CINEMA-LIFE.NET: GACKT proposed kiss scene himself "Wanted to kiss Iseya-san" ― Cast, Director Attends『Tonde Saitama』Opening Day Stage Greeting

The opening day stage greeting for Tonde Saitama was held on Friday, 22 February at Marunouchi TOEI. It was attended by Nikaido Fumi, GACKT, Iseya Yusuke, Kyomoto Masaki, and director Takeuchi Hideki.

On this day, they were all dressed in traditional Japanese garb in celebration of the official opening day and they took to the stage after the screening ended. Nikaido, who played the role of the male student council president in the movie, greeted with a smile, “Throughout the promotions, I’ve been dressed in pants style, so I let them know that I definitely wanted to wear a hakama”. Co-star GACKT has been participating in numerous promotional activities with Nikaido, but he declared, “I had decided to only appear on TV 5 times a year, I’ve appeared enough times to last 5 years. I think I’m going to take a break for the next 5 years”. Upon hearing that, the audience jeered with “Ehーー!”. To that, he said with a smile, “I keep getting bullied like this”.

With regards to that memorable scene that he shared with GACKT, when Iseya recalled, “Kissing GACKT while delusional. Argh, I was shocked!”, director Takeuchi revealed, “It wasn’t originally there, but GACKT-san proposed it. He said, ‘Perhaps it’ll bring out a BL flavour’.”. To this, GACKT confessed, “You promised not to say that. This is mixing private considerations with work. But I wanted to kiss Iseya-kun no matter what”, and hearing that the audience burst out in cheers.

Furthermore, director Takeuchi revealed, “After his kiss scene with GACKT-san, he said it’s ‘Surprisingly no different from a woman’”. To this, Iseya continued, “GACKT-san, after I kissed him, he just kept waiting (for the next scene) without wiping his mouth”. Regarding this scene, Nikaido also said, “I heard the rumours on site that there was a kiss, but I didn’t expect it to be something so realistically executed, I thought that (they had) amazing showmanship”.

To commemorate the launch, they broke a paper ball at the event, and from within it appeared a banner that said “Datsu Da-Saitama”. GACKT said, “I hope that Saitama natives will continue to feel rewarded being teased”, and also added that it would be nice if this movie “will become a contribution”.

The original story is a popular comic of the same name that deals heavy impact with it’s
thorough dissing of Saitama natives. The son of the governor of Tokyo and the student council president of a prestigious school in Tokyo, Dannoura Momomi (Nikaido Fumi), and the transfer student, Asami Rei (GACKT). Based on appearances, Rei looks like a Tokyo-ite but he is actually a member of Saitama Liberation Front, which seeks to abolish waybills. In his bid to reclaim the pride and freedom of Saitama citizens, they get drawn into a battle that involves the whole of Kanto where Akutsu Sho (Iseya Yusuke), the leader of Chiba Liberation Front which opposes Saitama, and Saitama Duke (Kyomoto Masaki) appears as well. The biggest comedy in the history of Japanese film will finally unfold in theatres.