Mio Imada will star in the Asadora drama "Anpan " (NHK General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 a.m., etc.), which will begin on March 31st and will be broadcast in the first half of the 2025 fiscal year. She will play the heroine Asada Nobu Asada , modeled after Takashi Yanase Takashi, the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman." She spoke to Takumi Kitamura , who plays Takashi Yanai , Nobu's childhood friend who will eventually become his wife, about the feeling of playing a married couple and her memories of the location shoot in Kochi Prefecture, where the story takes place.
◇ With Takumi Kitamura,"We have perfect harmony in our acting"
"Anpan" is based on the married couple Takashi Yanase(1919-2013) and Nobu (1918-1993), the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman." It is a "story of love and courage" that will make you feel the joy of living, depicting how these two, who were once nobody, overcame all sorts of rough seas to become "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice." The script was written by Miho Nakazono, who is known for the "Doctor X: Surgeon Daimon Michiko" (TV Asahi) series.
Imada-san's character, Nobu, is full of energy and speed, and overcomes the rough waves of life with power. He is also known as "Hachikin Onobu" and "Idaten Onobu" for his tomboyish and strong-willed personality. He says that his childhood friend, Taka, who later becomes his wife, "has a completely opposite personality."
"In the first week, Nobu, who is still in elementary school, tells Taku, 'I'll protect you.' At first it feels like Nobu's energy is what's pulling Taku along, but Nobu is also stronger because of Taku, and when Nobu is in trouble, Taku nonchalantly reaches out to help her. There's something that only the two of them can understand. Their personalities are complete opposites, but I envy the way they can support each other like that, and the way they can understand each other so much despite their different genders."
Imada has previously worked with Kitamura, who plays Taka, in the "Tokyo Revengers" film series, and "Anpan" marks their sixth time working together. Imada said, "In the past, I've worked with Kitamura as a girlfriend who has risked her life to be saved by him (laughs), but this time, we play childhood friends who become husband and wife. This is a role where we're closer than ever before, so I felt very comfortable with Kitamura as my co-star."
"Kitamura-san is really kind, and he always has a bird's-eye view. If someone is in trouble, he notices right away and helps them. That's something we have in common with Takami, and because he's like that, I can act with ease and without straining my shoulders. I've always been like that, but I feel like I'm less reserved than ever, and he accepts anything I throw at him, so I think we're able to act more in sync than ever before."
◇Looking back on the location shoot in Kochi Prefecture
Imada and Kitamura began filming together in Kochi Prefecture on September 8 last year. "We started with a running scene under the blazing hot sun," he recalls.
"While we were filming, people from Kochi Prefecture came to support us, bringing lots of gifts. There is a river near the road where Nobu is running, and there is a field there. For this shoot, the people of Kochi plowed the field and grew buckwheat. Thanks to that, I think we were able to create a wonderful scene that shows the vastness of Kochi Prefecture."
In response to the support and expectations of the people of Kochi Prefecture, Imada says, "I'm filming now with the desire to bring the warmth of the Kochi people back to Tokyo."
"The warmth of the people in Kochi Prefecture made me feel like I was at home. I was welcomed so warmly even though it was my first time meeting them, and I felt an atmosphere of 'Come back anytime,' and I think that it is precisely because Nobu and Yanase lived in Kochi that they were able to create the work 'Anpanman', which is loved by so many people."
Imada said he has visited the Kami City Takashi Yanase Memorial Anpanman Museum, an art museum that exhibits Yanase-san's picture book paintings and other artworks, twice.
"When I entered the museum, I saw many parents and children there, which made me realize once again that Anpanman is loved by a wide range of generations, and I hope that the same is true for Anpan."
He said he was also given a special tour of the storage facility where Yanase's works are kept, and recalled, "Not only Anpanman but other works were stored there as well, and what was impressive was how happily the staff talked about Yanase."
"Seeing the lively expressions on the staff members' faces, I thought, 'I bet Yanase was just like that.' I'd like to use what I felt at the museum to play Nobu until the very end."
