz pedals there were, she noticed that a lot of people making videos about pedals were using the LBM pedal. She says that it has a cute look to it, which HARU agrees with, and since she liked how it looked and that it was also compact, she added it to her board. She also says she often uses it as an accent for songs. She says that since she's playing power chords in the intro for "DOLL," she wanted to make it sound a little thicker--hence her using the LBM pedal.

•For TOMO's question, she says she plays the "A.M.D.K.J." intro with a pick to make it easier to hear how the sound is moving. Since the first thing you hear in the intro is the guitar, playing the bass intro with fingers would bury the sound of the bass. The pick makes it sound a little crisper and makes it easier to see the movements made when playing it. The pedal she uses is a Vulcan one for overdrive.

•For RINA's question, she says she's currently using triggers on her snare and kick drum, which combine raw sounds with mechanical sounds. She uses that mix on songs like "Tonight," and just the trigger is used for "Mabataki." They've come to make a lot of music with a mixture of raw sounds and different sounds. The band says how the listener must like distorted sounds and that they're a bit surprised when they get questions like this.

•This follows.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener whose message about stepping on a cockroach was read a few months ago and says that they have another recent scary experience that they'd like to share. TOMO goes, "Hold up--I don't want to hear it if it's about a bug again!" while the staff laughs in the background. MAMI continues reading the message. The listener says that like the roach incident, this also happened in the morning. They woke up and heard a rustling noise coming from the ceiling. They found it annoying and then a mysterious shadow appeared in the window. When they cautiously looked out the window through a gap in the curtains, there was a monkey right there. The band laughs and is surprised by that. They wonder where the listener lives. TOMO says that there are quite a few places in Japan where monkeys live, such as the mountains. RINA says there are animals like that in her hometown. MAMI says that she's never seen anything like that in Tokyo, which the others agree with. RINA says that she's lived in the countryside before, so she understands being surprised by a wild animal in the morning. MAMI agrees, but HARU says that's never happened to her. MAMI goes, "No way! Not even on the way to school?" which HARU says no to as well. TOMO says she would often seen tanuki or masked palm civets , but HARU has never seen those before either. RINA says that sometimes she would see a creature and notice that it's neither a dog nor a cat, and it would turn out to be something like a tanuki. TOMO says that someone's dog at a property near school would often bark and disrupt classes, which the others laugh at. RINA says that a swallow flew into her classroom about three times. MAMI mentions that a spider around the size of a hand was on the underside of her bike saddle, which TOMO makes a scared sound at and the others laugh. MAMI says that the color of the bike was obviously different from the previous day due to the spider's threads. RINA says that she must be glad she checked first. HARU asked what MAMI did with the spider, and she says she never rode the bike again--she gave the spider the bike. The others laugh and say they get it. RINA mentions a huge spider she saw at her parent's house on the backside of the toilet. It was scary, but of course she wasn't able to give the toilet over to the spider.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who writes in for their "GyoColle" segment. They're a blue-collared worker and have this term called "KY." There's already a term that uses those words in Japanese that means "read the room ," but their term doesn't mean that: it's used in the sense of work injury prevention training and is for predicting dangerous aspects while working and sharing it with other workers to avoid danger and perform safe work. It's been quite a while since someone wrote in to "GyoColle," which makes the band laugh and say it feels so nostalgic. They say they didn't know "KY" stood for something else, and that the "KY" that they know had been a popular term to use for a while, although they didn't use it much. MAMI wonders how long it's been around, and guesses since they were in the latter half of elementary school (late 90s). TOMO wonders if it's no longer used, and RINA and HARU say they don't really hear it being used. MAMI mentions another one: "HK" (hanashi kawatte; change the subject), which HARU says right away. TOMO and RINA say that's so nostalgic. MAMI wonders if those two terms rose to popularity at the same time.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener who also writes in for "GyoColle" and say they use the words "Alive" and "Dead" for their work. They work with electricity, and the terms refer to if electricty is running (alive) or not (dead). So, when they go somewhere to work, they'll often say things like, "Is it dead?" - "Yes!" TOMO says SCANDAL also uses those terms since everything they use for concerts run on electricity. They ask things like, "Is this mic live/alive?"

•They close out the episode by mentioning how "eternal" is almost out, and ask fans to vote in the song contest.

*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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The message theme for the special program airing on 3/4 is... "Eh? Seriously?"

Episode ＃52 blog

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HARUNA: To commemorate the release of eternal,
On Thursday, March 4th! On TOKYO FM at 8 pm JST...
【SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo -ON AIR-】
Will be broadcasted live...
This is our third live broadcast.

TOMOMI: It is.

RINA: We're grateful.

HARUNA: We'll be keeping the usual "Catch up" atmosphere
While having you guys learn even more about our new single eternal...
That's what we'll be bringing our special program to you with.

We're looking for messages prior to it airing...
And the message theme for the special program commemorating our new single eternal ("etaanaru" in Japanese) is...
"Eh? Seriously?" ("e soo naru")

TOMOMI: ...with you suddenly saying that, I don't get that at all.
Basically, "e soo naru" comes from "etaanaru," right?

MAMI: Yes, "etaanaru...e soo naru?" is what it is.

TOMOMI: I see... I tried to explain it carefully.

MAMI: Yeah, I didn't get it.

HARUNA: "This is completely different from what I expected! It's completely different from what I imagined!"
"An unexpected result!"...etc. etc.
Please tell us your stories that have had an unexpected endings that've unconsciously made you go, "Eh? Seriously?"!

RINA: That's really good.

MAMI: Sounds interesting.

HARUNA: By the way, our broadcast writer Ono-san's "Eh? Seriously?" story is...
When he asked the art department to order "black elevator shoes" (shoes that secretly make you look taller) to be used as props for a sketch show, what he actually received were "white platform boots"... Eh, seriously?

TOMOMI: What kind of mistake is that...

Staff (Ono): When I was an assistant 20 years ago,
We needed "black elevator shoes" for the show and I had asked the art department to get them, but there were "white platform boots" in the box when I opened it on the day of the show.
The broadcast writer master (the director of the show) got really mad at me... They were like, "What kind of order did you place?!", but the order form did in fact say "black elevator shoes" on it...

MAMI: You had been involved in sketches at that time...

RINA: Wow. Those [shoes] can't be replaced by anything else at all.

Staff (Ono): I had no choice but to spray paint the boots black...

TOMOMI: That really is an "Eh? Seriously?" moment.

HARUNA: That was lucky they were white.

RINA: Seriously.

HARUNA: This example is easy to understand.

Staff (Ono): We've already received some messages for this topic. I'd like to read some...

HARUNA: You already want to read them!? Hold on a second!
Also...for example,
"A senpai that's always been on your mind, a good friend who supported that crush...
But before you know it, that good friend and senpai are dating each other...
Eh? Seriously?"

RINA: That does happen.

MAMI: It does seem likely.

TOMOMI: That's rough...

HARUNA: At any rate, we'll be waiting for your messages until right before the live broadcast on 3/4.
Those whose messages we read might get a present...though it seems we're not sure on that yet.

MAMI: Then there might be [presents].

RINA: I'm sure there will be.

HARUNA: What kind of weird gifts will be given out this time, I wonder.

MAMI: Beethoven items were given out last time...

RINA: Can they surpass Beethoven, I wonder...

TOMOMI: Why was it Beethoven last time?

RINA: It was Beethoven's anniversary (*His 250th birthday).

TOMOMI: That has nothing to do with us, though.

RINA: We need to make sure to make the listeners happy.

HARUNA: That's right.

MAMI: We're grateful they enjoyed [the Beethoven items], though...

HARUNA: Also, following the program's popular original merch item the "Apollo pouch," we will be announcing the second round of merch during the live broadcast! Look forward to it!

【Translated Summary】
『SCANDAL Catch up supported by Meiji Apollo』 - Episode 52

•The episode starts off with the band mentioning that they've been doing "Catch up" for a year now and that a lot has happened such as having to record remotely, recording outside, etc., and ask for the fans to support it for another year. They also mention that their new single eternal is releasing this week and that fans are probably wondering what the remix done by TOWA TEI sounds like. They then air it. After, they say that they're sure everyone was surprised by it since it sounds like a completely different song. They mention that this came about due to TOMO being acquainted by TOWA TEI via the DJ events she took part in and asking him to remix the song. The band talked about this in their interview with Music Natalie, but TOMO mentions that right after the remix was done and he sent it to them, the band all listened to it in the car and it basically turned into a club. HARU says that she's glad they listened to it in the car. RINA says that while they were still pumped up they went to go eat at a family restaurant. HARU laughs and says that it's a mystery as to why they went to a family restaurant. RINA agrees and says that this was their first time going to one in forever. They say that they want a lot of people to listen to this remix since gives off a new impression of the band.

•This follows.

•MAMI reads a message from a listener who suggests program merch such as a Fine Line Association sticker where you don't know if it's a seal or a sticker, which makes the staff laugh. They also suggest an Apollo-pattern bucket hat with the Apollo pattern resembling cow print (because it's the Year of the Ox), as well as some other things that MAMI reads slowly, sounding unsure of what's written. MAMI then goes, "Ah, is that it?" HARU asks what that is, but MAMI continues reading the message. TOMO interrupts and goes, "We have no idea what you just said!" while everyone laughs. RINA goes, "Why are these kinds of people always able to connect with MAMI?" MAMI reads the last suggestion again, which has to do with an Apollo pen, and which was the listener trying to do a pun with the "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen " song title lol: "Pen Catch Apollo Catch up Pen." The others go, "...oh..." and are silent for a second before laughing. They recap what the listener's suggestions were and HARU goes, "I don't want to consider any of them." The others and staff laugh and MAMI goes, "That poor listener!" They say that the ideas of a sticker and bucket hat themselves are good ideas (but not necessarily the exact ones that were suggested). They pause for a second before going, "Got it." and laughing again. MAMI says the pen's name and TOMO repeats it, which makes her go, "That feels nice to say!" The others laugh and HARU goes, "You've got to be kidding!" RINA is doubtful until she tries saying it too, which she also says feels nice to say. She doesn't think that HARU will feel the same way. The others agree. HARU tries saying it and also agrees that it feels nice to say. They laugh and HARU jokingly goes, "I'm mad!" while everyone laughs.

•HARU reads the next message from a listener who suggests a towel made in collaboration with Apollo and SCANDAL. They say that many SCANDAL fans most likely like going to concerts, so if you were to bring it to a venue you'd attract attention and it could be a talking point, which could be good for those attending a concert alone, and bear new exchanges between fans. The band says that a towel sounds good.

•TOMO reads the next message from a listener who suggests a bunch of things including an Apollo ring case and stand, which are inspired by the Love Advice segment. They say that couples who are SCANDAL fans can use it when proposing, and say that single fans can also use it to store jewelry in. They also suggest Apollo-shaped earphones, Apollo paperweight, Apollo self-inking rubber stamps, Apollo magnet, Apollo nightcap, and an Apollo cushion. They list why their ideas could be good, but I'm not going to type all that out lol. The band mentions the ring case which they say sounds nice. TOMO says that the listener says it could be used while proposing, which makes the band laugh and go, "I don't know about that..." They say the ideas were interesting and a lot of them sound doable.

•RINA reads the next message from a listener who suggests an Apollo-shaped magnetic clip and an actual-size Apollo acrylic stand. The band laughs and says that an actual-size Apollo stand would be very small . They also suggest doing "Apollo no Yama / no Sato" where the tops of made of Apollo. HARU goes, "This is it!" which the staff laughs at. MAMI suggests making the biscuit/cookie part of them chocolate instead. TOMO goes, "This isn't merch; it's product development!" RINA says it'd be a pretty high hurdle to clear, but the idea is interesting. They revisit the stand idea and say once again how small it'd be.

•MAMI reads the next message from a listener who suggests a mask case with an Apollo design. RINA says it's very practical. TOMO says it sounds good, and that it goes with what's going on right now.

•The band then recaps the ideas suggested during this episode as well as ones previously suggested. They like the ideas of a sticker, tote bag, towel, pick, cushion, t-shirt, magnet. HARU says she'd be interested how an Apollo nightcap would be like, and MAMI says it sounds cute. TOMO says that the sizing might be a problem, but MAMI suggests making it with elastic. They also say that it could be made with silk. HARU says that that wouldn't work out cost-wise as they wouldn't be able to give any out at all, which the others laugh at. They thank the listeners for all of the ideas and say that 5-6 items will be selected, and that Meiji will do the selection.

*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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