Nanoka Hara Hara will be appearing in the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00am, etc.), starring Mio Imada Imada. This is her first appearance in a Asadora, and she plays Meiko Asada, the third daughter of the heroine's family (the Asadas). She talked about how she felt when she was chosen to play Meiko, her impressions of Imada and Yuumi Kawai, who play her older sisters, and the state of her romance with "Ken-chan", aka Kentaro (Fumiya Takahashi).
◇ Despite feeling nervous about her first appearance in a Asadora, she said, "I was really happy"
Meiko is the third daughter of the Asada family, a cheerful girl who loves to sing and makes everyone in the Asada family happy.
Hara, who will be making her first appearance in a Asadora, said, "A Asadora was a dream come true and I had always hoped I would be able to appear in it someday, so I was very happy."
"Meiko is the youngest child, and she's charming and a very cute character. When I was first cast for this role, I felt the weight of the responsibility of playing a beloved character in a Asadora, and I was nervous. But everyone in the Asada family is so warm and welcoming. I was able to approach the role without feeling any pressure, because I was able to become Meiko just by going on set and acting with everyone. I hope to play the role of Meiko, a younger sister that everyone will love."
What kind of people are her eldest daughter Nobu (Imada) and second daughter Ranko (Kawai) to Meiko?
"Nobu-neechan is unpretentious, straightforward, and has a strong ability to see things through once she has decided to do them. Even if she is unsure at times, once she decides 'this is it!' she is the type of person who can run towards it as fast as she can. I think she is a very reliable older sister, and as Meiko, she is someone who gives me courage. Ranko-neechan always has a bird's-eye view of her surroundings. She takes care of Meiko, and I think she is somewhat like a mother, someone you want to depend on."
She also said about Imada and Kawai, who play Nobu and Ranko, "They are kind and gentle, and they talked to me a lot from the beginning. They have seen other works that I have appeared in and told me their opinions of them. They are very reliable in acting, and every day I think about how glad I am to have them as my older sisters."
◇ About her love life with Take-chan, "Seeing the face of a girl in love makes my heart flutter"
In the seventh week, Meiko meets and falls in love with Kentaro, a classmate of Takashi (Takumi Kitamura). Hara-san laughs, "I think Kentaro was the first person Meiko had ever met. He's a very strong character, and I thought he was strange when we first met."
"There are scenes where the two of them struggle to make peace between Nobu-neechan and Taka-san, but I think Meiko was touched by Kentaro's determination to push forward for the sake of others, and his attitude of always trying to make people laugh. I think she was also really happy that he praised her singing so straightforwardly. It was Meiko's first love, so I hope that the viewers will have their hearts fluttering in the morning when they see the face of a girl in love."
Finally, she sent a message to the viewers, saying, "There are difficult times, but you have to keep moving forward. I feel that this is a work that has a strong power to make you feel that way. It's a warm story that makes you realize once again the happiness that can be found in our ordinary daily lives, and above all, Nobu-neechan keeps moving forward no matter what happens. I would be happy if seeing that makes you feel a little more motivated to look forward in life."
