Junsei Motojima stars in "Kimi to Shita Kiss wa Forever" (Kimi Kiss), currently airing on ABC TV's "Drama L" slot. The drama is an original story set in a lakeside hotel that has been fully renovated from a closed elementary school, and is a collection of fleeting yet precious and beautiful short stories that weave together various forms of love with loved ones. Motojima, who played the main role in episodes 2 and 5, shared his impressions of the work and his role, as well as his co-starring role with Asuka Kawazu .
Motoshima is 20 years old, born on January 5, 2005. He is one of the promising young actors who attracted attention for his role as Kamen Rider Gotchard/Ichinose Houtaro , the main character in " Kamen Rider Gotchard ," which aired from September 2023 to August 2024.
In addition to Motoshima, "Kimi Kiss" also stars members of "Team Handsome!", a group of actors affiliated with Amuse, including Kanata Hosoda, Kenta Izuka, Aoyagi Ruito, Ota Masahiro, Mizoguchi Takuya, Fukuzaki Nayuta, Koseki Yuta, and Matsuoka Kodai. The series has aired up to episode 5.
Among them, Motoshima played the role of Tsukasa Nino, a new hotel staff member. One of the things he paid attention to on set was "the way a hotel staff member stands."
"I studied how to stand, bow and walk in my own way, and also looked at people who actually work at hotels to get inspiration. In addition, Nino is the type of person who can only think about one thing, and when the senior staff member Nagisa (played by Kawazu) gives him a warning or gives him instructions, he responds with 120 percent. I was conscious of that kind of overly serious enthusiasm, and also of the fact that he is a bit of a scatterbrain."
He sympathizes with Nino, saying, "I can't concentrate on just one thing either."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that I don't care about what happens afterwards, but I do tend to lose sight of other things. I think I'm the type of person who tends to get completely absorbed in one thing."
Kawazu, who played Nino's instructor Nagisa, is known for her role as the heroine in "Kamen Rider Saber" (TV Asahi, 2020-21). As former "Kamen Rider" actors, there was also a kissing scene between the two, who are senior and junior.
"Kawazu-san made it easy to get along with me on set. This time we had a lot of lines to exchange, so we practiced together in our free time and he gave me advice, but basically I was the one who got teased the most (laughs). Even when the kissing scene didn't go well, he was kind enough to support me."
I also asked him again about his impressions of his own acting.
"I really still have a long way to go. There were many parts where I thought, 'I should have done this more here,' and I reflected on it quite a bit. But I had many conversations with the director about the character of Ninno that I was playing, so I think I was able to express Ninno's straightforwardness, his clumsiness and inability to 'control his strength,' and his sense of whether he was 0 (zero) or 100 (one hundred)."
The drama is still at the halfway point.
"The main characters are different in each episode, so one of the charms of 'Kimi Kiss' is that it feels like you're watching a different drama. So I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of acting the seniors of 'Team Handsome!' will show us in the future."
"Kimi to Shitashi Kiss wa Forever" airs on ABC TV every Sunday at 12:10 AM and on TV Asahi every Saturday at 2:30 AM. Episodes 1 to 3 and the latest episode are available for catch-up streaming on TVer and ABEMA. All episodes are available on FOD and Prime Video.
