Keiko Toda plays the role of Mio Imada, a representative from Kochi, in the Asadora drama "Anpan" (NHK General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 a.m. and others), in which Mio Imada plays the lead role. Toda, who has been the voice actor for Anpanman in the popular anime "Soreike! Anpanman" (Nippon TV) for 37 years, talked about her thoughts on appearing in "Anpan" and the "high security" that was in place during filming.
"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."
When asked how he felt when he received the offer, Toda recalled, "I was genuinely happy."
"I had heard that a Asadora centered on Yanase sensei's wife, Nobu-san, was being developed. Before it was decided that I would be in the drama, I had been interviewed personally, so regardless of whether I would appear in the drama or not, I was really happy that this program even existed. I thought how happy Yanase sensei would be if he were still alive. So I was really happy when I received an offer for the role."
Since "Anpanman" voice actors Koichi Yamadera, Sumi Shimamoto, and Ryusei Nakao appeared in "Anpan", many viewers were excited about Toda's casting. However, since he couldn't announce it publicly until his appearance was officially announced, people around him would ask him, "Aren't you going to appear?"
"The people around me were asking me a lot of questions and it was quite a commotion. Since we were supposed to keep it a secret until the announcement, I had a really hard time knowing what to say, but I thought it would be better to just say I wasn't going to appear, so I kept saying 'I'm not going to appear.' They responded, 'That can't be true,' but on the contrary, they thought it was strange to say 'That can't be true,' and so on (laughs)."
Tight security was in place during filming, Toda's name did not appear in the script, and her footage was not shown on the monitors outside the studio.
"My name wasn't even on the lineup schedule, which made me a little uneasy. I wouldn't know if I was actually appearing until I saw it on air. It was the first time that this had happened, so it was a strange shoot. Anyway, my name wasn't on it, so I felt I had to make sure I followed through. I write a blog every day, but I didn't include anything there," she said, showing her thoroughness.
"After the announcement, I received an overwhelming amount of emails and LINE messages from acquaintances and friends. I was surprised at the magnitude of the response and realized how happy everyone was. It all felt really strange."
Maki Tetsuko, played by Toda, calls Nobu (played by Imada) to "help her," and the story moves to Tokyo. How will Tetsuko and Nobu team up in the future, and what about Takashi (played by Takumi Kitamura)? We can't take our eyes off the future developments.
