TONDE SAITAMA

KELLY-NET.JP: Nikaido Fumi × GACKT Appears in Nagoya! Saitama-fying the people in Nagoya!? Releasing today!『Tonde Saitama』Commemoration Event Report

The blockbuster which is a live-action adaptation of Maya Mineo’s original comic which sold over 690,000 copies, “Kono Manga ga Sugoi! comics Tonde Saitama”. With Nikaido Fumi-san and GACKT-san co-starring together, the spectacular comedy unfolds at the hands of director Takeuchi Hideki of the Nodame Cantabile and Thermae Romae series.

Tonde Saitama movie release celebration
Nihon Saitama-ka Keikaku in Nagoya Nikaido Fumi × GACKT Talk Event Held!

To celebrate the release of the movie, lead starts Nikaido Fumi-san and GACKT-san flew out of the Kanto region to hold an event that appeals for the “charms of Saitama” around Japan.
In Nagoya, they appeared at Nagoya Oasis21 on Wednesday, 13 February, and spoke of behind-the-scenes stories and their image of the Tokai region.

His first impression of Nikaido-san is—?

GACKT-san: Adorable, just like how she looks. I wanted to communicate with her and I asked a variety of questions, but when I do that, I’d get a question back, and then after that, she’d tell me her point of view, but the conclusion that comes out at the end just disappears right before that. And I’d always be screaming “Oyyy!” in my heart (smiles).

Nikaido-san: I didn’t think so (smiles).

If a sequel to this movie was to be made in the Tokai region―?

Nikaido-san: I like Mie. I love Nagoya too but Nagoya doesn’t have to fly to get
noticed, so I’d like to give that spot to Mie.

GACKT-san: If it’s Mie, I guess “Tonde Matsusaka” or something. I like beef, so I do come to Matsusaka by train too but the inaccessibility of it makes me feel that it’s just tough, though I do think that perhaps the inaccessibility is a charm of its own.

Furthermore, Saitama’s local product “Soka Senbei”, which appears as an important item in the movie, was given out as gifts!

Also! Lucky members of the audience were called to the stage to receive gifts directly from Nikaido-san and GACKT-san. The audience was in excitement at this rare chance to meet these two up close.

Lastly, a group photo with everyone and a message from each of them

Nikaido-san: Everyone in Nagoya has been so energetic. Since yesterday, we’ve been bringing our Nationwide Saitama-ka campaign to Fukuoka and Osaka, and I’m really happy that we came to Nagoya as our last stop. Thank you for supporting the movie!

GACKT-san: I think that when natives of Mie and Gifu get asked where they come from, they’re bound to say “Nagoya”. Tonde Saitama really is a comedy but it is a seriously made comedy by the actors gathered in it. I think people who see us doing funnily stupid things with all manner of seriousness will probably laugh too. Please laugh out loud in the theatres!

Source: kelly-net.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel

DOCOMO.NE.JP: So many complexes it could kill『Tonde Saitama』GACKT Interview

　The comic from the celebrated Maya Mineo, known for being the author of Patallliro!, has been turned into a movie by director Takeuchi Hideki of the Thermae Romae and Nodame Cantabile series. GACKT, who plays the transfer student returning from America who is actually a Saitama native, Asami Rei, speaks of what things were like filming for this spectacle-filled movie and about his own image.

My image of the character was Bancoran*

Q: In addition to the unexpected live-action adaptation of this, the bold casting was also a hot topic, wasn’t it?

Although I initially felt “It’s impossible for me to play a high school student, isn’t it?” and was uneasy about it, when we met for costuming and went through our lines, that uneasiness disappeared. The moment I felt that “this movie will definitely turn out to be interesting” and “it’s a hit” was on the first day of filming. When I entered the set, the attention to detail in the set was amazing. The locations changed with each scene too, so I even became worried about whether we might overrun the production budget (smiles).

Q: The reproduction of Master Maya’s original and that aestheitcal world view is wonderful.

For me, I simply decided that I’d act as Patalliro’s (Jack Barbarossa) Bancoran. I acted my imagining what Bancoran would be like if he was a student. Something like a character who never loses his head and is always cool, who always looks at things cold eyes.

Q: Was the visual your idea too?

I’ve done all kinds of makeup when I used to be in the visual-kei rock band Malice Mizer, so all the ideas were brought out and I tried having it take shape myself first. Then I put on the wig and asked “What about this vibe?”, and I got an OK. However, I imitated Bancoran all the way down to the makeup, and if I put on blue eyeshadow, I’d look particularly comical, so even if it’s aesthetical, I didn’t put that on, and instead paid attention to bringing out the contours of my eyebrows and eyelashes.

Q: There’s a rating check scene that seems to be something completely suggested by you, but what scene does GACKT-san like?

I like the scene where the representatives of each branch of Saitama gathers and gets roused to action. During rehearsals, I did it with something like the speech that was given before the Battle of Kawanakajima in the period drama in mind, and that tension was brought out. “Do you have any idea what Saitama is being called? Da-Saitama**, Kusai-tama***……” Such a line is honestly nonsensical (smiles). However, having everyone, including myself, very passionately act out those lines with tears in our eyes is so exceptionally lame and funny.

Absurd creations from a director with a normal appearance

Q: Were ideas presented for the script too?

Regarding the script, basically, first of all, Takeuchi-san was curious about how he should arrange it considering that it is based off an incomplete original. What I found interesting was that the original story was made to run along in parallel with another story. It made the tempo of the movie so good that I thought he was just brilliant. At the end, even the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Shinjuku and the crowds appear, and I think that this scale-up is a unique flow of Takeuchi-san’s too, and that favourite scene of mine which I mentioned earlier too, along with that rating check scene, all of it left me with an impression of, “This guy’s playing with me, huh”. Isn’t he having too much fun (smiles).

Q: With a stance that you’re there to play thoroughly at the shooting site?

We acted with everything we had to give the director whatever he seeks as much as possible and to even go beyond that as much as possible too. That’s my stance. In the case of this movie, there are scenes that aim to make people laugh, but Takeuchi-san will definitely adjust its direction with the idea of “wanting to make a movie that makes the audience snicker when they see your serious attitudes”. I like that he is consistent as a director without being swept away. I’m very impressed by how Takeuchi-san creates such absurd movies despite that his appearance is that of a regular middle-aged man. Because, look, more often than not, there are a lot of people who have fantastical goals but end up with a normal product (smiles).

To continue as GACKT

Q: The original is born out of the masochism of laughing off the inferiority complexes of Saitama natives but has GACKT-san, who appears perfect from an observer’s perspective, ever had to face complexes too?

I have so many complexes it could kill. Everyone probably thinks that I can do anything and everything but I’m in fact clumsy, so there’s a lot I can’t do. But I hate losing, so I’d spend time alone to practice to death. There’s a lot about me that I hate, but I have to deal with it throughout my entire life. If I keep hating myself, it’s just pitiful, so I decided that I’ll put in effort to become a version of myself that makes me think that “this version of me isn’t too bad either”, and bit by bit, I came to hate myself less and less. That’s why I think that there are a lot of people who end up hating themselves because they won’t or can’t try their best. I think that if a person earnestly does their best, earnestly follows through with whatever they do, it may be funny, but perhaps they’ll come to think that they’re not as bad as they thought.

Q: The figures of Asami Rei, who becomes the ray of hope for Saitama natives, and GACKT-san, who makes give dreams to people as a star, seem to overlap together, but do you ever feel that your influential power and the expectations and cheering from those around you sometimes become a burden? What do you think of continuing to exist as a star?

Thinking of those things as negatives and feeling stressed isn’t going to be positive for me, so I stopped thinking in a high-strung manner. I simply want to see the happy faces, surprised faces, and touched faces of my fans. I put together lives that will make them think “I’m glad that we got to meet” in the end, and I think that the physical and mental condition of my existence is where I stand during lives, so there are things that I absolutely have to do daily. If I think that these things are heavy, I can stop. But that’s my job, and that’s my destiny. At the same time, above that, I live how I want to. When I want to create, I create; when I want to do something, I do it. Ultimately, I want to think that I’ve doing things based on my own will, and I want to think that I’ll simply be happy as long as I can see those smiles. Because I’m always looking for a reason for me to be me.

Interview/text: Shibada Megumi Pictures: Hiyoshi Towa

* Jack Barbarossa Bancoran from the manga Patalliro!.
** Pun that combines Saitama with “dasai” (uncool).
*** Pun that combines Saitama with “kusai” (smelly).

Source: docomo.ne.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel