Fifth Book Worth of Photos: The Tsundere Who Grew Up Well
(Click here to skip to THE INTERVIEW)
I can't use imouto in the title already I only have one and it's... not... her haha (Mmmmmmmmmmmmm Nan-chan! xD)
It's going to be the "kido" thing that will make me sound like a pedophile here but hey, I'll try not to say that "Ibuki-chan" sounds better haha. Then again I told myself last year not to buy photobooks ever and look where I am now in the Reiwa Era haha
And don't ask why we're here again. But yeah, this one is 100% me. No birthday or friend gift whatsoever; I ran out of excuses. *laughs* I love you, Kido Ibuki. Sorry it took this long for you to come up with a photobook and an excuse from me to support you in some way because I can't come up with one, my dear tsundere princess. Okay, confession is over, let's review this haha
THE ORIGIN
I'll not talk about when I knew about one of the youngest debut voice actresses in the past decade, but I would talk about how all this began, the photobook. Around 2016 a particular game was released on mobile (and I'm still playing it till date as of writing) and with a character she acted back then which you may have guessed, is a tsundere character, and totally caught my attention. I would argue that one of the reasons for me to play that game till date is her, but also because I've since then heard her in various roles in many Anime she stars in, from "Subete ga F ni Naru" (if you recognise which role she voiced without looking at the credits you are a true fan) to "Eromanga-sensei", where she acts a "fashion b*tch" lmao. It was only until recently that she announced an original photobook featuring nothing but her, in a suggestively "more mature" theme as she turned 21 last year (how wrong did this sound lol) and before this she was hardly ever seen in such an image. (Well, her in formal attire does not count haha) So yeah, and she showed me the cover (as seen below) on her Twitter account just two months ago. Now you know why we are here hehe
THE "REVIEW"
I didn't immediately jump on the bandwagon the moment she announced her own photobook, and it was only until release date last week did I choose to give her this photobook. Hesitation was key as I continue to witness limited edition stock clear from the publisher's website (featuring an image DVD btw) twice (the second was a ticket to her photobook event in which she gives you one) (here's proof) until I just cried in a corner haha. This one I got was a normal edition, but with special gift thanks to novelty (otaku) store Gamers, which was the only store out of many that sells them now to feature one. So yeah, I counted myself lucky and bought the book. And since last week, all delivery schedules have been going according to plan. Well, yesterday's a public holiday so that sucked haha the taking of work leave is a pure coincidence btw
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You still want me to narrate the process? I mean, I need an intro to this somehow haha
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Aw man, why cover her face? (Sorry for the bad lighting it just rained outside) |
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Oh? *looks at it* Cheh... (We'll talk about extra stuff later) |
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Remember this? (After some research I learnt that this is a stock replacement slip, in the event it gets damaged inside) |
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If I said the cover was half the reason I bought this would you believe me? |
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The alternate cover which got me real confused online before I saw this for myself |
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[Matured Ibuki #1] Is this what Ibuki-chan looks like at home? Haha I wish |
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(insert act cute emoticon here) ≧ω≦ |
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So... did you sleep here last night? lol |
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Her face when she slept with you last night lmao |
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You've done it, Ibuki-chan. You've done a perfect Anime impersonation haha |
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You can't see it well here but I can see it with the book in my hands hehe |
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You going back to sleep already? That's me on my days off lol |
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I want to be the sofa haha |
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[Matured Ibuki #2] Shall we go, milady? |
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The good thing about having long hair... haha #LongHairJustice |
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Okay she wins haha |
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My girl when I take her out shopping lol |
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Very kawaii, this one. I want to be the wall haha |
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You can't see it but she is wearing long pants underneath, don't worry |
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My girl when she got tired |
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My girl when she got bored lol |
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[Matured Ibuki? #3] If Ibuki-chan intends to get into a fashion magazine this is it |
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This is replacing all my future "Bingo" messages haha |
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How to reserve a parking spot in a packed lot lmao (I'll never do that to my girl tbh Ibuki-chan don't do that, okay?) |
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SHE TOOK IT OFF!! (Haha) |
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Again, side view so we can be assured she doesn't have a- |
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I'll take a couple of bumps and this cute face, thank you. *laughs* |
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[Matured Ibuki #4] When my girl got flowers from someone else and I haven't even |
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You can't see that well because I took it bad but it's blurred as an effect. Why |
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Just more images to show how cute she is hehe |
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[Matured Ibuki? #5] Yuuki Aoi, is that you? lol |
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MEGANE FETISH TRIGGERED haha |
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[Matured Ibuki? #6] Okay this is just pure cute tbh |
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It was snowing outside? You wore enough inside? Just checking haha |
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I want to be the mufflers lol |
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She was waiting for...? |
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What I wished my girl would react when I say a joke |
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[Matured Ibuki #7] Finally, she is looking like a rich man's daughter now haha |
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She is so looking down at me right now... (Sorry for the poor image quality I don't want to bend the book) |
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Playing with snow is a priviledge only entitled to cute girls lol |
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*squeezes own cheeks* |
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[Matured Ibuki #8] "You gotta show some skin, dawg..." |
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Mona Lisa never looked as good as any of her impersonations haha |
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Next time, wear in white, yes? (Also "mie" haha)Â |
(Refer to the first photobook review - specifically Ten-chan's - on the explanation of the "mie" term)
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They just need to put her cheeks against something and I'm already happy lol |
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Cannot unsee childhood photos haha |
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Another reason I bought this photobook |
This coming-of-age photobook from her, to be honest, just shows off a lot of her cuteness and maturity in general. No particular plot, not going overseas or whatsoever, I don't see a theme either... It's just plenty of her we have never seen. Or at least, I have never seen. I swear some are familiar if you go look at some images of "everying", that group she was in then maybe you'd think this may not be worth the purchase. Well, she's 21, and this might be the best way to celebrate and also present herself as she continues to grow, so I'm already happy about this coming out. Remember, she can only get cuter and prettier from here haha. Okay NOW I want the image DVD lmao
And sorry for the references above, Ibuki-chan. Your voice may be unique but some of the shots aren't doing you justice. And I don't want to present examples to prove that lol. (*trying to unsee un-glam images*) I blame the photographer for those haha
THE INTERVIEW
Well this book also had one, and referring back to Marinka this was also her first book (thanks Nan-chan for not joining in haha) we HAVE to talk about her life lol. Sure, I'll do it, Ibuki-chan. Here's again, a summary of the conversation:
(If it's lesser than Marinka then it means that I've lost some interest lol)
[*All entertainment references mentioned below are searchable if you are interested]
- In this interview she was still 20? So this photobook was prepared more than half a year ago? Hmm...
- She is Kido Ibuki (lol), she likes to eat sea pineapple (not into seafood so...) since she was a kid (uh oh, how young are we talking here?) but she likes to put a lot of salt which made her face all swollen wtf
- Her hobby is to watch local blockbuster drama, and stated "N no Tame ni" as an example. Typically she likes to watch drama with cringy storylines (yeah same but I only watch animation)
- She read a lot of shoujo manga as a kid, and liked "Vampire Knight" the most. She also liked "Koi wa Ameagari no You ni" (I know of that but didn't watch) (so she likes middle aged guys? haha) She has always read such manga as a kid so she has grown to like such shoujo romance manga
- She likes dress-up type video games (uh oh) and stated "Animal Crossing" as a recent example. She hardly plays games even though many around her are into that work (voicing for video games) so she feels out of place when talking about this. She stated games like "Wagamama Fashion GIRLS MODE" (known as "Style Savvy" outside Japan, for the DS)Â and plays that all day. She is determined to clear all daily objectives as she was always pressed (pun intended) to hit the "Next" button in the game (likely for the story as some games need to play a certain amount before more plot reveals)
- She has been taking up cooking in order to eat healthy recently (aw...) mainly because when she came into Tokyo she has been taken care of by the agency and now she is just being independent and doing it to better take care of her health. (What have they been feeding her...) Her best is making vegetable soup (she can feed me now haha)
- As a kid, she has been playing a lot of playing house (yes it's a thing), and particular is into playing those role-playing toys. She is outgoing with others as a kid and was quite an attention seeker, and the adults around her was all praises of her cuteness. Her mother often dresses her in pink and takes care of her hair too (as seen from the childhood photos above)
- She started learning piano when she was 4. She got influenced when it was time to keep the toys in kindergarden and the piano was nearby where students started learning there, so the teacher told her to ignore keeping the toys one day and just join in. (Good teacher, this one haha) She gave up after 3 months. She said she is still confident enough to play some kid songs (not mentioning names here I got tired of research haha) with two hands
- She was good at drawing in school, and even drew her own version of "Mahou Shoujo Kirari-chan" after reading the first chapter of the manga (wow that's impressive)
- She knew of the seiyuu career when she was in elementary school years 4-5 (that's around 10). Back then she was watching Anime "Shugo Chara!" and liked one of the voices of the characters a lot, and after much research knew about the voices behind Anime characters. After finding out it was voiced by (pure coincidence here, see image below after interview) Nana Mizuki she got even more interested in the job. At first it was just innocent watching of Anime as a fan, but soon her curiosity became the motivation of wanting to take on such a career. She would rush home from school to read the latest manga, and even did her own voicing to some of the characters in them.
- She knew of the audition of her current agency (Horipro) from her mother's friend, and registered for the audition herself. (Wow) She received a short period of dance, acting and singing lessons and after all of this the agency invited her to join and she immediately agreed. However she was in middle school back then and her parents advised her to complete high school first, but her passion won over their hearts and she proceeded with support from the family. (Aw...)
- She was (undoubtedly) uneasy to have to leave hometown (Aomori, FYI) to work in Tokyo. But most of her was like in "From here on shining days will be waiting upon me!" type of feelings. She struggled to cope with transport as Aomori had little rail transport (only trams) and was surprised with city life in Tokyo with sophisticated subway systems and crowds of people in city centers. But she stayed strong as her then manager guided her along.
- She struggled to do well in auditions for Anime (in a nutshell seiyuu audition for their roles they don't just hand it to you) but continued to believe that she will get it someday. For the people around her age who got accepted into those roles were also there supporting and encouraging her, giving her motivation to strive on.
- She started as a seiyuu officially in October of 2012. It was also her first female lead role, the character was coincidentally around her age (bear in mind her age at this point) (she was 15), and coincidentally it had an elder brother like herself, so she was able to get right into it. (It's Anime "OniAi" as mentioned by the interviewer, and her role has a brother complex. I want to be her brother irl now haha)
- She didn't believe she got that role (for "OniAi") as she flubbed many times and her role demanded many monologues in which she can't speak fast fluently (also called "hayakuchi") so she ended up slowing down her words, but the production told her that since she was putting in the effort to act out the role they gave in to that weakness instead. (Flexibility in Anime production, ladies and gentlemen) She thought she did badly, but her effort did pay off. It did take her a while to catch up to the standards required in the studio (probably doing more takes) with the other actors watching so she felt bad about it. She couldn't figure out what she needed to improved on, and took a lot of time to grasp her role. It was Shimoda Asami who helped her out and taught her many things along the way, so she was thankful for her. (Shimoda acted in it as the main guy's childhood friend btw) Through this Anime, she learned of many things about the job that she knew was necessary in her career from then on.
- She liked singing since she was a kid, and mostly sang Anime songs. (Yes Nana Mizuki, she liked your "ETERNAL BLAZE") (I feel so young now lol) She had no experience in dancing, so she spent more of the time to master that.
- Her best impression of acting a character was (don't guess) from "Idolmaster Million Live!", and thanks to her role she got plenty of experience performing music live in front of an audience. (In Idolmaster almost all actresses have to participate in live events and sing and dance and so on, just like an idol would) She also learnt in particular, to smile in front of the audience when singing.
- She wants to try on boyish roles as she has done many lively girl roles over the years. (Nope,
imouto-chan Ibuki-chan you're stuck here now haha) - She is keen on acting in musicals as she has done a couple of times, but feels that the daily performances can take a toll on her health (she really might have an issue here), but she did enjoy acting with others a lot on stage so she wants to do more in the future. She also got a chance to act briefly in a real life movie (this I know from her Twitter, called "Kimi to, Tsurezure"), felt it was rushed for schedule so the experience was short, but wished she got more chances for those.
- To a letter of her in the future: "Are you doing well? Are you married? (gulp) Are you still working hard as a seiyuu? (Continue to) Grow up and be a perfect and matured woman!"
- To fans: "This was the first time you saw a lot of different sides to Kido Ibuki. How was it? (It was... good!) I'll work hard to continue to act various roles in the future, so continue to support me!"
Here's the full interview I took and read as I did with Marinka's photobook:
THE EXTRA
Because I bought this from Gamers, and ever since I bought something from them since 2017 I think, I knew of their free magazine they place in every order to promote their goods, and the cover is...
Nana Mizuki, in case you don't know who this veteran is. (Again, pure coincidence) Other than that, nothing much of interest in it but I'll probably read up what new stuff they have for the Spring Festival Sale they are holding now so here's some early Heisei Era treasure if anyone fancies lmao
Oh, and here's the special gift because I missed out on the limited edition stuff and Gamers is the best otaku shop ever lol (no really, they kinda are because I can redeem points buying this book for free stuff, not just for discounts on future purchases)
This is it then. Wow how did I get tired flipping a book and taking photos? *laughs* Remember when I did three? Of them photobooks? *laughs* How does this sound so wrong haha okay cya guys tomorrow then, where maybe I'll think of something else to talk about. Weekends not included because I can't carry on this "Kawaii Golden Week Japan" stuff now I'm running out of cute stuff to talk about haha bye
P.S. Thanks to the one guy for financing this photobook because I helped him with his university assignment(s) haha he replied "What's with you and all the jap girls??" lol I can't even answer to this now "I'm in it, bro" haha