Mio Imada stars in the NHK Asadora drama series "Anpan " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 a.m. and others). In this series, Takenouchi Yutaka plays the role of a doctor, Hiroshi, the uncle of Takashi Yanai(Takumi Kitamura ), who is modeled Takashi Yanase the manga artist and picture book writer Yutaka Takenouchi. As an actor, he has been active in various popular works, but surprisingly, this is his first time appearing in a Asadora. Now 54 years old, what is the charm of Takenouchi that he can show because he has grown older and broadened his range of acting? Let's explore this from his past appearances and interviews.
◇ After his big break in "The Beach Boys," he took on a variety of roles
Takenouchi entered the entertainment industry in 1989 as a model for the men's fashion magazine MEN'S NON-NO (Men's Non-no), and made his acting debut in the drama series Boku no Shuushoku (TBS) in 1994. He had his big break in 1995's Hoshi no Kinko (Nippon TV) and in 1997's "Getsuku" drama "Beach Boys" (Fuji TV), in which he co-starred with Sorimachi Takashi, becoming an indispensable actor in the dramas of the 1990s.
At the time, he often played playboy or cool characters due to his handsome looks, but in 2003, he played a new role in "Yankee Returns to His Alma Mater", a passionate teacher who used to be a yankee, Yoshimori Shinya, which showed his new charm. Immediately after that, he brilliantly embodied the tragic figure Aisin Gioro Pu Jie in "The Wandering Queen: The Last Emperor" (TV Asahi), demonstrating the breadth of his acting.
Furthermore, in the "BOSS" series (Fuji TV) broadcast in 2009 and 2011, he played the role of elite police inspector Nodate Shinjiro, and shared comical exchanges with lead actress Yuki Amami. In 2014, he honed his comedic acting talents in the lead role in the drama "Sutekina Sen Taxi" (Kantele/Fuji TV), where he played the role of Edawari, the driver of the Sen Taxi, a vehicle that can take you back to the past. He charmingly portrayed a character who has a cool appearance, but is also talkative, nosy, and has a sweet tooth.
In recent years, he has appeared in a string of popular dramas that have been adapted into special dramas and movies, including "Stepmother and Daughter Blues" (TBS) and "Ichikei no Karasu" (Fuji TV), in which he played the lead role. In "Stepmother and Daughter Blues," he played the role of Miyamoto Ryoichi, a salaryman who loses his first wife and remarries the main character Akiko (Ayase Haruka), vividly portraying a father full of kindness and love for his family. In "Ichikei no Karasu," he charmingly played the free-spirited, unconventional, and quirky judge Iruma Michio.
◇ "I want to do my best so as not to disappoint people" - Thoughts on the role of Hiroshi
Takenouchi's expression changes drastically for each role he plays, but in an interview for the 2021 drama series "Higashino Keigo 'Samayoi Yaiba'" (WOWOW), in which he starred, he talked about the roles he would like to play in the future, saying, "To be honest, I don't have a role that I would like to play, but I would like to always be able to do something that overturns my image. Also, I grew up playing in nature, far from the city, so I would like to play a role that grew up in the countryside and speaks in a dialect."
The character that Takenouchi plays in "Anpan" is "Uncle Hiroshi", a character from Kochi who speaks the Tosa dialect. It's a role that Takenouchi has been hoping for.
Hiroshi is a calm and tolerant man, and in the drama he repeatedly utters memorable lines that touch the heart. He has been called a "line-maker" and "the most virtuous man in Kochi" among viewers. In the scene (episode 23) where he tenderly comforts his wife Chiyoko (Naho Toda) who apologizes for not giving birth to an heir, many viewers were captivated by his "cool uncle" behavior.
Takenouchi commented about Hiroshi, "While it's always fun to play a role based on a real person like this one, I also want to approach it in a way that doesn't disappoint the expectations of those who know the person. I feel that the character I play, my uncle Hiroshi Yanai, is someone who warmly reminds us in our daily lives of the fundamental things that are necessary in life and the things we must never forget."
Takenouchi-san has played a variety of roles, from serious to comedic. In "Anpan", he fully demonstrates the charm of an adult that can truly be called "maturity", making the character of Hiroshi more convincing. I can't wait to see what role Takenouchi-san will play next, as well as seeing how Hiroshi performs in this film.
