Ren Nagase:"I'm having a relaxed time working with my best friend Naniwa Danshi's Nishihata Daigo," but is it "a bit difficult" to work with Yamashita Mizuki?

Ren Nagase of the popular group "King & Prince" attended the Fuji TV Drama Live 2025 Winter, a joint event for the January 2025 drama series, held in Tokyo on December 21st. He talked about working with Daigo Nishihata of "Naniwa Danshi," with whom he is also close friends in private.

Nagase will star in the drama series "Onzoshi ni Koi wa Muzusugiru ," which will begin airing on January 7, 2025, in the Kansai TV/Fuji TV "Kadora★Eleven" slot (Tuesdays at 11 p.m.). Nagase, who plays the conceited heir Tendo Subaru, said with a bashful smile, "I'm so embarrassed that everyone will see me."

When the MC asked him if he was close with other members, he looked at Nishihata, who was on stage with him that day, and said with a smile, "That's right. Daigo and I are in the same year, and he plays the role of my best friend, so I'm able to do it comfortably."

The relationship between the two is said to be close to their characters in the play, with Nagase revealing, "Even when we were just saying our lines normally, Daigo would speak in Kansai dialect," to which Nishihata replied with a wry smile, "It was standard Japanese, but since he's from Kansai, he ended up speaking in Kansai dialect."

When asked by the MC about working with the two such good friends, "Isn't it quite difficult to get into it?", Yamashita Mizuki replied, "Yes, it is a little difficult," drawing laughter from the audience.

The drama is an original work by screenwriter Haruka Okita. It is a romantic comedy about Subaru Tendo (played by Nagase), the grandson of the president of a major apparel manufacturer, who has been spoiled and lived a free-spirited life, but who becomes a colleague of Madoka Hanakura (played by Mizuki Yamashita), who was born and raised in the complete opposite environment, and works on making children's clothes, experiencing his first failure and learning about true love.

Also appearing on the day were Kiyohara Nana, Koji Seto , and Mikami Ai from " 119 Emergency Call " (Mondays 9pm), Itagaki Rihito, Nakajima Yuto and Kadowaki Mugi from " Hey! Say! JUMP,"Yuto Nakajima , Yamamoto Koji, and Rihito Itagaki from " Frame of Mind" (Tuesdays 9pm), Kamikawa Takaya, Koji Yamamoto Rio, and Miyase Ryuya from "Mondai Bukken" (Wednesdays 10pm), Katori Shingo, Ryubi Miyase Ken, and Mukai Yuka from "Japan's Number One Jerk Salaryman" (Thursdays 10pm), and Daichi Mao, Ken Yasuda Marika, and Hori Kaito from "The Best Old Lady Nakajima Haruko" (Saturdays 11:40pm). The MCs were Yamazaki Hiroya from the comedy duo "Untouchable," along with the station's announcers Sano Mizuki and Niimi Yuka.