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TOKOROZAWANAVI.COM: Nikaido Fumi and GACKT amused by "Kotatsu seats"!
Tonde Saitama Local-1 Grand Prix Awards Ceremony at New Tokorozawa Let’s Cine Park. “The funniest thing…”
The Local-1 Grand Prix awards ceremony and stage greeting for Tonde Saitama the movie was held on 23 February at New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park (3 minutes’ walk from Shinshozawa Station West Exit), and it was attended by lead actors Nikaido Fumi-san and GACKT (Gakuto), along with director Takeuchi Hideki. The cinema’s unique seats became quite the topic.
Rei-sama brings Momomi to Tokorozawa
Shin Tokorozawa made lively by famous celebrities!
The “Local-1 Grand Prix” is based on Tonde Saitama’s theme of “local love”. Before the release of the movie, the 137 cinemas around the country appealed their “loving, self-deprecating joke” on Twitter and the tweet of the cinema that receives the most votes wins the Grand Prix. It was planned that lead actors Nikaido Fumi-san and GACKT would attend the awards ceremony for this together to congratulate the winner.
The catchphrase that New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park used as their atrocious appeal point was “Even though this is Tokorozawa, our famed local produce is ‘Sayama Tea’. But it’s also Asami Rei-sama’s hometown”.
The result of the fierce voting battle between tweets was an impressive win of the Grand Prix by Tokorozawa’s New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park. Even though it was in 3rd place at the time of the interim announcement, the Tweet suddenly caught up as the voting deadline neared and ended up shining at the top.
And… Tokorozawa is a popular location for TV and movie programs to film at, but the citizens grew excited when it was announced that “famous celebrities” were coming.
On the day that Nikaido Fumi-san, GACKT-san, and director Takeuchi arrived for the awards ceremony, the inside of Shin-Tokorozawa Parco which led to New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park and the area around it was already crowded with people since morning.
Tokorozawa’s star cinema’s “Kotatsu seats” teased
“The funniest thing…”
During this day’s awards ceremony, the front row box seats that were provided for the reporter’s photography and filming area were “kotatsu seats”.
When Nikaido-san was asked for a congratulatory message from the emcee of the Grand Prix, she said, “Congratulations on the Grand Prix. Looks comfortable… What that? Kotatsu?!”
Even though the cameras of the reporters in the kotatsu seats were pointed at him, GACKT-san couldn’t hide his laughter, saying, “This is the funniest. The image of reporters sitting in kotatsu while taking photos is just so weird… This is the funniest thing this year”. The two lead actors both found themselves “teasing” the “kotatsu seats” that Tokorozawa is proud of.
Turning “teasing” into a plus! That is Saitama Prefecture’s cinema. New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park’s manager Hayase Tomohiro flipped the switch and brought in his Saitama spirit (he’s a Tokyo native but loves Tokorozawa), starting up his aggressive promoting. “We had our renewal 2 years ago and we made a theatre that would be able to make the audience feel like they’re in a live concert with the front rows filled, and made the front row seats the centrepiece. The ‘kotatsu seats’ can seat 3 adults and the row behind that are ‘electric reclining seats with footrests’. Behind that too, are ‘backrest reclining’ seats. All these seats are ‘premium seats’ that were added to improve the viewing environment after the refurbishment”.
Having heard manager Hayase’s explanation, Nikaido-san said, “I enjoy going to the cinema to watch movies but the cinema that I liked has disappeared, and in this era when theatres are dwindling in numbers, such a cinema that renews its interior and attracts new customers is something that I think is wonderful. I’ll go on to support (Let’s Cine Park) going forward too”.
GACKT-san too gave a shoutout to applause from the audience, saying, “There’s no other manager who does his best with so much effort”. Manager Hayase looked terribly grateful.
「First 30 minutes might be a painful stretch of time for Saitama natives」Director Takeuchi
Manager Hayase received the Local-1 Grand Prix sash from GACKT-san, the crown from Nikaido-san, and the “Sai-tama Ball”, which was used during the Japan premiere (18 January 2019) and is only available in limited quantities, from director Takeuchi.
After that, he said, “It’s an honour to win the Grand Prix. This time, we’ve carried out a variety of promotional activities centred around the theme of ‘Shin-Tokorozawa Holy Grounds Plan’ and received a lot of support from everyone. I would like to dedicate this Grand Prix to all of you”.
Manager Hayase also promoted the movie well, saying, “If you come and watch it more than once, you’ll realise that this is a movie that tickles your local love and at the same time, you’ll think ‘Ah, so such a character existed’ or ‘Ah, that flag has something written on it’ or ‘Ah, my city is written there’ at various points of the movie”.
Tonde Saitama is a live-action movie adaptation based on the original by Maya Mineo, who is the author of Patalliro! and was a citizen of Tokorozawa.
Director Takeuchi said, “I gathered information about Saitama over a period of 2 years and sprinkled little jokes (in the movie). For Saitama natives, the first 30 minutes might be a painful stretch of time, but at the end, I believe that you’ll understand that this is a story about the local love for Saitama. Please do share your thoughts on SNS too, and encourage people who daren’t watch the movie to come to the theatre to see it”.
※Orignal work Maya Mineo「Kono Manga ga Sugoi! comics Tonde Saitama」(Takarajimasha)
GACKT-san’s junior, actor Takigawa Eiji-san also came to the theatre in his own time
As the stage greeting came to an end, GACKT-san had a docile expression on his face and began with, “This is private talk but”. Going on, he spoke of his junior, actor Takigawa Eiji-san coming to the theatre in a wheelchair to watch the movie and look over the audience while watching the stage greeting.
Takigawa Eiji-san fell during the filming of the drama “Yowamushi Pedal Season 2” and suffered a severe spinal cord injury that caused him to be wheelchair bound. He is presently working hard at rehabilitation while being an emcee for BS Sukapaー!’s PARA SPORTS NEWS Athlete Pride.
GACKT-san encouraged him, saying, “I’ve also received strength from him too, and I hope that I’d be able to work on something with him again one day. I’d like to give a shoutout to him”.
Source: tokorozawanavi.com
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
DESSART: GACKT laughs too, jokes at Tonde Saitama Stage Greeting
Tonde Saitama stage greeting held
The stage greeting for the movie Tonde Saitama was held on 23 February at New Tokorozawa Let’s Cine Park in Saitama and it was attended by Nikaido Fumi, GACKT, and director Takeuchi Hideki.
This stage greeting came about because New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park beat out all the other cinemas in the country to win the “Local-1 Grand Prix” where each theatre was to self-deprecatingly show their local love. As promised during the Grand Prix, the two lead actors came to the cinema and presented the custom-made sash and crown to manager Hayase Tomohiro.
GACKT laughs too, jokes at Tonde Saitama stage greeting
At the start of the stage greeting, Nikaido gave her congratulations for the Grand Prix and added, “What is this, are they kotatsu? What a lovely cinema”, expressing her surprise at the special configuration of the cinema that made the first row of seats kotatsu. GACKT had a wry smile for the sight of the reporters holding onto cameras while in seated in kotatsu’s, saying, “This scene is really so weird. It really makes me laugh, like what the hell is this”. He continued to jab at it, making the audience burst out in laughter as he said, “This is the funniest thing all year. Can you please get out of the kotatsu?”.
New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park won the Grand Prix by appealing with, “Even though this is Tokorozawa, our famed local produce is “Sayama Tea”, but it’s also Asami Rei-sama’s hometown!!”. With an elated expression, cinema manager Hayase stepped on stage, received the sash from GACKT, the crown from Nikaido, and the Sai-tama Ball from the director.
Following this, the event continued straight into a photo session for the reporters where GACKT’s wry smile at the grinning smiley character of manager Hayase was seen.
Manager Hayase began by talking about the plan for the Grand Prix to turn Shin-Tokorozawa into the holy grounds, saying, “I want to dedicate this to everyone who supported us”, and Nikaido said to manager Hayase, “I didn’t think that we’d come to Tokorozawa for a stage greeting. This is a very joyous occasion”.
Even though GACKT had a bitter smile as he spoke of manager Hayase’s appearance when wearing the sash and the crown, saying, “I don’t think such a manager exists”, he was replied with, “Please support me”.
Nikaido had wanted to see Tokorozawa before this stage greeting. GACKT asked, “That’s nice! What’s in Tokorozawa?”, and Nikaido replied, “Soba, I guess. That’s the kind of feeling I got, though”.
Hearing that, manager Hayase spoke up from the side, saying, “We have Sayama tea”. When GACKT went on to ask further with, “Doesn’t Sayama tea belong to Sayama?”, he got the reply, “It’s from everyone”, and the audience burst out in laughter.
With regards to the movie, which has tiny jokes about Saitama scattered all throughout it, the manager said that he would like people to go and watch it more than once to catch them all, but he confessed an unexpected truth, saying, “I am actually a Tokyo native…”, and got a perfect picturesque rebuttal from GACKT in the form of an “Oy!”. In the laughter-filled hall with the unique set up of kotatsu seats, Nikaido expressed her desire to support it, saying, “I think it’s very lovely. It would be nice if there would be more of such cinemas would in Japan”.
Closing off the stage greeting, the director began with “There are a lot of little jokes and appearances from mascot characters, so please do try looking out for them”. GACKT spoke of a friend who suffered a severe cervical spine injury who was able to come to this stage greeting in Tokorozawa because it’s in his hometown and gave his friend, and the audience, a shoutout, “I came because this is the kind of venue it is”.
In the end, Nikaido spoke of receiving a Oiri-bukuro following the release, and expressed her gratitude, saying, “This is a movie that I want more and more people to find interesting. I’m also very happy to be able to meet everyone at this wonderful cinema like this. Thank you”.
The movie Tonde Saitama is a live-action adaptation of Maya Mineo’s manga of the same name. Its setting of a fictional world where “Saitama natives” are being persecuted is one that created a stir and aroused public attention.
Source: Dessart
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
M-ON-MUSIC.JP: Tonde Saitama Lead Actors Nikaido Fumi×GACKT Descend on Tokorozawa! Burst out laughing when they see the reporters seated in Kotatsu's
■ “What’s with this? These kotatsu seats (smiles). It’s the ideal seat, isn’t it?” (Nikaido Fumi), “This is the first time in my life that I’m seeing media representatives sitting in kotatsu’s and taking photos of me. The best joke this year (smiles)” (GACKT)
The movie Tonde Saitama was released yesterday, 22 February. One of the campaign events during the promotional seasons was the awards ceremony of the “Local-1 Grand Prix” which was held today, 23 February, at New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park in Saitama.
The Local-1 Grand Prix is a campaign that was named after “local love”, one of the themes of the movie Tonde Saitama. People were to self-deprecatingly tweet about their hometown’s charm along with the location of their nearest movie theatre while fans will read it and vote for one of the 137 movie theatres nationwide that they “want to support”. A bonus prize for this Grand Prix is having the luxurious benefit of lead actors Nikaido Fumi and GACKT visiting the winning movie theatre.
After a fierce battle, the place that won the Grand Prix was impressively the above-mentioned New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park. The charming point of this local area that was brought up for this cinema was “Even though the place is called Tokorozawa, it produces ‘Sayama’ tea, and it’s Asami Rei-sama’s hometown!!”.
As promised for the awards ceremony, the two lead actors, Nikaido Fumi, GACKT, were accompanied by director Takeuchi Hideki to present a Tasuki, which was specially made for this day, and the crown, which somehow looked like it came from a mass retailer somewhere to the manager of New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park, Hayase Tomohiro.
He also received a “Sai-tama Ball”, which was named after Saitama’s nickname “Sai no Kuni (Land of Colours)” and was given out by Nikaido and GACKT to the audience at the Japan premiere on 28 January, from director Takeuchi.
It appears that during the Local-1 Grand Prix, the staff of New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park worked on making their cinema the holy grounds of this movie. With a smile, the manager shared his happy words, saying, “Winning this Grand Prix is thanks to the support from every one of Shin-Tokorozawa. I feel that the promotions that our cinema delivers to everyone in Tokorozawa City have properly reached everyone’s hearts”.
New Tokorozawa Let's Cine Park had undergone refurbishment 2 years ago and received a new concept. They turned the usually-empty front seats into reclining seats and during winter, the front-most row gets equipped with kotatsu, turning them into Kotatsu Seats. These are just some of the ideas that turned this cinema into one with a rather “strong character”. Although they were informed beforehand, Nikaido, GACKT, and director Takeuchi were still rather shocked by this scene.
On this day, the awards ceremony was held together with a stage greeting, and the reporters’ area for the stage greeting was the kotatsu seats area. To the sight of the reporters seated in kotatsu and taking photos of them, Nikaido was highly amused, saying, “What’s with this? These kotatsu seats (smiles). It’s the ideal seat, isn’t it? I think it would be nice if I could have such a seat. This is a very lovely cinema”.
GACKT, who gives the impression that he normally doesn’t display any expression, too could not hold back his laughter, bursting out as he said, “This is the first time in my life that I’m seeing media representatives sitting in kotatsu’s and taking photos of me. The best joke this year”. The audience also laughed.
The audience shouted, “Sit (in the kotatsu)!”, requesting GACKT to do that, but he said, “I’ll consider it”, and flatly declined. The stage greeting was a harmonious one that was enveloped in laughter from start to end.
■ Nikaido Fumi’s comment
We’re now in the 2nd day of the movie’s release and I’m really glad to hear from those around me that a lot of people have started watching this movie. (I) got an Oiri-bukuro* on the first day for the first time, and this really is the first time in a long while that I received something like that for a movie I was involved in, and this really is a movie that I would like many, many more people to come and enjoy it.
■ GACKT’s comment
Do come to the cinema as many times as you can to enjoy the scale that can only be experienced in a theatre. It’s a movie filled with meticulously set-up jokes all around that exhibits director Takeuchi’s particularities.
■ Director Takeuchi’s comment
This turned out to be a movie that’s really packed with lots of little jokes, so please do watch it multiple times to finds as many of those as you can. And for Saitama natives, the first 30 minutes might be a painful stretch of time, but at the end, this is a story about the local love for Saitama, so please do share your thoughts on SNS too.
* Oiri-bukuro is the bonus paid to employees on occasion of a full house.
Source: m-on-music.jp
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
[VIDEO] MOVIECOLLECTIONJP YOUTUBE - MAR 19 2019
GACKT to the person who watched『Tonde Saitama』16 times「Are you okay？」／Movie『Tonde Saitama』big-hit stage greetings event
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
[VIDEO] CHRISTY CHANNEL YOUTUBE - MAR 18 2019
GACKT-sama cosplay appreciation!?
Movie "Tonde Saitama" big-hit ceremony stage greetings!
Tsubasa Masuwaka and the director Hideki Takeuchi
The stage greetings was held in Tokyo on March 18th.
The box office revenue exceeded 2 billion yen! Over then 1.5 million visitors!
In response to such a big hit, GACKT, who starred with Nikaido Fumi, quickly returned in Japan. On that day, GACKT who performed the role of Rei Asami, Tsubasa Masuwaka from Saitama and Hideki Takeuchi, the director of this work, rushed to the event.
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA