What Happened With Maya Imamori?

There were several news stories that broke regarding Gozyuger actress Maya Imamori, which have fundamentally impacted its production – here’s a summary of what happened. 

On November 8, 2025, Japanese agency seju announced that they have terminated Mayu Imamori’s contract for underage alcohol consumption – with her being 19, one year below the legal drinking age in Japan. This resulted in Imamori being removed from her main cast role as Sumino Ichikawa/Gozyu Unicorn in the current running Super Sentai series No.1 Sentai Gozyuger, which began its run in February 2025. As a result, Toei and Bandai are no longer permitted to use her likeness going forward.

Beginning with Episode 37, Imamori was removed from both the series’ opening sequence and the episode itself, despite having appeared in the Episode 37 preview that aired at the end of the previous broadcast. Her sole line of dialogue in episode 37 was also redubbed by voice actress Ayaka Maekawa. Additionally, the episode concluded without a “Next Episode” preview. As Episode 38 and 39 continued on schedule, it became evident that Toei would not pause the broadcast, and instead do what they can to remove any of Sumino’s scenes. 

Imamori apologized for her actions on her Instagram post shortly after the announcement of her release from her agency. She also apologized to her fans and co-stars, and those involved with her work. 

Another story in circulation suggested that Imamori was also secretly working at a lounge without her agency’s knowledge, which is itself not illegal since employees can start working at such a place from the age of 18, but it’s believed that the serving of alcohol may have been an additional factor in their decision to let her go.

This would not be the only time that she was featured in news articles. Previously, on September 10, 2025, weekly tabloid Bunshun posted an article about an alleged affair between Imamori and Gozyu Wolf suit actor Kosuke Asai, the latter of whom was married. This article sparked controversy among the crew of the show and fans. Bunshun has released another tabloid a week later that claims that she is dating a soccer player from Japan’s National Team. 

Depending on where you look, there are numerous reactions to the news, both locally and overseas. In Japan, it is culturally seen as problematic when a person puts their job at risk, not only bringing harm to themselves but also to those around them – as a result, there are many who felt she deserved to be dropped if she was willing to put her job at risk like this.

But on the other end, there are fans both locally and overseas that feel seju shouldn’t have been so hasty in dropping her like this, especially someone so young. The agency has received harassment for it, and now seeks legal action against those involved. Meanwhile, overseas reactions suspect there were ulterior motives at play with how quickly seju dropped Imamori, but officially, she was only fired for underage drinking.

On November 15, 2025, the official X account for Gozyuger announced that the role of Sumino would now be played by Kohaku Shida, who previously played Oni Sister in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers. She will make her first appearance as Sumino in episode 40, airing today. It remains to be seen how much of the remaining episodes will be changed now that they’ve filmed new footage with the actress.

Source: seju, Bunshun, Maya Imamori’s Instagram,  X (Formally Twitter)