[ES!! Era Year 2] Interlude Drum Roll
Ryuseitai end up in the Music Studio to practice, and Kanata finds the drums fun…
Season: ES 2nd Year, Summer (August)
2nd year of ES’s establishment, in August. In the Music Studio within Mega Sphere Tower…
♪~♪~♪ (Hitting the drums)
…Was this really the only room available, Morisawa-senpai?
Yep. It’s because our activity was restricted during the Mega Stream period.1
Now that we’ve been freed from that restriction, it seems that it’s caused units all over to pour everything into practice lessons.
Thanks to that, all the lesson rooms are fully booked… Getting us this Music Studio was the best I could do.
In fact, by the looks of it, we wouldn’t have been able to reserve this room if we were just a few minutes late. We’re really fortunate!
Mm~… If we can’t use a lesson room, couldn’t we have taken the day off?
C’mon now, Midori-kun! It’s always said in the sports world that “taking a day off will make you take another three days to get back on your feet”, right?
Taking the right amount of breaks is important too of course, but our senses as part of our unit have dulled after being restricted for so long.
So I don’t think skipping out with an excuse at a time like this would be a good thing!
Guh… He’s telling me off with sportsman-like reasoning, it hurts to hear…
Are you that against having a lesson today, Midori-kun?
No, it’s not that.
It’s just that there’s a lot of equipment here that looks pretty expensive, like instruments and stuff, right?
The thought of bumping into one in the moment, or my hand accidentally hitting one and breaking it makes it hard for me to relax and move around here—
drum, drum, drum~♪ (Hitting the drums in his own pace)
I mean, just look…! While I’m freaking out by the thought, Shinkai-senpai’s just innocently playing around with one…!
You look like you’re havin’ fun here, Shinkai-senpai. Have you taken a likin’ to the drums that much?
yes~♪ it makes a [sound] when i hit it, so it is fun.
Yeah! That’s the correct response!
The word for music, ongaku, is written as “enjoying the sound”, after all.2
Well, I’ve learned that’s not the actual etymology of the word, but I personally like that theory.
After all, music brings smiles to people~♪
Back when I was a student, a certain question came to my mind.
“Why do we use the word ‘study’ in ‘Chemistry’ and ‘Math’, while ‘Music’ is the only one that uses the word for ‘enjoyment’?” — That’s how it started.3
I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, so after class, I searched for answers in the library. That’s how I learned about the origins of the word, but…
I still didn’t know why the name of the school subject is ongaku. It’s taught in school, so I feel like it’s more natural to call it ongaku-gaku, for “music studies”…4
But I’m glad that the name remained as ongaku. If we had it as ongaku-gaku, it’d have sounded a bit more complicated.
It’s because it’s ongaku, “enjoying the sound”, that we can sing and perform laxly without restraint—
That may be how we’ve been able to “enjoy” our time with smiles~♪
ufufu. it is as chiaki says~ [music] puts [smiles] on people’s faces.
singing [songs] and performing with [musical instruments] are also a lot of fun.
well, all i can really do is [hit] the drums with all my might, though~
pashh~ shh~…♪ (Happily hits the crash cymbals)
…ah, wait! i just came up with a [great idea]~♪
how about we perform as a [band] in the next [live] together?
Eh? A band!?
yes~ i will play the [drums], and chiaki will play the [tambourine].
tetora plays the [marimba], midori plays the [triangle], and shinobu plays the [maraca]~♪
Why’s it just percussion instruments and nothing else…
Actually, why’d you suddenly get the urge to play a band? Something like that should be left to a unit brimming with youth and sparkles, right…
I don’t feel like it’s a genre of music we can casually dip our fingers into as a group of quirky individuals.
What’re you saying, Takamine!? Our potential as Ryuseitai is always infinite!
We’ll take on any challenge for the sake of bringing smiles to everyone! Whether it’s by playing as a band, or by being enveloped in light and transforming into giants to fight the huge kaijuu attacking the city! ☆5
I could say the same to you, what’re you even on about? Please don’t start saying stuff that could derail the conversation. It’ll only complicate things…
Mm~ A band refers to any group that “performs with musical instruments”, so it wouldn’t be incorrect to be a group of percussion instruments only…
But when you think of bands, the typical instruments outside of the drums are the guitar, bass, and keyboard, you know?
that sounds nice too~ but i thought it might be hard to [learn] those.
since [percussion instruments] only need you to hit or shake the instrument, anyone can make [sounds] with them.
i am sure we could quickly learn how to [perform] with them without it taking too much [time].
Hahaha. Things that look easy at first glance tend to be pretty difficult to master, y’know?
Since we’ll be performing for our fans, I wouldn’t want to make do with a hasty performance.
However, the idea itself is wonderful!
Even if it’d be hard to perform this for the next live, how about we all start by getting a feel of the instruments for fun?
I like that idea! Hey, how ‘bout we even stream ourselves practicin’ and makin’ sense of the instruments?
The sight of a buncha inexperienced people slowly improving in somethin’ feels like a documentary show in a way, so it’d totally fire anyone up! ☆
Mm~… I feel like that sort of thing just pushes viewers to be emotionally moved by what they’re seeing, so I don’t really know about that…
Well, then again, it’s better than suddenly performing in a live show, I guess. If our fans got to see our abilities before the performance, it’d lower their expectations, too.
fufufu, our [dreams] just keep on expanding, don’t they~ and just [talking] about it with everyone is fun.
—okay then. we will stop our [break] here, so how about we start [practicing] now?
first things first, let’s bring [smiles] to everyone with our [songs]…♪
Translation Notes
- ↑ This is referring to the Mega Stream main story arc. In July, all the ES idols were locked up in the Mega Sphere for a month to do a world-wide stream 24/7. As of August, idols can freely do as they like, including going between ES and Mega Sphere whenever.
- ↑ 音楽 (music) is made up of the kanjis “sound” and “enjoyment/pleasure”.
- ↑ In Japanese, Chemistry is kagaku (化学, lit. transformation studies), and Math is suugaku (数学, lit. number studies). More commonly said as “study of (something)” in English.
- ↑ This is 音楽学, “music” (ongaku) and “study” (gaku). Typically known as Musicology (the study of music).
- ↑ Referring to Ultraman. Chiaki’s a huge tokusatsu fan and enjoys referencing various series.