Fumina Hara Supports Japan at World Cup!

J-Cast has a short article about how some female idols are showing their support for Team Japan at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Among those mentioned is Fumina Hara (Sailor Moon from 1998-1999). Fumina has quite a few entries on her blog in support of the Japanese team! Fans may not know this, but on March 20th of 2007, Fumina married Japanese Sports Journalist (and former Soccer Player) Tetsuo Nakanishi. On June 11th, she wrote that she was happy to see the World Cup begin and told her readers to cheer for Team Japan. On the 14th, she wore her husband’s old jersey for good luck as Japan faced Cameroon. Japan won this game 1-0. She also told everyone to follow her husband on Twitter. On the 19th, she went to the Saitama Super Arena to watch Japan face The Netherlands. Japan lost this game 0-1, but on the 20th Fumina still held some hope that Japan would win against Denmark. Japan is currently tied for second in Group E.

Yuu Shirota Also Cheers For Japan and Appears in Musical

Yuu Shirota (Tuxedo Kamen from 2003-2004) was also mentioned briefly on Sankei Sports! Some sentiments of his were shared with respect to Japan’s loss to the Netherlands on June 19th. He referred to the Japanese team as samurai who fought with dignity on the field. In the game against Denmark, he wants the team to win without fail. Yuu is also starring as Der Tod (Death) in Toho’s upcoming production of the Elisabeth musical in Tokyo. At the press conference, he was unsure if he would be able to sing well for the role, but he promised to try his best. He is excited about this role having seen the play 3 times when he was in high school. This production has been running since 2000, and in 2003, he auditioned for the role of the son, Rudolph. The director didn’t think he was quite ready then, but said in a few years he might be right for an adult role. And here he is, 7 years later! The play is slated to run from this August to October. Speaking of Yuu’s high school, CyzoWoman featured an article about it. Horikoshi Gakuen is a special high school just for celebrities that features sassy uniforms, flexible coursework and hours, and high security. The education there is first class, and the only electronic device students are allowed to have with them are their cell phones (no iPods allowed).

Yuri Kuroda Directs Drama Students!

Continuing the tradition of many Sailor Moon cast and crew to teach their craft to other students, Yuri Kuroda (Blue Sapphire) is now teaching drama students. The graduating class of Nanao Shinonome High School presented a work based on the Ganba no Boken franchise. 27 members under the direction of Kuroda worked for 8 months to put this production together. There was lots of intense acting, dancing, and action which impressed everyone that watched it! Her students were full of praise for her direction, even though they acknowledged it was a lot of work to put this together. Congratulations Yuri on both a successful production and school year!

We’re a little behind on our posts – so this week will be mostly Sera Myu and PGSM will carry on until next week. Thank you Moonies! As of this writing we have 505 surveys for Phase 4! Only 195 to go till we hit our goal of 700! Today’s actor updates are all dealing with doramas and DVDs!

Yuu Shirota’s New Samurai Drama to Get Boxset Release!

Yuu Shirota (Tuxedo Kamen from 2003-2004) keeps popping up in lots of different places! Last fall, he played Tsuyoshi Nakamura in the Japanese dorama Samurai High School. Tsuyoshi befriends the main character named Kotaro Mochizuki, who is a very special person. He experiences flashbacks of his past life as a samurai, and even awakens his ancestors within him to save the day. The show’s premise seems a little silly but it was a lot more popular than you’d expect, and it ran for 9 episodes on NTV! The show is set to get a DVD Boxset release on March 26th. It will be packed with extras including cast interviews, event footage, making ofs, and special stickers. Last fall on his blog, Yuu said that this was the first time he had ever played a good-for-nothing student, and said that this is the funniest dorama he has ever been in! He also wanted to assure his fans that his character’s pants were not rolled up because they were too tall for him, that it was just the way his character was supposed to dress.

Fumina Hara in Drama Special!

Fuji TV aired a 4-night special drama event in the beginning of March, and Fumina Hara (Sailor Moon from 1998-1999) was featured in the very last episode. Sotsu Uta was a slice-of-life/coming of age dorama featuring four women’s stories of graduation, that are based on popular graduation songs in Japan. Her episode aired on March 4th, and was titled Sotsugyou Shashin and was based on the song by Yumi Matsutoya. J-pop Queen Ayumi Hamasaki sang a version of this song on her A Ballads album, and fans can hear a version of it here. The story was about a radio personality named Hitomi Tachibana (played by Masami Nagasawa) who moved back to her hometown after working in the brutal Tokyo working world for a long time. She makes a brand new start in her old hometown with the help and support of a classmate from high school days. Fumina played Manami Kiguchi in the episode, and appeared for only a few moments. She played another employee at the same office as Hitomi, who was “sleeping her way to the top”.

Fumina also appeared on NHK’s office sketch comedy series Salaryman Neo last year. That show is also on its way to DVD on April 10th.

Reiko Kataoka Comes a Long Way From Being an Ensemble Member

Reiko Kataoka is probably one of those Sera Myu stars who is barely remembered. She only appeared in one musical – Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen as an ensemble member. She has since gone on to appear in many doramas and films, and one of those doramas is Gaiji Keisatsu. This show is about a special police unit that deals with threats like international terrorism and espionage. She played the leading role of Sargent Ayane Igarashi, a gutsy Sargent who is ruthless and given many tough assignments. She tires of her job and wants to retire. The show was just released on DVD on February 23rd. It’s surprising how far some actors from Sera Myu have come, even if they were only featured in a very minor role in the musicals!

Last night, we discovered the blogs of many stars who worked with Miyuki Kanbe, and we’re going to share with you some of the highlights from what we read of their entries about her. Almost all of them remembered her cheerful spirit, her cute voice, and her charming personality. It’s almost like all the Sera Myu actors, whether they worked together or not, formed a kind of kindred with each other. A few stars who didn’t get the chance to work onstage with her, met her at many Sera Myu events. We also uncovered an old 2005 interview with Miyuki, which we are working hard to translate. It’s quite long, and it’s being worked on a little bit each day. At the earliest, it will probably be posted late next week.

There are a lot of pictures in this post, so we decided to slice it for the homepage. Read the rest of it after the jump!

Nao Takagi (Sailor Uranus #2 in Sera Myu) wrote that she thought it was a lie when she heard the news. To her, Miyuki had a beautiful and powerful smile, and the two were beru close. Nao thought of her as the younger sister she never had. Miyuki often called Nao “Nao-chan”, and one of these recordings will become her new ringtone. She finishes with “I pray her soul may rest in peace now, with a smile in heaven. I love you so much Miyuki, the princess who I will never forget. Thank you for all the love you gave me.”

Hikari Ono played many roles in her 477 show run with Sera Myu. She was Sailor Star Maker, Hawk’s Eye, Neo Hawk’s Eye, Loof Merrow, Prince Dimande and Bloody Dracul Vampir. In an entry simply titled Regret, she writes of her grandmother who promised to take her to the hot springs. Unfortunately, she died when Hikari was only 17, without ever fulfilling that promise. It was then that she learned the true meaning of the word “regret”. She finds it hard when she loses someone, to think of all the things that they could not do. It is hard to move forward without regretting the past. It would be better if in some shape or form after death if life could go back and do these things. She ends with telling everyone not to regret all the things that they could not do. Many fans think that she is referring to Miyuki in this entry.

Anza Oyama was the first actress to play Sailor Moon in Sera Myu. Now a nu metal singer, she writes on her blog, that she is very sad and truly heart broken. Miyuki had a lot of courage and hope and she put smiles on everyone’s faces! The two of them talked together about their role as Sailor Moon and they had the same realizations of the character and their experiences. She prays cute Miyuki-chan finds happiness in the next world.

Marina Kuroki was the fourth and last person to play Sailor Moon in the musicals. She wrote that she didn’t have very much contact with Miyuki during the transition from the third to the fourth sailor team, but that she had many memories of the times all the Sera Myu actors would come together. Miyuki was cute, gave her a lot of advice, and talked to her once in a while. Even she could not believe the reality of the news. From her heart she prays that her heart finds happiness in the next world.

Shibue Jyoji is best known to Sailor Moon fans as playing Tuxedo Kamen in PGSM, but he also worked with Miyuki on Kamen Rider Hibiki. He played Iori Izumi (Kamen Rider Ibuki). He posted that parting is really painful, and that there is no forgetting her cute voice once you heard it the first time. It is very painful for him to know he will never hear her voice again. He remembers how she used to say he was one of her best friends, and how it delighted him enormously. He was also in disbelief when he heard the news, and wishes he could have met with her one last time. He thanked her for everything and bid her a solemn farewell.

Nana Akiyama also worked with her on Kamen Rider Hibiki, playing Akira Amami. She wrote two entries. The first one says, “I heard the sad news two days ago from some people. I have lived for 18 years, and this is the most sad news of all. I still can’t believe it. She was a good person and I wished to meet her once again. That wish will no longer be fulfilled. Still, I want to keep wishing. Just one more time, she could come out from somewhere so we could meet. I’ll write more later, right now I want to leave my feelings here.” The second one, written four days later, says “Feelings that want to be conveyed do not become words. It was not possible for me to update easily. But it was also not possible for me to settle down after today. When I think of her, my feelings surely come. But now they can become something real (NOTE: this is the best translation, these three sentences were hard). I loved everything that Miss Kanbe did, and none of my love changes for her. I think that she is watching me somewhere, and I will not say goodbye. I look foreward to the day I can meet Miss Kanbe again. You were in this world. I will not forget for a long time.” Then she addressed a couple people who sent her email, “To (usernames). Thank you for your warm and gentle reassurance. We are together with the same feelings, and you have given me the green light to cry. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you. From all the pain last week, it is not possible to remember every day that we spent together, but now I think I’ll be okay not to forget her. Tomorrow, I will update the blog. It was closed while there was so much going on, news of the tragedy a little at a time. I look forward to pleasing you. Now, it will be nice to see you tomorrow. Goodnight.

Emi Kuriyama played Sailor Jupiter from 1999-2000 in the musicals, and worked with Miyuki. She is very hurt and saddened by this news. In her entry Still now…, she couldn’t accept this news and has an empty hole in her heart. She attended the funeral, and can still to this day remember Miyuki calling to her “Kururin” in her cute and childish voice, in her healthy body. She is sad she can’t see her again, and rejected her death. She can’t come out with the words for her feelings, for the situation. But she feels that those left behind must live their lives with more strength. She got so much power, love, and kindness from Miyuki’s words , and she loved her very much. She wants to laugh hard again like fools until her stomach hurts with her again. She ends thanking Miyuki. In later entries, she expresses that she is still hurt but is doing a lot better.

Ayumi Murata played Sailor Venus in the musicals from 2001-2002. On her blog, she wrote that she was saddened and surprised to hear of the news of her co-star’s death. She sent her condolences, and prayed for her sincerely.

Chieco Kawabe played Sailor Mercury in the musicals from 2000-2002. She also played Naru Osaka in PGSM. She was also shocked by the sudden news, and was very sad. She sent her deepest condolences to those who were mourning her death. She is also praying for her.

Akiko Kosaka composed many of the Sera Myu musicals. She remembered Miyuki’s audition, how she seemed like she had stepped right out of the cartoon. Miyuki to her was sugary, lovelym and super-energetic. She was very shocked at this sudden news, and thought that Miyuki’s health had not been good for the last two years, leaving her in a lot of pain. She was certainly someone Akiko wished she had gotten to know more. She is sincerely praying for her third Sailor Moon.

Tomoko Inami played Mistress 9 and Sailor Neptune in the musicals. Though she never worked with Miyuki, she met her at many events. She sends her condolences and sincerely prays for her. Miyuki’s death in her youth of only 24 years was a true tragedy.

Fumina Hara was the third actress to play Sailor Moon in the musicals. Though she was followed by Miyuki, there were times that they got together for events. Miyuki used to call her “Fumina-chaaaaan” with a big, tense grin on her face, and lots of energy. Her death was very unfortunate, because she was very adorable, cute, and was a fantastic girl. She prays her soul will rest in peace.