The talk between CLAMP and Maaya Sakamoto was that was published in 0331 (Maaya Sakamoto’s 15th Anniversary commemorative pamphlet) has been translated to English and can be read here.

The talk is extremely long, entertaining and very enlightening. Among the discussed topics, they talk about preferences for dating, women lifestyle after 30s, career and more.

I thought it was very cute the relation of Maaya and CLAMP in this talk… Maaya seems like a young sister asking advices to CLAMP, who seem like their older sister or something xD I was very amazed by how mature the members of CLAMP all sound. They all seem pretty sure of who they are and what they want while Maaya is still wondering a lot about those things (which is totally understandable considering her age).

It’s also a very very very revealing talk about CLAMP’s personal tastes, it’s extremely rare to have them talk about themselves and not about their work.

Nekoi “Except we’re all in our 40s (laugh)…but although you’ve done a lot of songs and played various roles for our productions, it feels like we’ve hardly seen each other.”

Mokona “That time you appeared on the internet radio show might have been the longest we ever talked.”

I thought CLAMP and Maaya used to see each others more often. Not on a regular basis but I surely didn’t think the radio show was the longest they’ve ever talked.

Igarashi “We didn’t even meet you when you sang the title song for ‘Card Captor Sakura’ or when you had a role in the theatrical version… since back then we didn’t go to a single party.”

Ohhh they didn’t go to the parties back then! xDDD Nowadays they do, all of them, LOL

Nekoi “And actually for some reason we didn’t get any of the glow sticks that were secretly handed out to everyone. So when everyone was waving [the glow sticks], we were the only ones who couldn’t. With all your fans there, we would have crawled under a rock if we could, and especially with your parents right next to us… We wished we could have explained that the reason we weren’t waving with everyone wasn’t because we didn’t want to.”

Sakamoto “No one would have thought that.”

Ohkawa “They would. It’s even there on the concert DVD—there’s those great seats, and that’s the only place not lit up. (laugh)”

LOL I would like to see that! XD

Ohkawa “But after you hit 40 those men who once belonged to other women get divorces and come back, like salmon swimming upstream. (laugh)”

I LOLed! Hard! To the salmon comparison XDDDD LOL Ohkawa!

Sakamoto (after pausing to think) “First, our preferences in food have to match. Also, he has to be independent. And third I suppose would be that he has to be compassionate.”

Ohkawa “So let’s suppose two guys who measure up perfectly to those three conditions appear. What do you use for a tiebreaker?”

Sakamoto “…salary.”

Ohkawa “So that’s the key thing for you to fall in love with a guy.”

Again, LOL Ohkawa! Her logic is totally right! XD

Mokona “In my case, someone I can talk with, someone who will always forgive me, and someone who can keep a steady job are my three conditions, and the last is appearance.”

Igarashi “Someone who eats neatly, someone who can have fun, and someone who is slender.”

Nekoi “Matching values, kind, doesn’t lose his temper. And the last was someone I can respect.”

There you go, CLAMP’s taste in men XD And of course, Ohkawa had to elaborate more than the others xD

Ohkawa “For example, if we’re eating out with everyone, someone who doesn’t pour my drink first. If I’m having a meal with you and my boyfriend, I can’t accept it if he fills my glass first. (laugh)”

Igarashi “After all, Maaya would be the guest, wouldn’t she?”

Ohkawa “Right. But this isn’t easy for men to get the hang of.”

Sakamoto “Hmm, I’ve never even thought of that before.”

Ohkawa “And the second is someone who doesn’t depend on me for money.”

Sakamoto “Can’t leave that out. (laugh)”

Ohkawa “The third is someone whose job is something people don’t expect. For instance, someone who makes lacquerware, or a carpenter. The kind of job that makes people ask what kind of job it is…not that I have anything against salarymen, but our schedules wouldn’t match up. But you probably also couldn’t date a salaryman, right? When you’re busy with acting or recording you can’t afford to have someone who blows up because he can’t get a hold of you. It’s not like you can answer your cell phone when you’re in the studio.”

Sakamoto “That’s very true.”

Igarashi “Then there are the times you go on tour and don’t come back for three months.”

Sakamoto “Or I go on a month-long trip by myself. (laugh)”

Ohkawa “Someone in an unusual line of work won’t get angry if my job is unusual… So for my last answer I went with the same as my third: someone with an unusual job.”

Okay, the thing with pouring the drink to the guest first really impressed me. That means she looks for politeness in a man. Just the way she said it impressed me xD And the unusual job thing makes sense.

Igarashi “If he prefers a lower temperature, you’re the one who has to put up with it…“

Ehh? Coming from CLAMP, I thought that was a weird statement. Where is the feminism? xD

Ohkawa “And if you get a cat or a dog and start talking to them like, ‘Today such-and-such happened, meow,’ or, ‘No one likes me, meow,’ your life as a girl is officially over. (laugh)”

LOL!

Ohkawa “We’re totally different. Even our preferences don’t match.”

This has always amazed me.

Ohkawa “In any case, the popular ones are these two [Ms. Nekoi and Ms. Igarashi].”

Igarashi “But the one who really gets the attention is this girl [Ms. Nekoi].”

Ohhh! So Satsuki and Nekoi are CLAMP’s heart breakers xD

Sakamoto “That’s why I couldn’t wait to get to my 30s, and I hated that on-the-fence feeling of being 29.”

Ohkawa “Same here—in my 20s, I couldn’t wait to turn 40.”

That’s really amazing xD And it’s true, I remember she was very happy for finally becoming 40 (I thought she was joking LOL). I think it’s a common thing among Japanese women, am I right? I think there is even a proper name… not sure, though.

Sakamoto “I wondered about a lot of things when I was young, but now I’m enjoying myself more, and I have this sensation that I’ve been able to take a fresh look at life… Do you remember what it was like to turn 30? What you felt like, and things like that…”

Ohkawa “No, I was already itching to turn 40 (laugh)… Do any of you remember?”

LOL Ohkawa! XD

Sakamoto “Have you ever thought of quitting your jobs?”

Ohkawa “Tens of times. (laugh)”

Sakamoto “So what kept you from quitting?”

Igarashi “There was work to do. (laugh)”

LULZ! Funny to see that neither Mokona or Nekoi have ever considered it =)