2D☆STAR/Vol.11

2D☆STAR Vol.11
2D☆STAR Vol.11
Released	July 17, 2018
Magazine	2D☆STAR
Publisher	主婦と生活社 (JP)

2D☆STAR/Vol.11.

Interview

Summer TroupeSpicy Cuisine Research Society

Summer Troupe

A roundtable discussion unveiling the addition of Summer Troupe’s newest member. Kumon-kun is an Undisputed BroCon!!

——Congratulations on your 4th performance, “First Crush Baseball”. Hyodo Kumon-kun, the newly added member, could you please introduce yourself to our readers who are meeting you for the first time?
Kumon	Hyodo Kumon! Currently a second-year in high school! My blood type is A, and my birthday is July 20! My hobbies are watching baseball and collecting jerseys! Umm, also…
Yuki	A brocon.
Kumon	Ah, right, right! I’m a brocon!
Tenma	Don’t say that so proudly…
Kumon	But “brocon” means “you love your big brother”, doesn’t it? I really, really looove my big bro! So I’m a genuine brocon!
Kazunari	Yep yep, that’s one of Kumopi’s charm points!
Misumi	It’s the same with my triangles~.
Muku	The same… I wonder if it is?
Yuki	Just so you know, the brother that he loves so much is the Autumn Troupe’s Classic Delinquent.
Tenma	Classic delinquent…
Kazunari	Yep, fyi, he’s Autumn Troupe’s Hyodle!
Tenma	Those add-ons aren’t helping! It’s Juza-san.
Kumon	My big bro is super, super, duper~ cool, right! I’m the happiest person in the world to be born as my big bro’s little brother…
Misumi	You’re lucky~. I’ll give Kumon a Triangle-kun, swimsuit ver.~
Muku	Uwahh, it’s a new one! His swim ring and straw hat are so cute!
Kazunari	I designed it!
Yuki	And I’m the one who made it.
Muku	Oh, it’s a collaboration between Kazu-kun and Yuki-kun!
Kumon	I-is it really ok for me to receive such an amazing thing?
Misumi	Yep, take it~.
Kumon	Sumi-san…!
Tenma	Err, that’s not something that you should be so moved by!
	In the first place, why are you suddenly giving him a Triangle-kun…
Misumi	It’s cause Kumon’s cute~.
Kazunari	Ah, did Tenten want one too?
Tenma	Haa!?
Yuki	The hack hasn’t gotten many Triangle-kuns, right? At any rate, it's because you’re a hack.
Tenma	Don’t call me a “hack” twice! It’s not like I really wanted one or anything…
Kumon	For me as the newcomer to be so brash… I’m so sorry!
Misumi	Tenma, I’ll give you lots when we get home!
Muku	Fufu. That’s great, right, Tenma-kun?
Tenma	Like I said… Ahh, I don’t care anymore! Do whatever you want!
——Now that their talk has heated up, let’s move on to the next topic. What are your honest impressions now that your 4th performance has finished? Also, how was Kumon-kun’s acting?
Kumon	You’re asking about my acting too!? Asking that is scary… I’m nervous…
Muku	Kyu-chan, are you ok? Your face is getting pale…
Kumon	I think I improved from the time of my initial audition, but there was never a day where I could say all my lines smoothly…
Kazunari	Nobody minds that, ‘kay?
Kumon	I messed up my standing position too, and somehow managed to get everyone to follow through for me…
Misumi	That happens all the time~. We’re a team, so it’s natural to help each other!
Kumon	There was also a time I was too flustered during my quick-change and the button on my shirt came off…
Yuki	Seriously, you’re lucky I was waiting in the wings at that time, right?
Kumon	There were countless times where I accidentally talked over Tenma-san’s lines too… I only caused trouble for everyone…
Muku	…
Misumi	*Stare*…
Kazunari	…
Yuki	…
Tenma	W-why are you guys looking at me like that?
Yuki	No reason. We’re just wondering if you’ll say something to this infamously negative guy.
Kazunari	Your speech here is important! Leader Tenten!
Misumi	Go Tenma~!
Muku	I’ll whisper too…! Umm… Tenma-kun! Please be kind to him!
Yuki	Muku, that definitely wasn’t a whisper.
Muku	Haa! I accidentally put power into it…
Kumon	Making everyone be so considerate of me… I… I…
Yuki	Seeee, say something already, you hack. Or else who knows how far these pessimistic cousins will sink together.
Tenma	You guys are just hyping it up as you like! …*Sigh*. It’s true, Kumon’s acting was clumsy and he had a lot of misses.
Kumon	Yeah…
Tenma	But, everyone’s like that in the beginning, and we were able to make it safely to the closing night. You picked up on the adlibs well and you’re the one who carried the baseball scenes for us. Good job. You did well.
Kumon	Tenma-san…
Muku	That’s so great, Kyu-chan…!
Kazunari	Ohoho~, Kumopi and Mukkun have been moved to tears.
	It makes me remember the curtain call on our closing night~.
Misumi	There, there~.
Tenma	You guys are overreacting…
Yuki	Well, your acting will improve as much as you want from now on.
Kazunari	Yep, yep! We’ll work hard together from now on, right, Kumopi!
Muku	I’ll accompany you if you want to practise on your own, so let me know anytime.
Misumi	I like Kumon’s earnest and straightforward acting~.
Tenma	…And there you have it. You can make proper use of your failures in our 4th performance for our 5th performance. But aside from the troubles and failures… Even though it was your anticipated debut stage, are those really your only impressions?
Kumon	Eh…
Tenma	Do you have nothing else to say after you stood on stage for all those days and did your best at acting comedy?
Kumon	…It was fun. The play we put on with everyone was super fun! So I thought I wanted to act more and more with everyone as the Summer Troupe!
Tenma	Geez, see, you do. That’s the most important thing, alright?
Kumon	Ehehe, yeah!
——It looks like Summer troupe’s bond has grown stronger. “First Crush Baseball” was a baseball-themed story, but if you all were to watch a game, would it be baseball? Or another sport?
Kumon	It’s definitely baseball for me! Of course I like playing it, but as expected, watching baseball is the most fun!
Muku	I guess it’s baseball for me too. I’ve been going to watch Kyu-chan’s games, and we’ve been watching baseball on TV together since a long time ago.
Kazunari	Samesies~. I really started liking it after performing it on stage! I’m especially attached to second base!
Tenma	You do get interested in the position you played yourself, huh? I can’t help but watch it when it’s broadcast, and my eyes always drift towards the catcher too.
Misumi	I get it, I get it~. I’m also into baseball! Since the shape of the home plate is like a triangle~.
Tenma	Is that why!
Kumon	Ohhh! The baseball lovers have increased! I’m super happy~!
Yuki	Hmm, I don’t particularly have a sport, but anything apart from soccer.
Muku	Eh? Yuki-kun hates soccer?
Yuki	I don’t particuarly like nor dislike soccer itself, but when it’s on TV, those guys’ cheering gets so fired up that I can’t stand it. The temperature in the room rises.
Tenma	(Winter troupe’s) Tasuku-san and them, huh…
Kazunari	Eh! It’s rare for Tax and them to get so hyped-up, so it’s fun and I like watching it together with them.
——And so, your 5th show is currently underway, is that right? Since the play is about ninjas, there are all sorts of actions scenes, but did you undergo any special training?
Tenma	We watched videos of Autumn Troupe’s plays and used them as reference on how to utilize our movements and spacing in action scenes.
Kazunari	It’s hard when you try doing it though~. Four guys moving around on that narrow stage looks awkward if you don’t figure out a way to showcase it.
Tenma	We got Director and (Autumn Troupe’s) Sakyo-san to watch us countless times, and then finally solidified it.
Muku	At first, we were worried we wouldn’t be able to keep up with Misumi-san’s agile movements, but when we tried it, we were able to catch up and move with the tempo too so it actually went well.
Yuki	Saying the Triangle Alien’s movements are agile is putting it lightly.
Kumon	Sumi-san’s kunai handling was super cool too!
Misumi	Ehehe~ thanks~.
Tenma	I’m glad the Summer Troupe doesn’t have anyone who’s seriously bad at exercising.
Kazunari	Strictly speaking, the only one who’s unathletic in our Theatre Company is (Spring Troupe’s) Itarun, right~? (Winter Troupe’s) Azu and Arinrin both don’t like excercising either, but it’s not like they’re unathletic.
Yuki	More than a miracle, it was thanks to that gamer’s obsession that he was able to get through the Spring Troupe’s 5th play.
Muku	We have to do our best too so we don’t run out of stamina until our closing night!
Kumon	Alriiight, then let’s run home today! We’ll go on a run!
Tenma	Yeah, I’ll pass.
Kazunari	Good luck, Kumopi!
Yuki	Go ahead by yourself.
Kumon	EHH!? E-even Muku won't…?
Muku	U-ummm… If it’s just a little bit…
Misumi	I’ll run too~.
Tenma	Geez. Don’t let it affect tomorrow’s performance.
——Speaking of summer, it was Yuki-kun and Kumon-kun’s birthdays a little while ago, right? Did you all throw a birthday party together?
Kazunari	‘Course, we held surprise parties for both of them 𝅘𝅥𝅮
Kumon	We sure spent a long time thinking together about what kinda design we should go with for Yuki’s birthday cake.
Tenma	Well, it’s because Yuki’s fussy about designs. It was a relief Kazunari did a good job of getting everything down into an illustration.
Yuki	The sugar candy torso was cute. Thanks.
Misumi	We struck out together on Kumon’s birthday~!
Muku	We went with a cushion that was modeled after Sakura High’s uniform, and we were really glad Kyu-chan accepted it just like we hoped he would!
Kumon	I’m super happy with it already… and it’s a treasure of a lifetime for me! But since it’s a nice chance, I’d be so happy if we could all have matching ones together someday.
Tenma	That’s true. How about it, Yuki?
Yuki	…Well, I’ll make one for everyone if I feel like it. Personally, I like Sakura High’s uniform too.
Kumon	Yay—! Thanks, Yuki!
Yuki	The hack can make his own though. I’ll teach him how to make it.
Tenma	Haa!? Why am I the only one who has to make it myself!
Yuki	Because you’re Tenma.
Tenma	That’s not a reason!
Muku	U-ummm… It’ll be Kazu-kun’s birthday soon, right! Do you have any present that you want?
Kazunari	Hmmm, something I want, eh~. …What do to, maybe there’s nothing.
Kumon	So selfless!
Kazunari	That’s not what I meant by that~. Lemme think! How about Mukkun? Your birthday’s after mine, right?
Muku	Me? Hm~mmm…
Misumi	Could it be, Muku doesn’t have anything either?
Muku	Ahaha. I think I’ll have something, but when I’m asked like this, nothing jumps out at me.
Kazunari	Right~. Then let’s think about it together!
Muku	Yeah!
——Now then, please leave a message, including any announcements from MANKAI Company, to your fans.
Tenma	There were various troubles this time as well, but following Spring Troupe, Summer Troupe was able to safely raise the curtain on our 5th show as well. I want to create the very best play with these 6 members, without missing a single person, all the way until our closing day. Please continue to support Summer Troupe from now on as well.

Spicy Cusine Research Society

Their main activities are mixing spices, finding delicious restaurants, and eating! 5 members from the “Spicy Cuisine Research Society”, a club for like-minded people within MANKAI Company, have convened! Let’s listen in on their fired-up talk on how they first got hooked on spices, and the unexpected methods of using spices they’ve been secretly wanting to try out! “Chikage’s blend is a toxic substance. No one can eat it.”

——This time, everyone within the “Spicy Cuisine Research Society” from MANKAI Company have gathered! What was it that made you first interested in spices?
Omi	I guess it was when I joined the Theatre company and noticed that Director subtly changed the spice mixture every time she made us curry.
Chikage	Director has a pretty good tongue, doesn’t she? Her sense for choosing spices isn’t bad either.
Tsumugi	A sense for something like that exists too, huh… I was interested in edible flowers, so I was invited to join.
Citron	For me, spices are the arch of my national flag! I love spicy food!
Tsumugi	Could it be you mean “taste of your homeland”? The kingdom of Zafra has many spicy dishes and they were all delicious.
Chikage	I seriously considered permanent residency there.
Omi	Ahaha, Chikage-san stocked up on a lot of spices in Zafra, right?
Kumon	(Autumn Troupe’s) Sakyo-san asked if he was a vendor!
Chikage	I suggested adding “Mankai Company’s Specially-Made Red Sauce” to our goods but I was rejected instantly on the spot.
Citron	Chikage’s blend is a toxic substance. No one can eat it.
Chikage	I wonder if I should prepare the proper documents and hold a full-scale presentation next time.
Omi	You’re serious about this, huh…
Tsumugi	I guess it’s time for the trading company employee to show his true abilities…
Kumon	Rather than interested, I think guys who mix spices are kinda cool…!
Citron	It’s like making an original drink at the drink bar of a family restaurant, right!
Kumon	Yeah, yeah! You can get a taste of how it feels to become an alchemist~.
Tsumugi	Didn’t (Spring Troupe’s) Itaru-kun say something like that too…?
Chikage	In other words, that’s what a chuuni…
Kumon	UMMM! I think everyone would rather hear Chikage-san’s story over mine~!
Omi	Well, you do think of Chikage-san when you mention spices. I’m also curious how Chikage-san became interested in them.
Chikage	It’s a long story though…
Tsumugi	Keep it brief here.
Chikage	I’ve always liked spicy things from the start, and I thought that if it was spicy, then all foods were generally the same. But then at one point, the chicken masala I ate at a restaurant in a certain country was shockingly delicious… And not only that, but also the yukgaejang, mapo tofu, chili con carne… No matter what I ordered, everything was exquisite.
Omi	That restaurant served a lot of multinational dishes, huh…
Kumon	All of them sound tasty! I wanna try them…
Chikage	So, when I thought about what made them different from other restaurants, the answer was quite simple. That’s right. The spice mix they used was perfect. With just the difference of a few milligrams of a single spice…
Citron	Too long. The word limit will be used up with just Chikage’s story.
Chikage	I haven’t even finished telling half of it yet.
Tsumugi	We’ll listen to the rest when we get home.
——(Haha). What type of activities does the Spicy Cuisine Research Society usually do?
Tsumugi	A lot of the time we eat the dishes Omi-kun made for us using the spices Chikage-san prepared.
Kumon	Ah, but we went out to eat recently, didn’t we? At that mysterious restaurant Citron-san found!
Chikage	It was a Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine restaurant, right? It felt strange when the là zǐ jī and phở were served together.
Omi	Haha. The restaurant’s appearance and owner felt a bit shady, but the food there was pretty delicious, right? The cilantro was nice to eat and I learned a lot.
Citron	Omi is eager to learn, huh! I’m expressed!
Kumon	Expressed?
Chikage	Could you possibly mean “impressed”?
Citron	That’s it!
——Do you have any spicy dishes which you actually secretly want to try out or eat right now?
Tsumugi	It’s summer, so it’s the season you want to eat spicy food, right?
Omi	That’s true. If you have any requests then let me know. If you want, I’ll make them for you.
Kumon	Me, me! I wanna eat some mildly spicy braised pork!
Chikage	Braised pork that’s dyed bright red… Sounds nice.
Tsumugi	He said mildly spicy, Chikage-san…
Citron	I heard shichimi is tangy and apparently goes well with beer!
Omi	That’s true. It seems like it can be enjoyed as a side dish with alcohol.
Kumon	Beer, side dishes … That’s so adult…! So cool!
Citron	I want to eat atchizo made with red chili peppers!
Omi	Ajillo? Braised pork and ajillo are both simple, so I’ll make them tonight.
Kumon	Seriously!? Woohoo! I’ll tell (Summer Troupe’s) Tenma-san over LIME!
Citron	How eggciting~! I’ll make (Winter Troupe’s) Azuma bring out the good wine!
Omi	Tsumugi-san and Chikage-san, do you two have anything you want to eat?
Tsumugi	Actually, I think it might taste good to pour sweet chili sauce over ice cream.
Omi	Oh, I see. That sounds like it’s worth giving a try. I was just coming up with a dessert for Chikage-san.
Chikage	I told you that you didn’t have to worry about me. But well, thanks. I’ll look forward to it.
Citron	Omi’s a bother after all, hm~.
Tsumugi	It’s mother.
Kumon	Does Chikage-san have one? A spicy dish you want to try.
Chikage	Hmmm… Ah. The other day when I went to an escape game with (Autumn Troupe’s) Banri, we received a shaved ice making machine for some reason as an extra prize for clearing it.
Omi	Ahh, that’s why (Autumn Troupe’s) Taichi and them were fired up about making shaved ice.
Citron	Ohh! Japanese summer! I want to make shaved ice too!
Kumon	That sounds super fun! Melon syrup’s the only choice for me!
Chikage	Speaking of syrup for shaved ice, the classics are Melon, Strawberry and Blue Hawaii, but I…
Tsumugi	I have a bad feeling about this.
Chikage	I think habanero sauce would go well with it, don’t you?
Omi	Would that… taste good? I feel like that would just be spicy ice water…
Chikage	Wouldn’t the flavour depend on the sauce?
Kumon	I don’t think that’s the point…
Citron	Chikage’s exclusive dessert has been decided here.
——It was fun getting to understand everyone’s love for spices.
Tsumugi	Thank you very much.
Kumon	Ah~ I got hungry while we were talking. Why don’t we grab a bite and then head home?
Omi	Well there’s still some time before dinner. I guess we can have a small, pre-meal snack.
Citron	I have a restaurant I want to visit!
Tsumugi	What type of cuisine does the restaurant serve this time?
Citron	Indian & Bhutanese food!
Chikage	Heh, I’m a bit interested. It seems I’ll be able to eat some interesting dishes.
Omi	More like where do you find a shop like that…?

Anna