Shunji Igarashi recently appeared on Japanese show NO MAKE, where he discussed his life outside of fame following Ultraman Mebius.
Igarashi had grown popular through his starring role as Mirai Hibino in Ultraman Mebius and Tetsuro Yufune in baseball show Rookies, so it came as a slight surprise when he suddenly retired from acting at the age of 27. Now 38 and living in Nagano, Igarashi focuses on helping people with disabilities find employment.
A business set up with his brother, Mobius Marlin is a transitional business that helps people who suffer from disabilities and mental illness learn to programme and develop social skills for work. Speaking in the interview, Igarashi confirmed he has no major interest in returning to television, instead finding satisfaction in his support work.
This is a change from 2021 where he expressed a desire to return to the big screen. Speaking now, he said if a project he was interested came along he may return, but his focus will remain primarily on his support role as he feels it could be irresponsible to take time off for entertainment.
While speaking, the
interviewer noticed that Igarashi had a wedding ring on and queried.
Igarashi revealed he was recently married and had proposed to his
Disney loving wife in front of Cinderella’s castle. While having gained weight since he was last seen on television, he expressed no concerns and joked that he was just his wifes type as she likes larger characters like Baymax from Big Hero 6 and Sulley from Monsters, Inc.
Igarashi was last seen in an Ultraman project in 2009 where he appeared in Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie. Since then Ultraman Mebius has appeared in a number of projects but Igarashi has only been present through the use of prerecorded stock audio grunts in battle.
