“A New Model for Takarazuka Performers”—Up-and-Coming Actress Yui Karen Reveals Her Determination in Her First Leading Role
Questions that arose during her Takarazuka days
“I grew up watching lots of live-action adaptations of shōjo manga. Every time I watched one, the actresses gave me courage. So I’m really happy that I’ve now been able to stand in that position myself!”
After starring as a musumeyaku (female-role actress) in the Moon Troupe of the Takarazuka Revue, Yui Karen (28) transitioned to television and film in 2023, where she has continued to showcase her talent. She has already appeared in around 20 television dramas, and on July 8 she began starring in her first dual-lead drama, “Dry na Dōki no Dekiai Guse(The Dry Colleague’s Overwhelming Affection),” airing Wednesdays from 12:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. on BS TV Tokyo.
“The heroine in this drama can read other people’s emotions through their scent, which makes her hesitant about romance. I’ve appeared in several romantic comedies before, but I always played the love rival. My characters never ended up finding love (laughs). This is the first time my character might actually end up in a mutual relationship, so I’m already excited.”
The drama is set at a perfume company, and she says the filming location was filled with elegant fragrances.
“My co-stars, Taisei Fujibayashi (27) and Yui Oguri (24), also love perfume. Every day someone would wear a different fragrance, and we’d chat about it, asking, ‘Where’s that one from?’ Personally, I like soft floral scents.”
Born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Yui entered the Takarazuka Music School at age 15 and joined the Moon Troupe as a member of the 101st class. In 2017, she landed her first leading heroine role in “All for One.” Although her career appeared to be on an elite trajectory, by her fifth year in the company she had developed a new ambition.
“Traditionally, a Takarazuka musumeyaku (female-role performer) was expected to be a gentle, refined woman who walked three steps behind the otokoyaku (male-role performer)—a very Showa-era image. But from the latter half of the Heisei era, overseas musicals began influencing Japanese theater, and female characters became stronger and more glamorous. That made me wonder: why aren’t there any cool, strong musumeyaku in Takarazuka?”
Within Takarazuka’s tradition-bound world, she continued searching for a new style. Then, after the final Tokyo performance of the Moon Troupe productions “Ōten no Mon and Deep Sea: Karna, Gods of the Sea” in April 2023, she decided to leave the company. Feeling that she had achieved the vision of becoming the cool musumeyaku she had set out to create, she was driven by a desire to explore a new world.
Although she could have continued pursuing the path to becoming a top star on the stage, she instead chose to begin her second career in the world of film and television.
“I want to become a new model for future Takarazuka performers.”
“Most of the former Takarazuka performers who have successfully transitioned into the entertainment industry are people who reached the pinnacle as top stars. There aren’t many examples of musumeyaku (female-role performers) like me—who never became a top star—going on to lead films or TV dramas and finding success. I want to become a new career model for future Takarazuka performers. That’s my goal.”
This spring, Yui Karen also appeared in the Sunday drama “GIFT (TBS),” where she had a heartwarming encounter with a leading actress.
“Kasumi Arimura (33) is incredibly thoughtful and has such a warm aura that embraces everyone around her. Even though she’s gentle and graceful, she also has real inner strength. When I mentioned that I love incense with the scent of black tea, she actually brought that very incense to the set for me. It turned out we even use the same incense holder, and that instantly brought us closer.”
Yui Karen says she also likes to build relationships with her co-stars and the production staff by making homemade desserts and sweets for them.
“I’ve become really into baking bread. Whenever I have a full day off, I start mixing flour and kneading dough the moment I wake up. It’s pure bliss. Just recently, I brought homemade focaccia and banana cake to the set as treats.
Back in my Takarazuka days, I was very much an outdoors person, but ever since I started working in television and film, I’ve completely become a homebody (laughs). I keep up with almost every TV drama each season, and I go to the movies often. Lately I’ve been hooked on action films like ‘Extraction’ on Netflix. I’d love to try action roles myself someday.”
Having stepped into a new field with determination, she now appears poised for a major breakthrough.
PHOTO： Kazuhiko Nakamura