Yui Koike talks about the troubles she experienced after Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger ended.
Yui Koike is best known for portraying Ahim de Famille in the 2011 tokusatsu series, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. Before she landed that role, however, she had small appearances in variety shows and dramas. You may have actually recognized her from Kamen Rider W’s finale episode. She was also a part of a small idol group called Tomato n’Pine which she continued to participate in group activities for even during the filming of Gokaiger.
Although Gokaiger was a hit series, Koike continued to only have small roles and appearances on TV. Eventually, she started to fade from the entertainment industry. Her last major appearance was in Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger where she reprised her role as Ahim along with her other pirate castmates in 2016.
Many have speculated that she quit the acting industry or got married and wanted to live a normal life outside of acting. However, that was not the case. In 2020, she finally broke her silence in two interviews. She talked about her start in the entertainment industry and what led to her fading away.
Short History
Koike was a fan of Super Sentai growing up so it’s been one of her dreams to appear in the series. She was classmates with Rina Aizawa, who portrayed Saki from Engine Sentai Go-Onger. Her classmate being cast in a Sentai series inspired Koike to pursue the same path.
She attended many auditions but unfortunately didn’t get the roles in any of them. She did try her best not to get too depressed, but the rejection hit differently when she auditioned for Yellow on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. The two finalists were between her and Suzuka Morita. The two were very close friends and part of the same agency. In the end, Morita was cast as Shinken Yellow. Although Koike was happy for her friend, she felt that she had lost a huge chance in life.
A few years later, at the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger audition, she experienced anxiety once again. This time, for the role of Pink. The decision came down to whether or not Mao Ichimichi would be cast as either pink or yellow. If Ichimichi were to be cast as pink, then Koike would lose out on the role.
Fortunately for her, Ichimichi was cast as Yellow. Finally, her dream of becoming a Sentai hero came true.
However, her hardship didn’t end there. As many know, the filming for Kamen Rider and Super Sentai series can begin as early as 4 AM in the morning and can last all the way until midnight. Koike had many sleepless nights because she still had responsibilities as a core member of Tomato N’Pine.
Throughout the one year of filming for Gokaiger, she would take a car to Sendai for rehearsals at midnight, and then return to Tokyo in the morning just in time to film the next scenes for Gokaiger.
Post-Gokaiger
After Gokaiger finished airing, Koike prioritized her idol group. Doing so meant that she had no opportunities to attend any auditions since she couldn’t commit to any schedule.
The group disbanded in 2012. One of the biggest reasons Tomato N’Pine broke up was because one of the members, Wada, terminated their contract with their agency. Koike also mentioned that there were many other problems that kept happening and that she wanted to change her environment considering that the band was taking up a lot of her life. Around that time, the manager that she trusted left as well.
Koike admitted that she knew she couldn’t become famous as part of the idol group, but she did say that she had a lot of fun being a part of Tomato n’ Pine.
Koike was active in dramas and stage shows until 2015 where she began to fade from the entertainment industry. Her relationship with her agency wasn’t going all too well for reasons not specified. This is when Koike decided to try working an office job since she’d never had a part-time job before. She would still take on acting roles on the side but only when asked and if they could be planned around her schedule. This gave Koike the opportunity to experience working a normal life outside of the acting world. She also took up a second job at an izakaya, or a Japanese bar.
Return
Koike learned the hardship of working normal jobs, but at the same time, it gave her a chance to find the appeal of acting. She admitted that while she was active in the entertainment world, she felt that her world became dark. She even contemplated leaving entertainment completely as she wasn’t sure if she enjoyed being in that world anymore.
That is to say she felt that way until 2020, when she was ready to return to the world of acting. She had a very small non-talking role in the last episode of the drama Kiken na Venus which aired last December. So, she didn’t get married or permanently quit acting. She just wanted to experience aspects of life outside of acting once her idol group split up and she had more free time.
Source: Bunshun