In the Asadora drama series "Anpan " (NHK General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring Mio Imada , actor Takumi Kitamura plays Takashi Yanai , the husband of the heroine Nobu (Imada). In the 120th episode (broadcast on September 12th), "Anpanman" was finally born, leading to the opening scene of the first episode (broadcast on March 31st). What were Kitamura's thoughts as he faced this scene? We asked him about the behind-the-scenes of the scene.
◇The opening scene of the first episode "was meant to show determination"
" Anpan" is based on the married couple Takashi Yanase(1919-2013) and Nobu (1918-1993). It tells the story of how the two met, overcame all sorts of obstacles, and arrived at "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice." It is a "story of love and courage" that will fill you with the joy of living.
In episode 120, shortly after Tokairin's (Kenjiro Tsuda) visit, Kotoko (Yui Narumi) receives a letter. It explains the real reason why Tokairin came to Tokyo. Nobu and Taka are left speechless after reading the letter. That night, Taka begins to write as if driven by something. After drawing it over and over, "Anpanman" is finally born... and so the story unfolds.
Although this scene is similar to the opening scene of the first episode, it was newly filmed this time.
"At the time of the first episode, the era hadn't been decided, so the chronological order of what we were doing and our appearances were out of sync. The chief director said that the first scene was, in a sense, a scene of our resolve. He said that he wanted to show the team, and of course the viewers, that we were determined to see ' Anpan' through to the end. "
The first episode was filmed about a year ago, so when it came time to film it again, Kitamura said he didn't remember much about it at the time and wondered, "How did I feel?"
"Even if I were to do the same thing again, it wouldn't be the same scene. But the roots of the acting I did back then, while feeling Yanase-san's presence, were exactly the same. I felt that the roots were growing in Takashi Yanase Takashi's ideology, and that the flowers and plants that I grew up with as Takashi Yanai were different."
◇Taka is like a symbol of "Anpan"
Looking back on this scene, Kitamura said with emotion, "In the first episode, I didn't know what was going to happen next, so I just tried to imitate Yanase. That was the only answer I had, so I acted that way, but it felt like I'd finally reached this point in the 120th episode."
"When I saw the finished Anpanman, it felt completely different from back then. When I thought about why, I really felt it was because I had lived my life not as Takashi Yanase, but as Takashi Yanai."
Although Taka is a character based on Yanase, Kitamura revealed, "Compared to Yanase, he is darker. I was thinking about a lot of things, like whether Yanase was like, 'Tassuiga' (a Tosa dialect word meaning weak or unreliable)." While discussing the role with Satoshi Tsumabuki, who plays Yagi, Kitamura came to the conclusion that "Yanase encompasses the entire work, and Taka is like a symbol."
"I felt that way because Yanase's words are scattered throughout the play and are also spoken by the characters. Each and every person that Takashi met said those words to him, and in the end, Nobu-chan pulled me by the hand, and that's how Anpanman was created. I've spent a year with Takashi, so when I look at Anpanman as Takashi, I feel affection for him and the pain he's endured... Also, the faces of the people I've met so far come to mind. But the biggest thing was that I felt Nobu-chan."
◇Thoughts on Takanobu
Kitamura explained the reason for this, saying, "Anpan depicts Nobu and Taka's childhood, so the two of them spent more time together than Yanase and Nobu, who met after they had become working adults in real life."
"That's why I remember the path we walked together, the days we spent together from childhood to the present. She also shouldered the burden of militarism, and the two of us talked after the war, we met again at the Kochi Shimpo newspaper, and Takashi always pushed forward while she pushed him hard, but sometimes there were moments when he took the lead... There were also times when I saw Nobu-chan feeling hopelessly depressed."
Looking back on their relationship, he said, "Now that we're walking this path together, all sorts of things are happening within it. Anpanman himself is the image of Chihiro (Motoki Nakazawa), but when I think about the Anpanman series as a whole, I can really feel the trajectory of the two of them. I feel that this is probably an emotion that only Takashi Yanai could have."
