Kotaro Yanagi
| Yanagi Kotaro | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 21, 1985 Berlin, Germany |
| Occupation | Actor, Model |
| Years active | 2002 - Present |
Kotaro Yanagi (柳 浩太郎 Yanagi Kōtarō?) is a young Japanese actor who plays in various movies, dramas, and stage events. He's most commonly referred to as "Yanagi", although he sometimes shortens it to "Yana" or "Nagi.". He is also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which perform in various skit-like performances.
Yanagi was born on December 21, 1985, in Berlin, Germany. He stayed in Germany for three years before moving back with his family to Japan. On the first semester of elementary school, his father had to work in India and the family moved once again. Until third grade, Yanagi stayed with his parents and attended a nearby school. However, from fourth to sixth grade he attended an American boarding school further away, which is where he learned English. Yanagi's family moved back to Japan where he finished school.
Yanagi is a member of the young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which plays in various skit-like performances. He acted in the web drama, Hice Cool!『沖縄ボーイズ』, and had a supporting role in the movie Aa~! Izakaya Puroresu『あゝ！一軒家プロレス』, a wrestling film, as well as the drama Rocket Boys. He also acted in his D-BOYS troupe's TV drama DD-Boys. His first major film role is as the otaku lead character in Chikan Otoko『痴漢男』, based on a book by the same name. He has also acted in a short drama in 2007 named Puzzle『パズル』, where he played a prominent role with a couple of other D-boys.
At the beginning 2007 he appeared as the main character in the musical Cooky Clown (ミュージカル『Cooky Clown). In March of the same year, he participated as a guest in "Out of Order".
His most famous role, however, was as the tennis prodigy and lead protagonist Ryoma Echizen in the Prince of Tennis musical series, Tenimyu. During his run in the musicals, he was able to work with fellow D-BOYS members Yuya Endo (whom he shared the role with), Masaki Kaji, Hiroki Suzuki, Osamu Adachi, Hirofumi Araki, Masato Wada, and former members Yuu Shirota and Yamazaki Ichitaro. After recovering from his accident (see below), he continued to play his role along with the second generation Seigaku cast, which featured most of the D-BOYS members. On March 29, 2006, Yanagi graduated from the role after his performance in Dream Live 3rd and has so far been the longest serving actor to play Echizen, as well the second longest serving actor in Tenimyu. Since his graduation, the role of Echizen has been played by Dori Sakurada, Shōgo Sakamoto, Ryuuki Takahashi, Yuuki Ogoe, and by Kazuki Furuta.
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