Comments from Sakurai Kaito, who plays the main character Aqua in the live-action adaptation of "Oshi no Ko," have been released. Sakurai, who was originally a fan of the original manga, said, "There was a lot of pressure because it's a work with a lot of fans," explaining how she felt when she received the offer. "I did feel pressure, but more than that, I had a strong desire to play the role of Aqua, so when I first spoke with the director and producer, I honestly told them, 'I honestly don't want anyone else to play this role.'"
During filming, which took place from November last year to March this year, she re-read the original work and thoroughly incorporated the character of Aqua into herself. "First of all, it was my feelings for the original work. I wanted to project myself into the role of what (original authors) Akasaka Aka-sensei and Yokoyari Mengo-sensei brought into this world," she explained.
She continued, "I absolutely did not want to destroy the image of Aqua from the original work, so before shooting each scene, I would watch the same scene in the original work to check Aqua's facial expression, her movements, whether she was sitting or standing, whether she had her hands in her pockets or not, and so on, trying to do as much as I could down to the smallest details."
The original authors Akasaka and Yokoyari also visited the set several times, and she revealed, "The first time I met them, I was so nervous that I just stood there. I heard later that even Akasaka-sensei and Yokoyari-sensei were like, 'You were so nervous'... (laughs). It was really nerve-wracking to meet the authors of a work that I like and respect that much. But the second time I met them, they were so frank with me that I was able to talk to them about various things without feeling nervous."
Finally, he appealed, "It was an incredibly valuable experience for me as an actor to be able to play a role that I've always wanted to play in a work that I love, with the support of so many people. I hope as many people as possible will see the live-action version of Oshi no Ko that we all created together."
"Oshi no Ko" is based on the manga of the same name that has been serialized in Weekly Young Jump (Shueisha) since 2020, with a total circulation of over 18 million copies (as of July this year). Set in the entertainment world, it tells the story of the twin siblings of legendary idol Ai. The live-action version is a joint project between Amazon and Toei, and the eight-episode drama will be exclusively streamed on Prime Video from 9 pm on November 28, with the movie opening nationwide on December 20.
