Actor Shida Mirai will be appearing in the film "ACMA:GAME The Movie: The Last Key" (directed by Sato Touya), a sequel to the April drama "ACMA:GAME" (NTV). She met director Sato on the 2006 drama "14-Year-Old Mother" (NTV), which was a big hit at the time, and has worked with him regularly ever since. She spoke to him about this latest project, which she took on under the direction of Sato.
◇This is the first time I've worked on a film using so much CG
"ACMA:GAME" is based on the manga of the same name (written by Maeve and illustrated by Megumi Hiroshi) that ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha) from 2013 to 2017. Starring Mamiya Shotaro, the film depicts the protagonist as he attempts to solve the mystery of the "Devil's Keys," which are said to grant one everything in this world if one collects all 99 of them, as he takes on the life-risking "Demon Game."
Shida is appearing from the film. She plays Kuroda Ran, the younger sister of Kuroda Mitsuteru (Kaneko Nobuaki), the priest of the "Aigis Cult," a cult that preaches "liberation from desire" as its doctrine and lives communally with many followers deep in the mountains, far from civilization.
Ran has the ability to read people's minds, but Shida's impression of her is that she is "a very honest and kind girl."
"Ran lost her parents at a young age and her only family member is her brother, so she wants to believe in him, but she is conflicted about whether she should really believe in what her brother believes, and Ran herself is not covered in desire."
Even in her long acting career, it was the first time she played a guru, and she also revealed that it was her first time working on a film that used so much CG, so she was a bit confused.
"Because the film has a lot of CG, I couldn't imagine that part very well at first. But the staff explained it in detail and in an easy-to-understand way during filming, so I was able to work on the filming with peace of mind. In addition to my usual acting style of going to the set and expressing what I felt on the spot, I used my imagination a lot during the filming, so I think it was a new challenge for me."
After watching the finished film, Shida said, "I couldn't stop my heart from pounding the whole time."
"My heart was beating non-stop for about two hours, and I felt like I was on an attraction. The CG was really amazing, and I felt that a magnificent movie had been completed, and I felt very happy and proud to have been a part of it."
◇Actually, I'm still "extremely nervous" - why?
Director Sato, who worked on the TV series and the movie, has worked with Shida on her representative work "14-year-old Mother" since they met on the show.
"I first worked with (Director Sato) when I was about 13 years old, and he has always watched over me since then, and he's like a 'father on set'. Of course, he is the director, but... there is a strange feeling. The director gives me answers, so if I have any questions, I try to ask him right away, and I try not to break it down in my own mind and move forward."
Shida also said of Director Sato, "I have the impression that he doesn't say much."
"He always watches over me with a smile. He's not the type to give detailed instructions on my acting. If anything, he's the type of director who accepts everything that the cast, including me, do."
Director Sato often says, "You haven't changed."
"I can't say with confidence that I've changed in any way... But I think it's good that I haven't changed, so I take it in a positive way."
Speaking of "not changing," Shida says that she still gets "extremely nervous."
"I think that hasn't really changed either. I can't sleep the night before a long line or a difficult scene, and my heart is pounding and my heart rate goes up right up until the moment it starts. The environment is always changing, not only with the work, but also with my co-stars and the staff, so regardless of the length of my career, I feel like I'm jumping into a new place every time, so I think that makes me nervous. But on the other hand, I think that being able to always maintain a sense of tension and feel a sense of accomplishment in a new environment every time is one of the rewards of this job."
