The @home cafe maid cafe in Akihabara, one of the most famous and established maid cafes in Japan, is normally packed with "masters" and "mistresses" from around the world who come to enjoy a special moment of sweet hospitality and entertainment paired with tasty dishes, desserts and drinks. However, on November 13th, on the 3rd floor, the mood was even more special than usual because the maids serving inside were members of the @17 idol unit, composed of active @home cafe maids. In addition, the cafe was hosting a special public recording of @17 no Gokitaku Shimasenka? あっとせぶんてぃーんのご帰宅しませんか? (@17's Won't You Come Home?), a weekly short radio show in which the members of @17 talk about their activities and invite guests.

If a chance to report on this exclusive event wasn't reason enough, we learned that the guests on this special edition of the show would be none other than Masayoshi Ōishi and Tom-H@ck of the musical duo OxT (pronounced "okuto"), who performed "UNION," the amazing opening theme song for this season's popular TV anime series SSSS.GRIDMAN.

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@17 Maid Service

When we arrived on the 3rd floor of @home cafe's main building, we could already sense the excitement building inside as members of @17 were busily preparing for the arrival of the lucky masters and mistresses who had been chosen in a lottery to attend the special event.

Although the members of @17 normally work as maids in @home cafe together with other maids, on this night, the entire maid staff was composed of members of @17, and instead of the standard @home cafe maid outfits, they were wearing specially designed stage-version maid outfits for @17's exclusive use.

Here is Yumena, about to shake up our Furi Furi Shaka Shaka Mikkusu Juuchu ふりふりしゃかしゃか♪みっくすじゅーちゅ (Swing Swing Shake Shake Mixed Juice)

And Rame, who brought us our Tsundere Parfait つん★でれ♥パフェ

@17 Performance

Before the radio show broadcast began, we were treated to a performance by @17 on stage.

OxT on @17 no Gokitaku Shimasenka?

A quick close-up shot just before the broadcast began...

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OxT on their music for SSSS.GRIDMAN

For those who have been enjoying the TV anime SSSS.GRIDMAN, it goes without saying that OxT's exciting opening song "UNION" sets the tone for the anime. Therefore, while it may be entertaining, for those of you who understand Japanese, to listen to the members of @17 go through various maid cafe routines together with Masayoshi Ōishi and Tom-H@ck in the episode's archive posted below, SSSS.GRIDMAN fans will surely be particularly interested in the segment in which the participants talked about "UNION," its lyrics and the coupling song "Yume no Hero" (from 10:19 to 12:42 in the video below).

Note: As you can see in this picture, OxT were sharing the stage with numerous members of @17, who are all commenting excitedly and in rapid succession. We've tried to convey some that liveliness in our translation below.

UNION

@17 member: About your new song “Union,”

OxT (both): Thank you.

@17 member: It’s a song with a sense of speed…

@17 member: It’s so refreshing, really!

@17 member: It’s exciting, that song, it’s amazing.

Masayoshi Ōishi: Thank you so much.

@17 member: Just amazing.

@17 member: And your choice of lyrics, it just gets you right in the heart, you know what I mean?

A popular phrase

@17 member: “I’ve come to rescue you from boredom”

Masayoshi Ōishi: You know how there’s a suggested results feature in Twittter, in the search bar? Apparently, when you type “kimi” (you), out of all the suggested results it displays, such as 'kimi no na wa' 君の名は (from the film: Your name) or “kimi ni tsuzuku” something or other, when you type 'kimi,' you see 'kimi wo taikutsu kara sukui ni kitan da' 君を退屈から救いに来たんだ (I’ve come to rescue you from boredom).

@17 member: Really?

Tom-H@ck: That’s cool.

Masayoshi Ōishi: That shows how much it’s apparently being used in social media…

@17 member: Great…

Tom-H@ck: Yeah

Masayoshi Ōishi: When you hear that a part of the lyrics are being used like that, you know, as a lyricist…it’s such a blessing.

@17 member: Right…

@17 member: Oh… I want YOU to rescue me from boredom…

@17 member: What? Now that…

Masayoshi Ōishi: Wait a second there…

@17 member: We’re the ones who are doing the rescuing…

@17 member: Oh, right, right…

Tom-H@ck: Yes, the masters (who come here)…

@17 member: I’ll do my best…

@17 member: I want to become Gridman!

Masayoshi Ōishi: No, you can’t do that!

Tom-H@ck: No can do.

Masayoshi Ōishi: You can’t become Gridman though, seriously.

Tom-H@ck: Tsuburaya Productions would get upset.

Tsurara's praise

@17 member: Tsurara, you like anime, right?

Tsurara: I love anime…

Masayoshi Ōishi: Oh…

Tsurara: I listened to the song, and it’s like so much an anime song, totally…

Tom-H@ck: Wow, I’m happy to hear that.

Tsurara: It really touched my heart!

Masayoshi Ōishi: Seriously?

Tsurara: Yes, how can I put it, it just matched the opening animation so perfectly…

Masayoshi Ōishi: OK…

Tsurara: It was amazing, I was just watching it and I was like “Oh, my heart”… (lol)

Masayoshi Ōishi: Wow!

Tsurara: I was like, this, this, this is it, right here!

Masayoshi Ōishi: So happy to hear that…

@17 member: I know how that is. This, this, this!

Respect for the original

@17 member: And then there is the coupling song, “Yume no Hero” 夢のヒーロー (Dream hero), which is an OxT version.

Masayoshi Ōishi: Right.

@17 member: It’s your version.

Tom-H@ck: That’s right. There was a show in 1993—it’s the original work (for this anime)—called Denkou Choujin Gridman (Gridman the Hyper Agent, literally “Lighting Superman Gridman”), a tokusatsu drama, you see…

Masayoshi Ōishi: Right.

Tom-H@ck: And, we did a remake of that TV drama’s opening song. Or rather, you could say, we covered it.

Masayoshi Ōishi: Yes.

Tom-H@ck: So, out of respect for that…

Masayoshi Ōishi: Yes, we didn’t step in and do a full-blown change in the arrangement. Contemporary versions of classics often get brushed up, you know, but we decided not to… And out of respect for the original…

Tom-H@ck: …We made this song.

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Coming soon

Stay tuned for our interview with pop unit @17's leader Akarin, and Kanipan, who was in center position in their latest single "Natsu no Kanaria" (see the music video below)

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