# Eiji Akaso

Eiji Akaso (赤楚 衛二, Akaso Eiji, born 1 March 1994, in Osaka Prefecture) is a Japanese actor and model, known for playing Ryuga Banjou in Kamen Rider Build. He is represented by Tristone Entertainment.

## Early life and education

Due to his father's work, Eiji lived in Wisconsin (USA) at ages one to four. His father graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a professor at the Faculty of Foreign Studies (Linguistic Department) at Nagoya Gakuin University and became the president of Nagoya Gakuin University in April 2020. His mother is a piano teacher.
Eiji's younger brother, who is four years younger than him, is studying film production at Osaka University of Arts.
He was strongly influenced by his academic and artistic parents. He started playing piano at the age of three until Junior High School. He graduated from Toho High School, a private school, in Nagoya. After high school, Eiji majored in English at the same university, but later dropped out to move to Tokyo. His desire to become an actor sprouted in middle school and was also influenced by the habit of his family of having a movie night once a month. At the age of 19 or 20, he went to Tokyo and auditioned for a year. The trigger that lead Eiji to drop out of university and to enter the world of entertainment was a call from the CEO of his current agency in 2014. At that time, he was still in university and he had to make the decision either to start then or after graduation at the age of 23. He made a "now or never" decision and dropped out of university to join Tristone Entertainment.

## Career

Eiji was affiliated with the Nagoya model office "FORM JAPAN" when he was in his teens. He was active as a model and talent under the name Mamoru Akaso (赤楚 衛, Akaso Mamoru). In 2010, he joined the local idol group "BOYS AND MEN" in Nagoya, working on stage performances and regular appearances of variety shows. Eiji is said to have left BOYS AND MEN in 2011. Originally, he entered the entertainment agency because he wanted to be an actor and not an idol.
Eiji won the Grand Prix at the men's model audition of Samantha Thavasa in 2013, which became the turning point for him to audition in Tokyo at the age of 19. In 2015, he transferred to his current agency Tristone Entertainment, working as an actor and starring in television dramas and films in his current stage name.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2015 | High School Chorus | Sho Ishikawa | |
| 2015 | AKB Horror Night: Adrenalin no Yoru | | Episode 16 |
| 2016 | Never Let Me Go | | Episode 2 |
| 2016 | Tokyo Women's Guidebook | Kōhei | |
| 2016 | Watashi ni Unmei no Koi nante arienai tte Omotteta | | TV movie |
| 2017 | Frankenstein's Love | | Episode 1 |
| 2017 | Samurai Gourmet | [Actor] | Episode 5 |
| 2017 | Kamen Rider Amazons | Hiroki Nagase | Season 2 |
| 2017–18 | Kamen Rider Build | Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z | Lead role |
| 2018 | Kamen Rider Zi-O | Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z | Episodes 1-2 |
| 2019 | Innocence, Fight Against False Charges | Tokudori Isawa | |
| 2019 | My Husband's Wives | Hideaki Matsuda | |
| 2019 | Hey Sensei, Don't You Know? | Riichi Kido | Lead role |
| 2020 | Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! | Kobayashi | |
| 2020 | Gourmet Detective Goro Akechi | Nonaka | Episode 3 |
| 2020 | Detective Yuri Rintaro | Shota Satsuki | Episode 2 |
| 2020 | Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! | Kiyoshi Adachi | Lead role |
| 2021 | Cold Case Season 3 | Yōsuke Hirayama | Episode 6 |
| 2021 | Date My Daughter | Yuto | |
| 2021 | Super Rich | Yu Haruno | |
| 2022 | Hiru | Yūki Shinomiya | Lead role |
| 2022 | Ishiko and Haneo: You're Suing Me? | Ao Ōba | |
| 2022–23 | Maiagare! | Takashi Umezu | Asadora |
| 2023 | Kazama Kimichika: Kyojo Zero | Junji Urihara | |
| 2023 | Pending Train | Yūto Shirahama | |
| 2023 | Turn to Me Mukai-kun | Satoru Mukai | Lead role |
| 2025 | Inheritance Detective | Nao Haie | Lead role |

### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2015 | No Longer Heroine | | |
| 2015 | Tsūgaku Series: Tsūgaku Densha/Tsūgaku Tochū | Kyosuke | |
| 2016 | Scoop! | | |
| 2017 | Closest Love to Heaven | | |
| 2017 | Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Final: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Rider | Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z | |
| 2018 | Kamen Rider Build the Movie: Be the One | Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z | |
| 2018 | Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever | Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z | |
| 2020 | Love Me, Love Me Not | Kazuomi Inui | Lead role |
| 2020 | Love Me, Love Me Not: The Animation | A student (voice) | Cameo |
| 2020 | Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! | Kobayashi | |
| 2021 | The Great Yokai War: Guardians | Amanojaku | |
| 2022 | The Sunday Runoff | Yūki Iwabuchi | |
| 2022 | Cherry Magic! the Movie | Kiyoshi Adachi | Lead role |
| 2023 | Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead | Akira Tendo | Lead role |
| 2024 | What If Tokugawa Ieyasu Became Prime Minister? | Sakamoto Ryōma | |
| 2024 | 6 Lying University Students | Shogo Hatano | |
| 2025 | 366 Days | Minato Makiya | Lead role |

### Stage

| Years | Title | Role |
| 2010–11 | Straight Drive! | |
| 2013 | Asu | Scanda |
| 2016 | Kuroko's Basketball | Ryo Sakurai |
| 2016 | Roshutsukurū | |

### Music video

| Years | Title | Artist |
| 2019 | Masquerade | SHE'S |
| 2019 | Letter | SHE'S |
| 2019 | Your Song | SHE'S |

### Radio dramas

| Date | Title | Role | Network | Ref. |
| Feb 2017 | Saturday Drama House Binanshi Gekijō "Ma no tsubuyaki" | Ryo Okada | JFN | |

### Modelling

| Years | Title | Notes |
| 2010 | Imuraya Confectionery "Nikuman Anman" | Advertisement model |
| 2011 | Aoki | Advertisement model |
| 2013– | Samantha Thavasa | Men's model |
| 2020 | KANGOL REWARD | Collaboration x AM |
| 2021 | A BATHING APE® 2021 SPRING collection | Advertisement model |
| 2021 | Disney Pixar 'Toy Story' x Yohji Yamamoto Ground Y | Advertisement model |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work(s) | Result |
| 2021 | WEIBO Account Festival in Tokyo 2020 | Popular Actor (Hot Topic Actor) | Cherry Magic | Won |
| 2021 | LINE NEWS AWARDS 2021 | Next News Award | Actor Category | Won |
| 2025 | 48th Japan Academy Film Prize | Newcomer of the Year | What If Tokugawa Ieyasu Became Prime Minister? and 6 Lying University Students | Won |