"Anpan"Mio Imada interview: Talking about her feelings after finishing filming

With one week left until the final episode of the NHK morning drama " Anpan " (General Asadora , Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and others), Mio Imada plays the main character Yanai Nobu. Looking back on the year of filming, Imada said, "It was fun all the way through," and spoke about her current feelings now that filming has wrapped up.

◇After the wrap-up, "it felt like filming was still going on"

"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.

Imada, whose filming wrapped up on August 22nd, recalls, "As for the final scene, we finished it in one take without any reshoots."

"It was a very important scene for Taka (Takumi Kitamura) and Nobu, so I was in tears and got a little emotional, but I was relieved when I finally got the OK. I'm really glad that Kitamura and I were able to finish it safely."

As the end of filming approached, Imada was talking with the other cast members, asking, "How will I feel when it's over? Will I even feel it?" However, now that filming has actually finished, he says he feels like "the filming is still going on."

"I met with the cast and staff almost every day for a year, so I honestly don't know if I've fully sunk in that it's over. But I feel a sense of accomplishment that filming is over, and when I saw the news that filming had wrapped up and received messages from so many people saying 'thank you for your hard work,' it started to sink in a little bit. My emotions are going back and forth, but I do feel refreshed."

◇ Thoughts on fulfilling her role as a Asadora heroine

Imada spent a year facing Nobu and living through his life from his teens to his 70s. He said there were many moments during filming when he felt like he was one with Nobu.

"There were moments when I couldn't tell whether I was feeling this emotion as Nobu or as myself, and I was so immersed in the role that the tears wouldn't stop even after the director called cut. Every day I felt like I was really living as Nobu. I'm grateful to all the cast and staff for creating that kind of atmosphere and environment."

Now that she has completed the important role of the heroine of a Asadora, does Imada feel that she has changed or grown as a person?

"I think I'll only feel that way when I leave the set of ' Anpan' and do a different job. But I don't think it's easy to face the same role for a year, so I think I've gained a little bit of confidence in that area. There were moments during filming when I felt like it was taking so long, but looking back, it really went by in the blink of an eye, and I had a lot of fun overall."