An interview with Sakurai Kaito and Saito Nagisa from the drama and movie "Oshi no Ko"

"Oshi no Ko" is a drama and movie adaptation of a hugely popular manga about the entertainment industry. We interviewed Sakurai Kaito, who plays Aqua, and Saito Nagisa, who plays Aqua's younger sister Ruby. We asked them about their thoughts on adapting a popular work with many fans into a live-action film. ◇ "Oshi no Ko" is "so real it's painful" "Oshi no Ko" is a manga created jointly by Akasaka Aka, who also worked on "Kaguya-sama: Love is War", and Yokoyari Mengo, who is known for "Scum's Wish", and has sold over 20 million copies (as of November). The TV anime that aired last year and this year also became a hot topic. The story is about Aqua and Ruby, twin siblings left behind by the legendary idol Ai. Aqua vows to take revenge on the mastermind behind Ai's murder, while Ruby aspires to be an idol, admiring her mother. Aqua vows to take revenge on the mastermind behind Ai's murder, while Ruby aspires to be an idol, admiring her mother. --You two were fans of the original manga even before it was decided to make it into a TV drama and a movie. What prompted you to start reading it? Sakurai: I started reading it when there was a segment on "King's Brunch" (TBS) that introduced the manga, which you appear on. Saito: When I was still an idol, I saw it on (Rino) Sashihara's SNS and thought it looked interesting! That's what got me started. --It's a work that is based on the entertainment industry, so are there many parts that you can relate to? Both: We can only relate (laughs). Saito: The part that we empathized with was the story where slander becomes an issue in the romance reality show "Ima Kara Gachi Koi Hajimeshi" (Ima Kara Serious Love Starts). I empathized so much that it became very painful... Sakurai: There were many things that we understood because we both actually appeared on a romance reality show. I wonder how they could portray it so realistically? It's so realistic that it's painful to read. --It's a popular work with many fans. Did you feel any pressure? Saito: Because it was a work I loved, when I received the offer, I was really worried about whether I was really the right person for the role. However, Ruby-chan had some parts in common with me, such as wanting to be an idol since I was little, so I tried my best to give it a try. Sakurai: When the offer came, I had a strong feeling that "I don't want anyone else to do it." I immediately replied that I would love to do it. However, I felt pressured after entering the scene, and although it was still a short period of time, I was prepared to use up everything I had cultivated since entering this industry. ◇ "I felt that my four months of suffering had paid off" --You said that you read the original work again during the filming period, but were you conscious of treasuring the original work? Sakurai: Of course. Since it was a work I loved even before I started working on it, I didn't want to destroy the worldview of the original work, and I always tried to stay close to the original work in terms of visuals, etc. There was a new "Young Jump" on set every week, and I was filming while checking the latest stories. However, while respecting the original work, we approached the drama and film adaptation in a way that would bring out new charms of the work "Oshi no Ko" in our own way. For example, we imagined the emotions between the lines, such as the expressions that should be between the frames that are not drawn in the manga, and created them. --What did you think of Sakurai-san as the leader from Saito-san's perspective? Saito-san: He was a very reliable leader. When I myself was not doing well in a serious scene, he gently assisted me and supported me quite a bit while filming. He also got along well with the staff, and the site was only possible because of Sakurai-san. --I heard that Sakurai-san came to the site even when he was not filming himself. Saito-san: He was there almost all the time. Sakurai-san: My work motto is "cherish the site." Because I believe that if the site is not good, you cannot make a good work. I was conscious of communicating closely with my co-stars and staff. --You play twin siblings, but I heard from the staff that your faces started to look similar through filming. Saito: Is that so (laughs)? But maybe your facial expressions have become similar since you were together all the time. Sakurai: We never really paid much attention to it, but I'm glad if it looked that way. Saito: But we did pay attention to the hair color! Sakurai: Yes. The hair color was really difficult. We made each other's hair colors similar to each other even before filming started. However, we didn't go to the same hair salon, so it was really difficult. I don't know how many times we went to the hair salon (laughs). --How confident are you about this work? Sakurai: I feel like the team's struggles for about four months have paid off. The script is interesting, the images are beautiful, and it's simply interesting even when viewed objectively. I think that fans of the original work will be able to enjoy this work by comparing it with the original, and I think that people who don't know anything about [Oshi no Ko] will enjoy it very much. Saito: We tried our best to respect the original work, so please watch both the drama and the movie! The drama and movie "Oshi no Ko" are a joint project between Amazon and Toei, and episodes 1-6 of the drama will be exclusively streamed worldwide on Prime Video from 9pm on November 28th, and episodes 7-8 from 9pm on December 5th. The movie "Oshi no Ko -The Final Act-", which depicts the continuation of the drama, will be released nationwide on December 20th.