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THETV.JP: The talk of the town! Nikaido Fumi & GACKT embody their intense characters in Tonde Saitama
Tonde Saitama, Maya Mineo’s popular comic that sold over 620,000 physical copies. This work that is jam-packed with terrible disses towards Saitama has been adapted into a live-action movie. With Nikaido Fumi and GACKT as the two lead starring actors, they have brought to like the impactful characters.
The role of Momomi is Nikaido’s first male part while GACKT took on the challenge of playing a high school student with his character Rei. But how did they feel when they received the offer?
Nikaido: I believe that the only thing we wanted to avoid when we were turning this into a live-action movie was losing the believability of the astounding visuals and characters that Master Maya birthed. My role was that of a male, but we wondered if his appearance should be made somewhat slimmer. But more than anything, when GACKT-san enters the site and I’m with him, there’s a lot to be aware of. Like what kind of atmosphere it should be, or whether the scene is convincing or not. I learned a lot from this.
GACKT: When I heard that I’d be playing a “high school student”, I immediately declined at the beginning (smiles). Like, don’t you think that’s impossible? On the first day of filming, when I entered the site and saw Fumi-chan fully dressed in her outfit and acted with her, I recognised that “This can be adapted into a live-action work, it’ll be alright”. Because it’s strongly impressive. Like Fumi-chan will notice if there’s even the smallest crease in her sharply fitted pants and will definitely get it fixed before filming. She’s someone who’s meticulous and attentive and puts her mind on acting.
No matter how you look at it, it was an unusual work and an unusual pair of lead stars come true, but this time, GACKT felt certain commonalities between author Maya and Nikaido.
GACKT: I love Master Maya’s Patalliro!. I got to meet him for the first time because of this and I thought that he’s someone who possesses a tremendous aesthetic. On the other hand, his work is outstanding too with awesome gags put together with aesthetic. That sense of balance is marvellous. I believe that if a strong core doesn’t exist inside of him, he wouldn’t be able to draw such a work. Actually, I had the same feeling about Fumi-chan. Although she looks like this, she’s a woman with an intense core. At the filming sites, we spoke about all kinds of things and no matter what I asked, Fumi-chan will answer me but for some reason, in the end, she’d disappear without giving me an answer (smiles). A very enigmatic person. The image that I have of Fumi-chan is “gone with the wind”.
Nikaido: I’m also happy that we could talk about all sorts of things, and for me, there were a lot of things that I could apply to myself. Maybe I was satisfied with that and then ended up disappearing (smiles). GACKT-san possessed the perfect appearance, and I’ve seen it since young. To the extent that I wonder, “Does he really exist” (smiles). When I actually got to speak to him, he’s kind and smart, and furthermore, he’s someone who works hard. He’s someone who can seem both quixotic yet decent at the same time, and I think that that’s really wonderful.
Both of them also said that the key to the success of the live-action adaptation was “acting seriously”.
Nikaido: If we made it look funny, if it could be seen that the motive of it was to make people laugh, all of it would become distasteful. It was a site where it was important to do things without an ulterior motive.
GACKT: Director Takeuchi (Hideki) always said that “you can’t aim for it”. And that’s why we were able to act seriously and with passion. We don’t want to get a laugh out of people, instead, we want this movie to be one where the audience laughs at us. So please do watch it and laugh out loud.
Interview/text by Narita Orie
Source: thetv.jp
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
EIGA.COM: Superior dissing! Nikaido Fumi ＆ GACKT carves out an aesthetical "love" in Tonde Saitama
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
[PHOTOS] LILI.COM BLOG – FEB 26 2019
Good morning😃
I’ve been filming since this early morning🎥🎬
GACKT-san has been
watching entertainment news while
making me laugh with his quips🤣
Of course🌻 It’s related to🌻 Tonde Saitama😊
It’s a big hit that’s screening now❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
When we met,
after the interview ended
he told me much about
how beautiful Sweden is
when he visited it
some years ago🌸
It’s nice to hear him praising the country, isn’t it 🇸🇪
And Nikaido Fumi-san watched
"Niwatori☆Star"...❤️
Ahh〜 both of them
made me super ultra happy❣️
It was the best day ever😍
When they appeared on Mezamashi TV,
before this,
during the fortune telling segment at the very very end (60 seconds before the program ends)
announcer Nagashima said that
GACKT-san’s constellation
“should eat ◯◯
to improve his luck”
and immediately, GACKT-san said
"Yeah, right❗️"
One second after that, the program ended💦
I laughed so hard🤪
Alright then, my break has ended
I’m heading back to the site〜🚕
Source: gamp.ameblo.jp/lilicom/
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
CHO-ANIMEDIA.JP: "I came to love Saitama more" Nikaido Fumi shows her love at Tonde Saitama stage greeting 【Report】
Nikaido Fumi, GACKT, Iseya Yusuke, Kyomoto Masaki, and director Takeuchi Hideki attended the opening day stage greeting for the movie Tonde Saitama.
Nikaido, who played a male role for the first time, said that she “wanted to wear a Montsuki Hakama” and appeared in a white Montsuki. Showered in applause from the audience, she smiled in high spirits. In addition, she visited the governor of Saitama during the promotional campaign and spoke of her love for Saitama, saying, “I was told that ‘Saitama natives won’t get angry because they are magnanimous’. It's a magnanimous place that has accepted such a movie. I’ve come to love it more”.
On the other hand, when it was revealed by director Takeuchi that the kiss scene between GACKT and Iseya was proposed by GACKT, he had a wry smile on his face as he confessed, “I wanted to kiss Iseya-kun no matter what”. Iseya, too, displayed his mutual affection, getting cheers and giggles from the audience as he said, “I was allowed a warm performance in GACKT-san’s bosom”.
Also, Kyomoto revealed that when he received the offer, “I heard that I was playing GACKT-san father and I thought, ‘What’, but then I heard that ‘Rei (played by GACKT) is 18 years old’ and I understood”.
Lastly, GACKT appealed with “Before filming, the director spoke to me about the movie, saying ‘There’s a moving scene at the start, but the end breaks through with a spectacle’. You’ll be able to discover all kinds of things, so please do watch it on a big screen”. Following that, Nikaido drew laughter when she said with a bitter smile, “Among the highly individualistic persons, I wondered if my personality would shine through. I thought that I was the most decent one”.
Source: cho-animedia.jp
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA