Actor Ryusei Ryo (33) has announced his departure from Ken-On, the talent agency he’s been with for 16 years since his debut. On his Instagram, he wrote, “I’ll never forget the kindness I received.” On 5ch, threads lit up with speculation — tied to a possible sequel — over whether Shinjo, the character he played in the TBS drama VIVANT, is alive or dead, along with posts comparing him to fellow actor Ryusei Yokohama and looking back at his past roles, including his stand-in casting in the taiga drama Hikaru Kimi e and his role as Niini in the morning drama Chimudondon. Given the Ken-On connection, the conversation also branched into the current affiliations of Misaki Ito and Kumiko Goto.
Mon, 8/31, 15:40
Actor Ryusei Ryo (33) announced on the 31st that he has left Ken-On, the talent agency he had been with for 16 years since his debut.
He posted a statement to his Instagram Stories: “I am writing to announce that I will be leaving the agency that has looked after me for the past 16 years.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
If he really did just get shot dead and that's the end of it, that'd be wild too lol
It's a pretty forced way to show it, but I'd bet he's still alive
Either they fade out or survive as a supporting player
Popularity aside, this guy's led multiple prime-time network dramas
Even though he's the better actor of the two
These past few years he's probably done better than Ryusei
I think he landed a great role there
The deliberately wooden rakugo performance in episode 1 — I thought he varied it well scene by scene
Turns out she didn't just marry rich and retire after all
Surprised Gokumi (Kumiko Goto) is still with Oscar Promotion too
Thought she'd quit
The guy director Fukuzawa called a "palate-cleanser episode"
Chimudondon, Niini
VIVANT, Shinjo-kun
One of the more memorable actors out there
Keep it up
What about the cop in Hiyokko, which is in reruns right now?
If it weren't for Chimudondon, I feel like his work would've dried up even more
The taiga drama stand-in role got good reviews too, if I remember right
Is Shinjo really dead?
There was a hint via the "Jai-memo" that a major character turns up in the villains' meeting room — could that be Shinjo?
Every episode's already fully filmed
Looking back, yeah that's true
These days it's just gotten creepy
Never expected he'd be brought in as a pinch hitter
Her… honestly I feel like she flopped from being crammed into too many dramas
It's turned into a "Nanoka Hara, really?" kind of reaction now
They marketed her wrong
She's already moved over to Oguri's agency, hasn't she
You can't exactly stick him next to a short, pretty-boy lead
The undertaker in Unnatural was great — kept you thinking something was up with him, but he was just suspicious the whole way through lol
I already told you, filming's done
Was that on A-Studio?
All the names are baseball-related, so isn't it after manager Shinjo?
Background and Talking Points
Ken-On is a major talent agency whose roster includes names like Misaki Ito and Kumiko Goto (“Gokumi”), so the thread also touched on the status of other people at the agency. Ryusei Ryo had been with the agency for 16 years since his debut, and neither the reason for leaving nor his next destination was disclosed in his own announcement. VIVANT was a TBS drama that aired in 2023; Ryusei’s character Shinjo is shot during the show, and the story ended without confirming whether he lived or died, which is why the thread split between “he’s alive” and “he’s dead” theories. One poster also noted that the sequel has already finished filming in full, so Shinjo’s fate may become clear once it airs. The comparison with his same-generation peer Ryusei Yokohama also came up, though it wasn’t meant to rank the two by popularity or skill so much as point out differences in how often each has landed lead roles. Whether the agency departure itself was amicable can’t be determined from the article, and it’s worth remembering these are just posters’ speculation.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News Plus) thread “Ryusei Ryo Leaves Ken-On, the Agency He’s Been With Since His Debut: “I’ll Never Forget the Kindness I Received” — VIVANT’s Shinjo Role Also a Hot Topic“.
