Kiritani Chocho on Miyo Miya’s Growth at Theater Days 9th Anniversary
The iDOLM@STER Million Live! Theater Days celebrated its 9th anniversary on June 29, 2026, and Famitsu marked the occasion with an interview with Kiritani Chocho, the voice behind Miyo Miya. In the conversation, Kiritani reflected on how she landed the role, how her approach to playing Miyo has evolved, and her memories of performances both in Japan and overseas. She also shared her thoughts on recent songs and the animated Million Live! OVA, offering fans a detailed look at the character’s journey across nine years.
Kiritani originally auditioned for Loco before being asked to also take on Nakatani Iku and Miyo Miya. Seeing Miyo’s vertical-curl hairstyle and lace-trimmed outfit, she initially thought of her as a refined young lady, and performed with extra gentleness in the audition — so much so that staff asked whether she was always that laid-back in daily life. She admitted to being a longtime fan of 765 Pro, especially Miki Hoshii and Makoto Kikuchi. The Million Live! OVA proved a turning point: surprised to learn Miyo was the protagonist, she cried reading the script and changed her performance style, since the OVA shows Miyo expressing emotions far more directly than before.
Recording ‘Linda Linda,’ a THE BLUE HEARTS cover, came as a big surprise, as it recreated the ‘Culture Festival Rock Fever!’ card art of Miyo singing passionately. The session was deliberately moved to after OVA recording so she could carry that energy into the song. Among recent tracks, she praised ‘Mikansei no Polaris’ from the STARDOM ROAD series, which she sang imagining Miyo playing stage protagonist Naru Mifune. She also loves ‘Fairy Days wa Taema Nai,’ a trio number featuring Takane Shijou, Roco, and Shizuka Mogami that was added to the 11th live setlist, plus the solo ‘Hatsukoi Butterfly,’ in which Miyo tries to learn what first love is before singing it.
On stage, Kiritani focuses on smiling as Miyo and studies real idol DVDs to refine her performances. Overseas, Cleasky shows in Korea and Taiwan stand out — she learned local phrases for MC segments and was moved by fans who understood Japanese. She also recalled performing ‘Rabbit Fur’ alongside Hiromi Hirata (Makoto Kikuchi), praising the difficult dance, and expressed interest in more cross-brand covers after Cleasky’s collaboration with Lazy Lazy from Cinderella Girls on ‘Crazy Crazy.’ She closed by thanking producers for nine years of support. With Miyo’s story still evolving, this anniversary interview suggests fans have plenty to look forward to.
