The awards ceremony of the 44th Hochi Film Award was held in Tokyo on the 18th. Director Takeuchi (53) and GACKT attended the ceremony to accept the Special Award which was awarded to the movie Tonde Saitama (Fly Me To The Saitama) (directed by Takeuchi Hideki) which amassed a cult following and became a hot topic.

Creating a social phenomenon with self-degradation jokes about the Kanto Region centred around Saitama Prefecture, the movie’s box office came up to a total of about 37.5 billion yen. When the offer came to him, GACKT said that he rejected it once, “I thought, ‘what on earth am I doing when I’m already 46?’”. But when he found out that he was nominated by the original work’s author, Maya Mineo-san, he laughed and said, “I couldn’t decline. I acted as a high school student while internally distressed.”

Regarding this movie, GACKT said, “If this was a bento box, then I’d think of myself as a good umeboshi”. But it brought in results that no one had ever expected, and of his feelings, he said, “It’s turned into a really good movie. I guess adding umeboshi was a little helpful.”

Source: hochi.news

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA