Kiryu Aso talks about the protagonist of the night drama "Itsuka, Mujuryoku no Sora de"

Kiryu Aso will be playing the lead role of Mochizuki Asuka in NHK's evening drama "Someday, in Zero Gravity Sky" (General TV, Monday to Thursday, 10:45 PM), which begins airing on September 8th. The drama is a coming-of-age story about women in their 30s who aim to reach space with a "microsatellite." Kiryu said of her role, "After reuniting with Hikari (played by Misato Morita Nozomi) and her astronomy club friends, Asuka's energy, which she had been keeping bottled up until then, slowly begins to release. I wanted to portray that process carefully."

The drama features four girls from the astronomy club who, in high school, shared their dream of "going to space together." As they grow up and go their separate ways, they suddenly reunite with their forgotten dreams. "If we had a micro-satellite, maybe even we could aim for space today..." Encouraged by their "older selves," they begin their second youth...

The protagonist, Asuka, is a 30-year-old working at an advertising agency in Osaka. He's considered a role model for younger employees within the company, and is even listed on the company's recruitment website as a "capable person" representing the company. Despite being described as such, he struggles every day to live up to the expectations of those around him. He's also someone who's lost track of what he really means and what he thinks. In high school, he loved space and often went stargazing, but as an adult, he completely forgot about it. Upon reuniting with Hikari, his suppressed feelings about space slowly begin to overflow.

According to Kiryu, at the beginning of the story, Asuka is in her ninth year of working life. She is caught between her superiors and her juniors, and devotes herself to the work in front of her every day.

"She tries hard to understand what the people around her want, and I think she's the kind of person who is always thinking, 'If I could just fit into this position, things would go smoothly.' That's why she tends to take on too much work by herself, but perhaps this is also a way of getting along that she naturally acquired up until the age of 30. I imagine that she is someone who has been able to live a surprisingly smooth and normal life, using her own rules of experience and communication skills."

Meanwhile, Asuka reunites with her high school astronomy club friends and remembers, "Oh, I used to love space."

"After graduating from high school, Asuka left the box of 'space' somewhere far away from where it could be opened. However, Hikari (Morita), who she hadn't been in contact with for a long time, appears in front of her and opens the lid of the box. As she reunites with Hikari and her astronomy club friends, the passion that Asuka had been keeping hidden inside her begins to be released little by little. I wanted to portray this process carefully."

Kiryu is currently 31 years old, making him the same generation as Asuka.

"When I was in high school, I thought '30 years old' meant something incredibly adult. But when I actually reached that age, it wasn't like that at all. The other day, when I was talking with Tamaki Sora, who plays the high school-aged Asuka, about what I imagined being 30, I even said to her, 'Look at me. This is what 30 is like' (laughs). But I've come to realise that people have their own worries at the time."

Since entering his 30s, he also feels that he has become "a person who can take care of himself."

"In my case, when I entered my 30s, I started to give up... or maybe that's the wrong word, but I was able to let go of things that I didn't need. By knowing my own 'capacity', I think I've become a person who can take better care of myself than when I was a teenager, and I would like to become that way."