フォロー
（※）本稿はJBpressに掲載された「上坂すみれさんが語る『ポンコツを愛でる日本文化の素晴らしさ』」を英語に翻訳した記事です。
Alongside her activities as a voice actress and singer, Sumire Uesaka participates in overseas events to express the appeal of Japan’s pop culture to the world. She is also knowledgeable about a wide range of topics such as cinema, the military, Russian history and culture, and Showa Kayo songs, on a level comparable to an expert.
This voice actress and artist with an unusual skillset released her 11th single, “EASY LOVE,” on April 21st. This track is the opening theme for the TV anime, “Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro,” in which she also stars as one of the main characters.
The paired songs on the single are “Yume Miru Maid Girl” and “Himitsu no Tomodachi.” Uesaka wrote the lyrics for “Yume Miru Maid Girl” herself. This track is a love song with the theme of a maid robot expressing her yearning for her master.
Maids are an element of Japan’s pop culture, and what kind of character did Uesaka depict this one as? What amazing aspects of Japan’s pop culture has she gotten a sense of through her activities overseas? She was kind enough to tell us all about these topics. (JBpress)
Japan’s unique “maid culture”
──In the songs you’ve written up until now, you’ve made allusions to Russia, featured historical figures, and generally given us a sense of your sophisticated hobbies. However, “Yume Miru Maid Girl” is a straight-up love song unlike anything you’ve done before.
Uesaka: Yes, that’s right. For this single, “EASY LOVE” and “Himitsu no Tomodachi” were finished first, and those two songs both had a serious tone to them, so I wanted the last track to me cute song. For me personally, I tend to think “maid = cute,” so that idea was the starting point for the writing process. Of course I love Russia and the Three Kingdoms period, but I also like this kind of cute perspective as well.
──What kind of maid robot were you picturing when you wrote the lyrics?
