Kikuchi Fuma, a member of the three-man group "timelesz," attended a press conference for the TV Asahi drama "The Reason We Fall in Love" (starts October 12th, Saturdays at 11pm) at the TV Asahi headquarters (Minato Ward, Tokyo) with the main cast. Akira, a male Shiba Inu dog who co-stars with him, also appeared at the press conference and showed off his well-coordinated interaction.
Akira is the pet dog of the main character Kurosawa Tomoya, played by Kikuchi in this work. In the second half of the press conference, Akira appeared as a "special guest" accompanied by Kikuchi, who had left the stage once. On stage, perhaps because he was interested in the gathered press, he did not listen to what Kikuchi had to say, and Kikuchi said with a wry smile, "I really love cameras."
When the host proceeded by saying, "Kikuchi and I have prepared something for today, so let's show you," he sat down and high-fived Kikuchi twice. Kikuchi was delighted with this, saying, "560 points! I'm glad we succeeded. It's a good omen," and proudly said, "He's really smart, and when the owner tells him to bark (during filming), he barks. Also, when we try to put him to bed, he falls asleep immediately, so he's really smart."
He also looked perfectly at the camera at the press, and the host was surprised, saying, "His forehead flick was also surprising," likening him to Shohei Ohtani's pet dog of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the US major leagues. Kikuchi called out to his "partner" who had done a great job of his "job," saying, "Akira, I look forward to working with you in the future!"
The drama is a live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name (Cream Puff) by ma2, which won the grand prize in the adult romance category of the "2nd Everyone's Favorite Romance Manga Awards" (2023), and depicts the office love between six men and women. Kikuchi plays Kurosawa, the taciturn and cool manager of the sales department, while Kumagaya Rinka plays Morita Aoi, Kurosawa's subordinate and heroine.
Shichigosankake Tatsuya, Saito Nagisa, Yoshihisa Hajime, and Yamazaki Hirona also attended the press conference. Kikuchi said of the story that unfolds with six people, "The love stories of three couples are portrayed beautifully. It's a love story where the characters can't take a step forward because everyone is so kind, so I hope you'll pay attention to it."
