Akari Takaishi stars in the NHK morning drama series "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and others). Tommy Bastow , who plays Lefkada Heaven, the husband of the heroine Toki ( Akari Takaishi Takaishi), talked about his impressions of Takaishi and Ryo Ryo Yoshizawa, who plays Yuichi Nishikori.
"Bakebake" is based on the story of Koizumi Setsu, the daughter of a fallen samurai from Matsue, and her husband Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn), and depicts the heroine, who loves ghost stories, going about her everyday life with her foreign husband. The script is written by Fujiki Mitsuhiko, who has worked on NHK's "Asagaya Sisters' Relaxed Life" and WOWOW's "Shooting Break Series."
Haven, played by Bastow, comes to Japan as an English teacher. She lives her life in Matsue with the support of fellow English teacher Yuichi Nishikori. By chance, she meets Toki and begins to interact with him.
Regarding the relationship between Heaven and Toki, Bastow explained, "Heaven and Toki share a common purpose in life: ghost stories, and I think their love blossomed from their shared love for ghost stories and their desire to share them with the world."
"I also have bandmates who share my purpose in life, and they are very important to me, so I thought the same thing. When Heaven connected with Toki through ghost stories, she must have felt like she had finally found her home."
Regarding Heaven's relationship with Nishikori, he said, "Haven has just arrived in Matsue and loves Japan, but has no one to talk to. I think Nishikori's presence was a great help to him. I hope that as the story progresses, his connection with Nishikori will become even stronger."
He said that he and Takaishi, who plays Toki, "became friends the moment we met."
"She's very easy to talk to, and when I don't quite understand the instructions on set, Akari explains them to me slowly and helps me out. She's also very energetic! I tend to lose energy at night (laughs), but she's always full of energy no matter how much filming we do. Thanks to Akari, everyone on set is able to work hard."
Regarding his impression of Yoshizawa, who plays Nishikori, he said, "He's a wonderful person! Despite being a star, he's also very friendly and easy to talk to, so I'm really happy to be working with him."
"He's studying English and I'm studying Japanese, so we helped each other out and had lots of interesting conversations about the cultural differences between Japan and the UK. We both have a common interest in gaming, and we became closer through games. We really get along."
Finally, when asked about the highlights of the drama, he appealed, "The great thing about this story is that no matter what country you are in or who you are, you can find love if you keep looking and don't give up."
"It is also important to note that Toki and Heaven were in love at a time when international couples were extremely rare, and that they had to overcome prejudice against their love and many hardships. I sincerely hope that viewers will be able to see their powerful love, which transcended the circumstances of the time by sharing ghost stories and building a life together."
