They aren’t regular friends, and they aren’t simple coworkers either. In that
mysterious position, the various aspects of the members of MAX stimulate and
encourage each other. It seemed as though the four’s combined power displays a
siginificant force even in the area of style.
NANA: When the four of us are together, we really watch each other carefully, and know
our differences, so we’ll be like ‘Oh, she’s like this, so I’ll be like this.’ Even within the
selection of clothes the stylist brings us, we always know, ‘Oh, this is MINA, and this is
for LINA.’
LINA: I guess the difference between the myself and the other members is hardness. I
wear a lot of revealing clothes, and I’m normally pretty bold about what I wear.
REINA: We keep track of little things about each other, (laugh), so like, if someone
comes in wearing a new outfit, we’d say ‘That’s so cute! Where did you buy it?’
One thing the four all enjoy is second hand clothes. They said that last year on their
tour, the went together to check out the vintage clothing stores in the areas they stopped
for concerts.
NANA: Department stores are the same all over the country, but sometimes you can find
rare vintage clothes in places where you think ‘Wow! There were such great old clothes
in a place like this?!’
REINA: At one second hand clothes store there was a really cute Candy-Candy t-shirt. I
thought ‘I know this would look great on MINA’, and the other members and I pooled
our money and bought it for her as a present. And sometimes, when we find something
cute, we’ve all bought matching ones. We really have a lot of fun.
MINA: I really like vintage clothes, so when I can find the time, I try going to Kouenji,
Kitazawa and of course Machida. When I find something I like in a vintage clothing store
near me, I get really happy, like ‘I found it!’ I think that when you’re looking for
something with impact, you’re more likely to find it at a vintage clothing store.
The magic power of orange
There was a period when the members lived together, but now they live in separate
places and spend their time off in different ways. However, REINA says, laughing, even
in the huge city of Tokyo the members sometimes meet each other without even having
planned to see each other.
REINA: For example, I’ll think ‘I’ll go to lower Kitazawa today.’, and meet Minako
there by coincidence, and we’re like ‘Ooh!’ and we sit down and drink soda or something
together on the curb. I also sometimes run into NANA-san or LINA in Harajuku.
It’s as if there’s an electric current running through their hearts that transmites
information to each other. Even when we asked them about the color they were into now,
and their favorite color (We interviewed them separately at the time!) for some reason
they all had the same answer.
LINA: Off of work, I like cute clothes, so I guess I like pink and that kind of thing. But
right now I like a nice vivid orange. Huh, the other members said the same thing? We
didn’t exchange answers!
MINA: I guess I like yellow and orange. Bright colors like that. I recently bought some
orange pants too.
The only of of them that carried it to extremes was NANA. She even had rather
intense (?) orange furniture.
NANA: A little while ago I bought a round orange chair. It’s made of plastic and it’s the
kind you can open up and close. It’s the thing in my room with the most presence, so it’s
my custom to seat in it and use my Mac. Behind the chair I have some strings of orange
beads, and an orange light behind them. When I sit in the chair the beads shine and glitter
at my back, and it becomes something really impressive. (laugh)
Concerts are where they’re most proud
In their private lives, MAX tries many different types of fashion. And even in their
work, from Latin style to rap, they have a pure power that stains each of their wide
variety of styles in their own colors.
REINA: I don’t want to be stuck in one style, so I want to try all different genres. And it’s
reassuring to have the four of us. We’ve done a lot of different styles, but next, I want to
do rock! I really like Aerosmith. They’re just it . (laugh)
NANA: There are many different styles, but I think that people who plunge forward,
having confidence in what they’re doing are really cool. I think that all of us members
feel that way.
Concerts are the places where MAX feel most like themselves. Their national toru
which began in May is a powerful stage focusing on their singles up until now, with the
plus factor of new dances, where you can dance and be cheered.
MINA: Our concerts are what we’re most proud of, so we want to show that energy on
television as well.
As they stain every style MAX colored, and continue to sing in their own way, their
summer shines hotter and brighter than ever.