So you know how I said I wasn’t going to post on Fridays for a while unless there was a major news event…

This article was published on Sankei West on March 13, 2019. (Archive link here.) Check the original article for photos.

Flower Troupe Top Star Asumi Rio’s retirement press conference

Takarazuka Revue Flower Troupe Top Star Asumi Rio, who announced that she would be retiring as of November 24, held a press conference in Osaka on the 13th. Asumi declared “I’ve come to love Takarazuka even more. Until the very end, I want to continue to develop as the otokoyaku I always yearned to be, and give everything I have onstage to make Flower Troupe an even better troupe.” During the press conference, despite tearing up many times, she looked forward with determination.

Asumi, who was wearing a pure white pants suit, was in tears from her first greeting. “Thank you so much for coming today, everyone,” she said, her voice shaking.

She is retiring after a long 5 and a half year period as Top Star. She said that the truth was “the junior actresses are all giving their all, too. I felt from early on that if I stayed there forever it might make everyone feel a bit awkward.”

Around that time, she was able to have her greatest experience as an actor with her highly acclaimed role in last year’s The Poe Family. “I just gave myself over to the role, and somehow naturally it felt like the whole troupe was moving forward together. I feel like [my character of] Edgar might have miraculously let me calm down and look at the rest of the troupe. I thought ‘They’ll be okay even if I’m not here’,” she said.

At the same time, her performance partner, Senna Ayase, who will be retiring as of April 28th, informed her of her intentions to retire. Therefore, she determined to see Senna off before her own retirement. “I think there are fans who would have wanted the two of us to retire together. But since she really did so much for me–” her voice became choked with tears. “Like the other musumeyaku who have been by my side supporting me until now, I wanted her to be the star and sparkle in her farewell show, and I wanted to send her off like a princess. I was so happy to see her like that.”

She informed her comrades in the troupe on March 10th, the day before the final [Takarazuka Grand Theatre] performance of CASANOVA. Since she had been in the position for so long, “I’m sure everyone felt like it was coming sooner or later, so most likely it didn’t come as that much of a surprise, but when I told them everyone cried…” she said, starting to cry again as she remembered. “It made me happy that they would cry so much for me. I felt so much love for them I could hardly bear it.”

She revealed her plans to her classmate and Top Star of Snow Troupe, Nozomi Fuuto, at the time of last year’s Takarazuka Special in December. “[I told her] since it was a dressing room for just the two of us. I started crying…” she said, thinking back.

Director of the Takarazuka Revue, Ogawa Tomotsugu, who joined Asumi at the press conference, said “She has such grace, and personality, and such an ability to attract customers. As Top Star, she had her 9 shows in the Grand Theatre over 100% audience capacity, which is unprecedented in the history of Takarazuka. We are very grateful to her for working so hard in such a dainty body,” he said, praising her as the Top Star who promoted ‘the Takarazuka of the New Century’. Asumi smiled, saying “It’s not just because of my efforts. I’ll pass that message on to the rest of the girls in the troupe.”

Asumi is from Shizuoka. She had her debut in the 15th year of Heisei [2003], and was assigned to Moon Troupe. She quickly attracted attention due to her handsome appearance and high vocal skills, and had her first Bow Hall lead role and junior performance lead role in Heisei 20 [2008]. In Heisei 24 [2012], when her classmate Ryuu Masaki was appointed Top Star, she became ‘demi-Top Star’. She exchanged lead roles in the Grand Theatre with Ryuu during performances.

In Heisei 25 [2013] she was transferred to Flower Troupe. In Heisei 26 [2014] she became Top Star of Flower Troupe. She evolved even further as an otokoyaku. Possessing both a unique dainty, fairylike beauty, as well as the traditional manliness of Flower Troupe, she created a new model for the Takarazuka otokoyaku. In Heisei 27 [2015] she starred in the Revue’s second tour of Taiwan, and last year [2018] the first stage adaptation of The Poe Family was a great success. Soon, in June of this year, she will star in the Revue’s first production in the Yokahama Arena.

As Top Star of Flower Troupe, she declared that the ‘little hard things’ she had experienced “all became put towards the future performances, and helped me become who I am now.” A huge turning point for her was her transfer in Heisei 25. “Leaving Moon Troupe, where I was raised, was really painful,” she said, her voice shaking as tears began to fall. However, immediately afterwards, “when I came to Flower Troupe, and became a Flower Troupe Otokoyaku, being able to work hard since I thought ‘I need to become a performer who isn’t an embarrassment as Top Star of Flower Troupe’…” She wiped her tears again and looked upwards. “I think that was the happiest thing in my Takarazuka life,” she said.

During her time as ‘demi-Top’ of Moon Troupe, she performed alternate lead roles in the Grand Theatre. “I was able to approach the same show from multiple angles. And since I worked so hard then, I gained the inner strength to be able to feel like any little thing was alright,” she said. She said she also was able to experience how great then-Moon Troupe Top Star Ryuu was. “I’m really grateful to her,” she said.

After her retirement, she said “I will have to look for a job. Since otherwise I won’t be able live,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t have a license, so I would like to go to driving school,” she said with a smile. Upon being asked the customary question about whether she had plans to marry, she burst into a smile. “I don’t have any knowledge on that front yet.”

It turns out that some time ago, she had a palm reading done in Taiwan. “They told me that I had a lot of marriage lines. But I think that since I had so many wives [performance partners] in Takarazuka, I must have used them all up.” She smiled thinking back on the 4 performance partners she has had in her time as Top Star: Ranno Hana, Kano Maria, Senna, and Hana Yuuki.

Finally, she addressed her fans, saying “Since all of you were there, I was able to do my best to become a wonderful otokoyaku and try to show you different sides of myself. I’m full of gratitude.”

Her retirement performance will be A Fairy Tale—Spirit of the Blue Rose (writer/director: Ueda Keiko) / CHARME! (creator/director: Inaba Daichi). The performance will run in the Takarazuka Grand Theatre from August 23 to September 30, and in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre from October 18 to November 24.