Actor Nagase Riko stars in "Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru (Kise Koi)" (MBS/TBS), a live-action drama adaptation of Fukuda Shinichi's popular manga. She plays Kitagawa Marin, a blonde gal who loves cosplay. "It was my first time playing a character that was so bright, high-spirited, and fast-paced, so I used up all my energy every day, and when I got home after filming, I felt like a shell," Nagase said. We asked her about her impressions of the drama and her role.
◇Kitagawa Marin is "a kind girl who is sensitive to other people's feelings"
"Kise Koi" has been serialized in "Young Gangan" (Square Enix) since 2018. It is a romantic comedy about the love between Gojo Wakana, a high school boy who is training to become a head maker who makes faces for Hina dolls, and Kitagawa Marin, a gal who loves anime and games and cosplay. In the drama, Nomura Kota plays Gojo Niina, a shy high school boy who is a classmate of Marin, played by Nagase.
Regarding the role of Marin, Nagase says, "I've never played such a bright and carefree character before, so I was excited and looking forward to it."
"Marin is really bright and is something of a mood maker in the class, but she's also a kind girl who is sensitive to Gojo's worries and other people's feelings, so I think Marin's charm is that she's not just bright, but has a variety of expressions."
The distance between Marin and Niina was important to him when acting.
"It's a good way to go, and the tempo of the conversation isn't too good. That's the atmosphere that only these two people can have, so I really valued that. Also, Marin is adorable because she can be crying at any moment, or smiling at any moment, so I was always conscious of the speed and tempo of the lines."
In creating her role, Nagase studied the movements and gestures of gal talents who appear on variety shows, but she still looked to the original work for inspiration.
"I felt that Marin's way of speaking was the most gal element, and the depiction of the scene, the poses at the time, and the whole story are filled with respect for the original work, so I hope that fans of the original work will enjoy watching it."
◇ She also tried cosplay, "I realized it was deeper than I thought."
Nagase herself revealed that she fell more and more in love with the work after being exposed to the world of "Kise Koi" from the manga and anime this time, and that she even "learned" something from it.
"I feel like I learned a lot from Marin's words, which may seem normal to her, but are important to someone else. I would like to tell my teenage self what Marin said: 'Just be honest about what you love.' It's hard to master what you love, and you do hit walls, but I love this job and it's the thing I've been doing the longest in my life, so I felt like there was something in common."
Nagase also tries her hand at cosplay in the film.
"It was my first time cosplaying, but I felt it was much deeper than I thought. Because I care about how I look, the costumes were heavy, the materials were carefully selected, and the makeup was carefully designed, so it felt like I was changing myself. There was a scene where I was with real cosplayers, and I was able to become the character with my posture and movements, and it was a fresh and fun way to express myself that was different from the magazine model poses I have experienced."
Nagase, who gained new experience as Kitagawa Marin in the live-action "Kisekoi", expressed his thoughts, "I hope to continue challenging myself as an actor in the future."
"I graduated from 'Seventeen' this summer, but I think fans of my generation have a strong image of me as a magazine model, and I myself really love the world of magazines, so I would like to continue to be involved in it in some way in the future. On the other hand, I am also having a lot of fun acting now. It's become even more fun, so I want to master it more and show more of my range."
