The NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring Akari Takaishi , began airing on September 29th. The first episode begins with Toki Matsuno(Takaishi) reciting the ghost story "Miminashi Hoichi" in front of her husband, Lefkada Heaven (Tommy Bastow), after which Heaven kisses Toki on the forehead. We spoke to production manager Hashizume Kuniomi and director Murahashi Naoki about the behind-the-scenes story and the intention behind this scene.
◇In the opening scene, the script said to kiss the back of the hand, not the forehead.
Murahashi, who directed the film, said about the opening scene, "The snake (Watanabe Eriko) and frog (Kimura Miho), played by the comedy duo Asagaya Sisters, are watching the two of them and react by saying, 'Oh, it's night, but it's morning,' which leads to a line. However, I don't think they would react as strongly if they had brought their faces close to the back of their hand, so we changed it from the back of their hand to their forehead on set, as it would look like their faces are actually getting closer, and even if it was just their cheeks, it would look a little too real, and I thought the forehead would be the last thing that would look cute."
After seeing the finished video, he commented, "Takaishi-san is genuinely embarrassed. If he had used the back of his hand, I don't think he would have acted like that."
"In that scene, Toki-chan was actually in her late 30s, and they had been married for nearly 10 years, so they were a long-time married couple. I thought it would be good to convey that even though so much time had passed, their relationship had always remained fresh and innocent, so I aimed for that in that direction."
In portraying the distance between Toki and Heaven, the director referred to "Memories" written by Koizumi Setsu, who was the model for Toki.
"He keeps calling her teacher, and he's not clingy, but the writing is affectionate, and we're trying to build a relationship between the two of them based on the book, so I think the first scene was able to effectively express the distance between them."
Hashizume added, "I have the actors read 'Notes of Memories' and tell them, 'This is the kind of atmosphere we want to create.' I also gave 'Notes of Memories' to Humbert Humbert, who sang the theme song, and they wrote a song that captured the atmosphere of the book. So, the book 'Notes of Memories' has actually become our bible."
"Looking at it from a broader perspective, I think that ' Bakebake' is a love story between two people. It continues for 25 weeks, and I think we were able to show that declaration in the opening scene. If you watch the whole thing, you'll see that there are a lot of ghost stories, but I wanted them to be more than just scary or funny stories; I wanted them to sound like the two of them talking about their love, so I included a scene at the beginning where they tell ghost stories."
◇ Akari Takaishi& Tommy Bastow look back on the shoot
The opening scene is filled with heartwarming and affectionate moments between a married couple. I wonder how Takaishi and Bastow, who actually played the roles, felt about it.
Takaishi said, "That scene is similar to the one we did in the final audition. I was overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions to be able to actually perform the scene I did back then and to be able to act together with Tommy...I felt like Tommy and I were acting while really caring about each other, and because we didn't understand the words, we had no choice but to read with our minds. It was very impressive that we were able to act while reading each other's minds, both as Heaven and Toki, and as Tommy and I."
Bastow recalled, "It was our first time acting in a scene together, so I was really nervous. But thanks to Akari, I think it went well. We were always laughing, cheering each other on, and had a friendly atmosphere, so I was able to act in a relaxed manner."
Regarding the forehead kiss, Takaishi asked, "We were actually planning on kissing the hand, but that suddenly changed on the day. Did Tommy and Murahashi talk it over and decide on the forehead?" Bastow replied, "As a married couple, kissing on the lips in private is totally okay, but it's impossible when filming a Asadora(laughs). I think the forehead was the best choice."
