Koichi Yamadera is a voice actor who appears in the Asadora drama series "Anpan " (NHK General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 a.m. and others), starring Mio Imada He plays Zama Haruto Zama , a teacher in the design department of the Tokyo Higher School of Art and Design, who taught Takashi Yanai(Takumi Kitamura ) the basics of how to live and think about life. In the 49th episode (broadcast on June 5th), there is a scene where Takashi receives a red paper and goes to see Zama. We asked Yamadera how he faced this scene.
◇Surprised by Zama's reappearance
In the 49th episode, Nobu (Imada) speaks brave words to a student who is worried about his brother receiving a red card. However, Jiro's ( Ayumu Nakajima) words are bothering him and he is shaking inside. And finally, Takashi receives a red card. Takashi goes to see Zama before going to war, and calls his mother Tomiko (Nanako Matsushima) to a cafe in Ginza, where he expresses his anxiety in front of Zama.
Looking back on this scene, Yamadera said, "First of all, I was surprised to get a role. I thought that once Taka graduated, there would be no more roles for Zama-sensei, so I was happy to be able to appear in that scene."
"The fact that Takashi came to see Professor Zama means that he had special feelings for him. When I read the script, I felt that I had been given an important role. Zama talks about his time in the army, and the war ending before he went to war, and he clearly states his opposition to war, but Takashi also clearly expresses his opposition to war in this scene. I felt that it was a very important scene, but I never expected that he would meet Tomiko afterwards (laughs)."
Although he had co-starred with Matsushima, who played Tomiko, in the 2015 drama "Murder on the Orient Express" (Fuji TV), this was the first time they had a direct conversation on scene.
"The first time we acted together, I was so moved that I took a commemorative photo of the lunch box that Matsushima brought me (laughs). This was our second time acting together, but when I read the script, I was surprised to think that I would be having a conversation with Matsushima. During filming, the moment Matsushima appeared on screen, she had such an incredible aura that I got nervous for no reason...The scene didn't have that many lines, but I think that if there had been more, I would have had a lot of NGs."
◇ Confusion: "How should I ask?"
In a scene where he co-stars with Matsushima, Taka and Tomiko have a serious parent-child conversation right in front of Zama, but he said he was confused about how to ask the question.
"It's an incredible story that makes you think, 'Those are the words of a mother?' I joined the production halfway through, so when we shot this scene, I didn't know the whole story of the relationship between the two parents. Before filming, Kitamura told me, 'His mother has put him through a lot. This scene was the result of a lot of events.' I myself knew the stories between Takashi Yanase and his mother from books by Takashi Yanase, who was the model for Takashi, so it all made sense."
Amidst all these serious developments, there is also a humorous twist in which Zama falls in love with Tomiko at first sight and asks Takashi if he would be his son-in-law.
"Miho Nakazono's script is wonderful. Even in this situation, he falls in love at first sight and becomes interested in the relationship. It was cut from the broadcast, but I thought it was interesting, so after I found out that Tomiko was married, I ad-libbed the line, 'If only we had met a little earlier, it would have been fine.' I think Zama-sensei is probably that kind of person (laughs)."
Yamadera-san played the playful Zama with a lot of charm. Zama "exits" in this scene, but there is no doubt that he had a big impact on Taka's outlook on life. What kind of achievements will Taka, who learned the importance of having convictions and a free spirit from Zama, show in the future? I want to watch until the end.
