Before “a new departure”—Kobayashi Aika, Takatsuki Kanako, Furihata Ai’s five years with Aqours (Translated Interview)
For simplicity’s sake, each seiyuu’s line indicators will be denoted as either F(urihata), K(obayashi), or T(akatsuki).
TL: arb
TLC: xIceArcher
QC: Mega, Yujacha
All nine of us are a little different, but put us together and we become Aqours
—It’s the 5th anniversary of Love Live Sunshine’s school idol group Aqours. The “Aqours 5th Anniversary Jimo Ai! Take Me Higher Project” is now underway, including the series’ first dome tour. But first, please tell us your impressions about the Dome Tour’s theme song, “Fantastic Departure!”.
T: (joyfully) It feels like “the sea”! (laughs)
F: A whale?
T: A dolphin?
All 3: (all having fun) Yeah, yeah, yeah! (laughs)
K: That’s the part that leaves an impression on you, right?
T: It’s easy to think of what it would look like at the concert, right? Like, you...
K: Like getting beckoned by a dolphin to ride a whale? (laughs)
F: The new songs totally have a sea motif, which is something we’ve surprisingly never had before.
K: “Fantastic Departure!” has lots of back-and-forth lyrics, so the image of everyone [in the audience] singing comes to mind. It’s making me excited for the concerts.
F: It’ll definitely be a really nice song live.
T: It feels like every year, our new songs keep getting more difficult.
K: Right, right.
F: [This song has] quite a lot of low parts, right?
T: The A melody is low, but the chorus is high.
K: I think it’s also because we’ve become an Aqours that can take on these kinds of challenges. Our cooler sides can start showing.
T: Recently, our songs have stopped sounding anime song-ish, but in a good way. We’ve had a lot of songs that are somewhere in between anime songs and J-pop — a very “Aqours-like” place.
K: The genre is “Aqours”!
T: A stylish feel...?
K: Stylish sound!
T, F: Ahaha!
F: The lyrics are packed with an Aqours-like feeling, and the song has a stylish sound!
—What were some of your favorite lines during the recording?
K: I like Hanamaru’s “Where is it? Where is it?”
T: Hey! (laughs) Recently, my habit’s been getting worse every time we record...
K: You noticed? (laughs)
F: (while looking at K and T) Those two often record first. I listen to their voices while I record.
K: When I listen to Hanamaru-chan singing, I can find lots of parts that I really like.
T: I want to listen to all of the individual versions once. When we’re recording, we don’t know who will get which part, so there are phrases we approach differently. Everyone has their own unique ideas, so it’s exciting to hear them and think “Ah, so that’s how they’re singing it!”
K: They’re releasing the solo albums (Aqours First Solo Concert Album), right?
T, F: Right! That’s great.
F: I want everyone to hear how much we’ve all grown. The nine of us are all different, but the moment you put us together and we become Aqours is amazing.
K: And speaking of the “Fantastic Departure!” lyrics, the “A fantastic departure” phrase had a pretty difficult rhythm.
T: I know~. The rhythm was really tight.
K: Right. I could really get used to that.
F: It’s a little nerve-wracking thinking we’ll have to perform that live, huh?
Hata Aki-san’s lyrics really represent Aqours’ feelings
—In the B-side “Aqours Pirates Desire”, you have the “Dan-Da-Dan//We’ll steal it!” part. It’s a really addicting song.
All 3: (joyfully) Dan-Da-Dan!
K: You like that part, right, Kanako?
T: Right, I love the world view. I also love the “Dan-Da-Dan” and the “Da-Dan Da-Dan” parts.
—How was the recording?
All 3: (smiling) It was really fun!
F: There were a lot of “Dan-Da-Dan”s, so it was really fun.
K: But it feels like I’ll mess it up at some point, so I’m a little worried about the concerts. (laughs)
F: You might end up repeating the wrong one.
T: I’m excited for the choreography and the costumes! I want to have some accessories on it.
F: Some pirate accessories?
K: Oh, right! I thought we would have taiko drums! (laughs)
T: Just call them regular drums! (laughs)
F: There’s that line, “Beat the signal drum“. (laughs)
K: Everyone doing it together!
T: We might just have a performance like that (laughs).
F: I like the (singing) “The red flag of freedom//will part the wind for you to run“ part.
T, K: I know, right?
T: Then there’s “(A black skull and crossbones//The wild seas)//We’ll overcome it~~♪ “, and it gets really low after.
K: Is that the lowest Aqours has ever gone?
F: Maybe! Both songs are really cool. They’ve got a lot of really powerful lyrics like “Plunder” or “We’ll steal it! “.
T: “Fantastic Departure!” and “Aqours Pirates Desire” make for a strong combination. Both give the feeling of strength on the seas. I think they’ll be popular songs at the concerts.
K: They seem really exciting. [The fans] will probably like them.
—In what ways do you feel the charm of Hata Aki-san’s lyrics?
K: The lyrics often represent our feelings. In these two songs, there’s “A fantastic departure”, “A huge world//A vast world is waiting for us “, and “Search for it“. All of which really symbolize the current Aqours.
T: Recently, it feels like we’re walking down a path Hata-sensei created. It feels like she’s guiding us towards the future.
F: Even if we haven’t fully grasped the lyrics by the time we record, as time passes, we come to realize that “this is what Hata-sensei was talking about.” We sing a lot of songs about how we’ll feel in the future. Like, “Hata-sensei was already thinking this far into the future with her lyrics”. And as time passes, the appeal of those lyrics start to sink in.
K: Very deep.
T: Yup, very deep.
“It’s thanks to Aqours that we’re back” μ's words were really moving
—Going back in time a bit, Love Live! Fes was held in January 2020. You overcame the “walls” of the franchise to perform together with μ's and the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. In particular, you were all able to make the dream of standing on the same stage as μ's come true. Looking back, how was that?
F: It was really... I’m glad we did it. (She seems deeply emotional)
T: (lost for words) Wow... It truly was...
K: (while deeply nodding) Yeah...
F: The thing we’ve always been wishing for these five years finally came true.
K: We've been wishing for it for so long... while it was a goal, we also ended up thinking it would be a dream that would never come true. So it made us really, really happy.
T: The Love Live! series’ 9th anniversary project gave us a lot of chances to interact with μ's and the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, so we had a lot of chances to speak with them. μ's gave us some very kind words.
“It’s because Aqours has been doing these concerts and other activities that we, too, could come back here.” When they said that... it was so touching. They really were watching us. It made me so happy.
K, F: (nodding)
—If I might ask, were there any other happenings with μ's?
K: We had a sort of photoshoot after Fes, right?
F: Was it after Day 1?
K: We came on stage to take a group photo, and afterwards it turned into one.
T: And then it turned into free time?
K: Right. Photo time started. It was sort of like at a theme park, when...
—Sort of like when you meet the mascot characters?
K: That’s right. (laughs) Everyone was lining up, and going “Please take a photo with me”. Well, except for Aqours.
—Except for Aqours?
K: Everyone in Aqours was a little gun-shy. μ's are pretty much goddesses... they’re like something out of a dream, so we all thought “Is it really okay for us to be this happy?”, and started acting really shifty. (laughs)
—To have them right in front of you...
K: We stiffened up. (laughs)
F: Even when they said it was okay, we still didn’t go. We turned into regular old otakus. (laughs). But I think Komiya (Arisa)-san took the initiative and went over to the other groups.
—When μ's came on stage, were you in awe?
T: We felt the mood in the arena change in an instant. It was the moment that so many people who came were waiting for; it felt just like a holy atmosphere.
K: I couldn’t stop my goosebumps. The arena started shaking. It really was.
T: It felt like it’d be alright if they just stood there doing nothing. At the end of Day 2, Aqours went after μ's, and after the audience was engulfed in orange light for “Snow halation”, we came out on our ship. We felt just like pirates.
K: When I saw that orange light reflecting off the ceiling, I thought “Ah...” And when we came out, it changed into a sea of blue, and I went “Ah...” again. It was really moving.
Eating natto rice... it’s freedom before the live starts!
—Aqours also debuted their new song “Mitaiken HORIZON” at Love Live! Fes. The trio units of CYaRon!, AZALEA, and Guilty Kiss also performed, right?.
T: Debuting a song, and especially as the first song at Fes, was pretty nerve-wracking. The “Mitaiken HORIZON” costumes are cute, and it’s really in sync with the PV, so we really wanted to kick things off with a “This is Aqours!” kind of performance. It really was an honor to be able to debut it there at Fes.
F: CYaRon! was the first subunit, and because there were a lot of groups performing at Fes, some people might not know CYaRon!. So we were really enthusiastic about giving it our all.
But when we got on stage, the entire arena was really warm and welcoming. So while we were dancing, we were thinking that “Love Live! is really amazing.” That warmth is one of the good points about the fans.
K: Some of Guilty Kiss’ songs make you want to do the “Guilty Kiss!” call, even if you don’t know us. (laughs) Even the first timers do the “Guilty Kiss!” with everyone. So I feel like everyone will remember us. Or at least their mouths will remember us from the calls. (laughs)
T, F: Just their mouths? (laughs)
K: Mouths that blow Guilty Kisses. (laughs) On the grand stage of Love Live! Fes, we were able to show the greatness of the Love Live! series as both the Aqours that worked so hard to get here and as our subunits..
—How do you spend your time backstage? Is there anything you always do before every live?
K: It’s just the huddle up, right?
T: We’re quite free, huh? And then there are people who eat a lot of natto. (laughs)
K: Natto and egg rice is the fad. Pretty much everyone is eating it, right?
T, F: Yeah, yeah.
K: On live days, you have to do that. My mouth will remember the taste.
T, F: (laughs)
T: Having the chocolate fondue from catering was so nice!
K: I was so happy! It was white chocolate, right?
T: I was like, “Do you think I can drink this chocolate?”, and Komiya Arisa-chan went, “I said the exact same thing earlier.” (laughs)
K: We’re all just talking about food. (laughs) Some things never change. But when showtime comes, we flip a switch, right?
F: That’s right. Our liveliness has an on/off switch. Speaking of which, (Osaka) Shizuku-chan (Maeda Kaori) gave us all chocolate. It was the kind with a message on the back, and she wrote messages like “Ganbaruby!” for everyone. It was really cute.
K: We wouldn’t normally do something like that, huh? (laughs)
F: Right. So it was really cool.
T: The only thing we think about is eating. (laughs)
The first years’ strong point is being able to feel “at home”. We can be ourselves around each other
—There have been a lot of subunit activities recently, but this interview is with your year group. How would you sum up the first years’ strong point in a phrase?
K: (happily:) We get along!
T: (smiling:) Yup.
F: Like a place to come home.
—A place to come home?
F: We’re all in different units, but when we’re together as first years, I really feel at home and at ease. That’s the atmosphere when I’m with everyone.
K: It’s like you’re “at home”.
F: “At home”! Yeah, that’s it.
T: It’s simple, but fun. Enjoy!
K: We can just be ourselves.
F: We can mess around and have fun. The first years have lots of very energetic songs, and the three of us all play around with each other and enjoy, so concerts are always really fun too.
T: We’re like a box of toys.
F: And I think that’s great. The second years are very serious, and the third years give off this mature and calm vibe, and we have an energetic and casual style. But of course, I really respect the other year groups.
K: And we have that underclassman vibe.
T: We’re the moodmakers, too!
—I definitely can see that. While talking to the three of you, I’ve felt strangely relaxed and at ease.
All 3: (together) That’s great! (laughs) At home.
—Tell me about some times when you’ve felt the bond between you three.
All 3: Our bond, huh?
K: We’ve never had those kinds of emotional moments. (laughs)
T, F: Yeah. (laughs)
F: But when we debuted “Mitaiken Horizon”, I somehow felt... glad that we were the first years. (doing the choreography) Like in the “Let’s give today everything we’ve got”, where the three of us form a triangle and dance with our arms out, and we look into each other's' eyes as we sing. That part is really touching. It made me think, “Ah, we’ve really grown.”
K, T: Yeah, yeah. That’s true.
K: It’s nice that the first years are always in the center for “Mitaiken Horizon”!
T: I’m glad that the three of us are always together.
F: Our singing parts are also all together, and it feels really powerful.
T: Even so, in the chorus, we’re the ones who have to bring the energy. (laughs)
F: Right, the “More!” “More!” “Yeah!” parts. (laughs)
K: Usually, the first years (when dividing the lines in songs) are in charge of the extra lines. Like the “Fu!”s. Those energetic parts are very “first year”.
—Between the three of you, who’s the mature one, or the one who can help you when you’re in a pinch?
All 3: (together) Eh... none of us are really the mature one?
F: We really feel like we’re in the same year. That’s pretty much how we are with each other. But I’m the one who gets teased, and (looking at T) she’s the teasing type.
K: (while pointing at herself) I tease and get teased. Even when the other years are ignoring us, we feel like we’re always energetic. The first years are always just going off and doing whatever. (laughs) We pretend to be clueless, but we’re always watching our surroundings while we play around... I think.
T: And the helper... do we even have times when we’re in a pinch?
K: We probably just laugh our problems away. (laughs)
T: If I had to say, we’re the type to have fun even when we’re in a pinch. They (pointing at K and F) probably feel the same way, and it puts me at ease.
—What are your tics?
F: Recently, it’s been “Right, right?”. It changes a lot, but before that it was “Yup, yup.”
T: She says it twice. (laughs)
K: All three of us do this, but I always say funny things a second time. (laughs)
T: It’s immediately after, too. We do it unconsciously.
F: What was your tic, Kanako?
T: “Water”, maybe? I really like water. (laughs) I drink about two liters a day, so I’m always looking for water. What’s your tic, Kyan (Kobayashi)?
K: Maybe when I always say “Oh no~”. I say it no matter what happens. (laughs)
I’m glad that we can be one with Yohane, Hanamaru, and Ruby
—Now, looking back on Aqours’ activities, can I ask how you feel now that five years have passed?
F: When Aqours first formed, the other eight members... I still really look up to and respect everyone... but when I compared myself to everyone, it was really clear that I had no experience. I couldn’t dance, I couldn’t sing well, and I couldn’t act.
But now, we’ve spent five years together, so I’ve come to realize my own place in Aqours, and I’m really glad that Aqours is the nine of us. If it wasn’t these eight members with me, I probably wouldn’t have felt like this.
—Five years is quite a long time.
F: Getting this close with a person for this long, as I have with Kurosawa Ruby, is the kind of thing that doesn’t happen often. But on both the outside and the inside, getting closer to her in my own way is something I’ve thought of as very important. It’s made me aware of a lot of different sides to myself, and I feel like my love for both the franchise and Ruby is stronger than anyone else’s. Of course, the other eight members probably feel the same way.
—What about you, Takatsuki-san?
T: For me, my natural voice isn’t very high, and I’m taller than Hanamaru-chan, so I don’t have much in common with her. So when we started our activities, on top of being Aqours, I was also worried about if everyone would accept me. During concerts and performances, I was focused on whether people were looking at me.... I had a period where I didn’t have much confidence in myself.
But now, no matter what I do, even if I’m just talking normally, people often say to me, “Oh, it’s Hanamaru-chan~”, so I’m really glad that I could become one with Hanamaru.
—When did that start to change?
T: Around 2nd Live. (2017′s Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours 2nd LoveLive! HAPPY PARTY TRAIN TOUR) Up until then, I was afraid of people looking at me on stage, but since 2nd Live, it’s become just like a festival, and I’ve been able to do more and more things.
I wasn’t very good at dancing to start, but I felt myself slowly getting better, and I started to really feel the joy of Love Live! inside me.
—What about you, Kobayashi-san?
K: Aqours had a few people who were new to voice acting, and I was one of them. Acting with your voice, and living Yohane’s life alongside her was a first for me. But by asking myself, “How can I get closer to her?”, I’ve been able to grow all the way until today.
Over these five years, I’ve learned to do a lot of new things, like learning how to use a low voice, how to sing in a voice completely different from my natural voice, and lots of other things.
By facing Yohane (Yoshiko) head-on, so many new possibilities have opened up; it feels like “a me that isn’t me”. Every day, I get the chance to grow alongside her. I’m so happy that this mysterious feeling can continue. It’d be great if Yohane and I, as part of Aqours, can do more and more and more fun things together.
—Takatsuki-san was talking about how she changed around 2nd. Live. So, Furihata-san and Kobayashi-san, when did your outlook change, and you started becoming more confident?
F: For me, it was slightly after 3rd Live (2018′s Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours 3rd LoveLive! Tour ~WONDERFUL STORIES~).
At 3rd Live, we debuted “Awaken the power”, which had 11 people. (Saint Aqours Snow’s collaboration song with 9 of Aqours and 2 of Saint Snow) I felt a lot of pressure for that song. I was desperately giving it my all, and there are a lot of painful memories... But when everyone who went to 3rd Live was cheering, “I’m glad that Kurosawa Ruby is Furihata Ai”, it was a really big moment for me.
—The voices of your fans became your strength...
F: That’s right. Up until then, I didn’t have any self-confidence. And so for 4th Live (2018′s Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours 4th LoveLive!~Sailing to the Sunshine~), I went in with the positive mindset of “Aqours made it to Tokyo Dome!”.
—What about you, Kobayashi-san?
K: I think it was at 2nd Live. 1st Live (2017′s Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours First LoveLive! ~Step! ZERO to ONE~) was at Yokohama Arena, a place where I never thought I would be, even in my wildest dreams . And then 2nd Live was a tour. In my mind, I was thinking “Is this really going to be alright?”.
You have to really take care of your health, and because it’s a tour, you have to treat every venue with care and importance, while also making sure every performance is better than the last. And because we all overcame that together, and made each and every performance of the HAPPY PARTY TRAIN TOUR a unique one, I realized that my outlook had started to change.
—Thank you all for your stories. Now, the focal point of your 5th Anniversary Project is the series’ first Dome Tour, isn’t it?
F: It’s our first nine-person concert since Love Live!’s 9th anniversary’s first full-member Fes in January. Just like how the lyrics of “Fantastic Departure!” and “Aqours Pirates Desire” are, I want to bring out an even stronger Aqours.
I’ve always felt a sort of desperation, but for this tour, I feel a sort of calm from being more in sync with Kurosawa Ruby. I hope this can be a concert where we can show off what’s in store for Aqours.
T: The Dome Tour will probably have a lot of songs that we’ve never performed before. I’m excited to see the setlist, and I want to find all my favorite points in the staging, choreography, and costumes. I’m really looking forward to it!
K: When I look back, when we made it to Tokyo Dome for 4th Live, we sort of “burnt out” in a way... While we felt the relief of having reached our goal, it was also a day where we decided that we would keep on giving it our all. So this dome tour performance really feels like a dream.
Up until now, for our tours, we always just made small changes to the setlist, but this time, I’ve been thinking, “What if every performance had a different setlist?” I feel like the current Aqours could pull something like that off, so I hope everyone can have fun with both our new songs and some of the songs that are important to us, in true Aqours fashion.
What are the charm points of each of the first years?
Kobayashi Aika -> Takatsuki Kanako
It’s amazing how she can brighten up everything around her so naturally. Her smile is contagious. Her charm point is her sleeping face; it’s really cute! It’s my favorite part about her. (laughs) The two of them (Takatsuki-san and Furihata-san) have this in common, but she pays close attention to her surroundings and says the right things. Her actions give off this air of maturity, and I love how she’ll always mess around together with me. (laughs)
Kobayashi Aika -> Furihata Ai
The fact that she’s created her very own genre. Her existence itself is a charm point. (laughs) The small things she says are amusing, and she has a lot of parts that are so cute that you just want to imitate her. The three of us are really close, and we have a lot of matching things. We have matching sweatshirts, and sometimes we wear things that we find together at a sale, but pick in different colors.
Takatsuki Kanako -> Kobayashi Aika
I love that Aikyan (Kobayashi-san) is so amusing, and she brightens up the dressing room. When I first met her, she seemed really mature and stylish, and her long black hair was really beautiful; she seemed like the picture perfect city girl. But we’re the same age, and as I spent more time with her, she opened up. Recently, it feels like we’re partners-in-crime. It’s amazing how she’s more devout than anyone for Yohane, too.
Takatsuki Kanako -> Furihata Ai
Furi-san (Furihata-san) is an airhead, but in a good way. (laughs) The things she says are funny, and I like how she’s always the butt of the joke. My first impression of her was that she really had things together, and since she's the eldest of three siblings, I thought she would be like a big sister. But she unexpectedly has some weird sides to her. (laughs) But she’s also my partner-in-crime.
Furihata Ai -> Kobayashi Aika
Kobayashi Aika-chan is our trendy fashion leader, and she’s really knowledgeable. I’m a tech boomer, so she’s the first person I turn to for help with games and social media. Also, she takes really good care of her image. She’s really good at singing and dancing, and it’s amazing just how multi-faceted she is.
Furihata Ai -> Takatsuki Kanako
Takatsuki Kanako-chan’s unique personality and vocabulary are really charming. She latches onto things that most people will let slide, so you can’t just deal with her like your average person. She works really hard at being a good singer, but she never shows that. I think she taught me how to be serious with my work.
Kobayashi Aika’s Q&A!
Q1: Tell us what you really love about Tsushima Yoshiko-chan!
(sounding troubled) I love everything about Yohane...
I love how she’s honest about the things she loves. After meeting Aqours, she’s been able to be more open about the things she loves. She’s grown to be able to share that love with so many different people. I’m glad that she met Aqours.
Q2: What’s something you want to have or want to do?
I’ve always wanted to go to England, which is Yohane’s “World Image Girl” country. They have a “Magic Museum”, where they have a lot of pots and things that real witches used on display, so I want to go see that. I think Yohane would like it, too.
Q3: Have you read any interesting books or played any interesting games recently?
Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I even play in my dreams, and in one of my dreams I built a bridge. (laughs)
Q4: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A singer and a nursery school teacher. I’ve loved singing and dancing since I was a kid. And I love taking care of little children, so I’ve always admired nursery school teachers. I went to school and got my nursery school teacher’s license. Hopefully, my second dream will come true some day.
Q5: What do you do on your days off?
Usually I stay at home. I’m either sleeping or playing games. I play so much that it’s the only thing I think about. Like, “When I go home today, I need to do X in ACNH.” (laughs)
Takatsuki Kanako’s Q&A!
Q1: Tell us what you really love about Kunikida Hanamaru-chan!
How cute she is! (laughs) I fell in love with her from the moment I met her. She’s a shy bookworm, but she’s also super curious. And as the story progresses, she begins to feel more real. In season 2, she started becoming a gag character, but I love watching Hanamaru eat, so I was happy to see so much of it.
Q2: What’s something you want to have or want to do?
I’m not actually a very materialistic person. So for now, I just want some inner peace. I hope the whole world can be enveloped in happiness soon.
Q3: Have you read any interesting books or played any interesting games recently?
It’s actually a movie. I recently bought a projector, and I’m enjoying using it to watch movies or dramas. Ninagawa Mika’s “Followers” is really interesting.
Q4: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A singer. I started wanting to become one around 4th grade, when we sang for our class recital. I didn’t have a particular genre I wanted to sing, so I just vaguely wanted to become a star.
Q5: What do you do on your days off?
I’m an indoor-type, so I just play games or watch TV. Also, I like going on trips, so it’s a little tough right now, but I want to go to Hawaii one day.
Furihata Ai’s Q&A!
Q1: Tell us what you really love about Kurosawa Ruby-chan!
She seemed like a little sister-type from the moment I saw her, so on the flipside, how she’s very strong-willed. She might seem a little timid, but mentally, I think she’s just like her big sister (Kurosawa Dia). I love how much she loves her big sister, too. And like with school idols, I think it’s wonderful how dedicated she is to the things that she loves.
Q2: What’s something you want to have or want to do?
To spend time with all the people who support me. When I take questions on Instagram, I get a lot of messages from overseas fans, too. And of course, there are plenty of fans from Japan, too. I just want to see them soon.
Q3: Have you read any interesting books or played any interesting games recently?
Grand Maison Tokyo. I got hooked on the drama, so I read the novel, too. The scenes and food appear vividly in my mind, so it was an easy read.
Q4: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I loved drawing, so I wanted to be a mangaka, artist, or something to do with art. But I thought that doing something I like for work might make it tough, so I started wanting to become an anime seiyuu.
Q5: What do you do on your days off?
My little sister, little brother, and I all live together, but usually I’m with my sister. I’m also the kind of person who likes to go out in the rain, so I go out and end up buying something I don’t really need, and my sister usually gets mad at me. (laughs) I collect vinyl records as a hobby, so I end up buying jackets for them.
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