The live-action movie adaptation of Tonde Saitama, the popular comic by Maya Mineo who is famous for Patalliro!, was released on 22 February. It achieved an impressive number 1 on the movie rankings during its first week of release. We would firstly like to give a round of applause to the spirit of the staff who stepped into the content of this movie with thorough disses of Saitama in this absurd yet aesthetic world of Maya’s set up in two dimensions. In addition, the character development by double lead actors Nikaido Fumi and GACKT is also worthy of admiration. Superior dissing! Rather, more than that, the finishing touches put on the movie is superior!
(Interview by Yamazaki Nobuko／ Photography by Eto Umihiko)

The character that Nikaido plays is Dannoura Momomi, the son of the governor of Tokyo and the student council president of a super prestigious school in Tokyo, Hakuhodo Academy. Momomi even hurls all manner insults to Saitama natives who are being persecuted by Tokyo-ites, saying things like, “Eat the grass over there!”. In such a situation, Asami Rei (GACKT) is a transfer student returning from America who has greatly shaken up Momomi’s heart. The movie also incorporates events like the Saitama VS Chiba scene which was not in the original work, bringing the story to an even more dramatic level.

■ Upon receiving the offer, “Are you serious?”

This was Nikaido’s first male role. Looking back, she said, “Initially, I didn’t know what kind of role I was being offered and when I asked ‘Is this a female character?’, I was told ‘This is Momomi-chan’. I thought ‘Ehh!? Can I really do this?’, but more than that, I was looking forward to it, thinking, ‘This sounds like fun!’. I got the feeling that this would definitely turn out to showcase an implausible world view”.

GACKT, who plays Asami Rei, as handsome as described in his name, said that he rejected the offer once when he received it. “Like, are you serious? It’s the role of a high schooler anyway, I thought it was kind of impossible. But I’m a big fan of Master Maya’s, so when I heard that I was chosen by him, I decided, ‘I’ll give it a try’. During the fitting session, I came to understand that it is a work that is that elaborate, and in addition to that, when I saw Fumi-chan on the first day, I was convinced, like ‘If this is how it’s going to be, it’ll be alright’.”

The man behind the megaphone is director Takeuchi Hideki, the hitmaker who is known for the live-action adaptations of the Nodame Cantabile series and the Thermae Romae series. It appears that the kiss scene between Momomi and Rei was unexpectedly filmed on the first day.

■ The reason why the kiss scene was imposed on the first day…

“Perhaps that’s what Takeuchi-san was aiming for. Like he wanted both me and Fumi-chan and everyone involved to understand that world view right from the start,” GACKT mused. He then added, “I think he wanted us to have a kiss scene as beautiful as what you would find in an anime or a manga. The image was more important than the emotion and it won’t work if the timing at which our lips met didn’t match up, so we also spoke to cinematographer Tanigawa (Shohei) about the distance, the angle, space, and all that”. The aesthetical aura that envelops the whole movie had already manifested since the first day of filming.

■ Thorough “acting that doesn’t aim to get a laugh”, and sensing each other’s strengths

What director Takeuchi asked of them was to always use serious acting that never aims to get a laugh. Nikaido spoke of the trust that she had in the director, saying, “The director would immediately figure out if we were doing something strange to make people laugh or make things funny. He’s the one who is helping is control the absence of that”. GACKT also bit back a wry smile as he said, “We did this scene extremely seriously, but honestly, we can’t see the overall view of how things tie together when we’re acting, so there are also times when we don’t know what’s funny. Halfway, I’d start to get worried and wonder if it’s just me, and sometimes I even asked Fumi-chan ‘Do you understand this scene?’. Fumi-chan will, without hesitation, say, ‘No, I don’t. But director Takeuchi will guide us. That, and……’, and before she finishes, she walks off to somewhere else. I wanted to hear what she said at the end though”.

Also, both of them are Okinawan. They were asked about how they feel regarding working together. About Nikaido, GACKT caught that she is “a very interesting person. A type that doesn’t really show up in my sample of people”. ”There’s a big part of her that things about things very philosophically, but there’s also a part of her that objectively looks at whether her own thoughts are the same or different than that of the general opinion. But she also possesses an ego where she doesn’t want to think about or arrive at whether her thoughts are correct or not or to weigh the good and bad of her ideas. It’s a strength that she has in wanting to live life while holding fast to her beliefs”.

That is the scrutiny that can only come from him and his deep insight. “It’s easier if you shake people off too and you’ll be able to live more freely, but doing that comes with risk and you may get attacked too. Even though Fumi-chan has a strong ego that says “This is how I am”, she balances that and works together with those around her too, and some times it looks like she suffers for it. The way she strives for balance with her own strength and a kind of fluidity is exceptionally interesting. I was at first surprised when I asked Fumi-chan for her age, like ‘What? You’re thinking about such things even though you’re so young?’.”

On the other hand, Nikaido had a radiant expression on her face as she spoke about her impression of GACKT. “Nothing but pleasant betrayals”. She expressed her heartfelt respect for him, saying, “There’s a part in everyone which has their own expectations of how they want GACKT-san to be, and I think I probably saw him with such a filter in the beginning too. As he’s someone who doesn’t feel like he really exists, it’s like I kept wondering ‘Is he someone who’s really alive?’ until the time I actually met him (smiles). But when we came together for the first time at a recording for a variety program, I felt that he was a very broad-minded and kind person”. “He’s always putting in effort. Because he does his own research, does things by paying attention to the finest of details, GACKT-san is persuasive”.

■ “Laughter” and “love” birthed from breakaway acting

This was to be a rather ambitious movie in terms of Japanese film, but these two who have come in today were completely unfazed, showing us breakaway acting skills. I believe that it is because of this that this movie is not an absurd comedy, but has instead landed itself among the finest entertainment films.

GACKT himself too seemed to have been in doubt about it initially. “Honestly, I kept wondering ‘Is it okay?’ until I got to watch the preview”. However, this uneasiness was dispelled during the preview.

“There were so many times when I thought ‘how lame’ and sincerely laughed while watching the movie. Among my acquaintances, there are some rather straight-laced people, but all of them burst out laughing. Halfway, I realised, ‘This is like cinemas overseas’. I think cinemas are a sort of community overseas, but if it could be seen this way in Japan as well, I think the film industry can be further elevated.”

Nikaido too could not conceal her reactions, saying, “I personally think that dissing itself is a bad thing, but this movie doesn’t end at dissing. The goal, a reversal, can be properly seen at the final point, so the more dissing there is, the funnier it gets, and I think that it can be watched in comfort”.

Watching the completed film, it can once again be felt that Tonde Saitama would not be possible without the two of them. The overwhelming sentiment from the cast and the staff is that the “dissing” sublimates to “love”, and that it is a magnificent “opera” that has a universal message incorporated into it.

GACKT: Superiority and inferiority complexes exist in everyone’s hearts and we are all swaying between these two. That has also been said to be before in the past. This story isn’t relating to specific people. Instead, it is one that also applies to everyone living in their own areas. This is why I’d like for you to laugh and think of it as “lame” while watching it.

Nikaido: There are all types of movies. Following this film, I feel that it is not necessary to make a movie just based on sympathy alone. Taking this movie as an example, sympathy can be born from an unintentional place. I think that we’ve made an entertainment movie that arouses one’s own identity, inferiority complex, self-worth, and more.

Source: eiga.com

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA