It has been announced that former Takarazuka Revue Flower Troupe top star Yuzuka Rei will be making a guest appearance on the 27th episode of WOWOW's musical program "Live Broadcast! Yoshio Inoue and the Musical Hour 'Yoshio's Mu'," which will be broadcast and streamed live on November 20th.
Yuzuka will play the lead role in the musical "Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea," which will run from Getsuku to January 20th next year in Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Osaka. This will be her first full-scale musical appearance since leaving Takarazuka in 2024, and her first lead role in a Toho musical. On the program, she will talk about her thoughts on creating the character and highlights of the play. She is also scheduled to perform a duet with musical actor Yoshio Inoue, who will serve as MC.
"Twelve Kingdoms" is an epic fantasy novel series written by Ono Fuyumi that has sold over 13 million copies (as of January 2025). The story unfolds in the world we live in and another world that does not exist on Earth. The series began with "The Devil's Child" published in 1991, and continued with "Shadow of the Moon, Sea of Shadows" the following year, before being adapted into an anime by NHK in 2002. In 2019, the first new full-length novel in 18 years, "Ruins of Silver, Black Moon," was published.
This will be the world's first musical adaptation of the work, with director Yamada Kazuya, script and lyrics by Motoyoshi Tsuneyasu, and music by Fukasawa Erika. In the musical, two actors will play the roles of high school girl Nakajima Yoko, "the Yoko of the world we live in" and "the Yoko after she has been taken away to another world." Yuzuka will play "the Yoko after she has been taken away to another world." The other Yoko will be played by Kato Ririka.
Yuzuka was born in Tokyo in 1992. She joined the Takarazuka Revue as a member of the 95th class in 2009 and was assigned to the Flower Troupe. She became the Flower Troupe's top star on November 25, 2019. She gained popularity in productions such as "Hakura-san to Tooru" and "Utakata no Koi." After leaving the Takarazuka Revue on May 26, 2024, she appeared in her first solo concert, "TABLEAU," the entertainment show "RUNWAY" which brought together Takarazuka alumni, and Gekidan Shinkansen's "Kurenai Monogatari." In January of this year, she performed alongside top ballet dancers from around the world at the "Mathieu Ganio Special Gala New Year's Concert," which was also broadcast on WOWOW.
The 27th episode of "Live Broadcast! Yoshio Inoue and Musical Hour 'Yoshio's Mu'" will be broadcast live and streamed live on WOWOW Live and WOWOW On Demand from 10:00 PM on November 20th.
◇Comment from Hikaru Yuzuha
I am thrilled and thrilled to have been invited to appear on Yoshio Inoue's "Yoshio's Mew." I am so happy to be meeting Yoshio for the first time, and am truly honored to be able to speak with him. We'll be talking and singing a duet! And it'll be live! I'm a little nervous, but I'll do my best to spend a wonderful time with everyone in the warm and light-hearted world that Yoshio has created. Thank you very much!
