Mio Imada plays Takashi Yanai , a childhood friend of the main character Nobu (Imada), who later becomes her husband, in the Asadora drama "Anpan " (NHK General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 a.m. and others), starring Mio Takumi Kitamura. This is Kitamura's first appearance in a Asadora, and he talked about his feelings about the role of Taka Yanase, who is modeled Takashi Yanase the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman."
◇Surprised at the offer to appear in the Asadora
"Anpan" is based on the married couple Takashi Yanase(1919-2013) and Nobu (1918-1993), the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman." It is a "story of love and courage" that will make you feel the joy of living, depicting how these two, who were once nobody, overcame all sorts of rough seas to become "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice." The script was written by Miho Nakazono, who is known for the "Doctor X: Surgeon Daimon Michiko" (TV Asahi) series.
Kitamura has appeared in many productions, including the lead role in the "Tokyo Revengers " movie series, but " Anpan " is his first Asadora . Looking back on when he received the offer, he said, "I've had a lot of roles where I get covered in blood recently, so I was surprised to be offered a role that will brighten up everyone's mornings. I hope I can become a morning face."
"The offer came at a time when I was thinking that Asadora and historical dramas were something of a benchmark for my acting career. Since I was also working on my music career at the same time, I wondered if I could handle the long-term filming, but I thought of it as a challenge in my life and accepted the offer. I feel that playing Yanase-san is rewarding, and I believe that there are many messages that need to be conveyed now more than ever. I believe that because ' Anpan' is a drama that always has a warmth about it, it also has a universally relatable message, so I felt that if they had entrusted me with providing that opportunity, I wanted to do my best."
◇ There is no dubbing for the drawing scenes because "I understand the method"
In the film, there are numerous scenes in which Taka draws pictures. The finished pictures are drawn by a professional, but the scenes in which he is drawing are performed by Kitamura without voice acting.
"I've been attending art classes since I was in elementary school, and also took elective art classes. I'm not good at drawing, but I understand the method. Drawing pictures was something I was familiar with, so maybe that's something I have in common with Takashi."
In addition to discovering his common ground with Taka, after it was decided he would be appearing in the film he also found out that there was someone close to him who had a connection with Yanase. He said, "I feel like the dots are connecting, and it feels like it was fate."
He also revealed that he practiced drawing Anpanman, saying, "Everyone has drawn Anpanman before, right? But when I actually try to draw him well, I can't do it well at all. When I went to the countryside for work, and when we filmed 'Anpan' in Anpan, I drew Anpanman on the notepad in the hotel I was staying at."
"When I announced the local visual for ' Anpan,' I signed it in hiragana, which was based on Yanase's actual signature. I'm currently practicing my Anpanman illustrations, and I think Yanase can draw them so smoothly because he has drawn hundreds and thousands of Anpanman. I'm working hard with the desire to reach that level."
