Tomu Ranju (蘭寿とむ, Ranju Tomu, born 12 August 1975) is a Japanese singer, TV and musical actress most widely recognized as Takarazuka Revue Flower Troupe's otokoyaku (男役 Takarazuka actresses who play male roles) top star from 2011 to 2014.
After her "graduation" (Takrazuka actresses may not rejoin the revue after they leave), Ranju began to actively pursue a career on stage, focusing mainly on musicals.
She was particularly fascinated by Mizuki Oura's performances - who was famous for her dance skills, and also a Flower Troupe otokoyaku top star.
In 1994, a year for record low acceptance percentage of only 2%,[1] Sakamoto was admitted to the Takarazuka Music School with the highest score.
In February 2009, Ranju was cast in the lead role for another Bow Hall production Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Shinjitsu (逆転裁判 -蘇る真実-), based on the Capcom legal thriller video game Ace Attorney.
In 2011, as Sei Matobu left the revue, Ranju was re-assigned back to Flower Troupe as the next otokoyaku top star, her debut production was the Takarazuka version of Phantom.
Her relationship with Takarazuka Revue remains close, and was chosen to participate in 2 of its centennial celebration events: recording Reijin, an album with other otokoyaku OGs; and singing in the celebration concert of the post-mortem 90th birthday of Fubuki Koshiji, a Takarazuka OG from the 1940s with legendary stature in Japanese entertainment history.
She had a busy 2015 - 2016, balancing 2 stage productions while participating in various Takarazuka 100th anniversary special performances, leading roles in "The Love Bugs" and "Sister Act".
Ranju's first TV drama appearance was a supporting role in Netflix's first Japanese production Atelier, playing an influential Vouge-ish magazine editor.
Ranju plays one of the female lead character's friends, a successful financial adviser who's over 40, happily single, and has a younger boyfriend.
Ranju doesn't share much info about her private life and is not known to be social-media savvy like other Takarazuka OGs, her blog[5] on Ameba is the only official social media platform accessible by the public, and it's maintained by herself.
But in 2017, with the announcement that Shuzo Matsuoka's eldest daughter being accepted to enter Takarazuka Music School, it was revealed that Ranju's husband is a cousin-by-marriage to Shuzo Matsuoka - making her a member of the Kobayashi family that founded Takarazuka Revue (Shuzo Matsuoka is a direct decedent of Ichizō Kobayashi)[7] Flower Troupe 1996 - 2006 Cosmos Troupe 2006 - 2011 Flower Troupe 2011 - 2014 as top star Drama2015: Atelier as Chiga Nagai 2016: It's Not that I Can't Get Married, But I Don't Want To, as Bokai Yamamoto Other Programs 2015: SMAP×SMAP All Star Sports Competition[16] 2016: Takarazuka Dream Tours