Akari Takaishi plays the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake" (Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times). In the 11th week, Governor Eto's (Sano Shiro) daughter, the beautiful and intelligent Eto Rio (Kana Kita), proposed to Heaven (Tommy Bastow). Although Rio's love was not fulfilled, she left a strong presence as Toki's (Takaishi) "love rival." We spoke to Hashizume Kuniomi, the production manager for this series, about the appeal of Kita's acting as Rio.
Rio, played by Kita, is fluent in English and is strongly attracted to Heaven, who visits Matsue. When she first appeared in episode 41 (broadcast on November 24th), her "strong" ladylike character, who speaks in a mixture of English, became a hot topic. In episode 55 (broadcast on December 12th), she gave Toki a "cheer" saying, "It's going to be tough... winning the teacher's heart," and cut off her feelings for Heaven.
Kita appeared as a main character in the "Byplayers" series (TV Tokyo), one of the representative works of Mitsuhiko Fujiki, who wrote the script for this film. Hashizume recalls, "Fujiki highly praises Kita's acting, and he seems to be one of his favorite actors. When I told him that Kita had been chosen for the role of Rio, he was very happy."
Hashizume also praised Kita's acting, saying, "Since Rio appeared, Kita's acting has been getting a lot of attention, and I think she is truly the best when it comes to playing such a unique character."
"He has a presence, but he's also cool-headed. I think he's an extremely talented actor, able to express things like strength, inner strength, and the hidden power of his actions behind his words. I think he was able to fully demonstrate that."
Regarding Rio's "departure," he praised her performance, saying, "It was wonderful that she didn't make it depressing, but instead gave Toki-chan a refreshing push," and added emphatically, "I'm really glad that Kita-san played the role of Rio."
"Not only is his acting amazing, but Kita himself is also a wonderful person. He is diligent in his studies, and he is considerate of everyone, which helped to create a relaxed atmosphere on set. I felt he was a really nice person, and I would definitely like to work with him again."
