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Roland, king of Japan’s host club scene, shows us his self-isolation routine【Video】

Katy Kelly May 9, 2020
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The King of Hosts shows us his daily routine now that he can’t greet his clients…and also tells us who his favorite Love Live! girl is.

If you’ve ever seen the classic anime hit Ouran High School Host Club then you’re familiar with hosts — dashing escorts, usually men, who fuss over their clients and pour their drinks, indulge them in light conversation and keep them coming back for more. It’s a very similar model to hostess bars across Japan, and hosts can make a pretty penny if they’re especially popular with clients.

Sadly, hosts need a club within which to operate, and clients to get close to if they want to prosper. Since exposing clients to the risk of COVID-19 isn’t in-keeping with the cordial nature of a host, many host clubs have shut their doors for the time being. But one host, the so-called King of Hosts, Roland, has a way to maintain contact with his legions of admirers: his YouTube channel!

▼ Roland’s recent video, “Staying-in-place Routine #1: Living with Roland”

The video starts with Roland welcoming in his interviewer, then spritzing him with disinfectant. When surprised to see Roland wearing a mask at home, the host answers: “It’s just polite to have one on[…] and this way I don’t keep people waiting.” When they later uncover a treasure trove of masks that Roland’s fans have sent directly to his house, he reveals that he shares them with younger hosts at his club for when they need to go out.

Conversation quickly turns to the new lease of life Roland has been leading during the staying-in-place order, which at the time of filming had been over three weeks. His day tends to start with some stretches, then he whiles away some time by watching some anime. When pressed, Roland admits he just got done with a re-watch of idol smash hit Love Live!‘s second season.

▼ “No doubt about it, the μ’s episodes of Love Live! are the best ones.”

He then talks about how cute he finds one of the characters, Kotori Minami, and wonders if she was based on a similar character called Mikan Kise from Action Heroine Cheer Fruits. The video also contains his very charming recreations of both girls, as well as the hapless efforts of the non-otaku interviewer to keep up with the various anime Roland admits to indulging in. Roland even makes him watch a bit of Violet Evergarden and points out characters by name.

▼ Roland’s illustrations of Kotori Minami from Love Live! and Mikan Kise from Action Heroine Cheer Fruits.

▼ The actual Kotori Minami.

https://twitter.com/KotoriBotLL/status/1258419853519544332

What else does Roland do when he isn’t killing time with anime? Well, he has a big stack of fan letters to get through from fans of all ages. He reads one aloud from a presumably very young female fan, Minami. The letter starts: “I love you, Roland. How come your hair so pretty? I want to be pretty too.” He also finds some cute fan art hidden among the letters.

Self-isolation doesn’t mean you can’t work on improving yourself, which is why Roland has been teaching himself English! Apparently his younger sister can speak Japanese, English, French and Italian, and when Roland called her for some speaking practice she shut him down. “You’re too stupid. You need to study the basics first.” Roland assures his viewers that they are probably much better than him, and don’t need to use such primitive methods.

▼ He says this in English, of course.

There’s another video in the series where you can watch Roland cook up a delicious dinner for him and his interviewer, if just one video of his charming persona isn’t enough to keep you going.

Keep going, Roland! We hope you get to drink with your favorite clients again soon.

Source, images: YouTube/THE ROLAND SHOW【公式】
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[ Read in Japanese ]