Q1: Tell us where your name came from!
The 衣 in 衣梨奈 (Erina) is the 衣 from 衣類 (clothing). The 梨 is from the 梨 (pears) which can be used for water as well as food. The 奈 is from 奈良 (Nara prefecture/city). Nara is nice and open, and seems to be a nice place to live in Japan. My grandma gave it to me so I would live a nice life like in Nara.
Q2: Which senpai do you aim to be like?
Niigaki Risa-san. She's great at acting and singing and dancing, and is a perfect human being. She's like a goddess to me. She celebrated my 20th birthday with me. Even now I stay over with her!
Q3: Who would you want to be if you were born differently?
Niigaki Risa-san. I wanna be her since I really respect her. Also, Suzuki Airi-san. Since she's someone everyone admires. I want to be an admired person.
Q4: What do you think you are #1 at in Hello Pro?
I won't lose to anyone in my reflexes! I do both acrobatics and golf. Though there are a lot of people who do flexible dances, I like powerful dancing. I'm endeavoring to be able to dance like that.
Q5: Tell us something awesome about Hello Pro!
Though there are lots of members, everyone's so unique. There are colors for different units, as well as various colors within those units. Surely there's a girl everyone would like in here!
Q6: If you could form a special unit in Hello Pro, who would it be with?
Niigaki Risa-san and Yaguchi Mari-san. Since they're who made me want to join Morning Musume, I generally want to be with them (lol). Since I joined Morning Musume, Niigaki-san has been a senpai who taught me a lot about dreams and various things. I want to do activities with the people who gave me my life's motivation.
Q7: Tell us your favorite Morning Musume song!
"Mukidashi de Mukiatte". There are duets in it so I can't sing it by myself, but I like the PV and adding in the song and the dance, all of it is just perfect. Right on target for me! It's at the level where I fell in love with it so much from the very start! The mukidashi dance of taking the jackets off and putting them back on I think would be seductive whether done by guys or girls.
Q8: What's your favorite song in all of Hello Pro?
7AIR-san's "Kowarenai Ai ga Hoshii no". It's a group that I would want to be in if I was around in that era. There are lots of senpai like Satoda Mai who I'm not active together with now, so I'd probably be nervous, but the feeling of "I just want to be in it!" is stronger.
Q9: What's the difference between the current and former Hello Pro?
The dancing. I think in the past there were dances that anyone could imitate with their hands or bodies, but now there are dances you can't do without a number of people and ones with difficult choreography, so I think that's something completely different between now and then. I think before everyone would be saying "Wow Wow Yeah Yeah" at karaoke (lol). But now there aren't any gaps for it! We get stiff right after lessons too, to where it's even difficult to commute back.
Q10: Aside from yourself, who would be your #1 member for someone to watch in order to come to like Hello Pro?
I want you to look at me! I can't think of anyone else. Since I think it's really gotta just be me, and I combine a lot of different things together (lol). I want to polish my cuteness and prettiness, so I really do want you to watch me.
Q11: What about you do you want people to pay the most attention to?
My face (lol). I think my face is far and away the best!
Q12: What's some work you'd like to try in the future?
Action genre acting. I love sword fighting an awful lot. Since I love to go see plays and watch dramas, I wanna do work myself related to what I like. The work I have most fun doing is sword fighting. I've done it in plays, and my teachers there would tell me how good I was at sword fighting.
Q13: What do you want people to pay the most attention to in Morning Musume?
Probably where the members' expressions come from. In the DVD Magazine for sale at lives, I want you to see where members' expressions come from. Though it's not a dressing room setting, since the origins of the members' expressions really come out, I recommend it. There are scenes where we're nervous, and where we're choosing our catering with a smile, and ones like "This made me happy today!" I think things like that are the best.
Q14: What will you be doing 20 years from now?
I'll be 40, huh~...... I want to have a family soon. But since I want to keep doing showbiz work, I want to succeed in something there. I want to be an idol producer. I want to revive what I think are the most complete idols. "You can definitely make your dreams come true!" (cheering myself on)
Q15: Since it's the 20th anniversary, please tell us a special secret!
I love to cosplay! It's that way for acting too, but I really like turning into someone else. My idol self as an idol as well. I often do cosplay purikura privately. Like going back to being a JK, or doing a character. Since Koizumi Kyoko-san who appears in "Ama-chan" is so incredibly pretty, I want to try out a Koizumi Kyoko-san cosplay (lol).
Q16: What's something you'd like to become able to do by next year when the 20th anniversary is over?
I want to get to 80 in regular tee golf. I've gotten 90, but I wonder if I got to 80 I'd be able to get a bit more golf work~.
Q17: What would you do if you weren't an idol?
A beautician. I like making people pretty. I want graduating members to graduate looking their best. Since your appearance (in videos and photos and such) is what's lasting, I want to make people look pretty.
Q18: What are you most into now?
Movies. I'm happiest when watching movies. I recently saw "Tsure ga Utsu ni Narimashite", and it moved me so much that I bought and am reading the entire original work.
Q19: Who are you close with in Hello Pro?
My generation-mate Fukumura Mizuki-chan who I can be most at ease with. Since we're usually together in the dressing room, and usually sitting next to each other. Recently, I also privately went to a TV station's summer event with Fukumura Mizuki-chan and her brother as the 3 of us.
Q20: What is an idol to you?
Being able to be close to your ideal. Though feelings of love are involved as well, I think idols also provide a sense of humanity being not far away. So there are lots of girls who want to be idols, and I wanted to be in Morning Musume for the same reason.
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