Ren Tsukasa’s column on the members of the 97th class was published in GRAPH through 2018. Her interview with Towaki Sea was published in the December issue.
Ren’s columns includes recipes! I haven’t tested them yet so I can’t guarantee results, but I’ve tried to make sure they are understandable.
REN’S KITCHEN – Towaki Sea (Snow Troupe)
Hello, everyone! It’s time to open REN’S KITCHEN for this month! This is the last installment…my guest is Snow Troupe’s Towaki Sea. Singing, dancing, acting, style…no matter what you look at she does it perfectly and she’s sparkling as an otokoyaku more and more!! I’m proud she’s my classmate 💖 I look forward to finding out what our conversation will be like! Let’s get started!!!
Final Guest – Towaki Sea (Snow Troupe)
About their costume theme
Ren: OK!!! (laughs)
Towaki: Please take care of me! (laughs)
Ren: It’s the last column now…
Towaki: I was waiting at the edge of my seat wondering ‘When will I get to go~’! I was like, I hope I can do it (laughs).
Ren: Really?? But of course you’d be in it!!!
Towaki: But you said early on “Let’s work together!” so… (laughs)
Ren: That’s right! I did say that right away (laughs).
Towaki: I’m so happy I’m safely able to appear~! (laughs)
Ren: First off, about the costume themes…we struggled with that a lot, right. We started with ‘Hitoko (Towaki), what do you like?’, like a food or a character…
Towaki: Right, right! And then since this is the December issue we decided ‘let’s do Christmas’!! (laughs)
Ren: We…we looked good, right? (laughs) I had trouble picturing Hitoko in costume, so… Even though there’s troupe books and such (laughs).
Towaki: I haven’t really had the chance to show it in magazines or anything, but I’ve always been really into dressing up so it doesn’t feel weird at all! (laughs)
Ren: I don’t know why but I was thinking ‘…is she ok with costumes?’ (laughs)
Towaki: I do it all the time so it’s fine!!! (laughs) I had fun 🎵
Ren: Because of the connection with Snow Troupe you were the snow man, and so I became the Christmas tree without further incident… (laughs)
Towaki: You looked good!!! (laughs) My legs stuck out a lot… (laughs)
Ren: Right! But your legs are beautiful so it’s fine!! (laughs)
First impressions of each other
Ren: My first impression… I’ve always wanted to talk about this!!!
Towaki: Sure. Say it!! I wonder if it’s the same?
Ren: I don’t know if you remember… (laughs)
Towaki: I remember!
Ren: It was the first stage of the Music School entrance exam.
Towaki: Oh, it was the first stage. Were we in the same group for the interview when they lined us up by height? Our year was the year they changed the exam structure and such.
Ren: Back then I checked over everyone to see what kind of people I was grouped with (laughs). I was looking from the tallest, and then when I went and thought “Oh? She’s so pretty, she must be my rival”, that was Hitoko (laughs).
Towaki: Really!? (laughs) I thought, ‘if I can beat the people on either side of me I’ll make it!’ (laughs). I remember Konomi (Ren) was in the line near me!! Weren’t you actually telling us how to line up? (laughs)
Ren: Was I? (laughs) I just said ‘let’s line up!!’ though (laughs).
Towaki: The only person I remembered out of that group was Konomi.
Ren: Same here!!! I thought, ‘I need to get to the next round with this person!’ and…we passed!!
Towaki: Right! After the announcement of results, I thought, oh, that girl I was with in round 1 is there. And then even after we entered the school I remember a lot of times when I was with you you’d be trying to get everyone to behave a lot…we got scolded all the time (laughs).
Ren: That takes me back~!! (laughs) That’s another connection we have, huh. Ever since we entered the school your style stood out and you could do everything, I really longed to be like you~ 💖 (laughs)
Towaki: Cut it out!! (laughs) I thought, ‘her legs are so slim~’. You had really pretty legs (laughs). Are we just mutually complimenting each other? (laughs)
Ren: Sometimes I give compliments too… (laughs)
Towaki: !! (bursts out laughing)
After being assigned to Snow Troupe…
Ren: Alright, let’s talk about what we think of each other’s performances since you were assigned to Snow Troupe!
Towaki: I actually go see Moon Troupe a lot…
Ren: It’s because you love Miya-san! I think you come the most of all my classmates (laughs).
Towaki: I’m like, I can’t miss seeing Miya-san perform! (laughs) And you played Miya-san’s roles a lot in junior casts, right, Konomi?
Ren: Yeah. I was able to do them many times.
Towaki: ‘That would be nice~’ I thought (laughs). I’m jealous!! And then when I’m like ‘There’s Miya-san!’ Konomi is there right next to her (laughs)
Ren: I’m sorry~ I’m coming between you… (laughs).
Towaki: After all, you watch your main cast member a ton to learn from them, right? The way they show themselves in dance scenes or the way they behave when acting… So that’s why you’re such a big presence!
Ren: Right! I think so too. Hitoko, you were the first in the class to get a lead role, so I ws really happy, and I can tell, when watching you perform with Snow Troupe, as you’ve experienced so many different things you’ve developed a powerful presence as an otokoyaku. How did it feel being assigned to Snow Troupe?
Towaki: First, being able to perform Chigi-san’s (Sagiri Seina) roles is such a big thing to me… Acting is an issue of the heart, so as I developed that I feel like I thought ‘there are a lot of things I can do’ and came to that realization. It might have been Chigi-san’s role in Maeda Keiji that made me think ‘Acting is so fun~ [music note]’. It was a hard role, but I learned a lot about drawing out emotion… I like traditional-style shows!
Ren: Snow Troupe does a lot of Japanese-style shows, too.
Towaki: Moon Troupe does a lot of western-style musicals, so I think that’s why you’re so amazing at dance, and why a lot of you love acting.
Ren: Right!
Towaki: We’ve both had experiences you’d hardly ever have otherwise so that’s something to be really grateful for!
Future goals
Towaki: Future goals…should we both talk about it?
Ren: Well~ Hitoko is the star here, but I’ll talk a little too!
Towaki: Since it’s been decided I’ll have a Bow Hall lead performance, I want to make sure I overcome that challenge thoroughly!
Ren: !!! (huge applause)
Towaki: Thank you!! Even in in Grand Theatre shows I’ve been in more small group scenes…
Ren: Right! You danced with Nozomi-san, just the two of you…
Towaki: Somehow, recently I’ve been feeling that I want to make my stage-name persona more defined. I want to bring out my own individuality and polish my otokoyaku skills in order to make the image of the otokoyaku ‘Towaki Sea’ distinct among all of Takarazuka!!
Ren: Is there something you want to challenge yourself with?
Towaki: Basically, until now in junior performances and such I’ve been able to challenge myself with manga characters and lots of different kinds of roles…in the end I just like acting! I wish I could tell that to my past self in Music School… (laughs). Therefore, I want to challenge myself with all different genres!! How about you, Konomi?
Ren: Since after graduating from junior performances, there are more things I can communicate to my own juniors and I’ll be seen more, so I want to define myself more ans an otokoyaku! I want to be somebody who leaves an impression within the show I’m performing in.
Towaki: Let’s both do our best!!
Ren: Yeah. Let’s go for it!!
About each other’s good points 💖
Ren: Alright, let’s talk about each other’s good points! (laughs) Like things that are fun, or..
Towaki: First off, you’re so funny!!! (laughs) Ever since we were in Music School (laughs).
Ren: I’ve never thought I was funny at all (laughs).
Towaki: Your jokes are fun and you have great comedic instincts! That’s not it… (laughs) Your way of thinking is different from other peoples’, in a good way, and I have the impression that you have clear goals and your consciousness isn’t just the same as the people around you.
Ren: You know, even in Music School I was jealous of the way your kindness drew in the people around you, and your personality? Aura? that made it easy to open up to you.
Hitoko: Thank you!
Ren: Also, your dancing was so wonderful, so… I think if I had a body like that, my world would be totally different~
Hitoko: I also feel like if I’d been able to raise my hand in acting class like Konomi, my world would be totally different! (laughs)
Ren: !! (bursts out laughing)
Yakiniku Cheerful Pasta
Ingredients (serves 2)
Pasta – 200g
Pork (sliced thin) – 130g
Onion – half
Cucumber – half
Ground soybean natto paste – 1 packet [the standard sales method of ground natto seems to be in multipacks, with each packet containing about 40g]
Yakiniku sauce – to taste
Cooking oil – a small amount
1) (initial prep) Slice the pork thinly, dice the onion, and soak them in the yakiniku sauce.
Shred the cucumber.
Stir the ground soybean natto paste thoroughly.
2) Boil water in a large pot, add a pinch of salt, and boil the pasta.
3) Heat cooking oil in a frying pan, add the marinated pork and onion, and fry adding yakiniku sauce to taste. (So it’s a bit salty…)
4) Add the cooked pasta to the cooked pork and onion in the frying pan and mix.
5) Put in a dish, add the ground soybean natto on top, and complete by topping with shredded cucumber!!
If you like spicy foods, try adding doubanjiang chili paste to the yakiniku sauce!
Outtake photo
