Actor Ryusei Yokohama stars in the NHK Taiga drama "UNBOUND (Berabou)" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others). In the 18th episode "Utamaro, Mirugatoku is a one-hour dream" broadcast on May 11th, Shota Sometani will make his debut as Kitagawa Utamaro. Sometani spoke about his impression of the character he plays, the atmosphere on set, and more.
"UNBOUND (Berabou)" is the 64th taiga drama, depicting the life of Tsutaya Juzaburo(or "Tsutajyu" for short), who is said to have built the foundations of Japan's media industry and pop culture. The script was written by Yoshiko Morishita, known for "Drama 10 'Ooku'" which was broadcast on NHK two years ago and became a big hit.
Sometani plays Kitagawa Utamaro, a genius painter who created a sensation in Edo with his portraits of beautiful women. As a child, he studied painting under the artist Toriyama Sekien (Kataoka Tsurutaro), and later met Tsutajyo (Yokohama). As Tsutajyo worked on a succession of new publications, such as sharebon, kibyoshi, and kyokahon, he was entrusted with illustration work and honed his own artistic skills. When the era changed with the Kansei Reforms, Sometani and Tsutajyo began creating ukiyo-e portraits of beautiful women, and his talent blossomed in one fell swoop. Their portraits of beautiful women became a huge hit in Edo, and he established himself as a popular painter.
When asked about his impression of the famous painter Utamaro, Someya said, "Ever since I saw his paintings in my school textbooks, I've felt that he exuded emotion, or perhaps a kind of sex appeal."
"Compared to other portraits of beautiful women, I think he creates mysterious pictures where you don't know what the women in his paintings are thinking. The more you look at his works, the deeper the mystery seems to become. I think Utamaro, who I am playing this time, is also a character who has mysterious aspects about him, as to what he is thinking at certain moments."
Utamaro becomes one of the people who has a major influence on Tsutae's life, and he speaks for his character, saying, "I think the biggest thing is that it's just plain fun to create a work together."
"Although he sometimes asks for unreasonable things and treats him roughly, I think he feels great joy when he sees Tsutae's joy when the piece takes shape and the sense of accomplishment that they have achieved together. That's really Tsutae's charm, her power as a producer. As an actor, even if there are many difficult things, I'm very happy when the piece turns out to be good, so I can understand Utamaro's feelings very well."
Regarding the atmosphere on set, he said, "The energy of Edo was flowing through the set, and it was invigorating. Ryusei-kun (who plays Tsutaju) is on screen all the time, so I'm sure it's really tough, but he lives and keeps running as Tsutaju, and seeing his back draws me into the set. The artists and writers all have very strong characters as well, and as Utamaro, I always have a front row seat to watch everyone's acting, and find it so fascinating."
