On November 7th, it was revealed that Tsukishima Rui, who attracted attention for her lead role (with Kurokawa Souya) in the live-action drama adaptation of Yamamoto Souichirou's popular manga "Teasing Master Takagi-san" (Shogakukan), has been appointed as the cheer manager for the "103rd All Japan High School Soccer Championship," which will begin on December 28th. Tsukishima, who also works as an exclusive model for teen media "Seventeen" (Shueisha), will be the 20th cheer manager since the first, Horikita Maki. So who was the 10th cheer manager 10 years ago? We would like to introduce them, including comments from when she was appointed.
◇The 6th cheer manager four years ago was her older sister, a 16-year-old high school freshman at the time.
The role of cheer manager for the All Japan High School Soccer Championship, a winter tradition, has long been said to be "the gateway to success for young actresses."
As mentioned above, the first cheer manager was Horikita at the 84th tournament, and since then, Aragaki Yui, Kitano Kii, Aizawa Rina, Kawashima Umika, Hirose Alice, Kawaguchi Haruna, Ono Ito, and Matsui Airi have been chosen for each tournament.
Then, 10 years ago, Hirose Suzu served as the 10th cheer manager. It was announced on November 11, 2014 that she would become the cheer manager for the 94th tournament. Since her older sister Hirose Alice had been the 6th cheer manager four years earlier, this was the first time that two sisters had been appointed as cheer managers, which was a hot topic.
Hirose Suzu was born on June 19, 1998, and was a 16-year-old high school freshman at the time. The previous year, she had taken her first steps as an actress, appearing in the TV drama series "Yuukana Kanojo" (Fuji TV), and in May 2014, she was selected as the 7th CM girl for the wedding information magazine "Zexy" (Recruit). In the first commercial, "If you get proposed to, Zexy Hirose Suzu," Hirose expressed the joy, surprise, emotion, and excitement of a woman who is proposed to using only her facial expressions, giving us a glimpse of the future "popular actress Hirose Suzu."
When Hirose was appointed as the 10th cheerleading manager for high school soccer, she said, "I was filled with both surprise and joy when I heard about it." She is from Shizuoka, a place famous for soccer, and said, "My older brother also played soccer, so soccer has been a very familiar sport to me since I was little." She sent her encouragement, saying, "To all the players! Play with all your might and without regrets toward your goal! I will support and cheer on all the players who shine brightly!"
◇The beginning of a winning streak that leads to her current success
Hirose's first lead role in a TV drama series was in "Gakkou no Kaidan" (Nippon TV), which aired in January 2015. In the same year, she appeared as one of the main cast members in the film Our Little Sister, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, and tried her hand at voice acting for the first time in the animated feature film The Boy and the Beast, directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Her performance in Our Little Sister was particularly well-received, and she made a big leap forward as a promising young actor.
In 2016, her first lead role in a film was released, Chihayafuru. Furthermore, in the film Rage, directed by Lee Sang-il, who is famous for his strict acting instruction, she played a difficult role without losing her presence even among famous co-stars such as Ken Watanabe, Aoi Miyazaki, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Go Ayano, and Kenichi Matsuyama.
She also teamed up with director Koreeda again in the 2017 film The Third Murder, for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 41st Japan Academy Film Prize, and Hirose quickly rose to stardom in her late teens. It could be said that the rapid progress that has led to her current success began around this time 10 years ago.
Now, 10 years later, Tsukishima has been appointed the 20th high school soccer cheer manager. Will she be able to demonstrate the same level of success as her senior Miss Seventeen and Seventeen Model (STmo) Hirose?
In a previous interview, Tsukishima said, "Ever since I joined the agency, I've always wanted to become a national actress. That remains my big goal, my dream." We're looking forward to continuing to keep an eye on her future endeavors.
