![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shizuna posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bmsgBE:FIRST's LEO appeared on comedy duo New York (NY), Shimasa-san and Yashiki-san's YouTube radio program on the 306th episode, March 2nd, 2025.
Leo shared a lot about his life - from how he was like in elementary school to high school to before his audition for THE FIRST, he also shared a lot about his family and how he was like as a student and trainee under Avex.
Before the episode ended, Udaman, a good friend of the NY comedy duo, appeared as a surprise guest so LEO can have some of his homemade puddings :)
Enjoy!
Yashiki-san: 🏠
Shimasa-san: ⛰️
Note: These emojis I give the NY duo aren't anything official. Just emojis I give them when I read their names.
🦁 was very excited. He said it was like going to Disney or Fuji Q and waiting at the gates (before the park opened) while he waited
🏠-san says 🦁’s probably been to many TV stations but maybe not Yoshimoto yet
⛰️-san thanked him again for appearing on their biking video
Fans were really happy; 🦁 was also happy because he’s been wanting to appear with them for a while (NY-sans both: “Yeah, you told us you wanted”)
🦁 badgered manager-san that he wanted to appear on it x1000
NY-sans: Well, you must be busy too. You finished your dome tour and your world tour is starting soon right?
🦁 is excited for the world tour. They just finished a tour in the domes, so performing in small venues for the world tour is like going back to their roots. He’s not sure how many people will come, so he’s wakuwaku
🦁 talks about being the opening act for ATEEZ last year and how the excitement levels from the audience was crazy.
🏠-san: Do they know BE:FIRST’s songs?
🦁: I don’t know but they just went with it and hyped the atmosphere up. I’m sure there might have been a couple of people who knew our songs
🏠-san telling 🦁 he watched “THE FIRST” ( 🦁: That’s so embarrassing, “uwah! I’m being watched! 💦”)
🏠-san watched THE FIRST with his wife and his wife really liked it too (they also watched NNG after that lol)
Boy groups that debut around the same time (November, 2021)
- NaniDan: A week apart
- INI: Same day
Context: BE:FIRST’s debut being the exact same day as INI was purely coincidence. LEO says boss told them about the drama / hate that happened, and there was no conflict or beefing, etc about debuting the groups on the same day.
🦁 was avex trainees with INI’s Takumi so he was really happy both of them got to debut (and on the same day!)
🦁 thinks time has really flown by, because he’ll be 27 this year.
Author / writer: Moegara-san
🦁 didn’t read books but happened to come across Moegara-san’s book in the bookstore and found it very easy to read. Fans reached out to Moegara-san and since both had shows on J-WAVE at the time, their staffs connected LEO with him (he’s talked about this story before btw)
🏠: 🦁’s very affectionate / friendly. You’re always keeping in touch with people.
🦁 says he’s always been like this, before BE:FIRST and THE FIRST. If he doesn’t send a message right away he’s afraid he’ll forget / regret not sending or responding later, so his LINE is full of notifications [not sure about this one]
🏠: Don’t you get overwhelmed from your network expanding?
🦁: No~
🦁 says BE:FIRST keep in touch with each other too
🏠: You always do say you’re having a lot of fun at the Thursday Love it drinking parties
🦁: It IS fun! 😀
🦁 says whether BE:FIRST or the Love it drinking parties it feels like a team. He doesn’t like being alone and that he’s actually a sabishiigariya-san (someone who doesn’t like being alone). (NY-sans said they couldn’t tell, because in THE FIRST it seemed like LEO was the center and everyone was having fun with him / around him)
NY-sans got very interested in how 🦁 was brought up since 🦁’s also into bikes and cars (which 🏠 refers to as “yancha na koto”, like mischievous or naughty)
🦁 started baseball in elementary. By 5th Grade there were only 3 people in the baseball club so he was reaching out to his friends to at least make the club have 9-12 people so the team could stay afloat and compete in tournaments. (He wasn’t in Little League or anything, just purely baseball with friends)
- Up until middle school, 🦁 was doing baseball. Though he mentions that there were a lot of his classmates / schoolmates in his batch that were really good at it / better than him. It was during this time that he realized he couldn’t be a pro baseballer. The top first and second players from his district were on the team and they were super good. He did stay in the baseball team up until his last year of junior high, and was able to be a regular player once.
- 🦁 said the supervising teacher and coach rarely came to their practices, his team often practiced on their own and decided on what they wanted to focus on in their training sessions. It was a really strong team of skilled players, they liked practicing so they created their own training regimens.
- However, they lost the Spring Tournament that could’ve led them to the finals due to an error he made. He said everything happened in slow motion. The third gave a really good pass to him but he (nearly) dropped it and his throw / pass of the ball back to home base was very weak (he said he could see the ball kind of going up and down).
- The person playing third is still 🦁’s close friend whom he keeps in touch with
- NY uncles were surprised 🦁 still remembers it very clearly, but 🏠 says baseball is the kind of sport where 1 person carries the responsibility if the team loses and something like that can be traumatic when you’re young
- 🦁 cried a lot after the game that day, but he said his teammates were really nice and comforted him (“We also made mistakes like that before, it’s not LEO’s fault”).
- 🦁 and his team still had the Summer Tournament and they were also in the semi-finals (though they lost that one too).
- It was from his error during the Spring Tournament that 🦁 thought he should quit baseball. He didn’t want his mistake to be the end of his other teammates’ baseball career.
- 🦁 got into music properly during high school after he had quit baseball
- Leo didn’t really aspire to be in the entertainment industry when he was younger, though he did like listening to music and thought artists were cool.
- 🦁 is a negative person and felt a deep sense of responsibility causing his team’s loss at the Spring Tournament, and listening to music (and the lyrics) was the one thing that saved him when he was very down.
- 🦁 did audition for LDH in his final year of junior high (with no singing or dance experience) passed the first screening but didn’t pass the second screening
- Although he didn’t pass the second screening just getting to the second round gave 🦁 the confidence that, “Oh! So I do have some talent! 💡” and sparked his fire more to properly practice
- Money for vocal lessons were expensive, so 🦁started working part-time jobs to earn money for vocal lessons
- Though 🦁 said he was getting rejected for part-time jobs he applied for (🏠: You passed LDH round 1 audition but couldn’t pass part-time jobs 😂)
- Or he’d be rejected because someone from his school is already working there
- His parents did chip in money for his vocal lessons until he could find a part-time job (🏠: That’s interesting, because it’s often because the parents say no that you look for a part-time job, but in 🦁’s case your parents helped you first and then you found a part-time job 😆)
- 🦁’s parents paid for the vocal lessons he went to during high school
- 🦁’s activities after school were between vocal lessons, self-practice, and part-time jobs
- 🦁 was telling friends he wants to become an artist around this time
- He was writing “artist” in all the columns whenever the school passed out “Career paths” questionnaires
- He wasn’t unsure or anxious about this path he has decided on. He might have been a little bit 🤏 anxious but for the most part, he was “I think I got this 🤔”
- 🦁 thinks he was a little full of himself, he had nothing but confidence (He’d be like, “What are you talking about?” when senpais talk to him)
- He was still auditioning though he wasn’t passing them
- 🦁 did not start learning dance until he was 19 / 20 years old
- NY uncles were surprised because by THE FIRST 🦁 looked like someone who could dance
- When he graduated high school, Avex had a training program that he got into
- He went to Korea, trained at “a Korean company” and returned to Japan
- While 🦁 was an Avex trainee, people around him were getting into university or vocational schools.
- Around this time, there were many opportunities for him (JP or KR) to debut but it would fall out before it could form into anything
🏠: Was this probably the toughest time you had?
🦁: Yes, I think so.
- Leo mentions here that when things seem to perk up (for projects / units he was a part of) there’d be a lot of push from Avex, but if those efforts don’t come into fruition then there was nothing and that was tough. But 🦁 thought if he stopped at any point, then it’s all over – so he would rent out a studio after his part-time job is over and just practice everyday. If he didn’t have a part-time job that day, he’d rent out the studio from 10 am until whenever (it didn’t cost him anything, since it was the Avex studios. He just needs to be the first to snag a time slot)
- If he feels up to it, he’ll practice. If he doesn’t then he thinks it’s OK, he’ll listen to music – the main thing was being in the studio and going there everyday (he did this for about 2 years, when he was 18 - 20 yo. He was doing this right up until the pandemic)
- 🦁 mentions there were JP trainees and non-JP trainees at Avex and everyone was working hard. (NY uncles: But the chances to actually debut sometimes is luck isn’t it. That’s toughhhhh)
- 🦁 dropped his contract with Avex in March, 2020.
- He left out of his own will, he thought it’ll be bad if he mentioned somebody or a person, and it’s not like anyone was to blame, so he informed the staff at the time that he wanted to leave and he’ll work hard for his next opportunity, and was a freelancer a little bit
- 🦁 had already met SKY-HI for the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” MV a month before he quit Avex (February, 2020), and at a time when Leo absolutely hated adults and distrusted them, 🌞 was a very kind and warm person ( 🦁 had already returned from KR when filming that MV). He didn’t think someone as kind as shacho was around and actually had second thoughts about leaving Avex knowing 🌞 was around.
- He was meeting up with his senpais and friends after leaving Avex. He’d be all smiles and laughing when he sees them but when they split up and leave, he’d be crying 😭. Rinse and repeat 😭
- He’d be by himself around Harajuku station standing still 🧍
- He didn’t want to make his parents worry if he cried at home, so he’d cry at a park close by until the tears stopped and then go home
- 🦁 did not tell anyone about this tough time that he had (🏠: You didn’t even tell your friends right? 🦁: No I didn’t) because he was putting up a cool front. He wanted people to think things were going well for him.
- 🏠-san told him how he handled it was not good, and what he did was really risky. Yashiki-san is glad that luck and THE FIRST worked out for 🦁 in the end.
🦁: [to the camera] Yes! It’s definitely not good! 😃
- At 🦁’s coming of age ceremony, his friends said, “You’re still trying to be an artist? But you’re 20 now!”
20 yo 🦁: Huh? 😠
- Leo was afraid that if he showed any sign of weakness or that things were not going well for him, he’d get swallowed up (figuratively), so he thought the only thing he could do was just keep at it and do his best
- September 26, 2020: 🦁 watched SKY-HI’s “At Home One Man” where he announced that 🌞’s holding a boy group audition and sent his application
- After filming the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” MV, 🦁 fell in love with boss and wanted to do music with 🌞 & follow him to the ends of the Earth 🥺😤
- 🦁 had offers to work overseas before THE FIRST started, but they also never came into fruition
- If 🦁 had continued in Avex, he thinks he wouldn’t have kept going
- If he didn’t pass document screening for THE FIRST, 🦁 would’ve done something as a soloist
NY uncles think there are a lot of people like 🦁 around, they asked him if he knew how many people applied (🦁 doesn’t know, all he knew was that there was 30 of them by THE FIRST Round 3 / Artisism Screening)
NY uncles wondered if 🐉 never experienced something like what 🦁 did, but Leo said Ryuhei also had a tough time, in a different way.
🐉, 🐨, 🐧, 🐬 all started dancing when they were young and had a longer experience than he did. In 🦁’s words, “Everyone had different experiences of struggle and hardship, but their scars were similar” and he thinks that’s why they have been able to be close and get along really well
🦁 works hard to get praised / complimented. If he gets praised or complimented by the members during practice / rehearsals it makes him super happy.
🦁: I’m doing music to be complimented by the members pretty much 😄
Leo watches audition shows (like NNG), but he tries to keep a distance / not grow too attached since he was in one himself and watching one brings up a lot of emotions and memories for him
⛰️-san comments on how interesting the difference between idol and entertainer is when it comes to forming a group / duo / trio. 🏠-san adds the process seems a lot harsher for idols than for comedians.
The NY uncles tell 🦁 there are less chances for comedians to be in the spotlight / get to make it. M-1 grand prix is only held once every year, if the comedians lose that opportunity, they have to wait another year to try again
When 🦁 thinks about the boys that couldn’t make it into BE:FIRST he performs and works (as BE:FIRST) with the intention that, “It can’t be helped if they didn’t make it” (Boss said something similar to this when TenTen was eliminated, “Be so good, so successful that people think, “Well, it can’t be helped if he had to be let go”)
- So 🦁 often thinks about the possibility that someone else other than him made it into BE:FIRST and what people might have said. No one told him to but 🦁 carries this with him and works as an artist keeping that in mind.
- 🏠 sees 🦁’s sincerity but tells him to not push himself too hard. 🦁 says he’s fine and it’s not that difficult at all because:
1. He’s in a much better state of mind than when he was disassociating in the avex studios or Harajuku station
2. He has the other six members of BE:FIRST, who are like brothers and family to him, and the “BE:FIRST TEAM” that includes himself.
3. He now also has Love it (NY uncles treated him to a meal recently)
🦁 says sometimes when the song is ready to be mixed or mastered, the boys would go, “Actually 🌞, I want to change x / y part. Really sorry! 🙏💦” Leo’s thankful that boss is so understanding
🦁 enjoys doing variety tv. Though he doesn’t know why he gets to go on it so often
(🏠 thinks it’s because he made a good impression the first time he was on, to the NY uncles and to the rest of the cast)
🦁: They’re all very bright people! They’re strict and hold their own opinions about things, but 🦁 says he can talk to them easily about anything. He says sometimes there’d be news about family feuds and stuff they see on the news, he’d watch it together with his parents and they’d go, “Why would that cause them to fight?”
- 🏠: So in a way they’re quite open then. They say what’s on their mind then and there. If opinions are a little different maybe you guys will fight a little bit
🦁 lived with his family. It was only after debuting as BE:FIRST he started living alone
- 🦁 has an older brother (Shota).
- Became close with him only recently. Otherwise they haven’t met very often, because Shota was doing dance in clubs at night (older brother is a dancer), and 🦁 had his part-time jobs during the day. When Shota returns home and sleeps 🦁’s already out, when 🦁’s home and sleeps, his brother is out.
- Shota also did baseball for 9 years
- Shota enjoys music, though 🦁 says all of his family enjoys music in general.
Music was always playing in the Kamimura household, like Kubota Toshinobu and Matsuda Seiko
- Kamimura papa will play mini-CDs at home
- Shota bro will put some of the music he likes into his own MD discs
- 🦁 will rent CDs from CD rental stores and listen to them
🏠: I get the impression you don’t like fighting
🦁: Ah~ Yes yes yes x10
🏠: Because on Love it we’ll sometimes have segments where we put someone else down right, and 🦁 would go, “It’s not like that though~”
🦁 thinks he’s matured. It’s not like he has always been a good guy (⛰️: Really? 🤨). He’s gotten hurt and has hurt people as well. So he goes about his day hoping he hurts one less person.
🦁 was / is a baseball boy. He was not good at studying (though he said he hit his head once and got a 99/100 on his kanji test, 🦁: “hehehe~”). He was no good at kanji. He was good at sports and PE.
🦁 did super badly on 1 kanji test and got lectured by the teacher for it, so he bumped his head and on the next test he did super well and got 99 / 100. He feels like the hit he took on the head increased his brain capacity in some way. Before the hit, he could remember maybe 50 kanji but after the hit it went up to 80.
But then he had PE and he feels like he went back to how he was before 😂
🦁 saw Udaman come in: “Eh? Nande? 😮”, “Nande?” x5
- Udaman coming was a surprise for 🦁 from the NY uncles. They wanted 🦁 to try Udaman’s pudding
🦁: Eh? Yatta! X10 😆
🏠 says the Love it cast got to try Udaman’s pudding last Thursday on Love it, but 🦁 couldn’t be there so Yashiki-san and Udaman prepared this for him specially 🥺
🦁: Aww yay!! I’m so happy! 🥺
🦁: I’m always not there when Udaman is on Love it~ 😢🥺
*Context: After NY uncles' biking video with LEO (part 2, part 3), the NY uncles did eventually have Udaman on Love it to share his curry. Leo wasn't able to be there for that one. They invited Udaman a second time to share his pudding, and Leo couldn't be there for that either.
🏠-san asked Udaman the day before yesterday recording this with 🦁 if he could have it ready even though it’s quite a last-minute request, Udaman said he can 💪
🦁: Fo real?!
[Udaman nods]
🏠: We did this for you!
🦁 was very touched and was left speechless for a minute and the uncles and staff were laughing at his reaction
🏠: You don’t need to be this touched!
🦁: Being considerate saves the world! 🥹
[All laugh]
🦁: I’m so happy!! Kindness like this definitely links to peace! 🥹
🦁: I’m glad I did my best today!! 🥹
🦁: I really really like pudding! 🥺
Udaman also prepared raspberry jam so that Leo could have a second pudding with it!
Pudding with raspberry jam is hard to make (mostly the jam) so Udaman doesn’t sell this, he only prepared enough jam for Leo. (NY uncles already had it before, so it was all Leo’s to enjoy!)
Udaman’s follower count increased a lot since him and 🦁 appeared together in NY uncles’ biking episode and he was a little shocked.
🦁 thought the pudding will taste good if there’s a cheesecake flavor, which Udaman says he’ll consider as an idea
⛰️ wants to have yakiniku with 🦁 and Ohashi-kun from NaniDan in Osaka first (and with Daichan from Burako? Burago?)
🦁 has asked staff-san if he could be on Love it remotely while on the world tour
On off days, 🦁 recently went to the bike maintenance store (to check on his 🏍️), took his car for a drive, and watched baseball matches
🦁 is the type to fill up his off days doing things he likes. He won’t spend the day just doing nothing or sleeping, since he always wakes up before noon. 🦁 likes to wake up early / in the morning so he can bathe in the morning sun. 2am is when he must sleep (if there was a drinking party then that’ll be an exception).
🦁 isn’t sure if he wants to act, there has been some discussions and offers but he thinks it’s not as easy as “I wanna do it!” and then doing it
Hope you enjoyed this video and learned more about LEO!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be super perfect.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
If you like my translations, you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
Leo shared a lot about his life - from how he was like in elementary school to high school to before his audition for THE FIRST, he also shared a lot about his family and how he was like as a student and trainee under Avex.
Before the episode ended, Udaman, a good friend of the NY comedy duo, appeared as a surprise guest so LEO can have some of his homemade puddings :)
Enjoy!
Yashiki-san: 🏠
Shimasa-san: ⛰️
Note: These emojis I give the NY duo aren't anything official. Just emojis I give them when I read their names.
Intro
🦁 was very excited. He said it was like going to Disney or Fuji Q and waiting at the gates (before the park opened) while he waited
🏠-san says 🦁’s probably been to many TV stations but maybe not Yoshimoto yet
⛰️-san thanked him again for appearing on their biking video
Fans were really happy; 🦁 was also happy because he’s been wanting to appear with them for a while (NY-sans both: “Yeah, you told us you wanted”)
🦁 badgered manager-san that he wanted to appear on it x1000
World Tour talk
NY-sans: Well, you must be busy too. You finished your dome tour and your world tour is starting soon right?
🦁 is excited for the world tour. They just finished a tour in the domes, so performing in small venues for the world tour is like going back to their roots. He’s not sure how many people will come, so he’s wakuwaku
🦁 talks about being the opening act for ATEEZ last year and how the excitement levels from the audience was crazy.
🏠-san: Do they know BE:FIRST’s songs?
🦁: I don’t know but they just went with it and hyped the atmosphere up. I’m sure there might have been a couple of people who knew our songs
NY-sans watching THE FIRST
🏠-san telling 🦁 he watched “THE FIRST” ( 🦁: That’s so embarrassing, “uwah! I’m being watched! 💦”)
🏠-san watched THE FIRST with his wife and his wife really liked it too (they also watched NNG after that lol)
Boy groups that debut around the same time (November, 2021)
- NaniDan: A week apart
- INI: Same day
Context: BE:FIRST’s debut being the exact same day as INI was purely coincidence. LEO says boss told them about the drama / hate that happened, and there was no conflict or beefing, etc about debuting the groups on the same day.
🦁 was avex trainees with INI’s Takumi so he was really happy both of them got to debut (and on the same day!)
🦁 thinks time has really flown by, because he’ll be 27 this year.
Friends LEO has made (and is close with in the industry)
Author / writer: Moegara-san
🦁 didn’t read books but happened to come across Moegara-san’s book in the bookstore and found it very easy to read. Fans reached out to Moegara-san and since both had shows on J-WAVE at the time, their staffs connected LEO with him (he’s talked about this story before btw)
🏠: 🦁’s very affectionate / friendly. You’re always keeping in touch with people.
🦁 says he’s always been like this, before BE:FIRST and THE FIRST. If he doesn’t send a message right away he’s afraid he’ll forget / regret not sending or responding later, so his LINE is full of notifications [not sure about this one]
🏠: Don’t you get overwhelmed from your network expanding?
🦁: No~
🦁 says BE:FIRST keep in touch with each other too
🏠: You always do say you’re having a lot of fun at the Thursday Love it drinking parties
🦁: It IS fun! 😀
🦁 says whether BE:FIRST or the Love it drinking parties it feels like a team. He doesn’t like being alone and that he’s actually a sabishiigariya-san (someone who doesn’t like being alone). (NY-sans said they couldn’t tell, because in THE FIRST it seemed like LEO was the center and everyone was having fun with him / around him)
NY-sans got very interested in how 🦁 was brought up since 🦁’s also into bikes and cars (which 🏠 refers to as “yancha na koto”, like mischievous or naughty)
Timeline of 🦁
Elementary
🦁 started baseball in elementary. By 5th Grade there were only 3 people in the baseball club so he was reaching out to his friends to at least make the club have 9-12 people so the team could stay afloat and compete in tournaments. (He wasn’t in Little League or anything, just purely baseball with friends)
Junior High / Middle School
- Up until middle school, 🦁 was doing baseball. Though he mentions that there were a lot of his classmates / schoolmates in his batch that were really good at it / better than him. It was during this time that he realized he couldn’t be a pro baseballer. The top first and second players from his district were on the team and they were super good. He did stay in the baseball team up until his last year of junior high, and was able to be a regular player once.
- 🦁 said the supervising teacher and coach rarely came to their practices, his team often practiced on their own and decided on what they wanted to focus on in their training sessions. It was a really strong team of skilled players, they liked practicing so they created their own training regimens.
- However, they lost the Spring Tournament that could’ve led them to the finals due to an error he made. He said everything happened in slow motion. The third gave a really good pass to him but he (nearly) dropped it and his throw / pass of the ball back to home base was very weak (he said he could see the ball kind of going up and down).
- The person playing third is still 🦁’s close friend whom he keeps in touch with
- NY uncles were surprised 🦁 still remembers it very clearly, but 🏠 says baseball is the kind of sport where 1 person carries the responsibility if the team loses and something like that can be traumatic when you’re young
- 🦁 cried a lot after the game that day, but he said his teammates were really nice and comforted him (“We also made mistakes like that before, it’s not LEO’s fault”).
- 🦁 and his team still had the Summer Tournament and they were also in the semi-finals (though they lost that one too).
- It was from his error during the Spring Tournament that 🦁 thought he should quit baseball. He didn’t want his mistake to be the end of his other teammates’ baseball career.
High School
- 🦁 got into music properly during high school after he had quit baseball
- Leo didn’t really aspire to be in the entertainment industry when he was younger, though he did like listening to music and thought artists were cool.
- 🦁 is a negative person and felt a deep sense of responsibility causing his team’s loss at the Spring Tournament, and listening to music (and the lyrics) was the one thing that saved him when he was very down.
- 🦁 did audition for LDH in his final year of junior high (with no singing or dance experience) passed the first screening but didn’t pass the second screening
- Although he didn’t pass the second screening just getting to the second round gave 🦁 the confidence that, “Oh! So I do have some talent! 💡” and sparked his fire more to properly practice
- Money for vocal lessons were expensive, so 🦁started working part-time jobs to earn money for vocal lessons
- Though 🦁 said he was getting rejected for part-time jobs he applied for (🏠: You passed LDH round 1 audition but couldn’t pass part-time jobs 😂)
- Or he’d be rejected because someone from his school is already working there
- His parents did chip in money for his vocal lessons until he could find a part-time job (🏠: That’s interesting, because it’s often because the parents say no that you look for a part-time job, but in 🦁’s case your parents helped you first and then you found a part-time job 😆)
- 🦁’s parents paid for the vocal lessons he went to during high school
- 🦁’s activities after school were between vocal lessons, self-practice, and part-time jobs
- 🦁 was telling friends he wants to become an artist around this time
- He was writing “artist” in all the columns whenever the school passed out “Career paths” questionnaires
- He wasn’t unsure or anxious about this path he has decided on. He might have been a little bit 🤏 anxious but for the most part, he was “I think I got this 🤔”
- 🦁 thinks he was a little full of himself, he had nothing but confidence (He’d be like, “What are you talking about?” when senpais talk to him)
- He was still auditioning though he wasn’t passing them
Avex trainee
- 🦁 did not start learning dance until he was 19 / 20 years old
- NY uncles were surprised because by THE FIRST 🦁 looked like someone who could dance
- When he graduated high school, Avex had a training program that he got into
- He went to Korea, trained at “a Korean company” and returned to Japan
- While 🦁 was an Avex trainee, people around him were getting into university or vocational schools.
- Around this time, there were many opportunities for him (JP or KR) to debut but it would fall out before it could form into anything
🏠: Was this probably the toughest time you had?
🦁: Yes, I think so.
- Leo mentions here that when things seem to perk up (for projects / units he was a part of) there’d be a lot of push from Avex, but if those efforts don’t come into fruition then there was nothing and that was tough. But 🦁 thought if he stopped at any point, then it’s all over – so he would rent out a studio after his part-time job is over and just practice everyday. If he didn’t have a part-time job that day, he’d rent out the studio from 10 am until whenever (it didn’t cost him anything, since it was the Avex studios. He just needs to be the first to snag a time slot)
- If he feels up to it, he’ll practice. If he doesn’t then he thinks it’s OK, he’ll listen to music – the main thing was being in the studio and going there everyday (he did this for about 2 years, when he was 18 - 20 yo. He was doing this right up until the pandemic)
- 🦁 mentions there were JP trainees and non-JP trainees at Avex and everyone was working hard. (NY uncles: But the chances to actually debut sometimes is luck isn’t it. That’s toughhhhh)
Leaving Avex, pre-THE FIRST
- 🦁 dropped his contract with Avex in March, 2020.
- He left out of his own will, he thought it’ll be bad if he mentioned somebody or a person, and it’s not like anyone was to blame, so he informed the staff at the time that he wanted to leave and he’ll work hard for his next opportunity, and was a freelancer a little bit
- 🦁 had already met SKY-HI for the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” MV a month before he quit Avex (February, 2020), and at a time when Leo absolutely hated adults and distrusted them, 🌞 was a very kind and warm person ( 🦁 had already returned from KR when filming that MV). He didn’t think someone as kind as shacho was around and actually had second thoughts about leaving Avex knowing 🌞 was around.
- He was meeting up with his senpais and friends after leaving Avex. He’d be all smiles and laughing when he sees them but when they split up and leave, he’d be crying 😭. Rinse and repeat 😭
- He’d be by himself around Harajuku station standing still 🧍
- He didn’t want to make his parents worry if he cried at home, so he’d cry at a park close by until the tears stopped and then go home
- 🦁 did not tell anyone about this tough time that he had (🏠: You didn’t even tell your friends right? 🦁: No I didn’t) because he was putting up a cool front. He wanted people to think things were going well for him.
- 🏠-san told him how he handled it was not good, and what he did was really risky. Yashiki-san is glad that luck and THE FIRST worked out for 🦁 in the end.
🦁: [to the camera] Yes! It’s definitely not good! 😃
- At 🦁’s coming of age ceremony, his friends said, “You’re still trying to be an artist? But you’re 20 now!”
20 yo 🦁: Huh? 😠
- Leo was afraid that if he showed any sign of weakness or that things were not going well for him, he’d get swallowed up (figuratively), so he thought the only thing he could do was just keep at it and do his best
- September 26, 2020: 🦁 watched SKY-HI’s “At Home One Man” where he announced that 🌞’s holding a boy group audition and sent his application
- After filming the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” MV, 🦁 fell in love with boss and wanted to do music with 🌞 & follow him to the ends of the Earth 🥺😤
- 🦁 had offers to work overseas before THE FIRST started, but they also never came into fruition
- If 🦁 had continued in Avex, he thinks he wouldn’t have kept going
- If he didn’t pass document screening for THE FIRST, 🦁 would’ve done something as a soloist
THE FIRST talk
NY uncles think there are a lot of people like 🦁 around, they asked him if he knew how many people applied (🦁 doesn’t know, all he knew was that there was 30 of them by THE FIRST Round 3 / Artisism Screening)
NY uncles wondered if 🐉 never experienced something like what 🦁 did, but Leo said Ryuhei also had a tough time, in a different way.
🐉, 🐨, 🐧, 🐬 all started dancing when they were young and had a longer experience than he did. In 🦁’s words, “Everyone had different experiences of struggle and hardship, but their scars were similar” and he thinks that’s why they have been able to be close and get along really well
🦁 works hard to get praised / complimented. If he gets praised or complimented by the members during practice / rehearsals it makes him super happy.
🦁: I’m doing music to be complimented by the members pretty much 😄
Leo watches audition shows (like NNG), but he tries to keep a distance / not grow too attached since he was in one himself and watching one brings up a lot of emotions and memories for him
⛰️-san comments on how interesting the difference between idol and entertainer is when it comes to forming a group / duo / trio. 🏠-san adds the process seems a lot harsher for idols than for comedians.
The NY uncles tell 🦁 there are less chances for comedians to be in the spotlight / get to make it. M-1 grand prix is only held once every year, if the comedians lose that opportunity, they have to wait another year to try again
When 🦁 thinks about the boys that couldn’t make it into BE:FIRST he performs and works (as BE:FIRST) with the intention that, “It can’t be helped if they didn’t make it” (Boss said something similar to this when TenTen was eliminated, “Be so good, so successful that people think, “Well, it can’t be helped if he had to be let go”)
- So 🦁 often thinks about the possibility that someone else other than him made it into BE:FIRST and what people might have said. No one told him to but 🦁 carries this with him and works as an artist keeping that in mind.
- 🏠 sees 🦁’s sincerity but tells him to not push himself too hard. 🦁 says he’s fine and it’s not that difficult at all because:
1. He’s in a much better state of mind than when he was disassociating in the avex studios or Harajuku station
2. He has the other six members of BE:FIRST, who are like brothers and family to him, and the “BE:FIRST TEAM” that includes himself.
3. He now also has Love it (NY uncles treated him to a meal recently)
🦁 says sometimes when the song is ready to be mixed or mastered, the boys would go, “Actually 🌞, I want to change x / y part. Really sorry! 🙏💦” Leo’s thankful that boss is so understanding
Love it talk
🦁 enjoys doing variety tv. Though he doesn’t know why he gets to go on it so often
(🏠 thinks it’s because he made a good impression the first time he was on, to the NY uncles and to the rest of the cast)
🦁’s family
Parents
🦁: They’re all very bright people! They’re strict and hold their own opinions about things, but 🦁 says he can talk to them easily about anything. He says sometimes there’d be news about family feuds and stuff they see on the news, he’d watch it together with his parents and they’d go, “Why would that cause them to fight?”
- 🏠: So in a way they’re quite open then. They say what’s on their mind then and there. If opinions are a little different maybe you guys will fight a little bit
🦁 lived with his family. It was only after debuting as BE:FIRST he started living alone
Older brother (Shota)
- 🦁 has an older brother (Shota).
- Became close with him only recently. Otherwise they haven’t met very often, because Shota was doing dance in clubs at night (older brother is a dancer), and 🦁 had his part-time jobs during the day. When Shota returns home and sleeps 🦁’s already out, when 🦁’s home and sleeps, his brother is out.
- Shota also did baseball for 9 years
- Shota enjoys music, though 🦁 says all of his family enjoys music in general.
Music was always playing in the Kamimura household, like Kubota Toshinobu and Matsuda Seiko
- Kamimura papa will play mini-CDs at home
- Shota bro will put some of the music he likes into his own MD discs
- 🦁 will rent CDs from CD rental stores and listen to them
LEO 🦁 the person (Kamimura Leo)
🏠: I get the impression you don’t like fighting
🦁: Ah~ Yes yes yes x10
🏠: Because on Love it we’ll sometimes have segments where we put someone else down right, and 🦁 would go, “It’s not like that though~”
🦁 thinks he’s matured. It’s not like he has always been a good guy (⛰️: Really? 🤨). He’s gotten hurt and has hurt people as well. So he goes about his day hoping he hurts one less person.
🦁 was / is a baseball boy. He was not good at studying (though he said he hit his head once and got a 99/100 on his kanji test, 🦁: “hehehe~”). He was no good at kanji. He was good at sports and PE.
More on the kanji test story
🦁 did super badly on 1 kanji test and got lectured by the teacher for it, so he bumped his head and on the next test he did super well and got 99 / 100. He feels like the hit he took on the head increased his brain capacity in some way. Before the hit, he could remember maybe 50 kanji but after the hit it went up to 80.
But then he had PE and he feels like he went back to how he was before 😂
Udaman comes with pudding for the boy (™)
🦁 saw Udaman come in: “Eh? Nande? 😮”, “Nande?” x5
- Udaman coming was a surprise for 🦁 from the NY uncles. They wanted 🦁 to try Udaman’s pudding
🦁: Eh? Yatta! X10 😆
🏠 says the Love it cast got to try Udaman’s pudding last Thursday on Love it, but 🦁 couldn’t be there so Yashiki-san and Udaman prepared this for him specially 🥺
🦁: Aww yay!! I’m so happy! 🥺
🦁: I’m always not there when Udaman is on Love it~ 😢🥺
*Context: After NY uncles' biking video with LEO (part 2, part 3), the NY uncles did eventually have Udaman on Love it to share his curry. Leo wasn't able to be there for that one. They invited Udaman a second time to share his pudding, and Leo couldn't be there for that either.
🏠-san asked Udaman the day before yesterday recording this with 🦁 if he could have it ready even though it’s quite a last-minute request, Udaman said he can 💪
🦁: Fo real?!
[Udaman nods]
🏠: We did this for you!
🦁 was very touched and was left speechless for a minute and the uncles and staff were laughing at his reaction
🏠: You don’t need to be this touched!
🦁: Being considerate saves the world! 🥹
[All laugh]
🦁: I’m so happy!! Kindness like this definitely links to peace! 🥹
🦁: I’m glad I did my best today!! 🥹
🦁: I really really like pudding! 🥺
Udaman also prepared raspberry jam so that Leo could have a second pudding with it!
Pudding with raspberry jam is hard to make (mostly the jam) so Udaman doesn’t sell this, he only prepared enough jam for Leo. (NY uncles already had it before, so it was all Leo’s to enjoy!)
Udaman’s follower count increased a lot since him and 🦁 appeared together in NY uncles’ biking episode and he was a little shocked.
🦁 thought the pudding will taste good if there’s a cheesecake flavor, which Udaman says he’ll consider as an idea
Ending
⛰️ wants to have yakiniku with 🦁 and Ohashi-kun from NaniDan in Osaka first (and with Daichan from Burako? Burago?)
🦁 has asked staff-san if he could be on Love it remotely while on the world tour
On off days, 🦁 recently went to the bike maintenance store (to check on his 🏍️), took his car for a drive, and watched baseball matches
🦁 is the type to fill up his off days doing things he likes. He won’t spend the day just doing nothing or sleeping, since he always wakes up before noon. 🦁 likes to wake up early / in the morning so he can bathe in the morning sun. 2am is when he must sleep (if there was a drinking party then that’ll be an exception).
🦁 isn’t sure if he wants to act, there has been some discussions and offers but he thinks it’s not as easy as “I wanna do it!” and then doing it
Hope you enjoyed this video and learned more about LEO!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be super perfect.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
If you like my translations, you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
