-The moment when you felt the most nervous on stage?

When I played Lucheni in the Elisabeth shinjin kouen, during the prologue. The beginning of Elisabeth has such a feeling of tension by nature, and the audience was also tense to the point where you wouldn’t think it was a shinjin kouen. On top of that, I made my entrance from the opposite side as Nozomi-san in the real performance, so the audience’s gaze all shifted to me at once like “OH! She’s over there!” And in that moment… I lost it… Lucheni also has a bunch of ad-lib scenes, and I was nervous about those the entire time. But, it was still a lot of fun!

-Your favorite makeup technique?

Waah, here’s a picture…

For me, my eyes aren’t very far apart, and since everyone does this part where your nose stands up a little differently, I try to do it so that my eyes don’t look like they’re squishing together, but I also want to look chiseled, so I add the shading there with this delicate balance in mind. This person’s eye’s are pretty far apart though (haha).

-Are you a morning person or a night person?

A night person! Quick answer (haha). I guess I’m pretty bad with mornings… I hate them! The moment my alarm goes off, I really hate it! Like, WHY ARE YOU RINGING?! (haha).

-Your favorite seasoning?

Shichimi. I put it on Japanese-style pasta I make at home, on stir-fried vegetables, even in miso soup.

-What do you do when you get home?

I lie around. Even though I know it’s terrible, I have like a “magic carpet” in front of my TV. Once I sit down there, I don’t get up (haha). You can definitely find me on my magic carpet once a day (haha).

-Do you reply quickly on Line?

I don’t think I do. Well, maybe I do. Hmmm… ONLY IF IT’S JUST A STICKER!! But, if an urgent reply is needed, I’ll say yes or no… although I always think I should reply properly (haha). Everyone might say “No way!!” to that (haha).

-Actually, I…

I might have the image of someone who does things efficiently, but actually that’s not the case. I’ve said “I gotta get my act together!,” but in reality my personality is like someone younger, and I’m relatively carefree. I notice it especially when I meet up with classmates like Aasa (Asami Jun) or Kizuki Yuuma. Even when I go out to eat with underclassmen, they’re like “Well, it’s Minami-san…” and wind up deciding everything for me (haha). There are so many people around me who have it together (haha).

-Do you have a driver’s license?

I do. I drive quite a bit. More than taking leisurely drives, I wanna go fast on the highway (haha).

-Movies you like?

Disney movies of course are like watching a dream world, and they’re so cute, I love them! I also like stories that are so moving I can bawl. They make me think my heart hasn’t gone bad yet (haha).

-Please draw a self portrait!

Waaah, yay!
Mmmm, maybe I should draw my face a little longer…
♪Face~~ Longer~~♪

Hey that’s not bad.
Oh man. That’s pretty good!

-Tell us your go-to sideshow gag!*

Eeeeh? I don’t really have one… When I wear a leotard, since my back is really muscular it looks like I’m really crammed into it, so I just have this pose I do (haha). MUSCLE ART! (haha)

-At what times do you feel the difficulties of being an otokoyaku?

When I’m dancing in otokoyaku costumes. Rather than putting 100% of yourself into it and having fun, you have to prioritize dancing in a way that will allow the audience to enjoy themselves. Particularly when we do group numbers in kuroenbi**, unless we are aware of every detail from how much of our white shirts are showing in the front to how much black is showing in the back, we won’t match perfectly, and the rehearsals just pile up… And the presentation is different for each costume, so I really feel like I still need to work at it.

-Aside from kuroenbi, what’s your favorite costume?

KUROENBI! Oh, aside from that (haha). In that case, probably military uniforms. People in military uniforms look like they live a BATTLE READY lifestyle, don’t they? I think that’s super cool.

-Where do you want to be a year from now?

If I could do things with a fresh feeling I think that would be good. Thinking “I have to do it this way” wins out too much, and I want to enjoy being on stage without forgetting my original intentions and without losing my true self. Also, right now my top focus is my acting. If I could get the hang of using my otokoyaku voice more skillfully and be able to perform naturally… Getting there in one year may be tough, but that’s what I want to aim for!

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* 余興 is hard to translate into one English word. It’s these dumb skits they do privately to entertain each other/boost morale/”show off hidden talents”/generally be huge nerds/etc.

**Kuroenbi refers to the black tailcoats otokoyaku wear and also the group dances they do in them