This article about Nanami Hiroki’s new album was published by TOKYOweb on June 29, 2021. The original article was written by Yamagishi Toshiyuki [estimated name reading] and can be found here (archive link here).

Please note that at time of translating the album was still unreleased, so some context was not available.

Former Takarazuka otokoyaku star Nanami Hiroki releasing her 3rd album “FIVESTAR”

Former Takarazuka Revue otokoyaku star, Nanami Hiroki, will release the mini-album FIVESTAR on July 7th. She says “I hope it can help everyone look forward and cheer them up” during the days affected by COVID-19.

Nanami retired from Takarazuka in March of 2019, leading to her new start as “unlabled Nanami” rather than “otokoyaku Nanami”. Besides her musical activities, she’s been gathering experience as an an actor*, voice actor, radio personality, and more. Looking back, she says “I was totally swept up and plunged ahead recklessly” in the slightly over 2 years since her retirement.

This new release, which is her third album, contains the meaning that she will continue to challenge herself while being true to herself, and features 5 tracks themed around ‘challenge’. Nanami is credited as a collaborator on the lyrics for one of the songs, DARKNESS, which has a feeling of being able to run forever.

The song’s hook, ‘Fly on, fly on,’ “is something I want to put into words more in this third year (since retirement),” she says energetically, stating firmly “My desires to face down the future and take on new challenges as I open a new path are only getting stronger with each year.”

“I love the feeling that everyone is enjoying [my work],” she smiles. “I’ve felt even more keenly these past two years that having people enjoy [what I do] is what gives my life meaning,” she says. She also says that her interactions with fans on her social media accounts she created after retirement gives her energy.

Regarding the future, she concludes with a smile “With each and every [new project] I want to advance even further and broaden my abilities to express myself.”

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* Nanami specifically uses the masculine term ‘actor’; ‘actor’ vs ‘actress’ is much more heavily delineated in Japanese entertainment.