NHK's popular evening drama "Hirayasumi" (General TV, Monday to Thursday 10:45pm) stars actor Okayama Amane and co-stars Mori Nana. This live-action drama is based on the manga of the same name by Shinzo Keigo, which has been serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits since 2021. The high level of reproduction of the atmosphere and warmth that cannot be achieved by simply quoting lines from the manga shows the careful drama production and respect for the original. Scriptwriter Yonaiyama Yoko introduces "three things" that she paid attention to when adapting the story into live-action.
The drama tells the story of 29-year-old part-time worker Hiroto Ikuta (Okayama) who inherits a single-story house from his neighbor Hanae Wada (Negishi Tokie) and begins living with his 18-year-old cousin Natsumi Kobayashi (Mori), who has moved to Tokyo from Yamagata. People with difficult life problems gather around them...
◇It's a live-action film
When writing the script, the first thing Yonaiyama paid attention to was that it was a live-action film. It may seem like a given, but what does that mean?
"When I first met Shinzo-sensei, he told me, 'It's a drama, so please try not to make it too manga-like.' The original work for 'Hira Yasumi' is one of the many manga works that has a particularly realistic feel to it, and the actions and dialogue are natural. So I honestly thought there was no need to worry too much. But I soon realized that the persuasiveness of a character in a drawing speaking and the persuasiveness of a real person speaking are completely different things. It's not that one is better or worse, but rather that they really use different muscles."
From that moment on, Yoneyama began a battle to figure out how to make the story more real.
"The way they scream. The way they laugh. The way they cry. The way they end their sentences. I absolutely wanted to capture the atmosphere of the lines in the original. On top of that, I had to make them feel real and convincing. What I did was small things like changing 'Ah!' to 'Ah...', but I went through each line, examining them as I went along."
◇Relationship between scenes
The next thing I paid attention to was the relationship between scenes.
"For example, one year later, Hiroto is cutting tomatoes on the same cutting board that Grandma used to cut pork cutlets. He's now doing the radio exercises he did with Grandma, but by himself. Hiroto is now able to make the pork cutlet sandwiches that Grandma used to make by himself. By changing the scene within the same scene, it's easier to get a sense of the passage of time. Furthermore, by adding a scene that betrays the previous scene, it can also add a chuckle element. For example, from Nacchan's excitement at welcoming Akari to stay the night to being frightened by the eyes of the sea bream."
In the 9th episode (broadcast on November 17th), Hiroto's best friend Hideki (Yoshimura Kaito) finds an independent film starring Hiroto that he shot in high school, and there is a scene where he watches it with Natsumi...
"In the original novel, 'Hiroto, Don't Be Hasty!', the film doesn't show that scene, but I thought it would be a good idea to include it in the drama, so I included it in the script, and I thought about how and when to include Nacchan and Hideki's reactions... It was even more amazing when it was made into a movie, 'Hiroto, Don't Be Hasty!'"
◇Handling narration and monologue
Another thing that Yoneyama mentions is "the handling of narration and monologue."
"This time, the narration is delivered in the beautiful voice of Satomi Kobayashi, a voice from heaven. The monologue is the innermost voice of the characters. The monologue is the innermost voice of the characters. The voice from heaven in the original work is very unique and wonderfully full of emotion. The innermost voice also conveys what the characters are thinking but cannot say out loud. We have made a bold effort to tone down the voice from heaven. We have kept the innermost voice to a level that can be achieved through monologue and implied through dialogue."
He explains why he did this: "I want people to feel something through the scenes the director cuts out and the actors' performances. That's my only wish."
"I want people to feel the flow of time, the light, and the expressions at their leisure. The view you see on your way home after missing the last train. The view you see from a footbridge... I hope that you can sense the 'ignition' of a small emotion."
There is one week left until the drama airs.
"Even after the drama has reached its final episode, the lives of Hiroto and his friends in the original work will continue. Hopefully, my ambition to continue the drama beyond that will not disappear, but we don't know what will happen. In the upcoming episodes, there will also be an important episode, "White Hydrangea," which was also requested by Shinzo-sensei. I hope you will watch it until the end as if you were taking a walk with us."
