It was revealed on November 18th that Tsuyoshi Kusanagi will play Sanma in a special drama within the 10th installment of the Nippon Television special program "Nobody Knows Akashiya Sanma" (December 1st, 7pm-9:54pm), which uncovers a lesser known side of Akashiya Sanma. Attention is focused on how Kusanagi, who has known Sanma for over 30 years through the program, will play the role.
The drama, entitled "The Day 80s Comedians Beat Idols - The Forbidden Day That Broke Taboos," depicts the behind-the-scenes story of a "certain incident" that shook the industry on the popular 80s program "All-Star Red and White Athletic Meet," based on interviews with not only Sanma himself but also various other people.
The story focuses on one of the events that changed the fate of Sanma in his younger days, the legendary day when he broke the entertainment industry taboo. In the special program "All-Star Red and White Athletic Meet," comedians in 1981 were merely supporting actors for the idols who were stars. Meanwhile, Sanma was chosen to anchor the White team in the final relay event. The Red team's anchor was Tahara Toshihiko, who was a top idol in both name and reality at the time. Sanma decided to break the "taboo of the entertainment industry" at this point... The story unfolds as follows.
The cast members who will play Tahara and other stars from the heyday of idols in the 1980s will be announced at a later date.
Kusanagi's comments are as follows.
◇Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's full comment
It was a lot of pressure to play Sanma, who is well known all over Japan (laughs).
I don't think I have much in common with Sanma, so for this drama I decided not to imitate him, but to play the image of Sanma that I have in my mind with as much feeling as possible. As the filming progressed, many memories of the time we worked together came back to me, and there were scenes where I felt like my soul was inhabiting the character, or like "Sanma has come down to me..."
Only Sanma himself knows what he is really thinking, but I hope that the warmth and kindness I felt from being close to him will be conveyed on screen. I hope that everyone, and Sanma, will enjoy it.
◇Previously aired dramas and actors (titles omitted)
1. The time when he quit being a comedian and eloped (2015) Akashiya Sanma role: Masaki Suda, girlfriend role: Yua Shinkawa
2. Akashiya Sanma talks about his most fun high school days (2017) Akashiya Sanma role: Takumi Kitamura, high school teacher role: Satoshi Jinbo
3. Akashiya Sanma's longest day ~The day of the divorce announcement~ (2018) Akashiya Sanma: Takumi Saito, Otake Shinobu: Ayame Gouriki
4. The day Sanma cried ~From meeting with his master to parting~ (2019) Akashiya Sanma: Ryo Narita, Master: Fumiyo Kohinata
5. The road to meet a smile ~Father Akashiya Sanma~ (2020) Akashiya Sanma: Ken Yasuda, Son: Shori Sato, IMALU: Wakana Aoi
6. Grandfather's smile ~He taught me how to live~ (2021) Akashiya Sanma: Ryo Katsuji, Grandfather: Arata Furuta
7. Akashiya Sanma vs. Hagimoto Kinichi: A slightly radical comedy war in which a young Sanma challenges a legendary man (2022) Akashiya Sanma is played by Sugino Yosuke and Hagimoto Kinichi is played by Tokyo03 Kakuta
8. "The Men Who Sold Their Souls for Laughter" (2023) Akashiya Sanma is played by Iwata Takanori and Beat Takeshi is played by Katori Shingo
