The much talked about NHK evening drama "Hira Yasumi" (General TV, Monday to Thursday 10:45pm) starring actor Okayama Amane and co-starring Mori Nana is a live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name by Shinzo Keigo, which has been serialized in Weekly Big Comic Spirits since 2021, and will enter its final week on December 1st. Producer Otsuka Yasuki shared her impression of Mori, who plays "Natchan" (aka Kobayashi Natsumi), along with some anecdotes from filming.
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...
Natsumi is the cousin of the main character, Hiroto. She moved to Tokyo from Yamagata to attend art school. She has a competitive personality, but can also be shy and self-conscious. She secretly dreams of becoming a manga artist, but has a mysterious prejudice that "drawing manga = otaku = embarrassing," so she has not told anyone that she draws manga. However, her dream is eventually discovered by Hiroto, Hideki, Akari, and others.
Otsuka revealed, "Some of you may have noticed in Nacchan's manga scene that even the hands in the picture are her own."
"He's not used to drawing with a G pen, but when he practiced just once before filming, his manga instructor was amazed at how good he was at it. He even brought home some manga paper, G pens, and a number of disposable nibs to practice with."
Even in between filming, Mori could be seen drawing in a corner of the location.
"She looked just like Nacchan, and from the first time we met, as preparations like costume fittings and filming progressed, from the perspective of the viewer, I had the feeling that Mori-san and Nacchan were increasingly overlapping.
Additionally, Mori said that for the "I'm a manga artist!" scene in episode 8, he practiced the jumping form by looking at the original manga until the very last moment.
"I also saw Mitsushima-san, who played Akari, smiling and watching from the side. I got to experience the same feeling that viewers are feeling now: 'How cute these two are!' (laughs)"
