In the NHK morning drama "Omusubi" starring Kanna Hashimoto, Miyu Oshima played Maki Watanabe, the best friend of Ayumi Yoneda (played by Riisa Naka, played by Saki Takamatsu in middle school), who was eight years older than the heroine, back when they lived in Kobe. Maki dreamed of becoming a magazine model in Tokyo, but in 1995, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred... Currently a third-year middle school student, Oshima revealed that through her role as Maki, "I fell in love with Namie Amuro," and we asked her to look back on her appearance in the morning drama.
◇She got the role of Maki through an audition, and this was her first appearance in a morning drama.
Oshima was born on November 19, 2009, and is 14 years old and hails from Saitama Prefecture. She entered the entertainment industry after winning the runner-up prize in the "Ciao Girl 2018☆Audition," an audition to select models for the girls' manga magazine "Ciao" (Shogakukan). In the April 2022 TBS Sunday Theatre drama "My Family," she played the daughter of the protagonist, who is the key to the story, and became a hot topic.
In this episode of "Omusubi," Oshima won the role of Maki through an audition, making her first appearance in a morning drama.
"I loved this role from the moment I read the audition script. There wasn't anything in the script that was written in detail, but I really wanted to play the bright, kind, and reliable Maki, so I was very happy when I got the role. I've auditioned for morning dramas many times before, and I've made it to the final round but failed, so I was even happier now."
When asked about her impression of Maki again, she said, "She's bright, kind, and reliable. She's also sensitive, and she's a wonderful girl with dreams and sparkling emotions."
"I'm a little embarrassed to say this myself after all the praise I've received (laughs), but I'm also bright, energetic, and have sparkling emotions, so I feel like Maki and I are quite similar. If we're talking about differences, Maki is more mature than me. She's very observant and considerate of her surroundings, so I hope I can become more like her."
◇ "I want to know more about Namie Amuro!" she says, and buys her CD
Maki is a big fan of Namie Amuro, who rose to stardom in the mid-1990s.
Namie Amuro continued to be active at the forefront for a long time until she retired in 2018, but for Oshima, who was born in 2009, she was naturally not a familiar presence, and her knowledge level was at the level of, "Of course I know her name, but..." "Maki loves Namie Amuro and admires her so much that I thought, 'I want to know more about Namie Amuro!' and bought her CD. When I thought that Maki was listening to it, I started to like her more and more. I watched a lot of her music videos and thought, 'Amuro-chan is so cute!' and I fell in love with her."
Just like Namie Amuro is to Maki, there is an artist that Oshima loves very much. That artist is the rock band BUMP OF CHICKEN.
"I love BUMP OF CHICKEN and I think their music is 'saving people's lives!' I want to cheer people up and acknowledge them with the music they create. Although it's a different genre, I hope I can do the same thing with acting as BUMP OF CHICKEN."
◇Time travel to "those days" of the Heisei era? As for her "perfect gal look"...
Oshima-san revealed that during this shoot, it was her first time seeing an 8cm CD single with a rectangular package.
"Maki often went over to Ayu-chan's room to hang out, and the room had that Heisei era feel! It's not an era I know much about, but it made me feel nostalgic. Even the boomboxes and stuff were completely different from what they are now, so it was fun to feel like I'd traveled back in time and realized what it was like."
She also touched on the Heisei era gal culture, saying, "I thought it was really cool that they didn't do anything uncool and they valued their friends."
Oshima-san showed off her "perfect gal look" as Maki in a flashback in the 29th episode, which aired on November 7th.
"I was surprised at how short the uniform skirt was for the shoot. It was also my first time wearing loose socks, so it was very refreshing. My hair was blonde, so I even wondered, 'Who is this?' It was so different from my usual self. I also had long fake nails, and since I wasn't used to it, I asked the people around me, 'How do you pick up coins and things like that?' (laughs). But it was a world I'd never been involved in before, so I had a lot of fun filming."
