Haruka Fukuhara stars in Fuji TV's " Getsuku" drama "Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day, " set in a seaside child consultation center. She also starred in the NHK taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou)" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), in which she captivates viewers with her shrewdness as a prostitute living in the hellish world of Hio Miyazawa, and her passionate love for Tanuma Okitomo, played by Miyazawa Hio. So what was the movie that Fukuhara appeared in six years ago, co-starring with Miyazawa in the role of Ochi?
◇The first live-action movie version of "Kakegurui"
Fukuhara, who gained popularity as "Main-chan" on the program "Cooking Idol Ai! Mai! Main!" (NHK Educational Asadora drama series "Maiagare!" in the second half of 2022, but it seems like a turning point in her career as an actor occurred six years ago, in 2019.
The TV drama series "3-nen A-gumi: Ima kara Mina wa, Hitojichi Desu" (Nippon TV) aired in January of that year and became a big topic at the time. Fukuhara played the role of Mizukoshi Suzune, a romantic girl who is "the most troublesome person to have as an enemy." Suzune is high on the class hierarchy and has a dark side, as she shouts at other students and tries to trap them, which overturned Fukuhara's public image of being "pure" and "cute."
While she was still enjoying the afterglow of her role as Mizukoshi Suzune in "Class 3-A," the movie "Kakegurui" (directed by Hanabusa Tsutomu) was released on May 3rd of the same year. This was the first movie version of the manga written by Kawamoto Homura and illustrated by Naomura Toru, which was adapted into a live-action drama series starring Hamabe Minami, and Fukuhara played the original character Arukibi Jueri.
"Kakegurui" is set in the private Hyakkaou Academy, where everything is decided not by studying or sports, but by bargaining, mind-reading, competitiveness, and other strengths in gambling. In "Kakegurui the Movie," a group of white-robed people called "Village," which advocates "non-gambling and disobedience to the student council," rises to power within the school, and as the conflict with the student council deepens, the student council, which plots to dismantle the Village and crush the main character, Jabami Yumeko (Hamabe), declares the holding of a "Student Representative Nomination Election," in which all students will be forced to participate in a tag team. Miyazawa plays the role of Village's charismatic leader, Murasame Amane.
◇ Exploding with negative emotions, crying, screaming, and confusion
In the movie "Kakegurui," Fukuhara plays Ayuka, a village executive who once lost to the student council president in a gambling match. He is an important character in the story who throws himself into the "Student Representative Election" to ensure the survival of the village. At first, he assists Murasame and has the dignity to shut up the raging students with a single word, but as the tense atmosphere continues, he gradually becomes more and more insane and finally explodes with "negative emotions."
The act of betrayal towards Murasame and the reveal of her "dark side". Fukuhara's acting in this scene was overwhelming, and her crying, screaming and confusion on a level never seen before was worthy of being called an "awakening". When the film was released, there were comments such as "Haruka Fukuhara's acting skills are amazing. I got goosebumps", "Main-chan's acting skills are amazing", "Main-chan's power gave me goosebumps", and "It's a role that's different from her previous roles, it's great!", which is understandable.
She was 20 years old at the time, and in an interview she said, "I was a little scared, but the director told me I could do whatever I wanted. I had watched the drama myself, so it was easy for me to imagine it. I also felt like I was able to properly immerse myself in that world. I was able to see up close that the other cast members were having fun, ad-libging here and there. I feel like I learned from this work the wonderfulness of acting freely and having fun, rather than following a set script."
Six years have passed since then, and after playing a murderous female college student, a slightly cool solo camper, and a Asadora heroine, she now appears as a fine "taiga actress" in "UNBOUND," her second co-starring role with Miyazawa. She is now 26 years old. We are looking forward to her future.
