Tanaka Miku graduated from the idol group "HKT48" in December 2023. She joined the group at the age of 11 and was a member for about 10 years. Last year, she made a new start and had a great career in gravure, appearing on the covers of many manga and magazines, earning her the nickname "Reiwa's Gravure Venus." She has also appeared in many TV dramas and expanded her horizons as an actor. Will this success continue into 2025?
◇ Since last year, he has been active in acting. His first lead role in a Asadora ...his growth is clear.
After graduating from HKT48, Tanaka joined a new agency and seems to be becoming more active in acting. In "Cinderella Complex" (MBS), which aired from February to April last year, she played her first lead role in a drama (co-starring with Hiroki Iijima), in which she played a high school girl who seduces a married teacher, and also took on a bold love scene.
At the time the show aired, Tanaka stated her determination to pursue a career in acting, saying, "I'd only just graduated from being an idol, so at first I thought it might be better to just 'pretend', but I thought that would be very disrespectful to the show, so I thought again. I took the plunge and gave it a try." True to her words, that same year she also appeared in "Until I Destroy My Husband's Family" (TV Tokyo) in July, and "Class 3C is Having an Affair" (Nippon TV) in October.
In particular, in the much-talked-about drama "3-nen C-gumi," which was about the affairs of high school students who are now able to get married after the "age of adulthood" was passed down, she gave a passionate performance as a student having an affair with a married homeroom teacher. The role of having an affair with a married homeroom teacher was reminiscent of the "Cinderella complex," but she brilliantly expressed the sadness of a girl drowning in unrequited love, showing her growth as an actor.
In addition, she will make her first appearance in a Asadora in the NHK morning drama series " Omusubi " in the second half of 2024. She also made her presence known by appearing as a member of the "New Girls" in the movie " Saint Young Men THE MOVIE ~Holy Men VS. the Devil Army~" (directed by Yuichi Fukuda), which was released at the end of last year.
This year too, he is already set to appear in the film "Blue Fight: A Breaking Down of Blue Youth" (directed by Miike Takashi), which will be released on January 31st, and expectations are high for him to continue to achieve even greater success.
◇ The process of growth is also a big attraction. Always taking on new challenges, no longer subject to the “second-year jinx”
Last year, she also appeared in countless manga and magazine photo spreads. On her 23rd birthday (September 12th), she released her second photo book, "Kimama ni." (Shueisha).
The book, which has been reprinted, features bold shots with the theme of "Challenging the Unknown World." At the end of the year, it was selected as the Best Photobook Award at the "Gurajapa! Awards 2024," an awards program run by Shueisha's website "Gurajapa!" to recognize the beautiful women who have been active in the gravure scene this year, and it is expected that she will dominate the gravure scene again this year as the "Reiwa Gravure Venus."
Early in the new year, Tanaka was announced as a regular on the "Customs Corner" of the Nippon Television variety show "THE Toppa File" (Nippon Television), and she expressed her joy on her X (formerly Twitter) account, saying, "I'm happy to be a regular on a nationwide program."
Tanaka, who debuted in her early teens, is also a big attraction for fans, as she has grown from her time with HKT48 to the present. She has garnered a lot of support for her attitude of always taking on new challenges, and it seems likely that she will be able to spend her time free from the "second year jinx" after graduating from being an idol.
