Well, I'm not a great translator, but I can try my hand at this too. From page 4 of
the article (pages 1-3 translated previously by Pizzaman).
A message from Hase Yurina to Yukiho and her producers
This time, the role of Yukiho has been passed to Azumi.
I understand what it means to be on stage for Imas, and all our fan's wishes. Even with everyone turning towards these thoughts with enthusiastic zeal, I thought I'd turn towards a different direction.
Inside myself, I've been thinking that, as a vocal entertainer, I'd like to shift my focuses, and as a voice actress, I'd like to make time to relearn everything from scratch. About at that time, Mr. Ishihara approached me about Imas2, but in my uneasiness, I knew I could only offer Yukiho's voice my own half-hearted emotions. And so, I decided to pass the baton.
I never thought that Imas would've turned out the way it did when I first started. It's quite funny, really, and I've been thinking that if I don't change my inner thoughts, then it'll be pretty hard for me to continue past where I am now.
Imas has really left a lot of impressions on me. If I were to pick out something recently, then I would go with the 4th Memorial Live Tour in Fukuoka. At the time, I was going all out with the mindset of, "Let's all make this a great performance!" These memories still remain in my heart. Concering Yukiho herself, I still wonder, "How can Yukiho be this cute?" (Laugh) However, there's always been this gap I've felt between me and her. It's like she's a really honest person, and a true idol.
I've actually known Azumi for quite a while, and how seriously she takes her voice acting. When I heard she would be taking over the role as Yukiho, I was both relieved and very, very glad! There's going to be a lot of things she's going to need to deal with, but as long as Azumi's doing her voice, then I don't think there's really anything to worry about. This is really a good thing for Yukiho.
Also, many of the fans that have come to support me have come from Imas. I really feel that with everyone's support, I've been able to make Yukiho the best she could be, and make it as a voice actor myself. Everyone, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'll never forget all your support.
I'll still be supporting Imas and watching over it from afar. I know there's quite a lot of producers out there who've had a lot of fun producing Yukiho. There was a lot discussion about this decision from a lot of people, including Mr. Ishihara, with your thoughts in mind. I'm not going to tell everyone to just accept this right now as it is, but I'd like it if, little by little, everyone started to support the new Imas. I would like to ask everyone out there to enjoy Azumi's Yukiho to her fullest, and bring her up to be a top idol.
