Shota Sometani plays Kitagawa Utamaro in the taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (NHK General TV, Sundays at 8pm and other times), starring Yokohama Ryusei Yokohama , which has just finished airing its final episode. We spoke to Sometani about his relationship with Tsutaju, who is an essential character in the story of Utamaro in " UNBOUND," and how Sometani saw Yokohama playing Tsutaju.
Looking back, Utamaro's life was full of ups and downs, including his time as a boy named Karamaru, when he was constantly plagued by past trauma, a painful separation from his beloved Kiyo (Fujima Sawako), and his relationship with Tsutaju. However, Sometani believes that "without Tsutaju, he could not have survived."
"If he hadn't met Tsutae, he wouldn't have become Utama, and it was because he found a place to live as an artist that Utama was able to acquire the strength to live as a person and grow in ' UNBOUND'. I think Tsutae was someone Utama "couldn't survive without."
Perhaps due to the feelings he had hidden in his heart, Utama was sometimes troubled by Tsutae's behavior, but Someya acknowledges that Tsutae still had an irresistible charm to her.
"He has a naive side, and it's hard to tell whether he understands people's feelings or not, and to what extent he's aiming for them or not. But he's also very skillful and compassionate, and everyone follows him; he's a really charming person. He has the power to be loved by everyone, and the power to love everyone; I sensed a certain greatness in him as a human being. I think he must have had the power to become a media mogul in that era, to move the world, and to influence people."
Yokohama, who plays the role, also felt Tsutae's charm.
"Ryusei-kun really pushed forward the whole time, he was always on screen, he was always talking, and I think it was extremely tough, but the energy he showed to complete the show brilliantly and the strength to lead the stellar cast was something I could sense from Ryusei-kun just as much as I could from Tsutaju. I could tell that he is loved by everyone, and that Ryusei-kun loves everyone too, and I could see that he overlaps with Tsutaju in that respect too."
What was it like for Sometani to spend his days working together with Yokohama, as Utama did with Tsutae?
"We were able to confirm and share our direction together and act together, and we also had extensive discussions about what would be the best way to express Tsutae and Utama in the work ' UNBOUND,' and we were able to actually clash and feel each other through the acting. It felt like we were 'comrades in arms,' and it was a really great experience."
