On December 6th, Tsuyoshi went live on YouTube to announce a new job of his: he’s now the face of ili! Ili is a wi-fi free, handheld translation device. You can read more on their official website.
The live announcement was an enjoyable 30 minutes of Tsuyoshi being Tsuyoshi and Logbar’s CEO, Takuro Yoshida, probably questioning why they made a deal with Tsuyoshi. 😂
The live footage starts around 32:30.
In addition to the live announcement, Tsuyoshi went around Asakusa to talk to show off ili in action by talking to foreigners. It was both cringe-worthy and hilarious.
The live footage there starts at around 41:36.
It’s hard to summarize as anything other than Tsuyoshi being Tsuyoshi, so watch it if you get the chance! Here are some moments I personally found hilarious or adorable.
Tsuyoshi starts unboxing the product for the first time and questions if people are really watching. I guess he doesn’t know unboxing videos are a thing. But look at his face! I’d watch him unboxings things. 😁
The Japanese version of ili translates Japanese to Korean, Chinese, or English.
Tsuyoshi tries out ili for the first time. Tsuyoshi’s excitement when it correctly translates Japanese to English is so adorable! See! See!
While talking, Tsuyoshi is fiddling with ili and accidentally drops it. That’s such a great thing to do! Shows that it’s sturdy!
Tsuyoshi tries to demo ili on Twitter, except his first attempt goes wrong. He doesn’t hit the button, he just talks into it.
Of course, you have to press the button! So he tries again… and hits the wrong button.
CEO Yoshida thinks he’s joking. Why? Ili has three buttons, a large one on the center (for translating…), and two smaller buttons on the side. Tsuyoshi had used the smallest side button!!
Tsuyoshi’s so nervous. It’s adorable! 😂
(Okay, then a few minutes later, Tsuyoshi gives himself away and says he thought it’d be funny if he pressed the wrong button. You aren’t supposed to give it away so fast!)
どんな言葉翻訳して欲しい！#つよぽんイリー#こっちだって色々やってるんだよ！ pic.twitter.com/Gx0o5pjIsk
— 草彅 剛 (@ksngtysofficial) December 6, 2017
Above is the tweet he finally got uploaded. He tells us “I love you!”
Tsuyoshi goes through the #つよぽんイリー hashtag to see suggestions. CEO Yoshida repeats that the device is for travel phrases… even so, these are the phrases Tsuyoshi tries:
- Where is the bathroom?
- Joke burger
- I’m hungry
- Suspended ceiling
CEO Yoshida is a bit surprised when some of the phrases Tsuyoshi tries translate correctly to Korean. 😂
A guitar comes out for Tsuyoshi to play an ending song. CEO Yoshida mentions he plays guitar and harmonica, so Tsuyoshi hands over his guitar. LOL
And that’s how the live YouTube stream closes out.
Later in the evening, Tsuyoshi and CEO Yoshida hit the town (Asakusa) to harass foreigners using ili.
Since it is really cringe-worthy, it’s hard to watch again. xD Just some takeaways:
- Tsuyoshi is fearless with ili and has no issues approaching strangers.
- Ili doesn’t work well with English but appears to work well for Korean.
- Tsuyoshi as Chonan Gang is still remembered.
I don’t know if Tsuyoshi is the best choice for the face of a translation device, but he’s probably the most entertaining. 😂