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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nPlease start by introducing yourself!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m Ren Tsukasa, from Moon Troupe. My nicknames are Renkon or Konochan, and I’m from Oosaki, in Miyagi Prefecture. Actually, I’m the only currently performing otokoyaku from Miyagi Prefecture. When I was little my voice was so loud I didn’t even know how to whisper, and if there was a ‘loudness ranking’ for Moon Troupe I’d confidently put myself at the top (laughs). My special skill is that once I’ve been somewhere once I can always get there again! Even if it’s somewhere I’ve never been before I can get there without getting lost as long as I have a map. My hobbies are cooking and eating delicious foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the reasoning behind your stage name?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought about it with my brother. The lotus [‘\u84ee’, one reading is ‘Ren’] can put down strong roots and bloom into a beautiful flower, even in the mud, so I use the character ‘Ren’ to express my desire to bloom onstage even if I go through hard times. I settled on ‘Tsukasa’ since it goes well with ‘Ren’ and is easy to remember, so there’s no particular meaning to it (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n What was your original motivation for entering Takarazuka?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n While I was thinking about what I wanted to do in the future, I thought I’d like to work onstage, as I’d been in community musical theatre since I was in elementary school. At that same time, I happened to see a Takarazuka show on TV and fell for Sou Kazuho-san, so I started to think ‘I want to join, what do I do to join’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In your GRAPH column last year, REN’S KITCHEN (97th class classmates column) your classmates often called you ‘diligent’, but what do you think?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s right, I think I’m basically like that (laughs). I hate imperfection, and I hate losing, so when it comes to the arts I can be very stoic. But I like making people happy, and I can suddenly lose it, so I have those sides too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are you like off stage?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When we all go to have fun somewhere I’ll still end up moving really briskly, so I don’t change that much on or off stage, whether that’s in a good way or a bad way (laughs). I don’t like wasting time, so I’m the type who wants to schedule activities even for a day off. But I can suddenly become completely lazy, too (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are you into lately?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That little yellow egg bread they sell at convenience stores! Also, these snacks called ‘Korokke no Manma’1<\/sup> are a big hit with me, I eat them all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In <\/em>ON THE TOWN, you took on a female role for the first time when you played Claire de Lune. How was that?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn’t picture it at all, personally, so at first I was really lost. When I tried acting it myself, I discovered how the musumeyaku perform even more femininity than real women, and how much harder it was to be feminine than I thought, so I realized I had a lot to learn\u2026 Also, when interacting with an otokoyaku as my acting partner, I made a lot of new discoveries: ‘this is how I look to them, doing things like this looks beautiful’, etc. It was hard to learn how to use my voice and things like that in such a short time, so I struggled, but I’ve never had people tell me I was cute so much (laughs), so it was fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What kind of otokoyaku do you want to become in the future?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Right now I’m puzzling over a lot of things, and I haven’t settled on any one thing. However, I want to be an otokoyaku who has the knowhow necessary to flexibly take on any role, from villains and old men to comic relief and even female roles. But I also feel like it’s important to me as an otokoyaku to become someone people can describe as ‘cool’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, give us some self-promotion!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I hope to clearly show my own individuality as I polish my skills as an otokoyaku. However, I’m still searching for that ‘thing only I have’, so please look forward to that from me in the future (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n