Eiji Akaso

**Eiji Akaso** (赤楚 衛二, *Akaso Eiji*) is a Japanese actor and model who portrayed Haukashi Sakuri in *Perfectization*.

He previously appeared in the of *Kamen Rider Amazons* Season 2 as Hiroki Nagase. Best known for his portrayal of Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z in *Kamen Rider Build*.

## Biography

Due to his father's work, Akaso 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.

Akaso'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. Akaso 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.

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, Akaso was a member of **BOYS AND MEN**, but left later on. Akaso 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.

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.

Akaso 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.

In 2017, Akaso appeared in the tokusatsu genre in *Kamen Rider Build* as Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z.

In December of 2019, he and *Kamen Rider Drive* star Fumika Baba co-star in a drama series titled *Hey Sensei! Did You Know?* In late 2020, he starred in the drama series *Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!*.

In 2023, Akaso starred as Akira Tendo in the live-action film adaptation of *Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead*.

In 2034, he joined the cast of *Perfectization* as Haukashi Sakuri.

## Health issues

On January 24, 2022, Akaso tested positive for COVID-19. He has since recovered.

## Filmography

### Film

* *Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Final: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders* (2017) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z
* *Kamen Rider Build: Be The One* (2018) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z
* *Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever* (2018) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z
* *Build NEW WORLD: Kamen Rider Cross-Z* (2019) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z
* *Build NEW WORLD: Kamen Rider Grease* (2019) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z

### Television

* *Kamen Rider Amazons* (Season 2; 2017) - Hiroki Nagase
* *Kamen Rider Build* (2017-2018) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z
* *Kamen Rider Zi-O* (2018) - Ryuga Banjo/Kamen Rider Cross-Z
* *Perfectization* (2034) - Haukashi Sakuri

## Notes

* Akaso watched *Kamen Rider Kuuga* as a child and received an Arcle for his birthday from his grandfather.
* With his guest appearance in *Kamen Rider Zi-O*, he is the first Rider actor to have been in three consecutive Heisei productions in a row, with his first appearance in the franchise as Hiroki Nagase in Season 2 of *Kamen Rider Amazons* in April of 2017. After the finale of *Amazons*, he was cast in *Kamen Rider Build* as as Ryuga Banjou, where the show aired from September 2017 to the end of August of 2018. He would later reprise his role as Ryuga in *Zi-O*.
* Akaso was briefly a member of the male music group **BOYS AND MEN**, a group that former Gaim-star Yutaka Kobayashi is a prominent member of.

## External Links

* Official Agency Profile
* Official Twitter
* Official Instagram