EIGA.COM: GACKT "immediately declined" the Tonde Saitama offer. Kiss scene with Nikaido Fumi on the first day of filming

The Japan premiere event for the live adaptation movie of Maya Mineo’s popular manga, Tonde Saitama, was held in Tokyo on 28 January. The two leading stars, Nikaido Fumi and GACKT, along with co-stars Iseya Yusuke, Brother Tom, Shimazaki Haruka, Kato Ryo, Masuwaka Tsubasa, Nakao Akira, Kyomoto Masaki, and director Takeuchi Hideki appeared for the stage greeting.

It is a live adaptation of a manga of the same name which attracted a lot of attention for lines like “Saitama citizens, eat the grass over there” and other such thorough dissing of Saitama prefecture. While GACKT described this movie as “the biggest farce of this century”, he recalled, “We were told to never act in a way that aims to create laughter. From start to end, I acted in a fever”. He then added, “There’s a scene where Iseya-kun was shoving peanuts into my nose. Iseya-kun was so serious that I got peanuts stuck in my nostrils a number of times during rehearsals. Do you understand how I feel?”, drawing laughter from the audience.

Of the filming that went on with quirky individuals gathered, Nikaido Fumi, who took on the challenge of a male role, said, “It was like each person represented their own ‘planets’ and gathered on earth, coming together to perform, then all splitting up to go home. I think I was the most decent person on site”. To that, GACKT countered with “I thought that I was the most decent one”, but when he heard that he was being asked to play a high school student, he confessed that “I received the offer to play a high school student and immediately declined”. With a wry smile, he continued, “I was told that『he’s a special high school student』and I wondered what kind of high school student is that. Furthermore, on the first day of filming, it started with a kiss scene with Nikaido-san, and I thought, ‘What a process’ ”.

In addition, with regards to Kyomoto, with whom he is acting with for the first time, GACKT said, “I’ve been acquainted with Kyomoto-san’s makeup artist since a long time ago, and I kept hearing about him, so I was looking forward to meeting him”. It appears that it took 15 years for them to finally come face-to-face and he was taken by a strong sense of familiarity. “When I went to the dressing room to greet him, he said, ‘We finally get to meet～. We’ve finally met’, and then ‘But, you know, we’re the same type, aren’t we!’ ”. “At that point, I spoke without thinking. Like, ‘Are we!?’ ”, he said and the audience burst out in laughter.

On the other hand, Shimazaki, Brother Tom, and Masuwaka, who were originally from Saitama, were elated, saying, “Finally, the day when we can proudly say ‘I come from Saitama’ has come”. Brother Tom was full of confidence, saying “This might be this year’s movie that beats Queen”, but director Takeuchi retorted, “No, it won’t”, and the emcee, announcer Sano Mizuki handled it by saying “You’re free to dream”.

Tonde Saitama will be released on 22 February.