This interview was published in GRAPH in the December 2021 issue.
Aizuki Hikaru Last Interview
Your final performance has now opened. How does it feel?
I’m just rushing around every day and desperately trying to survive, so it still doesn’t feel real (laughs). But when I hear what everyone thinks I feel really glad I’m retiring with this performance. In the play my character could be called a ‘final boss villain’, the kind of role I could never have played without my experiences up to this point, and the revue is also full of the otokoyaku archetypes many of the fans have been wanting to see. I’m so thankful to the creative staff.
Can you look back on your days as a junior actress?
Once I was assigned to Cosmos Troupe, among my classmates only the girls with the highest grades could join the large ensemble numbers, so I had a long while where I had no appearances or cast roles. It gave me an inferiority complex, but I hate losing, so I used that frustration as a springboard to motivate myself. “First I just have to get the highest grades in the troupe!” And then at ken-3 I got a big role, Major Strasser (main cast: Yuumi Hiro) in the junior performance of Casablanca. Of course I was happy, but also it was so sudden that I started shaking when the cast list came out. The next year I encountered a treasured role, Josiah in TRAFALGAR. I played the star, Oozora (Yuuhi)-san’s stepson, so being able to act together with Yuuhi-san every day was a huge asset for me. In the junior performance I played Napoleon (main cast: Ranju Tomu), and he was so fun to play since his huge ambition overlapped with my own feelings back then. I was also happy to be able to play one of Ranju-san’s characters, so this production is really a treasure for me.
In 2010 you had the lead role in the junior performance of For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Yuuhi-san’s character of Robert had such a wonderful mature atmosphere of manly generosity. It was near to the ideal kind of otokoyaku I wanted to play, but at ken-4 it was obviously impossible to play him the same way that Yuuhi-san could. For junior performances, I start by imitating the main cast performer, since they’ve thought about the character more than anyone else, and then deepening the role from there, but now that I think back on it it didn’t even come to the level of an imitation.
You played lead roles 4 times in junior performances. Did you feel any pressure?
I didn’t know enough to be scared during For Whom the Bell Tolls and my second lead junior performance, A Beautiful Life, so it gave me a lot of unfounded confidence. But the more experience I gained the more fear was planted in me, and I started to fret over what the people around me thought, so I started to lose confidence steadily. But even so, when I felt a good reaction or people told me ‘that was good!’ it always gave me a feeling of accomplishment I could carry into the next junior performance, so I must have had a calm side somewhere.
After that, Ouki Kaname succeeded as Top Star of Cosmos Troupe.
One memorable thing around this time was my role of Oberstein in The Legend of Galactic Heroes @ TAKARAZUKA junior performance (main cast: Yuumi Hiro). It was a deep role with such a strong sense of presence, and if I think about it now, I feel like the roots of my ‘Death’ in Romeo et Juliette were born with him. I developed the role thinking that I wanted to convey everything with just one eye movement, and this actually came through to my seniors who came to watch, so I was so happy when they praised me. I also learned so much from The Count of Monte Cristo. In the junior performance I played Edmond (main cast: Ouki) and in the main cast I played his son, Albert, so I was able to consider how Edmond thinks about his son from his point of view, and this also contributed to the general performances as well. In the junior performance there were a lot of scenes where I used different disguises and changed my voice, which was hard, but I feel like what I learned there helped build a foundation I could use to create unique characters afterward.
After graduating from junior performances, you had your first Bow Hall lead in SANCTUARY at ken-8.
Rika-san (Ouki) told me that ‘How you spend the time right after graduating from junior performances will decide the path of your life in Takarazuka’. You get a lot more time to work with, but it doesn’t mean that your appearances in the main cast suddenly increase, so I tried to keep myself from stagnating, find what I wanted myself to be and pursue that. I’d always thought that I wanted to do a Bow Hall lead, so when it was decided I was honestly really happy. When I heard the general outline I thought I was playing a pure young nobleman, but it turned out he was actually a ‘wild’ protagonist who wore nothing but black clothes (laughs). Starting around there I began to enjoy playing manly roles, and I started thinking ‘Wait, maybe this character type is actually more suited to me!?’. My dependable seniors supported me through this show, which I feel allowed me to experience the intense world of the show. And I think above all, that show came together because I had Reimi (Urara), who is someone I’ve grown alongside with and has an acting spirit, as my partner.
After that you brightened the stage with a broad variety of character types.
I had always longed to play Takarazuka-esque, elegant otokoyaku, so I was startled to find myself playing comedic roles (laughs). The comic role of Beddini in TOP HAT left a big impression on me in particular. Asaka (Manato)-san had seen the overseas version, and she told me ‘How funny Beddini is determines the fun of the whole show!’, so I kept struggling to get a grasp on the role. There were lots of ad-libs as well, so I overthought things too earnestly and to be honest I ended up driving myself into a corner to the point that I broke out in hives (laughs). But after I overcame that it seemed like something changed in me…or, maybe it’s thanks to that the door to the comedic path was opened to me (laughs). So I think that succeeding in the role of Beddini was hugely valuable to me. Ever since then, I started to feel a strong desire that rather than being known as an ‘otokoyaku’, I wanted to be known as an ‘actor’ who was indispensable to the work.
And then, at ken-10, you played Lucheni in Elisabeth: Rondo of Love and Death.
To be honest, this role was such a heavy burden for me at the time that it’s painful even to look back on it. I kept struggling with the character development, and I couldn’t figure out what the right way to do it was at all… After the Grand Theatre run ended, Director Koike suggested that I go and see [the Toho production of] Elisabeth in Hakata. When I saw Songha’s Lucheni it was hugely motivating. I thought “So he’s even going this far!” and it felt like I was released somehow. Starting from there I was able to relax a little, and I think in the end it was something of a turning point for me. Oh, by the way, I also invited Sorahane (Riku), who had been struggling in her role of Rudolf, to go to Hakata with me. We’re classmates who have been competing since we were junior actresses, and our consciousness has been united for years. Even though we hadn’t been able to discuss things in too much depth up until then, with that opportunity we were able to open up to each other thoroughly about our own thoughts… It felt like I was finally solving something.
You kept playing atypical roles, but among them, Rasputin in The Land of the Gods was particularly impactful.
What on earth did the directing staff think looking at me, I wonder (laughs). But with all my roles I’ve been told they know they can trust me to make it my own without shattering the framework of Takarazuka, and I think Rasputin is the ultimate example of that. I was surprised when Director Ueda (Kumiko) told me: ‘I want you to be such a decrepit old man that they won’t even know who you are from your voice’. But it was a joy to perform knowing that she had trusted me enough to give me this role. I think that without this experience I might not have been able to do Pugachev in Dark Brown Eyes or Death [in Romeo et Juliette].
After that was your lead role in Immortal Thorns.
According to Director Kimura, Eri is a character with a unique nature that he can’t entrust to just anyone. It was difficult to express Eri’s transformation as he lives on through the ages, and as it has so many songs I also relied a lot on music coach [name]’s advice, so somehow it all came together. I was so honored to be given the opportunity to revive a show that Haruno Sumire-san had premiered so wonderfully.
Even after Makaze-san succeeded as Top Star you continued broadening your horizons as an otokoyaku.
I feel like it was a miracle to encounter such a famous show as WEST SIDE STORY, in particular. And when it came time to actually perform it, everyone in the Sharks started to feel so dear to me. I think we were able to feel that unity specifically because we had been together in Cosmos Troupe forever, and every day felt so satisfying. Also I feel like if Zun-chan (Sakuragi) hadn’t been playing Anita my Bernard would never have become complete, that’s how much our feelings matched as we were acting. I came to love Bernard, since he was a character created together with my trusted friends.
At ken-12, when you had reached your phase of completion, your Senka transfer was decided. How did you feel at the time?
I can say this now, but I never imagined that I’d be transferred anywhere… More than anything I wanted to be a Cosmos Troupe forever, and be by Yurika-san’s (Makaze’s) side supporting her, and I didn’t know when I’d be on stage next if I was in Senka… And being able to perform in Dark Brown Eyes as my final [Cosmos Troupe] performance was so emotional. The scene where I looked at Yurika-san and said “I wonder how we’re going to meet next, us two” and then we parted with a hug, also overlapped with us personally, and it felt like destiny.
You had many unique encounters after moving to Senka.
I think appearing with Star Troupe for my first [Senka] performance caused a huge shift in my destiny. Also, I learned so much from being able to perform with so many OGs in Yoshizaki Eiji and Okada Keiji’s Romantic Concert. The two-day run was so densely packed that I thought ‘this must be why I became a Senka member’. In Paris Festival 2019 everyone was working so hard to follow me, even the girls who were just ken-1 at the time. Seeing them all trying so hard to learn from the experience even though it was such a short time made me so happy, and I feel like it was a wonderful opportunity.
After a little under a year you transferred from Senka to Star Troupe.
The moment the troupe transfer was settled, I decided that I wanted to call an end after 3 productions1 and put all my energy towards those… Since I could see the goal approaching, I was able to do my best without letting up for a moment, and I felt I needed to leave behind something…something of my ‘shine’, or whatever, while I was still in the company. The first was Romeo et Juliette. Though I wavered when I had the double role of Tybalt and Death, I remembered the frustration from Elisabeth, and I also thought ‘I’m going to make Director Koike approve of these two completely different characters if it’s the last thing I do!’ When he first watched me actually playing Death in the rehearsals he praised me and said it was exactly what he expected… In that moment I felt really strongly that all my experiences had led up to this. I heard so many reactions from the audience, and I really felt that I’d left some traces of myself behind, so I thought ‘I’ve done it’. And now I’m standing onstage for my retirement production, and it’s a show that is so perfect for me that I feel ‘Of course I’ve ended up here. Maybe it was all destined from the beginning.’ I’m so happy to have this at the very end.
Please give us a message for everyone who has supported you.
These years have been so eventful, so when I imagine how the fans must feel I’m just…I’m sure they must think about me even more than I do myself, and I suppose there must be people who are crying over me. Also, I’m full of gratitude to every single person who has followed me because they like me as an otokoyaku or because they like my way of life. Though I regret that under these circumstances I can only convey my thanks from the stage2, I’ve walked this path to get here since I love Takarazuka, and I have no regrets for myself. I’m putting all my heart onstage in hopes that people will feel ‘I don’t want to forget how she looks now for all my life’, so if you will all remember me that way as well I will be very happy.
Outtake photos
1 – She was in 5 total productions as a Star Troupe member (not counting her Senka appearance with Star Troupe in The Man from Algiers), but seems to be counting the Grand Theatre productions only here.
2 – Though normally performers have many opportunities to interact with supporters, such as at stagedoor activities or ‘tea parties’, most fan activities were canceled during this time due to COVID-19.