A movie that you’ll laugh and call lame

Tonde Saitama, the original story by Maya Mineo, author of the popular comic Patalliro!, has been very seriously adapted into a live-action movie of a magnificent scale by director Takeuchi Hideki of the Thermae Romae series. Nikaido Fumi and GACKT co-stars as leads in this movie. The story is set in a fictional Japan where Saitama natives are severely persecuted by Tokyo-ites. Nikaido’s Dannoura Momomi, the student council president of the prestigious Hakuhodo Academy in Tokyo, meets GACKT’s Asami Rei and eventually gets thrust into a battle for Saitama’s freedom…… What the hell is that!?

Two compatriots from Okinawa

Q: Both of you were born in Okinawa, right?

GACKT: The first time we met was at a production that was set in Okinawa (TV drama Tempest) and there were a lot of Okinawans who were gathered. How old are you now, Fumi-chan?

Nikaido Fumi (below, Nikaido): 24.

GACKT: That means you were 17 back then…… How young.

Nikaido: I was young (smiles).

GACKT: I was in my late 30s. But there were a lot of people there back then.

Nikaido: The first time we met was just an introduction.

GACKT: We didn’t share any scenes for filming, so it was just introductions. After that, we met on a variety program.

Q: What was your first impression?

Nikaido: Since it was a production that was set in Okinawa, GACKT-san made me laugh when he said, “Just as I thought ‘I’ll repay my island with this!’, I’m not playing an Okinawan character but a Chinese one instead”. Seeing that, I had the impression that he’s probably a funny person. We didn’t work together in the drama, but when we had introductions, I greeted with “Nice to meet you, I’m Nikaido”, and he responded very kindly with “Nice to meet you”. I had the image that he was someone shrouded in mystery, but I remember thinking that he’s a gentle person.

Q: From your perspective, what do you think of the “Kanto region hierarchy” that was depicted in the movie and the relationship between Tokyo, Saitama, and Chiba?

GACKT: Having such feelings might be different for other prefectures but even in Okinawa, there’s a difference in image between the North and South area.

Nikaido: That there is.

GACKT: The dialects are completely different too. My great-grandfather apparently lived in the northern area where there weren’t even any traffic lights, so whenever I go there it’s like being dragged off into the countryside (smiles). When you tell Okinawans you were “originally born over there”, you’d often get laughed at.

Q: Outsiders don’t know this, right?

GACKT: That’s the exact same thing. The thing between Tokyo and Saitama within the Kanto region…… Those from other prefectures would say that there’s no difference, or laugh and call it lame. But for those people too, they’d more or less have those feelings in the areas they come from. Between the town you live in and the town next door, or between yourself and the next door family, and so on. Humans are just the sort of creatures that live in that narrow space between inferiority and superiority, and this is a movie that will have you laughing and calling it lame from an observer’s point of view. Though we didn’t film it with that intention in mind.

What were your actual high school days like?

Q: You’re playing the roles of high school students, but what kind of high school student were you?

Nikaido: I was a beyond normal high school student. School was fun. I had lots of friends and I played a lot every day too. I started working at 12, and furthermore, my father was from Tokyo, so I was “born in Okinawa then became a high schooler in Tokyo”, so that, again, is a slightly different feeling.

Q: Were you perceived as different, like in the movie, because we weren’t born in Tokyo?

Nikaido: There were people who really loved Okinawa among my classmates in high school. I’ve never touched a shamisen myself, but I get the feeling that there were more instances when I felt respect when I get told things like “That person knows how to play it!”.

Q: GACKT-san’s high school days were the kind where you put a school teacher’s car up against the wall, right?

GACKT: Where did you get that information from? (Smiles). Ah, well…… This is something that came to mind recently, but I get the feeling that the world has become too strict over a number of things. There’s a tendency that people won’t just call something ‘lame!’ and then let it go. Be it affairs or love, just whose problem is it?　Aren’t both bad?　And then they’d exaggerate and make a big fuss over it. Public order is good, but there are too many rules and freedom is gradually disappearing. I feel like in the past, we’d laugh and forgive more often.

A kiss scene that prioritised a “beautiful picture”!

Q: This movie isn’t there just to diss Saitama, but the maturity in it is the sublimation of sincere laughter, right?

GACKT: Although the posters and such do indeed say “diss battle”, it doesn’t mean that “It’s packed with everything in the world that’s considered as a diss!”, but I think that it’s a taste that’s necessary for it to come to a certain conclusion. If you watch the movie, you’d get it but adults would seriously argue that it’s extremely lame. They’d say, “isn’t this what the world is actually like now?”. I do wonder if there’ll be more occurrences of people watching this and then ending the topic with a “how lame!”.

Q: Nikaido-san’s Momomi’s dramatic change in expression following the kiss scene between Momomi and GACKT-san’s Rei left quite an impression on me.

Nikaido: GACKT-san has said this, that the most important thing isn’t the feelings of the role but it is to create a beautiful picture. I think that it is an acting technique that is focused on creating the picture with consideration of the timing, how things look from this angle, and so on instead of how I’m going to move for this emotion. With regards to Momomi’s change after the kiss, the director said that he wanted Momomi’s expressions and his attitude to Rei to change after that, so performing that gap was fun.

GACKT: Originally, a kiss scene holds important meaning in a drama because it is something that comes from an elevation of emotions and 2 people having a relationship with each other. While there are kiss scenes that focus on that, there are also those that feel overwhelmingly unreal and just don’t work, like this one in the movie that is only needed to deliver an impact which makes the story more convincing. In this story, doesn’t everything in a moment with the kiss between me and Momomi? That becomes the starting point. To make it obvious that the story changes all at once with a “bang!”, an extremely beautiful picture was needed and between the cameramen, me, and Fumi-chan, we worked on the timing numerous times. To make it as beautiful as the manga, to make the story convincing. There are many such “starting points” in this movie.

Detailed entertainment and epic proportions at the cinema

Q: What parts of the movie would you like your audience to enjoy?

Nikaido: I think that this has turned out to be an exceptionally funny movie. Please do watch it in theatres, and I’ll be glad if you’d enjoy both the detailed entertainment and epic proportions at the same time.

GACKT: It’s an exceptionally lame story with rather meaningless content about freeing Saitama natives who have been oppressed by Tokyo citizens. I think that if you watch it, you’d probably laugh and say that it’s lame over and over again until the end. We’ve also put particular attention to creating grand scenes that can’t be fully enjoyed unless you’re in a theatre.

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Nikaido, who looks dignified despite being only 24 years old, and GACKT, who exudes an impressive aura just by his mere presence. They’ve conveyed their mutually respectful relationship with every word exchanged. Joining them in this movie are other people with rich presences as well, like Kyomoto Masaki, Nakao Akira, Maro Akaji, and Takenaka Naoto. Even the suave and handsome Iseya Yusuke displays an impactful performance, turning the gag manga with an absurd setting into a serious spectacle. It is only to be expected of Director Takeuchi to give the movie such a wonderful sense with the world view that makes the cast members feel natural!

Tonde Saitama the movie releases nationwide on 22 February

Source: cinematoday.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA