Young actress Kiritani Mirei is currently practicing for her upcoming stage debut in the play 'Shin Bakumatsu Junjo-den', and on June 21st, the press was able to witness a practice session at the play's training room in Tokyo.

In the play, Kiritani portrays a female version of Okita Soji, the captain of the first Shinsengumi. It's a special performance to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of playwright Tsuka Kohei's death. In the past, several actress such as Ishihara Satomi and Suzuki Anne already made headlines for their enthusiastic performances in two of Tsuka's plays.

The press was invited, after two intense hours of practice, in order to give them a glimpse at the sword fight and a first look at the scene in which Okita is meeting Sakamoto Ryoma (played by Kamio Yu). Director Okamura Shunichi still saw a few problems and had to interrupt multiple times. He was heard shouting: "Do it again! You are still only 65% there, but you are doing great!"

Kiritani herself commented, "I'm very anxious because [I'm having] all sorts of first experiences, like playing the role of a male character and sword fighting, but I just have to do my best. Since we were told to do sit-ups regularly, I started to do 100 of them every day. I hope that I can show you that I've matured a bit thanks to this role." On the sword fight scene they demonstrated, she commented frustrated, "I was extremely nervous and some things still didn't work out as planned. Fortunately, everyone around me is very kind and offers me a lot of help."

Aside from Kiritani and Kamio, the press was also able to witness Kamakari Kenta, Wada Masato, and homosexual twins Hiromi-Fukami. The latter commented, "There isn't just one but three bright flowers in this group. We're even the same age as Kiritani!"

'Shin Bakumatsu Junjo-den' will be held at the Tokyo Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon from July 12th until July 22nd.

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Sources: Oricon, Nikkan Sports