It has been announced that the WOWOW original drama "Hey, Dazai," starring actor Kei Tanaka and written and directed by Koki Mitani, will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand in June.
The "one-scene, one-shot drama" series, which Mitani directed himself and based on his original script, will be broadcast on WOWOW for the first time in 12 years. The first installment was "Short Cut," Mitani's first TV drama as director, in 2011. The story is about a married couple played by Kiichi Nakai and Suzuki Kyoka who get lost on a mountain path and come to understand each other through arguments, and won the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Award (TV Drama Program) Grand Prize in 2012.
The second series was "Big Airport 2013" which aired in 2013. The late actress Yuko Takeuchi plays a ground staff member and causes a big commotion with the unique characters played by Katsuhisa Namase, Erika Toda, Joe Odagiri, Teruyuki Kagawa and others in this ensemble comedy. The large-scale setting, which rented out the entire Shinshu Matsumoto Airport and even included a helicopter flight, attracted a lot of attention.
The third film in the series took about 10 years to conceive and was shot last fall. After "mountains" and "sky," Mitani chose "the sea." Set on the seaside, it is a time-slip comedy about a man who admires Dazai Osamu and struggles through the ages.
This is Tanaka's first time starring in a Mitani work as the protagonist, Komuro Kensaku. This is Tanaka's first time working with Mitani in six years since the 2019 film "I Hit Me Anyone One More Time", and he says he was originally a big fan of the series, sending a passionate love call to Mitani. This time, his wish has finally come true, but what awaited him was a grueling shoot. In this film, Tanaka plays a character who is on screen for about 100 minutes, and the filming was done under extreme tension with a huge amount of lines and the camera never stopping, meaning no "NGs" were allowed.
Kensaku, played by Tanaka, is an ordinary office worker who admires Dazai Osamu. On the way home from a wedding reception he attended with his wife Miyoko, he accidentally wanders into the beach where Dazai attempted suicide. Excited to be in a place associated with Dazai, Kensaku continues to walk through a dark cave despite being told not to. There he finds a man who looks just like Dazai Osamu. The story unfolds as if Kensaku has traveled back in time to the era Dazai lived in...
The cast, including the role of Dazai, will be announced at a later date.
◇Comment from Kei Tanaka(role of Kensaku Komuro)
--How did you feel when you received the offer to star in a film written and directed by Koki Mitani?
I sometimes meet Mr. Mitani by chance in private. We worked together on a project before, so we would say hello whenever we met. I've always loved this series, and whenever we met I told him, "I really love it." Mr. Mitani has also asked me several times, "I'm going to do this next project, can you offer me a role?" I would reply, "Yes, please," but it never really happened. So when I was actually approached this time, I was really surprised and thought, "Really?" At first, I was overjoyed and under a lot of pressure.
--What are your impressions after experiencing Mitani's original script and his unique style of directing?
It's bold, yet slowly building up. It's delicate, yet bursting with emotion. It's a wave-like attack. The script was very interesting. However, I wondered how they would film a time slip in a single take. As I read on, I wondered if Mitani-san had forgotten that it was a one-take shoot. He was very careful and detailed with his direction during rehearsals, changing lines and correcting movements on the spot, and seeing those moment-to-moment changes made it even more interesting than before, which I thought was impressive. And I thought his final stance of "I'll leave it up to the actors" was honest and cool. That's why I was doing it with the feeling that I wanted to live up to his expectations! It was fun!
--What are the challenges and fun aspects of shooting a complete one-scene, one-take video without stopping the camera even once?
The first difficulty was having to memorize a huge amount of lines. Then there was the teamwork required to make it look like the actors hadn't made any mistakes. Then there was the physical strength and flexible response of the staff. We couldn't have completed the 100 minutes without everyone coming together. Of course, there were also moments of tension and having to contend with weather that we couldn't control. This time it was by the sea, so I think it was also difficult that the acting area changed depending on the day. But that's why I enjoyed every bit of it, and the tension of only being able to shoot once a day was quite intense.
- A message to our viewers.
Although it is a drama shot in one take, it depicts a time slip. Not only the acting, but the script is also fun. We who acted in it had a lot of fun!! I believe that you will enjoy it too!! And, I would be happy if you could forget that it was a one-take film halfway through, but I also hope that the excitement I felt when I realized it was a one-take film is conveyed to everyone. Please enjoy it!!
