Yutaka Mizutani and Yasufumi Terawaki talk about "AIBO" in front of fans

Actors Yutaka Mizutani and Yasufumi Terawaki appeared on stage to greet fans at the event for the film "AIBOU - The Movie - Desperate Situation! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon" (directed by Seiji Izumi, 2008) held at Marunouchi TOEI (Chuo Ward, Tokyo) on July 24th. In front of their fans, they talked about the popular TV drama "AIBOU" (TV Asahi) in which they have appeared since 2000.

In connection with the venue's closure on July 27th, the two appeared before fans in costumes from their roles as Special Investigation Unit members Sugishita Ukyo and Kameyama Kaoru at a stage greeting held as part of the ongoing event "Goodbye Marunouchi TOEI."

On this day, enthusiastic fans gathered at the venue, cheers of "Ukyo-san!" and "Kaoru-chan!" rang out, and some spectators held Ukyo's "support fans." Mizutani, with a happy expression looking out at the audience, looked back on the early days of Ukyo and said, "I didn't think I disliked him, but at the beginning, Ukyo (seemed) to be a really annoying guy, right?" He continued, "Even when we were filming, everyone would go over to Terawaki. They'd take one look and then go (laughs). There was an atmosphere of not really wanting to have anything to do with (Ukyo)," and spoke heartily of the difference between now and then.

In "season 21" to be broadcast in 2022, Ukyo and Kaoru will be reuniting as a duo for the first time in about 14 years since "season 7". When the host, Akihisa Shoguchi, asked, "I heard from (Terawaki's) manager that 'you've gotten younger since returning to Kameyama,'" Terawaki, who is now 63 years old, smiled and said, "(Now) Kameyama is coming down. As long as I'm doing Kameyama, I'm young." He said enthusiastically, "I want to do it for about another 20 years," making Mizutani laugh.