Sota Aoyama


Takeshi Tanabe, known professionally as Sōta Aoyama, is a Japanese male actor, vlogger, and content creator. He is best known for originating the role of Sadaharu Inui of the first generation Seigaku cast of the Prince of Tennis musical series, and also played the role of Kaito Toma, the human host of Ultraman Max in the 2005 Ultraman Max series.
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Early life

Aoyama was born on September 17, 1979, in Shimane, Japan, his grandfather was an actor and instructor at the Izumo rural kabuki troupe "Murakumo-za,". He began performing on stage as a child. Aoyama moved to Osaka to work as a security guard before shifting to a modeling career in Tokyo.

Career

Early acting and theater roles

Aoyama began his career in 2001 with his first appearance in the 2002 series, Home & Away.
Aoyama auditioned for a role of Kaoru Kaido in the musical version of The Prince of Tennis but ultimately cast as Sadaharu Inui, he appeared as a part of the Seigaku 1st generation cast on the musical from 2003 then he graduated from the role in 2005 during their ’2004-2005 Side Fudomine ~Special Match.
During his stint in Tenimyu, he appeared in another theater show called Legend of the Beautiful and he landed a role of one of the lead characters in the drama series, Damenari!', where he played Nobuhiko Tezuka, an aspirant doctor but have to setback and began as an employee in a convenience store, Ludens.
Aoyama appeared in supportive roles in a television drama based on a manga, Holyland and an anthology-based movie, Stories Arrived by Email.

Gaining prominence with Ultraman Max

In 2005, Aoyama became more popular when he appeared in the television series, Ultraman Max, where he played Touma Kaito, who is latest member of Team DASH and a human host of the titular character. The show became popular among Japanese viewers, and its expansion of viewership outside of Japan.
Following a year later, he played Detective Touta Matsuda in Death Note, Death Note: The Last Name and its third sequel, Death Note: Light Up The New World

Other roles and recent years

In 2009, Aoyama appeared on Himitsu no Kenmin Show as the Shimane Prefecture representative, which ran from 2007 and ended in 2020 following the renewal of the show and its changed title. Following a year later when he reprised his role as Inui and reunited with the majority first Seigaku cast to perform in Tenimyu's Dream Live 7th concert to celebrate the end of the series' first season.
10 years after Ultraman Max was ended, Aoyama reprise his role for an episode in Ultraman X, then in 2020, he participated in the 1st anniversary of Ultraman Connection Live along with his Ultraman Max co-stars, Hitomi Hasebe, Sean Nichols, and series creators, Takeshi Yagi and Takashi Miike.

Career expansion with content creation

Aoyama's career expanded with the addition of content creation aside from his blogging in Ameba, he launched his YouTube Channel in 2020, where he shared some of his videos about his hobbies and outdoor or travel contents, especially his memorable experiences in Ultraman Max, which he starred in, and reunions with his fellow cast members.

Filmography

Film

  • Stories Received by Email
  • Death Note film series- Matsuda Touta
  • *Death Note
  • *Death Note: The Last Name
  • *Death Note: Light Up The New World'
  • Girl's BOX Lovers☆High - Yoichiro Matsuda
  • Sorasoii - Tabe
  • Meon - Genki Nishida
  • Homecoming - Kazuhiro Tokita
  • Bayside Shakedown THE FINAL: New Hope
  • The Hundred Year Clock
  • Kuroyuri Danchi - Kanemoto
  • Japan's Longest Day - Major Kenzo Kubota
  • Scanner: The Man Who Reads Fragments of Memory - Detective Matsuda
  • The Sun's Lid - Terada Manabu

Television

  • Home & Away Episode 5
  • Damenari! - Nobuhiko Tezuka
  • Holyland -Kaneda Shinichi
  • Ultra Series
  • *Ultraman Max - Touma Kaito
  • *Ultraman X Episode 8 - Dr. Touma / Touma Kaito
  • Spring Reaches You - Haruki Toyama
  • Drama Complex: For Me to Be Me - Tonomura Kazuki
  • Strange Strategy Second File - Hiroshi Nomura
  • Rising Summer Clouds' - Hanayama Tarozaemon
  • Teacher's Secret - Shimizu Shonosuke
  • The Man Most Fooled by L ~Detective Matsuda's Case File~ - Matsuda Touta
  • Hit Maker: Aku Yu Story
  • Otohime Episode 92 "The Girl Who Shouts Love"
  • Saturday Premium This is Good!! The Legend of Fujio Akatsuka - Fujiko Fujio
  • Welcome back to the Butler Cafe Episode 7 - Sakura Shun
  • Gradually the 25th week - Makoto Kuroda
  • The "Dandan" Notebook
  • Kurohyou: Like a Dragon New Chapter Episodes 4 and 5 - Kengo Morita
  • Welcome to the El Palacio - Takao Seno
  • Grandpa's Wasabi - Ryo Oba
  • Hakuoki - Ikezawa Bubei
  • Wednesday Mystery 9 Gunriki Detective Inspector Onijima Yaichi 2 - Katsuya Shimazaki
  • Miyabe Miyuki Mystery: Perfect Blue Episode 9 - Maeda Yamato
  • Borrowing a Spear ~Drunken Kotoji Letter~ - Role: Tanezo Imamura
  • Suiyo Mystery 9: Travel Writer - Atsushi Tanaka
  • Yoshiwara Ura Doshin Final Episode - Jingoro
  • Indigo Lover - Tatsuya Nakamura
  • Denshichi Torimonochō 2 Episode 5 - Hyogo Sawaguchi
  • Nukemairu ~ Three Women Visiting Ise Episode 7 - Shingo
  • Koyoshi's Wife - Seiichiro Otani
  • Mitsukuni and Me - Episode 1 - Akiyama Kanbei

Music videos

Web series

  • Ultraman Connection Live as himself

Stage roles