Robert Akiyama as Fukuzo Moguro in "The Laughing Salesman"

It has been revealed that Akiyama Ryuji of the comedy trio "Robert" will play the main character, Moguro Fukuzo, in the drama "The Laughing Salesman," a live-action adaptation of the classic manga by the late Fujiko Fujio A. All 12 episodes will be available for streaming over three weeks from July 18th on Amazon's video streaming service "Prime Video." The series is produced by TV Tokyo. The main visual of Akiyama's character, Moguro, striking the familiar "Boom!" pose with an eerie expression, as well as a 15-second teaser trailer, have been released.

"The Laughing Salesman" is an omnibus-style story about a salesman dressed in all black, Moguro, who fills the "gaps in the hearts" of troubled modern people. It was made into a TV anime in 1989 and gained popularity for its creepy main character, its promises to Moguro, and its plot full of black humor, in which people who do not listen to his advice end up paying the price, and it was later made into a TV drama and a stage play.

The first drama adaptation of the Reiwa era, this work was written by four people: Kankuro Kudo, Maggy, Toru Hosokawa, and Udai Iwasaki of the comedy duo "Kamomentaru". A total of 12 episodes will be distributed, including episodes that have been updated for modern times while keeping the dark worldview intact, as well as completely original stories.

Akiyama commented, "When I first heard about the offer, I was shocked and overjoyed that I would be playing the live-action version of Moguro Fukuzo. I'm currently at the heaviest I've ever been, so I'm glad I've been eating a lot and gaining weight. My stylist, who I've been using for many years, has been telling me for years that 'Akiyama is definitely the perfect fit for the role of Moguro Fukuzo!' So when I told him about the offer, he was delighted and said, 'I knew it! It came to me!'"

"This is a beloved work by the famous Fujiko Fujio A, so I focused on the appearance, tone of speech, and details, and did my best to act in my own way. It may sound like I'm bragging, but I think I've become quite dark-skinned. I was doing dark-skinned speech for about two months during filming, so that tone of speech remained in my other work for a while, and even when I was laughing normally, I would sometimes say 'Oho ho ho ho'. It was difficult to erase the remaining dark-skinned speech."

Addressing the viewers, he said, "The scriptwriters and guests are all incredibly impressive, I feel like I'm wondering what's going on! Each episode is easy to watch with a good pace, so I hope lots of people will watch it! It's entertaining, so please do watch it."