Takumi Kitamura's first drama appearance since the Asadora"Anpan" is as a mysterious college student in "A Little Esper"

Takumi Kitamura , who is Takashi Yanase Takashi Yanai , in the NHK morning drama " Anpan ," will be appearing in the drama series "A Little Esper" (TV Asahi, Asadora at 9 p.m.), which starts on October 21st. This will be his first drama appearance since the Asadora.

The drama stars Yo Oizumi and is based on an original script by hit maker Akiko Nogi. It tells the story of Bunta (played by Oizumi), a down-and-out salaryman who gets fired from his job and divorced from his wife, but then passes the audition for a certain company and becomes a "little esper" to save the world. Kitamura plays Ichimatsu, a mysterious university student who quickly becomes close to the protagonist Bunta and the other "little espers."

Regarding his appearance in this work, Kitamura said, "I was approached by a producer I worked with on 'Nijiiro Karte' (2021) and 'On a Starry Night' (2023), and it felt very much like me, so I started out with that in mind. Since this was my next project after finishing a long year of filming on ' Anpan,' I also felt that I wanted to join a team where I could relax in a good way."

He revealed that he is a fan of the popular variety show "Wednesday Downtown" (Hokkaido Television), in which the lead actor Oizumi appeared, and commented, "In a way, Oizumi is the person who saved me 'just a little'. I met him for the first time when he was hosting a major music program at the end of the year, and I told him I was a fan, so I was very happy to be able to meet him again in this drama."

Regarding his time on set with Oizumi, of whom he is a big fan, he said, "From the first day, we talked about all sorts of things and laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Now I think of him as a funny old man (laughs). Basically, we talked the whole time about 'What Do You Do (Wednesday)?' and we had a lot to talk about, so it was a fun start."

Regarding the character he will be playing, Ichimatsu, he said, "There's still a lot I can't say... In a way, he's a really normal college student (laughs), but when you look at him from another angle, he's just too weird! That's what makes him such an exquisite character." Regarding the work, he said, "It could be described as a 'sci-fi battle action' story, but there's always something 'unusual' about it... It's a story filled with kindness and warmth that makes you feel like you can experience a little bit of peaceful everyday life."