I completely understand that MAX loves this song, (laugh) but were your first
impressions when you were given it?
Mina: 'MAX has finally gotten here!' First of all, we really wanted to sing a song had a
seasonal feeling, and since we released our best album, we've felt 'We want to do
something new again.'
Lina: We've been saying 'We want to sing a Christmas song' ever since last year.
Moreover, it's a medium ballad, so I was so happy I was soaring.
Nana: I thought 'This song's really cute.' Up until now, most of the medium ballads on
our albums have been pretty adult, so this kind of song is a first.
Reina: But this song is easy to get into, the lyrics are easy to understand, so we can
sympathize with them. So I thought 'More than anything, we can communicate the
lyrics.'
Nana: Lyrics-wise, I think they say our own personal hopes and opinions the most of any
we've had so far.
Lina: The lyrics went though a lot of changes. They also made a set of lyrics that took a
round about presentation that didn't give a Christmas-y atmosphere, but we liked the
lyrics that went right to the point...
Mina: When they took out the words 'December' and 'Christmas' , although they had
been made points in the song originally, we were like 'This can't be!?' (laugh) So we
begged 'We like the first lyrics so much better.', and talked together about various ways
to present it....and finally they changed them back for us.
So wasn't the deciding factor that MAX were so involved with those lyrics? I think
that it was because you clarified your own wills that it was finally settled to be this way.
Mina: After all, I guess what was strongest inside us was 'We want to sing that song that
fits with the season.'
Reina: MAX doesn't have a representative song about winter, so we'll be happy if this
songs becomes that. Also, we'll be happy if it becomes a Christmas standard.
Lina: But, other than just the song and the lyrics and stuff, I have a feeling that our wish
'We want to sing with the four of us, without dancing' was really strong.
Nana: Oh, that might have been our strongest wish. I think we've gradually come to want
to take that challenge. Dancing is cool too, but...
Oh, you don't dance in this one?
Nana: No. To tell you the truth, we don't know if that will come out well though. We
really don't know yet how much we can express ourselves without dancing. But we
want to go there, and test ourselves....Because of all that, we got really involved with the
lyrics.
You've always had both singing and dancing, but now you'll suddenly be
expressing yourself without the dancing. But it could be a new plus; it seems as though
we may be able to see something bursting forth from inside.
Lina: Yeah. It's difficult. This song makes us feel so many different things, but we
don't know how best to express that. But I want the cuteness to come out too. Because all
of the heroines of our songs up until now have had the image of a strong girl, as have we
ourselves when we were expressing that...
Reina: It's always been a 'cool' or a 'detached and knows their own feelings' kind of
image. So maybe it feels like we've lost a little strength in this song, but I want to sing
naturally.
Mina: And when we dance and present it, it's like we all have the same colors at the
beginning and then gradually though the free parts our individual colors come out, but I
think this time, we all give out our own colors from the start until the end....so I feel like
we'll find various ways to present this song as we're wrapped up in singing it.
Nana: And, I'm looking forward to doing it as we feel each other's various expressions. I
think that the entire physical side of it will also change with that.
By the way, this song gives a premonition of 'the beginning', but I'd like you to
think a bit about the rest of the story. For example, if you were imagining yourself as the
heroine, how do the feelings expressed in the song grow, and do the feelings really
become reality on Christmas?
MAX: Ooh....(And they become disorganized, and soon give their answers...)
Lina: I think that the feelings of 'love' grow stronger as Christmas grows closer. And the
heroine's heart beats fast with excitement as she tries to confess her love to him. Then, it
snows on Christmas, and the two of them walk though it together holding hands...Hee
hee. And it's a happy ending. But it's sad.
Why?
Lina: He's going far away. On Christmas, the they say 'From now on, and forever, we
want to walk together...', but he gets transferred. But I guess they'll meet next Christmas
again.
Nana: The girl really has a boyfriend. Now. But she also has this guy that she's never
been able to forget about. And she meets him (in the lyrics) again. And when they meet
again, she knows she's destined to be with him, and after that it gets really hard. Her
feelings of 'I want to be with him' grow stronger, and she feels 'I have to break up with
my other boyfriend before Christmas.', and stuff...(laugh) So it's a period of real
indecision, but in the end the guy confesses his love for her...so Christmas is very happy,
but in a way it's a little painful too.
Mina: I think 'I want to be together on Christmas' so...hee I think that afterwards it will
go well. I'm kind of shy but I'd be happy if I could do my best to communicate my
feeling s before Christmas, spend Christmas together, and then have a lot of happiness
sent to me after that. I sort of feel like, even if there's nothing special on Christmas, just
spending it together makes them happy.
Reina: Um...they meet again by coincidence as it snows on Christmas Eve...and I think, 'I
have to tell him how I feel, here and now!' and confess my love. And then he says 'I've
been in love with you too.'....ha ha ha...! And it comes to the conclusion 'So we've just
been missing each other this whole time...'And we spend the time together as Christmas
Eve turns into Christmas...Ahh...this's embarrassing..!
Each of the four stories are different, as one would expect (from MAX). That's
splendid! Also, you have one other thing to be realized, your live video. With it, you can
see the concert from the visual point and viewpoint of the audience. When you watched
the live video from a spectators point of view, what did you feel was MAX's greatest
charm?
All:
Mina: The moment it began again, I was shivering with excitement. 'It's starting!' We
were all excited together, saying 'Wow...we did it!' and 'Ooh...that's really cool!' and
stuff. Also, I felt like MAX was watching us.
Reina: I think that biggest thing I felt was that we looked like we were having fun. Like,
if someone laughed, I'd think 'They laughed that much?' And also, it had a very free
feeling to it.
Lina: I really felt a tremendous power from the screen, the power of the live. With the
booster of each member's individual power, and the dancer-san and band-san's power, it
all became one, and the atmosphere exploded. I was a little overwhelmed.
Nana: I felt our power the most too. And also...I really felt that...well of course dancing
and singing are the basis, but I felt that other parts were strong besides that. I don't know
how to put it into words...I felt like many many things were flying around in that space.
Certainly we all felt the greatness of what couldn't be seen by our eyes. And lastly,
it may be a bit early for this but, what kind of year was '99 for MAX? If you could recap.
Lina: It's been a year of meetings. I feel like we've gotten so much power from all the
fans we met in the various places we went. We had a lot of good meetings.
Reina: This year I used my head, in both a good way and a bad way. (laugh) This year
we were able to participate in a lot, so I really was able to feel 'This is something we
made!' this year, but there we also times when my head would be filled with too much,
and I couldn't cope, so I'd get driven away. (bitter laugh) That was a first for me.
Mina: I've said, 'A MAX full of the 'max.' of MAX. (laugh) This year was a year of
battles. I feel like we thought a lot those days and I feel like we challenged ourselves a
lot. But I also feel like we were able to find what came next because of what we got from
that.
Nana: This was a year to recharge. I don't mean that we recharged ourselves by resting,
but by thinking, and challenging ourselves, and getting such a large thing from our
fans...by doing all that, I feel like we've been able to recharge ourselves, both in regard to
our feelings, and in regard to our skills....so I think 'Let's explode next year!'