"Shabake" Interview with Daiki Yamashita, Koji Okino, and Taku Yashiro (1)

The TV anime "Shabake," based on Megumi Hatanaka's popular novel series "Shabake," is broadcast every Friday at 11:30 PM on Fuji TV's anime slot "Noitamina." The series is a period drama mystery with a total circulation of over 10 million copies. Set in the Edo period, the story follows Ichitaro, the sickly young master of Nagasakiya, a major Edo store, and the spirits around him who solve difficult and unusual cases. We spoke to Daiki Yamashita, who plays Ichitaro in the TV anime, Daiki Yamashita, who plays Nikichi Shirasawa, a clerk at Nagasakiya whose true identity is Inugami, and Taku Yashiro, who plays Sasuke, another clerk whose true identity is Inugami, about behind-the-scenes recording and the appeal of the series.

◇The Reckless Young Master: Nikichi's maternal love and Sasuke's paternal love

-What is your impression of the work?

When I first encountered "Shabake" at the Yamashita-san audition, I thought it was a work with a long history, and the more I learned about it, the more I liked it. As I played Ichitaro, I got to know him based on the script, so every time I received the script, I felt happy, thinking, "I've grown so much this time." I felt like I enjoyed it the first time I saw it, precisely because I didn't know him.

Okino: I often appear in period dramas on stage, so when I heard that an anime version of a period drama would be made, I thought I'd definitely like to try it, since I have experience with that. When I was cast as Nikichi and read the script, I was surprised to see that period dramas are not so brutal. Just reading the words made me feel that it was "beautiful," so I thought, "This is going to be an amazing piece."

Yashiro: Rather than just being a period drama, I thought it was a work that could be enjoyed as entertainment in many ways. Because it's based on a novel, there's a lot of dialogue in the script. The dialogue is also very interesting, and I really felt that this was going to be a fun work.

--What is your impression of the character, and what charms did you notice while playing him?

Although Yamashita Ichitaro is sickly, he has the impressive title of being the son of a large store. However, he is not arrogant and genuinely asks himself what he can do and whether he is of value to the store, feeling a sense of responsibility and feeling that his abilities are not enough. However, hidden within that is a truly unwavering desire to see things through. My impression of him changed from the initial impression of a weakling to one that he has the exact opposite mentality.

--Although Ichitaro is physically weak, he has a side to him that causes worry to those around him as he goes out when something is bothering him.

Yamashita-san can be a bit reckless and dangerous. His tendency to rush into things without thinking about the consequences can be quite worrying, but the fact that he has such great trust in Nikichi and Sasuke underpins that, and I think he can be overly trusting of people.

Okino-san: That's true.

Yashiro-san, that may be true.

Yamashita: That's right. So, even though he's protected, he can still give his all to what he wants to do. For me, I didn't care about the worries of those around me, and I had the mindset of, "If that's what Ichitaro thinks, then I'll do it!" As Ichitaro grew, it became more and more fun to act.

--For Ichitaro, Nikichi and Sasuke are like older brothers who, together with his parents, raised him with care despite his sickly condition.

Okino- san: Nikichi doesn't think so himself, but he does have a motherly heart. He tells Ichitaro, "What's bad is bad," "What's good is good," and "You have to take care of appearances." I feel like it's more like a mother than a father who paves the way for him. As the story progresses, Nikichi worries more and more about Ichitaro, but it feels like a mother worries because he's growing up.

Yamashita-san is like a mother being tossed around during adolescence (laughs).

Although Okino is a demon and not a human, he does have some human qualities, and it was refreshing to see how this started to emerge as the story progressed. On the other hand, there is also a side to him that makes you feel like he's not human after all, and his past with Sasuke is also depicted, so I thought it would be good to show a side of him that isn't one-dimensional.

While Yashiro's Nikichi is calm and intelligent, and tends to scold the young master, Sasuke is cheerful and emotional, and I think that makes him a warm character. To borrow Okino's words, if Nikichi is maternal, then Sasuke is paternal. Basically, he wants the young master to do what he wants and eat plenty of food. However, when the young master is in crisis, Sasuke is the one to be most afraid of. That's also fatherly, and I feel that he is the one who expends the most energy at crucial times.

◇Relationships that can be felt through words

--One of the charms of "Shabake" is the beauty of the language that is unique to period dramas. What did you keep in mind when acting?

Yamashita-san's Ichitaro is the son of a wealthy family, so his speech is more formal and refined. Only the most refined customers come to the store, so Ichitaro had to be the most refined character in the story. He uses "I" as his first-person pronoun and ends sentences with "I wonder...", and these kinds of expressions appear naturally in everyday life. Moreover, I was very conscious of using periods and speaking in a neat, well-formed sentence format, so as not to just throw them away. Also, his job generally doesn't require him to speak loudly, and he himself is sickly, so he doesn't raise his voice that much. And because he is so blessed, everyone listens when he speaks.

Everyone is like, "What's wrong?" to Okino .

Yamashita: That's right. That's why I made my voice shallower.

As for Okino- san and Nikichi, the way he speaks to customers is very refined, and I was reminded once again of how beautiful the Japanese language is. I also thought it was wonderful how he uses different words depending on who he's speaking to, such as when speaking to the young master, the customers, or the older gentlemen.

Yashiro: I feel like Sasuke talks to the most different people, so I tried to use language that was a little more familiar. Also, as Okino said, when you watch "Shabake," the different characters have different ways of speaking. Depending on their position, status, and industry, the way they speak and the tone of their tone differs. You can sense from their words that "this person must be a very important person" or "this person must be getting along well in the world." I thought the language of this era was very interesting, so I would love for you to listen to it.

Continued in interview (2).