This article about Senna Ayase’s retirement press conference was published by Sankei West on October 16th. The original article with pictures can be found here. (Archive link here.)

Takarazuka Flower Troupe Musumeyaku Top Senna Ayase at retirement press conference – “Being here right now has made me so happy”

Takarazuka Revue Flower Troupe Musumeyaku Top, Senna Ayase, who has announced that she will be retiring on April 28th of next year, held a press conference on the 16th in Takarazuka City, Hyogo. “I was aware of my upcoming retirement from the moment I was appointed [as Musumeyaku Top],” said Senna, discussing the particulars of her retirement.

“Since I’m graduating, I’m wearing white,” Senna said, making her appearance in a pure white one-piece dress. “I’ve watched everyone’s [retirement] press conferences on TV or through the media, so it’s a strange feeling to be here myself now,” she said with a smile.

Senna is from Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture. She entered the Takarazuka Revue as the top of her class in the 20th year of the Heisei era [2008], and was assigned to Flower Troupe. She has left an impression as an artistically accomplished musumeyaku, with high level abilities in singing, acting, and dance. In Heisei 29 [2017]—in her 9th year since joining the company, a late bloom—she was appointed as Top Musumeyaku, becoming Top Star Asumi Rio’s third partner.

“As I became Musumeyaku Top in my 9th year,” she said she was aware of her upcoming retirement from the moment she was appointed. “Being here [in Takarazuka], and existing here, I’ve been supported by so many people, and my opportunities to feel the love from everyone have increased. So I gradually began to feel ‘maybe this is the time’ deep in my heart.” She determined to retire at the moment of her highest fulfillment.

She discussed her course of action with Top Star Asumi Rio for a long time. When she told her of her decision during the production of The Poe Family earlier this year, Asumi told her “If that is Yuki-chan’s [Senna’s] decision. Let’s make this a great production that’s a worthy culmination of your career.” She said that she told the rest of her colleagues in the troupe after the final performance of the run that ended on the 14th.

If it was at all possible, she met her classmates in person in order to inform them of her retirement face-to-face. She was unable to meet with Moon Troupe’s Top Star, Tamaki Ryou, and so notified her by phone. “You’ve given it your all, good work,” she said Tamaki told her. Dancing with Tamaki during last year’s year-end ‘Takarazuka Special’ performance, where all the Top Stars appear, is an unforgettable memory for her. “It’s very rare for classmates’ Top Otokoyaku and Top Musumeyaku periods to overlap. It was like a miracle, and I was so happy. I was able to do my best because Tamaki was there,” she said.

She said that when she made the decision to graduate, she found herself looking back on the 11 years she has spent as a member of Takarazuka. “‘What a wonderful place this is,’ I thought. Through all the hopes and uncertainties, I’ve grown as a person,” she said.

There was one thing she swore to herself as a musumeyaku. “I told myself that I would never feel as if I have to make excuses for the fact that I have had less experience playing a heroine. Ever since I was a junior actress, I’ve felt that I should take encouragement from everything, and I’ve wanted to be true to myself as a musumeyaku and as an actor.” Therefore, as someone who put in so much hard work, she has one thing that she wants to convey to the next generation. “Don’t forget what a happy thing it is to be in Takarazuka,” she declared. “Since I’ve been raised in Flower Troupe this whole time, I hope that I can keep learning until the end,” she said.

Her final performance is the original two-act show CASANOVA. It runs in the Takarazuka Grand Theatre from February 8 to March 11, and in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre from March 29 to April 8. She will retire with the final performance in Tokyo.