This talk is from the June 2017 issue of Kageki.
Sparkling TIME: Nozomi Fuuto and Seto Kazuya
Nozomi: I was so happy when I heard I’d be doing a photoshoot with Akira (Seto) who I was together with during my time in Flower Troupe, so I was really looking forward to this, and I put more spirit into it than I usually do. I had to since Akira is so handsome (laughs).
Seto: I got so excited the moment they told me, I was like ‘Thank you so much!!!’ (laughs) However, once the photoshoot started I was a bit nervous…
Nozomi: Definitely. At the start they were taking pictures where our faces were really close so it was a bit heart-pounding.
Seto: In real life we were even closer than we look in the photos, so I’m still trying to hide how much my heart’s pounding (laughs).
Nozomi: But of course you would ace it, Akira.
Seto: What? Me? No, since Nozo (Nozomi)…if you don’t mind me calling you that (laughs), since Nozo was making such cool faces I kept watching from the corner of my eye (laughs). I had been debating whether to have my collar unbuttoned or not, but then Nozo was looking so stylish I was like ‘better open it up!’ (laughs)
Nozomi: I was thinking ‘If I don’t make a direct attack there’s no way I can compete with Akira,’ so that’s why I came like this, Senpai1.
Seto: Now, now… (laughs)
Nozomi: When I was an Upper Student at TMS, you were a Lower Student as well as a student council member, so at the start I was a bit strict and often got angry with you. When I was graduating you gave me a letter: ‘at first you were really scary’ you wrote (laughs).
Seto: (laughs) You must have been like ‘that’s too honest!’ (laughs) But Nozo was so pretty that even when you would scold me and I’d lower my head to apologize, when I’d look up again I’d think ‘Wow~ She’s so pretty~’ (laughs)
Nozomi: (laughs) I’ve treasured that letter and the towel you gave me with my stage name embroidered into it ever since. And then when you were transferred to Flower Troupe I was so happy. ‘There’s going to be someone so cool under me’ I thought.
Seto: That’s too much… Despite the crowd of senior actresses, you were able to appear in a lot of different scenes even as a very junior actress. While I’d been watching and looking up to you as an Upper Student, after spending a year in the Revue proper you seemed a much different, much bigger person. Nozo taught me so much about being an otokoyaku and being a person, and it’s my goal to be like you. Since there’s one class difference between us you’re so close and yet, so far… I’m also really happy that there was someone like you there for me.
Nozomi: Ever since you were a Ken-1 you had very clear goals for what kind of otokoyaku you wanted to be and you were really cool, so I felt like I had to work harder as well. If I started relaxing I’d think ‘Akira is right behind me!’ (laughs)
Seto: What, really? (laughs) I was striving to achieve the level you and Maa-sama (Asaka Manato), who was in Flower Troupe then, were at.
Nozomi: You tend to internalize things and not show your emotions, but you do get nervous too. When I saw that concern and weakness from Akira I became really fond of you. Speaking of that, we were both in Yuu’s (Matobu Sei) dinner show2 together. There was an earthquake…that was really frightening.
Seto: I wasn’t able to sleep alone at the hotel…
Nozomi: But you couldn’t bring yourself to say it.
Seto: That’s right.
Nozomi: We had all taken refuge in Yuu-san’s room, but when it was all over and time for us to start going back to our own rooms, I couldn’t take it any more and said ‘I can’t sleep by myself!’
Seto: At that moment I was thinking deep inside ‘It’s no fair you can admit that since you’re a senior actress! But I can’t say anything!’ I was really shakily getting ready to go back to my own room despite how scared I was, but…
Nozomi: I was like ‘Akira~!’
Seto: You called out to me (laughs).
Nozomi: We slept together with Maa-sama in her room, right?
Seto: That’s right! Another show that had a deep impression on me was New Wave! ~Flower~. Rehearsing the choreography day after day was totally exhausting. There’s a picture of me and Nozo and Kiki (Serika Toa) collapsed on the floor…I’ll never forget it.
Nozomi: I’m never going to forget that you cried, either.
Seto: (bursts out laughing)
Nozomi: That day there was a ton of hard choreography you had to work on and I was thinking ‘this might be about as much as Akira can take.’ And then the moment that was over you grabbed a towel and the next thing I noticed was you sitting ve~ry quietly in the corner of the rehearsal room.
Seto: I think I might have gone under the piano or something (laughs).
Nozomi: I thought ‘Maybe it would be best to just let her cry this time.’ But we all started whispering to each other ‘look, Akira’s crying’ (laughs). Also, I’m sorry, but I ended up telling that to some of the Snow Troupe junior actresses. Since they kept saying ‘This is so hard~ It’s so hard~’ I told them about Akira.
Seto: ‘Go ahead and cry’? (laughs) It was really a hard time when you transferred troupes.
Nozomi: I wanted to tell all of you in the class below me myself so I called all of you together.
Seto: I was so sad, but at the same time I knew there was a wonderful future waiting for you in Snow Troupe. So even though I was crying really hard I was also like ‘we’ll give you a good send-off!’
Nozomi: Since by the time I became a senior actress all my classmates had left and I was alone in the troupe, so Akira and all the others in your class really helped me out a lot…
Seto: I wasn’t always able to call you ‘Nozo’ but it’s been 10 years, so do you think it fits now?
Nozomi: The distance between us has gotten a lot closer. We’ve always been as close as classmates so I was really sad to split up. But since we have such a deep bond, when I see everyone working hard it makes me want to work hard too. We go to see each other’s shows and such a lot.
Seto: Yes! (raising her hand eagerly) I went to see La Esmeralda twice. (laughs)
Nozomi: That’s right, you did!
Seto: The first time I went, during the parade in the finale, you were already on the stairs singing by the time I noticed what was going on. I thought ‘I didn’t get too see the whole sequence before she came down the stairs! That’s no good, I have to go again!’ (laughs)
Nozomi: And you really did come to see it again.
Seto: Around that time was when they decided I would get a Bow Hall show3, and I made sure to let you know right away.
Nozomi: I was really happy, and I’m glad I was able to go see it. During the show I was caught up in the story, but when I saw Akira in the tailcoat for the finale I was like ‘Is it really happening???’ I kept thinking ‘This is the finale of Akira’s lead show that everyone rejoiced about from the bottom of their hearts, I can’t react like this, it’s not fair’ while I was crying.
Seto: You cried so much that you were exhausted and had to rest in the green room…I was so happy. I was also thrilled when it was decided that Nozo would be becoming Top. I’m looking forward to seeing all the different shows filled with your personality, and with this motivation I also want to work to become more intense as an otokoyaku–but not just intense. I want to challenge myself to become a performer suited to any scenario. Therefore I’m really happy that Nozo will be becoming top.
Nozomi: Thank you. I’m honestly a bit worried about Akira. In Flower Troupe everyone is very proud of the traditions they’re upholding, and you keep a close eye on what’s going on below you so I’m worried you might take too much on yourself. I told you once before ‘It’s fine for you to just be Akira.’
Seto: Yes!
Nozomi: Seeing you keep taking that to heart and looking forward to the new challenges in each performance also gives me a lot of motivation. I’m also really grateful to have been together with Akira for over ten years. I’m going to continue working hard, believing in myself and refusing to change the goals I’ve held until now.
1 – Term used to address school or work seniors; Seto is actually Nozomi’s junior so it’s a joking usage.
2 – Matobu Sei’s 2011 dinner show For You.
3 – I Love Einstein, 2017.