Ryuto

Tanaka Ryuto, better known as Ryuto, is a Japanese singer and model currently under Sprout Creative.

He made his singing debut on March 5, 2017 with *The First Chapter*.

## **Career**

### **March 2011 - September 2015: Acting and Modeling**

Ryuto was recruited in March 2011 for an poster campaign by his school and was the face of future campaigns until he graduated. During the final photoshoot before his graduation in 2012, one of the photographers working for an agency in Japan asked offered to contact him for more work in the future. He officially signed an exclusive three-year contract with A-LIGHT as a model in September 2012.

Over the years, Ryuto quickly became a rising model in his agency and throughout Japan, known for the "bad boy" vibe he was known to give off. This vibe was what intrigued a casting director a few years later to offer him a chance to audition for a side character role in a drama after the original actor backed out due to scheduling conflicts. While he did a few acting gigs, they were extremely rare - he stated in an interview once that he loved acting, but strongly preferred modeling.

Following his contract expiration, his company announced in September 2015 Ryuto would be parting ways with them. In a social media post shortly after, he thanked the company for giving him a chance to grow as a model and his fans for being there over the years. He didn't mention his future plans in the post but did say he wanted to explore his options.

### **December 2016 - Early 2017: New Agency, Debut Mini Album**

In December 2016 after a little over a year of no activity from Ryuto outside of the occasional social media post, he was spotted leaving the airport in Seoul, South Korea and throughout Busan. Long time followers wondered if Ryuto would begin activities in Korea, perhaps as a member of a group, especially since the photos media outlets released not too long ago of Lat(t)e's Misaki with a male in Osaka looked suspiciously like him. Although nothing was confirmed at the time, fans noticed he began following Sprout Creative and Lat(t)e on his Instagram account.

On January 5, Ryuto confirmed on Instagram through a post he had signed with Sprout Creative as a model and singer and would be working on his debut mini album. A week later on January 12, his new agency announced and released the first concept photos and teasers for his debut mini album, *The First Chapter,* which would be releasing in March. The official tracklist was released on February 21.

On March 5, he made his debut with *The First Chapter*.

### **2018: *Runaway***

Nearly a year after his debut mini album, rumors of a comeback began to surface in December 2017 after Ryuto mysteriously posted a selfie with the caption, "Feeling red 👀" on his Instagram. Some initially thought he would be debuting in 4CORNERS when the group was announced in late January 2018. However, on April 3, Sprout Creative announced his second mini album, *Runaway,* would release on April 20, 2018. The album cover was revealed the same day and the album tracklist was revealed on April 13.

## **Discography**

### **Mini Albums**

* *The First Chapter* (March 2017)
* *Runaway* (April 2018)

## **Trivia**

* He may be known for having a "bad boy" vibe, but he's actually very social.
* Considered for a spot in Sprout Creative's upcoming group, Rainbow Punch, but it was ultimately decided he would debut as a soloist instead. He was also later considered for a spot in the project group 4CORNERS, but he declined because he felt the spot should go to another artist or trainee in the company.
* His promotions are solely through Japan only; he doesn't promote in South Korea and prefers it that way.