Ideal was a GRAPH feature where stars talk about their ideals versus reality in a variety of scenarios. Miya’s was published in the February 2019 issue.
IDEAL – Miya Rurika
What are the stars’ ideals!?
We approach the topic from many angles!
SLEEP
Ideal: A king-size bed with lots of cats sleeping on it, so even though there’s tons of space I still don’t have much room…I want to experience that sensation while I’m sleeping (laughs). “I’m right here and I can’t toss and turn…” that kind of thing. Even four [cats] would be totally welcome! My ideal is to fall asleep to the smell of toebeans (laughs). Also, I’d want to sleep for 8 hours!
Reality: I do sleep in a pretty large bed, but since of course my cat Luce will always come over I’ll end up driven to the very edge (laughs). And by the time I notice Luce will be pressed up against me so I try my best not to bother her. My cat overlord (laughs). As for sleep time, especially during rehearsals I have so much to do that it ends up getting shorter and shorter…
FOOD
Ideal: I love homemade food, especially traditional dishes, so my ideal would be being able to whip something up with what I had in my refrigerator. But that’s too unrealistig (laughs), so I’d be happy if someone could make them for me, and most of all I’d like to be able to relax and eat without having to pay attention to the time. I’m not good with Western dishes or fatty foods like yakiniku, so what I’d like to eat every day is sushi! In particular, if I could have konbu-cured white fish that would just be the best (laughs).
Reality: I can at least make miso soup every morning by this point. I put in pork and bean sprouts a lot. I work hard at putting in a lot of ingredients so that I’m getting plenty of vegetables and protein, but to tell the truth a lot of the time I just bolt it down without tasting them at all (laughs). Oh, my special talent is cooking fried eggs to the perfect hardness! My current fad is to eat them with dashi soy sauce!
STAGE MAKEUP
Ideal: What I long to do is use stage makeup to transform my rather cool-looking eyes to manly almond eyes. I’m so jealous of people with a strong “makeup sense”!
Reality: My eyes are large so it makes the eye makeup really difficult. People say “You have it easy since you don’t have to draw them out so much,” but if I draw the liner without thinking my eyes turn completely round. So I make it really thin at the inner corner, and then gradually thicker and thicker towards the outside…I plan it really carefully while I’m drawing so it ends up taking a lot of time. With eyeshadow too, I’m totally dedicated to getting a beautiful gradation without defined lines between colors. I found a brush that blends really well so I was advertising it to everyone to a startling extent, but I was told “That might work for Ruri-chan’s (Miya’s) eyes, but…) (laughs)
REHEARSAL
Ideal: I try to understand my role as much as I can before rehearsals start, but I’m the type of person who can’t internalize a character without putting in steady effort and piling on practice. So I’m deeply jealous when I see people who are gifted with the intuition that lets it come instantly, who seem to be possessed by their characters as soon as rehearsals start.
Reality: It’s still time consuming for me, no matter how much my year level increases, so I think there’s nothing to be done about it now (laughs). I’m trying the tactic of “Abandoning my own value system and affirming the character’s way of thinking”, but it doesn’t progress the way I want. At times like this I just write the lines and feelings down on paper. With that, I can understand the meaning of my acting partners’ lines more deeply, and my way of delivering my own lines changes as well. Well, it just takes time, basically (laughs).
PHOTOSHOOTS
Ideal: I love portrait photoshoots, so I’ll bring beautiful advertisements and such to use as reference. If I think about my own aesthetic they have a tendency to turn into really decadent portraits, but if I was going to do something in a totally different style…I’d like to challenge myself with something like a “sassy pop” style, riding in the big shopping cart in an American supermarket or something.
Reality: When I was a junior actress I was so happy to appear in Kageki or GRAPH. I’ve been particular about it even back then, and Suzumi (Shio)-san, who’s really fashionable, would give me advice and loan me things, so I learned so much.
FASHION
Ideal: I wear what I want to wear, so I think I’m pretty close to my ideal. But actually, I do dream of the more, I guess, eccentric looks that I could try if I wasn’t an otokoyaku, like for example shaving my head (laughs). I love how Natsuki Mari puts herself out there just as she is and isn’t trying to please anybody. Like how she premiered an original dance work at a temple–I admire her whole lifestyle.
Reality: I like things with quirky designs. Though when if comes time to wear them I’ll sometimes worry “How can I match this…” sometimes when I challenge myself by matching something up with a piece where “It definitely won’t match this!” I’ll end up with a surprisingly fun outfit, too. I will often buy clothes because I’m moved by the designer’s own feelings, so when I’ll be asked something like “What’s up with those clothes!?” I’ll be really happy, like “Right! I think so too!” (laughs)
DAYS OFF
Ideal: This is more like a ‘vacation’ than a ‘day off’ but I’d like to have the experience of spending say 3 months doing absolutely nothing (laughs). Like, what would my brain turn into with nothing to do! (laughs) When I’m in the theatre I’m not really conscious of the flow of time, so I’d like to spend a whole day feeling the sun on my body. And then, if we go to a more realistic dream, right now I’m really interested in the hot springs in Kumamoto, and I’m in the middle of looking up all kinds of things about them, so I’d really like to do sometime soon (laughs).
Reality: I focus on maintaining my body with things like massages. Also, when I’m in rehearsals I don’t have time to spend playing with Luce. She’s clearly upset so I’ll spend as much time with her as I can…is what I think, but early in the morning she’ll come and bite and pull my hair demanding her food, so I wish she’d let me sleep a bit more (laughs).
ROOM
Ideal: Even though do everything on my sofa and the table in front of it, I’d actually like to have a proper meal at a dining table sitting in a wooden chair (laughs). But I struggle to resist the lure of the sofa, so it still ends up like this…
Reality: This was a while ago, but the apartment I moved into didn’t have that “all the wallpaper is white!” aesthetic, but a section was emerald green so it was a really stylish atmosphere, like a French apartment. So I have a white table and a pale grey sofa, and all the other furniture is very simple.
OTOKOYAKU
Ideal: Though as a junior actress I was of course very orthodox I really longed to have unique roles. I always wished one day to have the kinds of roles that would make people say “The show was so much more fun because of that character”.
Reality: Recently I’ve been given so many unique roles. Sweetheart, in BADDY, is genderless1, and I started to think of things in new ways within myself, and got a lot of other motivation from that role. On the other hand, I’ve moved so far away from orthodox-style otokoyaku roles that I’m rarely even entangled in love affairs (laughs). Count Alexei Vronsky, in Anna Karenina, is the first time in a while that I’ve had a character who passionately pursues the love directly in front of him. Even though I’m such a senior performer right now it’s exposing how new I am to love scenes, so right now I’m totally adrift (laughs).
My Ideal Takarasiennes
Mirio-chan (Asumi Rio)’s personality and face that make everybody love her.
She hs a uniquely loveable personality and no matter what she did anybody would forgive her. That hasn’t changed since she was in the music school, and in fact I feel like it only went up while she was in Moon Troupe (laughs).
Kouzuki (Ruu)-san’s super posititve mentality.
Ayakaze Sakina-chan’s cute outfits that show off her socks ✨
Daimon (Nozomi Fuuto)’s acting where she suddenly explodes
That ‘switch’ is just incredible! The way the voltage of her anger or hatred suddenly rises is one of her talents.
Suzukaze Mayo-san’s vocal cords and the way she uses her eyes 💖
Kurenai (Yuzuru)-san and Makaze-san’s long almond eyes.
Ryou-chan (Tamaki Ryou)’s reassuring hands
When I was in a female role or other situations where she’s lifted me, I felt such acceptance coming from her the moment she took my hands. I’m sure those hands would excite anyone!
Okinawa native Kurea-chan (Remi Kurea)’s ‘island time’.
No, she’s just, incredible.
I Want!!
I want to go to a BTS concert!
I want a living room over 100 square metres!
I want to just experience that huge space (laughs).
Luce, please sit on my lap, just once!
Alas, it’s never happened even once…
I want to go to Amalfi!
This is of course the effect of the movie Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess (laughs).
I want an unlimited shopping spree in Isetan Shinjuku2!
I’ve gone into so many great stores there!
I want to be buried in cats!
1 – This is the exact word Miya Rurika used (transliterated English).
2 – A high fashion shopping center in Tokyo.