Raul, a member of the popular group "Snow Man" who also works as a model, will have his first solo documentary, "Raul On The Runway," which will be streamed exclusively on Prime Video from 10:00 AM on September 13th. Prior to the release, a press conference was held in Tokyo, where Raul revealed some of the difficult experiences he had while he was there.
The program will follow Raul closely from January 2024 to June of this year, following him over the course of a year and a half as he strives to walk the runways of Milan and Paris collections.
Raul, who started out as a model, recalled, "I'm a competitive person. When I'm shooting in Japan, because I'm an idol, people fawn over me and tell me I look cool. Sometimes I can't tell if they're really saying it or just flattering me, so I wanted to try it out in the real world and see if I could do it."
Initially, he started filming intimately without deciding where to distribute the footage, but he says, "Once I started, I felt a bit motivated to distribute it. That's because I'd seen the suffering of Japanese models who were working as hard as me, and I wanted to let people know, even just a little, that there is a world like this."
When asked about the most difficult episode he experienced while there, he revealed with a wry smile, "I'm directionally challenged, so I often get lost. I was walking around with my pocket Wi-Fi, and the battery ran out...It's pretty bad for people who are directionally challenged to lose the map on their smartphone."
He also said that there were many times when he had to act alone when auditioning locally. "In Japan, my manager would prepare a cool (air-conditioned) car for me and I'd get to go in that. I joined the agency when I was in elementary school and debuted at 16, so I think I was probably pampered more than most people in their teens and twenties, and didn't suffer as much. That was quite a complex for me, and over the past year and a half I've been through it, not to say, 'I had a hard time too,' but there was a part of me that wanted to have that kind of experience."
She revealed that she "failed over 90%" of the auditions she participated in, and described the experience as "kind of like job hunting." She said, "When I met a local friend for the first time in a while, I heard about the places they applied to and how difficult their job hunting was, and I was happy to have a moment of deep empathy."
Regarding the program, he said, "I think it will be a documentary about a world that is not very familiar to many people, but I would be happy if people would watch it, as I would like people to learn a little about this world."
