An event called "Cells at Work! Cell Gathering Premiere" for the live-action film "Cells at Work!" (directed by Takeuchi Hideki, to be released on December 13th), based on the popular manga by Shimizu Akane, which features characters that are personified human cells, was held in Tokyo on December 4th, with a star-studded cast including Nagano Mei, who plays the red blood cells, and Sato Takeru, who plays the white blood cells (neutrophils). Nagano shared an episode involving a "bird" that happened on the set.
When asked about a memorable incident during filming, Nagano shared a heartwarming story, saying, "There was a time when the four of us - Ken, (Yamamoto) Koji, Naka (Riisa) and I - were in a waiting room, and a bird accidentally wandered in. Naka looked into how to get the bird out of the room and bought a net. In the end, we turned on the light on our smartphones (to get the bird out), and it ended up looking like a live concert venue. The bird rescue was a memorable scene."
In response to Nagano's story, Naka revealed the inside story, saying, "There was a time when I was shocked. I looked up a mosquito-like sound on YouTube and played it to scare away the birds, but Mei was the only one who said, 'Ahh! My ears hurt!' I was sorry, I can't hear it!"
The film is a live-action adaptation of Shimizu's popular manga (Kodansha), which has sold over 10 million copies in total, starring Nagano and Sato. Set inside the human body, the film depicts the daily activities of personified cells. Nagano plays a red blood cell that struggles to deliver oxygen to each organ in the body, while Sato plays a white blood cell that eliminates foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses that enter the body.
