Akari Takaishi plays Toki Matsuno in the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times). The drama entered its second half with the 66th episode, which aired on January 5th. Looking back on her career, Takaishi said, "This is the first time I've had the opportunity to play a single character for such a long time, but because the character of Toki is very close to me, rather than creating a role, I'm using my spontaneous energy to express what comes to me at the time, with a feeling as close to myself as possible. This is a new feeling, and I don't think I'll ever play this kind of acting again in another role, or maybe I won't be able to do it again."
" Bakebake" is the 113th morning Asadora. Based on the life of Yakumo Koizumi(Lafcadio Hearn) and his wife Setsu, the story follows the life of a married couple, with the heroine, who loves ghost stories, as she goes about her everyday life with her foreign husband.
What attracted him to Toki, played by Takaishi, and Tommy Bastow? Takaishi thinks, "I think Toki and Heaven were gradually drawn to each other, but I think it was the ghost stories that drew them together even more strongly."
"When I read the script, Toki looked like he was having a lot of fun telling ghost stories to Heaven, so I thought to myself, "I want to make this the most fun time of my life so far, and more than anything, I want to look forward to going to Heaven's house!" and acted with that in mind. Ginjiro has always been like a treasure in my heart. It's not that I've lost that, but I think I've now found another person in Heaven that I really want to protect. Perhaps it was because Ginjiro proposed to me again that Toki was able to realize her feelings."
Takaishi also says that every morning when she checks social media trends and the name "Heaven" comes up, she never fails to report to Tommy, who plays the role, "It's trending!"
After revealing their usual interactions, "He replies, 'What a great day!' (laughs)," he added about Tommy, "I got along with him from the beginning, and now we have a relationship like comrades in arms."
"Tommy is extremely fluent in Japanese, but from the beginning, if there was something he didn't understand in a conversation with someone, I would somehow understand and communicate it, and now that has become very smooth. English and Japanese are different languages, but I get the feeling that Tommy trusts me and that I understand him. In acting, he is someone who gives us a lot of shock with the way he 'expresses himself' with his body, for example by holding hands. Tommy is very free-spirited, and I want to make sure to catch every single thing he brings to the table, and accept everything. I really enjoy the time we spend playing catch in acting!"
