狐つき-Foxtales-

"At one point in my last year of junior high school, I wondered if I should leave the entertainment industry. I watched people around me prepare for high school entrance exams, and thought about continuing on in school myself… But then my friends told me, 'It's motivating seeing you work hard, so you should keep going.' When I thought about it, I had kept trying hard because of everyone supporting me. So now I think that becoming famous enough to be known in my hometown of Kurume is the only way for me to repay that."

Looking back, he says, "I've been really lucky."

"When I first became interested in working as an actor, I was able to be a part of a show called BLEACH, and learned how amazing the 2.5D world is. I'm really grateful to be involved in a hit production as popular as TouMyu. A lot of people support us thanks to the source materials*, so it feels like I'm borrowing the strength of the characters."

He's not talkative, but the way he speaks while searching for just the right words to express himself exudes earnestness, overlapping with his role, Hizamaru.

"With TouMyu, it's amazing how everyone, including the director Kayano (Isamu)-san, improves each other. Rehearsals are strict, and it's tough with so many things we have to do, but my awareness has gone up and I've become stronger mentally, so it's worth it."

This spring, he appeared in the drama, I Will Not Work Overtime, Period. "I have dialogue with Emoto Tokio-san, and even though it was a really short scene, it was amazing how his personality showed. I want to keep acting more with many kinds of people, and try to have a variety of experiences."

It seems he wants to try acting in a morning drama. "My family in Fukuoka watches them. I'll be happy if I can act in one of those, and my family and hometown friends can watch it."

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Q. What's your favorite romantic scenario?

On special occasions, I want to go to a fancy restaurant or a dream country** – I want to do something we don't usually do for a date. Even though I forget anniversaries instantly (laugh).

Q. What would you say is your 'treasure'?

Family is a given, but also being able to have activities like these, and having a healthy body.

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[Translator's Notes: * The words he actually uses are "original work and original plan" with original work referring to the script/story itself and the original plan referring to the overall idea/themes/basics of the original manga or game... so, to sum up, the source material XD

** "dream country" = Disneyland]

"When I was a child, I saw a video of Kumagawa Tetsuya-san and thought I wanted to do that too. It was the same as how other kids looked up to Kamen Rider. I was confident for no reason, so I even danced for my friends in class, thinking it was cool."

While standing on the stage as a dancer, he naturally turned towards the road of the actor. But, "at first, I hated acting and singing."

"In the beginning, I couldn't do anything at all, and I really, really hated that... It was frustrating, so I watched and imitated the capable people around me, and it became fun in the meantime. These days, I like both [acting and singing]. But even now, there are times where I'll randomly think, 'Why the heck am I singing on stage?' (laughs)."

This spring, he'll advance into 'grand musicals' with Les Misérables (henceforth referred to as Les Mis). From now on, he'll certainly make many appearances in famous musicals.

"Les Mis is completely different from everything else so far. For a start, it's my first time participating in this kind of drama(/story). Because of it, I studied the historical setting of post-Revolutionary France, and started noticing societal conditions I hadn't paid attention to before. It feels like I've matured a little more with this production. But I don't think of grand musicals or 2.5D musicals differently. TouMyu is TouMyu, and the aspects I dig into are different and interesting. Simply put, I myself like Higekiri, so playing him is fun."

He's the type to not set many goals. "Up until now, it's felt like when one job ends, an unexpected new world opens up. So I think it could be good to not cling to anything in particular. It's just that I like the stage. The moment I hear the applause of the final curtain call, I'm glad for all I've done so far."

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Q. What's your favorite romantic scenario?

I always did ballet, so I was in the "go home club*," so I'm attracted to a romance with a school club manager. I want to go home together with her, while the other club members tease us.

Q. What would you say is your 'treasure'?

My body. Because I'm doing Les Mis, every day I feel really grateful to be living in good health and without impairments.

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[Translator’s Notes] * the "go home club": while it's not always required, students are usually encouraged to join a school club in high school. When it's required, exceptions can still be made for students who have an external sport/activity they are active in. Sports clubs have student managers, who are more often than not, female students... thus the trope of a manager and a club member becoming a couple (something I have often seen occur IRL :P).

Hiroki: Akira is the only one close to me in age, so from the start, it was really easy for us to work together. But to tell you the truth, the first time we met wasn’t at Toumyu.

Akira: Right. About a year before that, we had the chance to meet through a mutual friend….

Hiroki: They said it seemed like we’d get along really well and introduced us, so later, when we met again for Toumyu, it was a surprise. Well, now, I don’t know if we’re getting along well.

Akira: Hey! But to be honest, I don’t really remember what Hiroki was like at that first meeting.

Hiroki: Hey! But, when we started practicing for Toumyu together, it never felt difficult to do, so maybe we really do work well together.

Akira: With height too, when we’re lined up next to each other, I think we balance well.

Hiroki: Our individual personalities are similar to our characters’ so isn’t it amazing that they’re brothers? In that sense, it might be close to miraculous.

Akira: The two of us love Higekiri and Hizamaru, so now there are more things that we deliberately try to match.

Hiroki: At first it was so hectic we couldn’t do that, though.

Akira: Back then, in between performances, we also had rehearsals for Shinken Ranbu Sai (a show with the Touken Danshi who’ve appeared in Toumyu), so it was all we could do to just remember what to do.

Hiroki: It feels like there was a long time when we’d do something and then get scolded and do it over again, without getting to a place where we could think with our own heads.

Akira: Acting as Hizamaru became fun during last year’s Shinken Ranbu Sai 2018. In the meantime, I’d been in different productions and then come back to the character, so my own perceptions had changed.

Hiroki: Even from being next to you, I understood that. You really seemed to be having fun then.

Akira: It’s like, I thought about getting to meet Hizamaru again, and it made me really happy.

Hiroki: I definitely had fun, too. But with the role of Higekiri, from early on, playing him didn’t feel awkward at all. You could say I got used to it without hesitating.

Akira: It was purely fun for me to play Hizamaru, too. Especially the banter between the two brothers, which is the kind of fun you can’t create alone, I really love that. When the laughter comes from the audience and I’m onstage, as Hizamaru I think, “Why are they laughing?” but when I go into the wings of the stage having made them laugh, it makes me happy.

Hiroki: Having had some time since the first Tsuwamono domo ga yume no ato performances, I feel like I know the role more deeply. Having continued acting as the same character for a long time, I think it’s interesting that there are some things which have now come into view.

Akira: After the shows finished too, there were many chances to ‘head to the front lines,’ with music programs and such.

Hiroki: Like Kohaku Uta Gassen, right. Akira’s dancing then was so cool, I replayed the video recording of it so many times. It’s something that’s not in my own repertoire.

Akira: On that topic, I was really moved and a little surprised by how high-level Hiroki’s vibrato had become in one year. Also, his sidelong glances are sexy.

Hiroki: What the heck is that (laugh). But even though the two of us were different types from the start, aren’t we going more and more in the opposite direction?

Akira: I’ve thought that too.

Hiroki: If it had been a different production, I think we might not have gotten along as well. To begin with, we both basically felt like ‘solo players.’

Akira: Yeah. But it feels only natural for us to go to battle as a pair instead of solo. I want people who come to watch us to think, “Of course, it’s good with the two of them together.”

Hiroki: It’s a battle with just the two swords, so I’d like to show more of their brotherly relationship.

=== [[ DO NOT REPOST IN FULL. If you’d like to use this translation anywhere, please link back to this blog/page or otherwise credit yeouya @ tumblr OR kitsuneeyan @ twitter. At the very least, don’t claim this as your own work. ]]