FANTASTICS ' Taiki Sato talks about the differences and respect between "Masked Ninja Akakage" and 60 years ago

Taiki Sato of the dance and vocal group "FANTASTICS" attended a press conference recently held at TV Asahi headquarters (Minato-ku, Tokyo) for the drama series "Masked Ninja Akakage" (Sunday midnight 12:10, Kanto local), which starts on October 26th, along with his co-stars Keito Kimura, Ryo Kato, and EXILE's TAKAHIRO. He spoke about the differences with the live-action version from about 60 years ago and the respect he feels for the new version.

The drama is based on a ninja manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan) by Yokoyama Mitsuteru from 1966 to 1967. Set in the Warring States period, it depicts the exploits of the "ninja" who supported Oda Nobunaga behind the scenes as he sought to unify the country. Directed by Miike Takashi, it will feature monsters rendered using VFX, and will be a coming-of-age tale of young ninjas living in the darkness of the Warring States period, as well as nonstop ninja action.

The cast members checked out the live-action version that aired from 1967 to 1968 before filming. When asked about the "differences," Sato said, "I think the difference is the amount of dialogue. This time there are a lot of inner monologues and Akakage's inner comments. While respecting his dignified leadership side, he also brings out his "human side," which is a style that is unique to Miike." He also revealed, "There are scenes this time where he's not wearing a mask. I don't think there were any scenes in the original where Akakage wasn't wearing a mask, so I think that's the biggest difference."

Kimura, who plays Aokage, said with a smile, "The thing I respect the most is the gesture for (his catchphrase) 'It's okay.' I watched it many times and studied where to include it." Kato, who plays Shirakage, said, "Shirakage was originally set to be much older, and when the information ban was lifted I received a lot of comments saying 'He's young,' which was a bit intimidating, but I also love Shirakage from the previous work, so I'm trying to portray the kindness that the previous Shirakage had towards Akakage and Aokage."

TAKAHIRO, who plays Oda Nobunaga, said, "This is just my personal impression, but the original Oda Nobunaga doesn't do much, so I wanted to make him more convincing as a strong character, and there are a lot of action scenes, so I'm doing my best to make sure he shows up clearly (laughs)."