Domon | Sion | Tatsuya | Yuuri | Ayase | Naoto
Yuuri's Bio | Interview | Actress' Message
"Dorunero! If you die I'll never forgive you! I could not forget every day!"
Yuuri comes across immediately as a no-nonsense, serious person who has neither time nor patience to put up with frivolity. She's heard of the concept, but it has nothing to do with her. When the captain comes to choose from among the cadets for the mission, she is the only person to step forward and volunteer. She is also the one with the attention span to notice the sudden presence of the Londarz Penitentiary on the launch pad. In a way we find out about her earlier than all the others. She is an officer of the Inter-City Police, and she had gone into deep cover among the Time Rangers to ferret out a plot the streets were abuzz with news of.I think she did this on her own. Yuuri is not accustomed to reporting to anyone, to working with anyone, to living with anyone. She does as she does because she is a police officer, and that really is the be-all and end-all of it. So she doesn't quite take charge of the team. She expects them all to do as she does, fight the criminals and put them back in prison. That's all there is to it, for her. She doesn't hesitate, never second-guesses herself. We need five people to activate the Chrono Changers, or we won't be able to fight. Fine. Here's a fifth person. She will take assistance if it is offered, but it never occurs to her to ask for it. Particularly at first she is the driving force in the group. She has one goal and is not interested in arguing about it. In most shows, if there is trouble between team members it is up to the woman or women of the team to patch it up. Not Yuuri. If it isn't interfering with the current mission, those who argue can go hang, for all she cares. Over the course of the series, she comes to care about the individuals she is with. Ayase is reliable and always does his best, and when she finds out he is dying she is as much in denial as the others. Domon is... well, playful, intense and a bundle of emotion who has to be check-reined periodically. Sion is sweet, like a child and quite dependable. Tatsuya goes from being a necessary evil to an annoyance, to a beloved friend who somehow works his way into her heart. And Naoto is a desired team member, ornery but reliable. She accepts Tatsuya's suggestion that she specialize as a detective without a qualm, because it seems like work that will lead her towards the Londarz. She's not at all interested in making suggestions herself, such is personal behaviour and not something she's ever learned to do. The first time we see her smile in the story is at the end of episode three, when everyone in the group has been settled with what type of work they'll enjoy. And so we weren't particularly prepared when Episode 5 came along, and we learned about her. At first she seemed to have gone insane. She pursued the alien criminal with a single-mindedness that could easily have led to his death. Only Ayase struggled with her to prevent it. And only afterwards did we learn that this particular criminal had slaughtered her family when she was ten years old, and carried away with him her father's bracelet as a trophy. It seems that afterwards Yuuri was on her own, training to be a police officer like her father. Did anyone try to help the child? I feel like no one did. Or perhaps as sometimes happens, she could not let anyone close to her after that. But Yuuri never really went mad, she just put on a convincing act for the criminal, to provoke him into exposing the identity of whoever had hired him to kill her family. And after that, she eased up just a little and started to let the others know if she wanted a little help. She had her next feature in Episode 8, when a starving young artist, Kenji Toba, becomes fascinated with her and begs to do her portrait. He is taken by the contrast between her obvious beauty and her intent, businesslike attitude. He wishes to find the reality within her, but Lira is after him because he will be famous and she wants him to do HER portrait. While the other three from the 30th all know Kenji's name (proving he's as famous as Picasso)and develop mouth-hanging-open disease, Yuuri's reaction is "Of course. That's why they went after him." When she agrees to model for him, the others are stunned. she only agreed so that she could keep close and watch for the Londarz. Her tenseness and constant movement drove him up the wall, until he refused to keep trying because he could not see her true self. And when Tatsuya finds out, he issues her a thorough scolding. "That guy looks into people's hearts, he wanted to look into yours, to see the real you, but you never gave him a chance!" She, who has never had anyone try to reach beyond her surface, is quite bewildered and she does feel bad for hurting Kenji. For the first time we see that Yuuri has a light side, for afterwards in being with Kenji she lets herself enjoy knowing him, and he gives her the portrait he was finally able to make, which she keeps a secret from the others though they try to see it. In Episode 11, Yuuri has to deal with Honami getting in the way of a desperate mission. She loses her temper with the other young woman and smacks her a good one (she's actually quite willing to smack when it needs to be done). Her opinion on the subject she expresses quite clearly later, "The photographer's name is Honami Moriyama. If she comes here, she'll really get in our way. Domon, don't get involved with her." But she isn't as cold about Honami as she seems. In Episode 13, Yuuri goes undercover as a patron at a fight-club. Her single-mindedness can be applied to any situation. It can make things difficult, though. As in Episode 15. Yuuri went to confront Honami Moriyama about the rumors that she was a friend of the Time Rangers. But Honami has become victim of her editor's lie, kidnapped and held hostage to draw the Rangers out. And when they have to knock her out to rescue her (she was hysterical), Yuuri is very gentle with the unconscious woman. She was rather surprised at herself, though. "I never noticed it. Even though I looked at the same pictures as Sion. I didn't notice that she loved him." It is only in brief at the end of 18 that we first get a hint that Yuuri can't cook, for Sion teases her saying, "If Yuuri cuts it, we won't be able to eat!" In Episode 20 Yuuri has occasion to slap Domon one, but she does it only to force him to stop being hysterical. She is as upset as he that future history is being kept from them, but she cannot let it push her emotions out of control. But she also gets over her upset and says, "So this is history? I wouldn't change why I'm here. To fight the Dorunero." In Episode 31 (Sion's Way), Yuuri is the only one of the four happy drunkards whose call brings in the right weapon rightside up. None of them can fight, but I thoughy that was really right. But Episode 22 gives her an astonishing experience. She temporarily keeps house for a distressed customer. Unfortunately, her lack of basic experience only increases the customer's distress. It never occurs to her to tell the others about her problems. She in fact pretends everything is fine, but to herself she thinks, "It's like I can't do anything other women can do." When the three older men of her group fall under the spell of the mysterious Kyoko, Yuuri must learn to, at least once in her life, use her sex appeal. But then in Episode 25 and 26, Yuuri comes up against the impossibility of understanding Tatsuya, who is not following an agreed-upon plan. He tries to apologize but cannot explain, so tries to be playful. But people don't joke with Yuuri, and she thinks he is mocking her. "Trying to plan something with someone I don't trust is just like committing suicide. Someone who's trying to turn the simulation ground into a playground, I just don't know what they'll do." It is from Tatsuya's mother that she learns a little more about our boy, and finally forgives in understanding. "Which means that time he did something wrong because something happened to upset him. Something he couldn't talk about." Yuuri spends a little time on Tatsuya. It is she who soothes and calms him, realizing he is frightened and upset. "I told you that nothing would have happened this way, but getting in is very frightening. But, even if you risk a friend's life, in the end everyone goes home to their families. After you go home you think that nothing happened. But I couldn't do that. I was scared of going home to an empty house, with no one there to talk to. Home. There was no other place to go. (about her baby sister and a game like Leap-Frog) She would always ask to play, and I would say 'No thanks, I don't want to do something so babyish.' I would say. And then after she died, I thought I should have played a lot more with her." Things are relatively quite for her, personally, until Episode 34. Yuuri goes undercover as an assassin to find who she expects, a Londarz prisoner named Aberu, who was once a fellow police officer. He'd gone as bad as could be, but was also obsessed with Yuuri. Not with her as such, actually, but with her as property. He was dedicated into making her into an assassin like himself if he had to use drugs to do it. Yuuri was not at all cooperative. She manages to fight his control enough to signal the others and they do their best to get to her. It is Tatsuya whom she eventually thinks of, he who so often is suddenly there when he is most needed. And when he succeeds in preventing the assassination she's been set up to do, she takes quite some time to recover from the shock and relief. She herself noticed that this was the first time she had ever turned her thoughts to Tatsuya for help. The fact that he was there and succeeded really blew her away. Until she heard Domon and him discussing her, and then her shy embarrassment faded before irritation, which was a LOT easier to understand and act upon. In Episode 41, Yuuri finds she and Tatsuya are the center of attention, for the relationship they are not having is becoming quite the source of interest for Domon. Being pushed by Domon is too hard for her, and she reacts negatively, convinced Tatsuya is driving this because she DOES know he likes her. Confronted with a lovely young cult member playing up to Tatsuya, and feeling both raw and unexpectedly jealous, she goes off to investigate and ends up getting captured. And when Tatsuya finds out just in time to prevent himself from being used to kill her, they get a moment where she can admit, "I do think you're useful! I want you to help me often. I even wanted you to help me just then." Boy, that was hard to admit for her. But after this stressful episode, she and Tatsuya start to relax more with each other, until.... Episode 47 is her last major feature episode, and she shares the spotlight with Tatsuya, who tries to keep up with her as she single-mindedly pursues Don Dorunero. This happens after she and Tatsuya were talking, and she had said to him, "Power is something that we also must have to survive, isn't it. We don't know beyond what we're chasing. Just like I'm chasing Dorunero, and I don't know what will happen." For what happens after you get what you most want, is an important question for us all. For she does not get to arrest Dorunero. He dies and Yuuri is bereft, her goal in life ripped from her, and leaving her confuse and purposeless. Years of drive and rage are suddenly without focus, and she is lost. Tatsuya is there to hold her and try to comfort her. He tries to tell her she'd done all that was possible. But at that moment rationality has deserted her. Without her balance Yuuri spends some time in a semi-daze. She doesn't really answer anyone for a while. There is only the goal to save the world left. What next, she does not wonder. And so when Tatsuya sends them across time to end up in the year 3001, she protests as loud as she can. He tells her to find a new path. But the future she's returned to is different from the one she left, in one very vital way. Yuuri's parents and sister are alive. She has to accept this information, but rather than making her happy it puts her into shock. Who was the "real" Yuuri? What was she like, the young woman who leapt across a thousand years? She couldn't have been much like the Yuuri we know. Captain Ryuuya intended to wipe out their memories so that no one would ever know the future had changed. And a thousand years in the past, the Earth was going to be largely destroyed in a time disaster. Yuuri had lived for half her life with the knowledge that her family was dead. But she knew well and truly that Tatsuya was alive and in great danger, a thousand years in the past. Thus she made her decision. The future was different, so be it. It would be different either way. "I can't let Tatsuya or his century end. That's not the reason. But I have to go."
Dengeki Tokusatsu Tsushin 2000 Summer Vol. 3. Hyper Battle Time Ranger: Virtual Talk.
Bio of YuuriPg. 39 When Don Dorunero was arrested and brought in so easily, she smelled a rat and started investigating. She infiltrated the Time Protection Bureau as a new ranger. In the midst of the enlistment ceremony, Don Dorunero broke out of jail. Yuuri volunteered to be part of the Time-ship pursuit team but didn't know it was Lira's trap. With the other three people, she was dragged to the 20th Century. There she took this man and high-handedly dragged him into the Time Ranger formation. From the Time Protection Bureau came the unreasonable command that the five of them consent to re-capture Don Dorunero and all of his people. That is their dearest wish. On those four people stand the hopes of tomorrow. For Tomorrow Research, Yuuri is in charge of detective work and surveying. But actually she does a lot of the cleaning work and things like that. She is 21 years old. Time Ranger: Virtual TalkYuuri Interviews Mika KatsumuraPg. 46-7 Mika Katsumura was born 5/31/1980. She is 160cm tall.
Katsumura: Hard work, isn't it? Arresting the Londarz.
Original posted October 29, 2000 at the bottom of this Toie page.
In truth, I'm a terribly shy person. When we started filming, I still felt very nervous. I couldn't get a grip on Yuuri. I just immersed myself in playing her, did my best. *smile* I thought she was a very cold person. But recently I realized she is not cold. I understand her better now. She is very strong, but she can't really do housework or cooking, like an ordinary girl. She misunderstands little things, and then just goes to it. She is really an ordinary person. She's one year older than I am, so I can't really say anything bad about her. Her parents were killed when she was eight years old (Oh dear, Mika made a mistake, Yuuri was 10), and she's 21 now. She is lonely, but she has to be an adult. When she lost her family, she decided for herself to be strong. She made a wall between herself and other people, but when she was selected to be a Time Ranger, met Tatsuya and they all had to live together, her emotions thawed. She is very generous and beautiful. This is the real Yuuri. So I think she is very great. If I am Yuuri, then I can be as strong as her, and for that I respect her. I hope for her happiness. But I want to say to her, "Caring for another person is NOT a weakness, but absolutely a source of strength." When we believe in someone, we become stronger. Yuuri should depend on Tatsuya and the others, and believe in them. Oh dear, I think I've written too much. Now, we're filming episode 40, and the director and everyone keep scolding me, so I am being Yuuri. I was really grateful to the staff and my fellow actors, helping me develop Yuuri. They gave me lots of advice and encouragement. They also scolded me fiercely 'til I understood. I like them now because they always cared about me. Up to now I acted by myself, but now that there are six of us, I can take counsel with the others every day, and I'm happy, so I thank them all. From now until the end the schedule is very short. Magu (Tatsuya) is very strong, reliable, and manly. Yuu (Ayase) loves sake and is very funny. Dehi (Domon) is very gentle and funny, and he understands me well. Kura (Sion), I can't hate him, he tries very hard. Shinji (Naoto) looks aloof, but in truth he is very ardent about the world. So, I'll keep working very hard to finish Time Ranger with all of them! Watch out for us! This was Tomorrow Research's Yuuri.
みなさんお元気ですか！？こんにちは！タイムピンク・ユウリ役の勝村美香です。 私、実はすごく人見知りする人なんですね。だから、クランクイン当初はなかなか場に溶け込めなくて、オドオドしていたんです。｢ユウリ｣っていう存在もハッキリとは掴めずに、ただただ夢中で演じてたな(笑)。『ユウリって冷たい女の子だな！』って思いながら。でもそれって、｢ユウリ｣をちゃんと理解してなかっただけなんだって、今さらながら。本当は、なんか意地張って突っ張ってて強いフリしてても、家事で失敗したり、ささいな事勘違いして突っ走っちゃったりする、普通の女の子なんだよね。私より一つ年上の彼女には、ちょっと良くない言い方かもしれないけど(ワハハ)。
両親が８つの時に亡くなって、２１歳になるまでずっと一人で、ずっと寂しかっただろうに、大人ぶって。きっと家族を亡くした時点で彼女は、この先誰にも頼らずに生きてゆけるよう、強くなろうって思ったんだろうね。でも知らず知らずの内に"一人で生きてゆける"って人との間に壁を作ってしまってた…。でも、タイムレンジャーに選ばれて(自分で立候補したんだけど)、竜也達と出逢い、暮らしを共にしていく内に心がほぐれて柔らかくなって、段々に自分を見せていけるようになって…。そして今、ちょっとドジで可愛い女の子になったユウリ。これが本当のユウリだと思う。…やっぱりユウリって凄い。もし私がユウリの立場だったらって考えると、ユウリみたいに強くいられないかもしれない。そういう意味でも、すごくユウリを尊敬するな。そして、誰よりも幸せになってほしいと思う。でも、一つユウリに言いたい事があって。それは、もっと人に頼ってほしいなって…。『電撃特撮通信』でも言ったけど、人に頼るって、弱さじゃないと思うの。ある意味、強さだよ、絶対。人は誰かを信じた時、今よりも、もっと強くなる。そういう意味でも、ユウリはもっと、竜也達を頼ってほしい、信じてあげてほしいって思うんだ。もっと、ずっとね。 今、４０話の撮影に入り、怒られながらも、ユウリとして生きています。こんな風に役をつきつめて考えられるようになったのは、メンバーをはじめ、スタッフの皆さんのお陰なんです。色々なアドバイスをくれたり、励ましてくれたり、時には厳しく、私が理解するまで叱ってくれたり…。最初は反発もしたけれど、皆、私の為に言ってくれてるって分かったから。今はみんな大好きです。今までずっと一人で仕事と向き合ってきたから、今、こうして6人で毎日忙しいながらも楽しくお芝居できる事が、すごく嬉しいんです。心配事、悩み事、全部聞いてくれたり、納得するまで話し合ったりできる仲間がいること。本当にすごく充実した、いい毎日です！メンバーには、とても感謝しています。
これから、最終回まで残り少ないけど、力強く、頼もしいマグさん(竜也)を中心に、お酒が大スキでジョーク飛ばしすぎの裕ちゃん(アヤセ)と、優しくておもしろくて私のよき理解者のでひさん(ドモン)、憎めない、でも頑張り屋で努力家のくら(シオン)、そしてひょうひょうとしてるけど、実はアツイ紳司くん(直人)と共に、精・一・杯頑張り抜いて見せるので、皆さんどうか最後まで見守っていて下さいね！！ | 
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