Tomi, a Toomi of the idol group #2i2 (Nini), plays the lead role in the drama series "The Story of My Little Senior at Our Company" (BS Shochiku Tokyu, Wednesdays at 11pm). She plays Katase Shiori, a small, caring senior in her third year at the company. She makes new employee Shinozaki Takuma (Takizawa Tsubasa) nervous by being too close to him. Tomi reflected on the filming, saying, "When I first read the Toomi, I thought, 'Can I do this?' and 'I'm so embarrassed, I wonder if I can look Shinozaki-kun in the eye.'"
◇ "I tried to make sure it didn't hurt too much."
The drama is based on the manga of the same name by So Sai, which is currently being serialized in Takeshobo's "Storia Dash." It is a sweet office love comedy about a senior colleague, Shiori Katase (played by Toomi), who works at a character development company, and a new employee, Takuma Shinozaki (played by Tsubasa Takizawa).
The first day of filming was the fourth episode, which was set in a private sauna, and Toomi showed off her swimsuit. Looking back, she said, "It was really embarrassing" to be filming in a swimsuit for a drama, which was different from normal filming.
"But there was a sense of unity on set, an atmosphere of working hard as a team to reach a goal, so gradually my embarrassment disappeared. Anyway, I decided to do my best in my role as Shiori-senpai."
When playing the role of Shiori, the challenge for her in adapting the character into a live-action drama was, "After reading the original manga and watching the anime, I thought about how to express the two-dimensional aspects," and she tried to "make the character not too painful in my own way."
"I thought a lot about how to make the role my own while keeping it within the realm of reality. If I tried to be too cunning with the way I treated Shinozaki-kun or the tone of my lines, Shiori-senpai's purity would disappear, so I tried to remember that I love Shinozaki-kun as a junior and that I like him romantically, but I can't be that proactive. Otherwise Shiori-senpai would turn into a bad girl."
◇Did you overdo your sexy reaction when your shoulders were rubbed?
Comparing her own height of 149 cm to her "small senior" Shiori, Toomi said, "I think we are similar in appearance," and added, "I felt that she had a similar vibe to my more formal, idol-like self, so I tried to make use of that in the role."
Despite this, Toomi once ``overdid it'' during the filming of one scene.
"In Shinozaki-kun's fantasy, there was a scene in the first episode where Shiori had a very sexy reaction while having her shoulders massaged, but I had never filmed anything like that before, and I had never done any research on what kind of face to make to look sexy, so when I saw a video of Amau Kisumi, who is good at sexy scenes in the same group, being tickled under the arms, I thought, 'I can use that kind of expression,' and I tried to act with all my might by 'taking that girl into myself,' but it seems I overdid it. The director told me, 'Go all out for once,' so when I did, he said, 'We can't broadcast it like this' (laughs)."
When asked again about her role, Toomi revealed, "At first I wasn't good at it and I felt like I was not good at it."
"Even though I took lessons, there were many things I found difficult, but by having the opportunity to appear in productions like this and gaining experience, I've come to find it really fun. I'm happy about the process of what I played becoming a production with the help of many people, and I feel grateful for it. I think there are still many fun things to do, especially since I haven't been able to appear in many productions, so I hope to continue improving my acting skills even just a little so that I can have various experiences in the future."
