Fly to Saitama ~ From Lake Biwa with love ~

“I played the role with the utmost importance in maintaining the character so as not to blur.”

– “Fly to Saitama” was released in 2019 and became a big hit by dissing Saitama. This live-action adaptation of Mineo Maya’s popular manga published in 1982 achieved the feat of winning the most awards in 12 categories at the 43rd Japan Academy Awards.
Four years later, “Fly to Saitama – From Lake Biwa with Love”, the second chapter of the “Japan Saitama Project”, was released. Director Hideki Takeuchi and other main cast members continue to play roles in this film, which depicts the confrontation between East and West. We asked GACKT, who played the main character Rei Asami again, to share his thoughts on the sequel.

The character Asami Rei that I played is based on the Bankoran that appears in the original author Maya-sensei’s masterpiece “Patalliro!”. In the first movie, he calmed down a bit after finishing one battle, but in the second movie, he faces trouble again and his unique passion comes out. As the series progresses, actors tend to want to express themselves excessively, but when they do that, they tend to lose sight of the essence. He has a lot of interesting acting skills, so I personally tried to maintain her character as the most important thing so that he didn’t waver.

When I heard about the sequel, I initially declined, saying, “Let’s not do it. It was a miracle that the first movie was a success. Let’s end this as a good memory for everyone.” But famous actors were already involved, and there was no choice but to do it. It would be hard if I messed up a lot because I would have to apologize to everyone.
I’ve always wondered if people really want to see the second movie. However, I was glad that many of the staff and co-stars were waiting for me to return after I got sick and the filming was postponed for more than a year. I think we have to respond to that.

When I saw the completed work, the first thing I said was, “What a piece of nonsense.”
But I think what we need in this day and age is tolerance and a greater willingness to accept nonsense. If we keep debating things that don’t need to be too difficult, the world will gradually become boring. So if, after watching this work, people can think, “We need the emotion of feeling like it’s nonsense,” then I think there will be a point in releasing this work.

Article Source: tcn-catv.co.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA