Group Interview//Hayate Interview//Yudai Interview

Let’s continue with our short, individual member interviews ♪

This time it’s…

Toru Iwaoka!

“Kumo wo Nuketa Aozora” was produced because of the fan requests saying “I want a song that can used for a wedding!”

What’s your ideal wedding, Iwaoka-san?

I’d like to drink alcohol and spend time with everyone while having a buffet or BBQ in a courtyard or something like that!

I wonder if wearing casual clothes after changing my outfit in between the ceremony and reception would make it a more fun and HAPPY time~ ♪?

“No matter what kind of weather, there is always blue sky through the clouds”

How can we overcome hardships or times when things don’t work out?

Meet with friends, drink alcohol, and watch movies!

The lyrics of B-side “Refrain” express the thought of “I am coward”

Do you think you’re a coward, or has there ever been a time when you thought that?

There’s a lot I don’t have the endurance for, so I get weak when I’m emotional…!

Please market your new release to everyone who reached the end of the interview!

It would make me happy if our song reminds you to value your loved ones!

HOMINIS Group Interview

Making their major debut in 2015, dance & vocal group Da-iCE is comprised of the five members Taiki Kudo, Toru Iwaoka, Yudai Ohno, Sota Hanamura, and Hayate Wada. On November 21, they will release the 3^rd single of their 5^th Anniversary year, “Kumo wo Nuketa Aozora.” In commemoration of their anniversary and upcoming single release, we conducted interviews with the five members individually.

The first is the only member to experience the professional workforce and study foreign language abroad, and supports the group as the #1 in mental powers…it’s Toru Iwaoka. Not only is he a performer, but he’s also involved in directing Da-iCE’s lives, and so on!

What has been the most impressive event during the activities of your 5^th anniversary year?

We were able to perform at AAA-sempai’s countdown live, and I was so excited to be on the same stage with them right from the beginning of the year, and it made a lasting impression on me. I danced as best as I could, and above all it was just an incredible, awesome experience!

Your new song “Kumo wo Nuketa Aozora” is a warm ballad that is also perfect for weddings. Can you please tell us your ideal image of the kind of woman you’d like to marry?

A person who is calm and has inner strength. It would also be wonderful if their cooking was good.

What do you like to do during the holidays？

Things like sleeping, doing things around the house, watching movies, or shopping. I went sightseeing in Tokyo a while ago.

Tell me an aspect in which you are second to none compared to the other Da-iCE members.

We often receive towels tossed to us from the wings on the stage while we’re on tour, and I’m second to none in not messing up or fumbling them while passing them along to the members.

Please tell me what you like best about the member Sota Hanamura-san.

He was born to use his voice. He has a good MC sense during lives. I like the parts of him that are bright and free.

Please tell me your future goals or things you would like to try.

I’d like to be a lot more involved in videography work. I really enjoyed the time I spent on it previously. I’d also be happy to go on a private trip during my personal time.

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Popular manga “Churaran Shinsengumi Requiem” depicting the strongest samurai group, the Shinsengumi, will turn into a highly anticipated stage setting this spring. Starring in the play is Toru Iwaoka of the 5-person dance & vocal group Da-iCE which is rapidly rising in popularity now (he is double starring with Sota Hanamura of the same group). He is currently nervous about the first performance and his first starring role, saying “I want to absorb good things because it is a different field than what I’m used to.” He talks to us about challenging this new world, his thoughts on dance, and his episodes as a student … …. it shows the fiery feelings lurking inside his cool appearance.

In his first performance, Toru challenges the role of the Shinsengumi’s genius swordsman Okita Souji!

- The play "Chiraran Shinsengumi Requiem” is an action stage which depicts the strongest samurai group, the Shinsengumi, living brilliantly at the end of the Bakumatsu period. It will be the first performance for you, Toru Iwaoka, on the stage, so please tell me how you feel now.

It is the first time I have a starring role, but since I’m surrounded by wonderful actors, I am planning to borrow their thoughts. There is also a sense of security that we are being supported, and I think that each one of us is going to shine brightly so we can make a good stage for everyone counting on us.

- Among the various heroes of the late Tokugawa period which this play will feature, Iwaoka-san’s role is the beautiful swordsman Okita Souji. He was the strongest man at the Tennen Rishin Ryu Dojo where the eventual members of the Shinsengumi came and went, and was also a person who was the unquestionable rival of the hero Hijikata Toshizo ( played by Da-iCE’s Sota Hanamura).

Okita is usually kind and gentle, but he has a duality that makes him change when it comes to battle, so I think that he is an attractive character. When he makes the change, I want to convey the fear and horror.

- Is there a part of him similar to yourself?

When it comes to two- sidedness, it may be that we’re somewhat similar. Me in private and me at work are not entirely separate, but I think that there is still a change when I go out with my friends. Ah … but of course, there is no terrifying change you can see in my eyes! (Laughs)

- (laughs). So where do you think Okita is awesome?

After all, he is a genius of swordsmanship. A genius from birth. Because that is the opposite of myself, I wonder what goes on in the head of that kind of person?

Keep reading

Right now is a time when students are at their most active. At this time, high school seniors are worried about study methods and examination episodes, and these students are always looking for helpful tips! To help such a student, we interviewed Toru Iwaoka, member of dance and vocal group Da-iCE, about his exam stories.

“I want to triumph over my teacher!”. Exam study that began from a competitive spirit

After gaining enormous popularity during their indie period, dance and vocal group Da-iCE made their long-awaited major debut in 2014. Due to their looks and strong performance force, they are often referred to as a “talented ikemen group,” but the fact of the matter is that up until their debut, the members of the group overcame many hardships. Iwaoka happens to be the only member among the group with professional working experience. He says he still treasures the memories of his college entrance exam, which were obtained along with a period of job hunting and other challenging experiences.

Toru: At my high school, half the graduates went into vocational schools, while the other half went onto employment or 4 year colleges, such as the one that was only four minutes away from our school. To some extent I wanted to test into that college, but once I talked to the teacher, he laughed at me and said, “That’s absolutely impossible for you!” Apparently at that time it was hard for students at my level to test into the university I had named. But on the contrary, because of what he’d said, my spirit had caught fire and I thought “I absolutely have to get into it now!”

Don’t mess with someone who won’t be a sore loser! Before then, Toru Iwaoka admits he wasn’t one to always pay attention to his lessons, but he began the summer of his second year of high school with a new determined purpose. While attending his local private school, for example, by taking a satellite lesson at a certain famous prep school, his life became 100% devoted to entering exam mode.

Toru: Both Christmas and New Years I spent studying. But since I hadn’t been studying properly before then, I found it to be difficult because there were a lot of things I didn’t know (laughs).  When I was studying, it could get dangerous when I found myself lacking too much. I was impatient to do well. So I poured everything I had into studying and gave up on my entertainment activities. On the train to and from school, I’d work on memorizing things like English expressions and idioms. I would study by hearing the English words spoken aloud via CD, and then scribble them down in my notebook. I actually listened when my teacher said you can learn better by using the five senses!

When his performance didn’t rise as quickly as Iwaoka wanted, it broke his heart. However, at the time he was still motivated by the words “That’s absolutely impossible for you!” to fight what was spoken by his teacher.

Toru: I was always thinking about freaking out my teacher by getting into a great university~ (laughs). I always dreamed of going to the staff room and telling him “I passed my exam!” and then add “Sensei, you said I couldn’t do it!” Because of this, I studied very hard for my exam, and practiced as much as I could!

Keep reading

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Da-iCE’s Toru Iwaoka-san visited the LQUARTET 2019ss.

Thank you as always 🙏

Thank you for coming [to] our exhibition.

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