Kumon Hyodo/Spotlight

Spotlight WEB Version: Kumon Hyodo

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Kumon	Hmmm…
Muku	Kyu-chan?
Kumon	Ah, Muku! Are you on your way home too?
Muku	Yeah, what a coincidence. But more importantly…
	It looked like you were fretting over something from behind…
	Did something happen?
Kumon	Ah… I was just thinking about my interview.
Muku	By interview, do you mean for the Spotlight WEB edition?
Kumon	Yep. It’ll be my turn soon, so I got the questionnaire and read it in advance…
	But there was a question asking about a story of a mistake I made. I’m worried I won’t be able to answer properly when I’m asked about that.
Muku	I’m not confident I’d be able to answer that question well either…
	Ah, why don’t you rewatch footage from our past performances?
Kumon	Past footage?
Muku	Yeah. I bet you’ll figure something out if you watch your past mistakes again.
Kumon	I see… it might be a good idea to rewatch them!
	And then I guess I’ll think it over properly from there.
	Thanks, Muku! I feel like I’ll be able to manage somehow!
Muku	Great to hear. Good luck with the interview.
Kumon	(I can tell I was super nervous during First Crush Baseball~.
	It feels kinda embarrassing now…)
Izumi	Oh… are you watching videos from the past, Kumon-kun?
Kumon	Ah, yep! When I read the questionnaire from “Spotlight”, I felt like I was just gonna spout negative things about my failures.
	But then Muku gave me some advice telling me I should rewatch some of my old videos.
Izumi	Oh, so that’s why. Ah, is it alright if I watch with you too?
Kumon	Of course!
Izumi	You’ve changed a little since the time of this play, haven’t you?
Kumon	Eh, have I…?
Izumi	Yeah. I feel like your expression has changed a bit compared to your past performances.
	You looked like you were afraid of failure before. But it’s not like that anymore.
CHOICE 1: Do you remember why? [+] Izumi Do you remember why? Kumon Eh? Did something happen back then… Izumi It’s something that already feels routine for you. Kumon —Ah! Izumi Fufu, did it come back to you? Kumon It did! I just do it naturally now, so I forgot I started it back then~.
CHOICE 2: Was there some kind of trigger? [+] Izumi Was there some kind of trigger…? Kumon …Could you it be that? That thing that already feels routine to me now! Izumi Ah… yeah, that’s it! Kumon I see… I don’t even think twice about it now. But it all started from that time. Izumi And with that trigger, your acting changed, right?
	You told me you felt like you were just going to say negative things about your failures… but you don’t just make mistakes, Kumon-kun.
	You learn from your missteps and find a way to get past them.
	Isn’t that right?
Kumon	…Yeah!
	I’m glad I watched these old videos.
	I bet I’ll be able to answer the interview no problem now!
Izumi	Fufu, I can’t wait to see how the interview goes.

Kasumi	Thank you for coming today, Kumon-kun.
Kumon	Same here, thanks for having me!
Kasumi	Alright now, I’d like to get the interview started right away.
	In your previous interview, we could tell how much you really love Summer troupe.
	You told us that everyone in Summer troupe are always together in everything they do. Does that have an influence on your acting?
Kumon	Hmm, I’m not sure whether this is because we’re always together…
	But I think now I’m able to notice subtle changes in everyone’s movements during our plays—like when they’re about to try out something new!
Kasumi	It feels nice being able to notice small changes from your teammates.
Kumon	Ah, but… I only became able to observe them calmly like that after going through quite a few performances.
Kasumi	Was there some kind of trigger for that?
Kumon	To tell you the truth… in the past, I was pretty mentally weak and always got nervous during important situations.
	There was a time when I made a mistake during a show because of my nerves, and I felt like I was gonna get dragged down by that mistake in our next performance.
Kasumi	Do you mean you weren’t very good at switching over your mindset?
Kumon	Yeah. The more I thought about not messing up next time, the more things didn’t go well.
	Each time that happened, everyone in Summer troupe encouraged and chanted for me…
	I felt happy and grateful to them, but I realized I couldn’t go on like that.
	And when I was thinking up ways to avoid being influenced by my mistakes, I remembered how I used to shout all the time when I was on the baseball team.
Kasumi	And by shout… you mean?
Kumon	Like when you go, “raise your voice~!” during sports club activities!
	Back when I was playing baseball, I could switch up my mood by shouting whenever our team was losing or when I made a mistake in a play.
	When I yelled stuff like “let’s go!” or “fight-on!”, it cheered me up when I was feeling down…
	So when I messed up during a show, I tried shouting a bit offstage between our matinees and soirees.
	That way, I was able to naturally reset my mood.
Kasumi	I see. It's true that raising your voice can change your emotions and calm you down.
Kumon	That’s right. Just yelling out a few words can snap you back.
	I used to be afraid of failing.
	I thought that I’d drag those same mistakes out and keep repeating them over and over again.
	But now that I've found a way to reset my mood, I'm not afraid of messing up anymore.
	That's why I can act with a lot more confidence now than when I first started!
Kasumi	Thanks for today, Kumon-kun!
Kumon	Same here!
Kasumi	I could tell how you've grown as an actor through today's interview.
	You’ve recognized your own weaknesses and overcame them in your own way, haven’t you, Kumon-kun?
Kumon	It’s all thanks to the Summer troupe guys for having my back no matter what.
Kasumi	Summer troupe’s presence is the most important driving force behind your acting, hm?
Kumon	Hehe, that’s what I think.
	Ah, and of course nii-chan too!
Kasumi	Fufu, that’s right.
	Now that you’re not afraid of failure anymore, I'm sure you'll grow into an even more wonderful actor. I'm really looking forward to what the future holds.
Kumon	I’ll keep facing forward and doing my best so I can meet your expectations!

Anna