Mio Imada stars in the NHK Asadora drama series "Anpan " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 a.m. and others). In this series, Kanata Hosoda plays Hara Go Hara , a young stonemason who is said to be the love interest of Ranko ( Yuumi Kawai ), the second daughter of the heroine's family (the Asada family). What is the appeal of this young actor who made his Asadora debut in " Anpan "? Let's find out from past interviews and other sources.
◇ From "Machida-kun" to "Dragon Zakura" and "Kenta-kun", he met his "tragic end" in the taiga drama
Hosoda was born on December 12, 2001, and is 23 years old and from Tokyo. He made his film The Great Passage in "Machida-kun's World" (2019), a live-action adaptation of Yuki Ando's manga of the same name, directed by Yuya Ishii, director of the movie "The Great Passage." He won the role of the main character, "Machida-kun," in an audition that had over 1,000 participants.
In the April 2021 drama series "Dragon Zakura" (TBS), he shaved his head and gained about 12 kg, a body shape very different from the skinny appearance of "Machida-kun", and played the kind-hearted "Kenta-kun" who loves insects. After receiving high praise, he made his first lead role in the drama "If There Was a High School Only for Handsome Guys" (TV Asahi) in the January 2022 season, and it seems that he has been steadily stepping up.
Hosoda's popularity has further increased with his role in the 2023 NHK Taiga drama "What Will Ieyasu Do?"
This is Hosoda's first time appearing in a taiga drama, and he plays Matsudaira Nobuyasu, the son of the main characters Ieyasu (Matsumoto Jun) and Sena (Arimura Kasumi).
Nobuyasu had seen his parents go through hardships since he was a child, and was a kind and brave young man who supported his father, protected his family, and tried to live strong for the Tokugawa family. However, during the Warring States period, he was heartbroken by the constant killing, and eventually "fell into darkness." After that, he participated in his mother Sena's "grand plan" to build a "great country" united by loving hearts, but when he was betrayed by Katsuyori (Gordon Maeda), he was cornered and chose to kill himself, just like Sena.
Nobuyasu's straightforwardness also made him dangerous, and his end was a brutal one, as he took the sword from Hiraiwa Chikichi (Shichinosuke, played by Okabe Dai) and stabbed it into his own stomach.
At the time, it was the first time in Hosoda's acting career that he had faced death in a play, and he recalled, "I couldn't just let it be someone else's story." "I loved Nobuyasu, and that's why I couldn't just let it be someone else's story. I kept thinking, I don't want to die, I don't want to die. It was difficult to break free from that, and it was the first time I had ever been so immersed in a role."
◇ "I have to exceed expectations and predictions" - thoughts on the role of "Go-chan"
It could be said that Hosoda is the type of person whose strong sense of responsibility in acting is directly reflected in the role.
During the time of "Machida-kun," Hosoda had almost no acting experience, and in an interview at the time, he said, "There was nothing I had in my life that I could use." However, when he appeared in "Dragon Zakura," he confessed that his awareness as an actor had changed, saying, "My sense of responsibility for the role is getting stronger and stronger." He also revealed, "When I was doing "Machida-kun," I was just desperate, and I was making it while coordinating with the director, and I was often flustered when someone said something to me on set. But now I feel that I need to have a sense of responsibility so that I can proudly say, 'I will fulfill this role.'"
Around the same time as his appearance in "What Will Ieyasu Do?" he also starred in the TV drama series "W-30 'Drop'" (WOWOW), where he expressed the same unchanging thoughts, saying, "I feel like my sense of responsibility is greater than when I was in my teens. When I get more offers saying 'Please do this production' after being judged to a certain extent, I feel that I have to exceed those expectations and predictions. I feel a greater sense of responsibility, that 'I have to do it' than when I was in my teens."
In "Anpan," he plays "Go-chan," a young stonemason who has great respect for the heroine Nobu Asada's (Imada) grandfather, Kamaji (Kotaro Yoshida). He lives in a room in the Asada household and has known the three sisters, Nobu, Ranko, and Meiko (Nanoka Hara), since childhood. Although he is as slow as "Machida-kun" (a surprise homage?), he is a typical honest and good-natured young man, and there are surely many viewers hoping that Ranko's love for "Go-chan" will come to fruition.
Hosoda commented on his role, "Gou is by no means a talkative boy. In that sense, he may seem the opposite of the lively Asada family, but he himself has a strong sense of purpose. That's why I would like to do my best to carefully express the love he has for the Asada family and the emotions he felt at the time."
"Also, as time passes and Go gets older, there are scenes where his cuteness as a person comes out, so I will do my best to convey all of Go's charm as a person," he said, and there is no doubt that there will be more scenes in the future where Hosoda's charm as an actor, whose strong sense of responsibility is directly linked to his roles, will be on display.
