Bakebake:Heaven, now 53 years old, owes his "natural look" to the special effects makeup that took "3 hours" to apply.

Akari Takaishi stars as the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake" (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM, etc.). In the 24th week (March 16th-20th), ten years have passed, and Toki (Takaishi) and Heaven (Tommy Bastow) have moved to Tokyo. Basto, who plays the 53-year-old Heaven, wears special effects makeup, and we asked producer Kuniomi Hashizume about the behind-the-scenes story.

Hashizume revealed that the makeup was done by Etsuko Egawa, whom he praised as "Japan's leading special effects makeup artist," and said, "In Tommy's case, everything from his neck down to his hairline is covered in special effects makeup. I saw Tommy on set after the special effects makeup was done, and it was at a level where you couldn't tell it was makeup. I think it was the highest level of special effects makeup I've ever seen."

On the other hand, he offered words of appreciation to Basto, who had to wear special effects makeup, saying, "I imagine it was very difficult." "It takes more than twice as long as usual, so you have to get into the studio earlier than anyone else, and it's tough to wear the makeup for so long. It's a soft material that makes it easy to act in, but I think Tommy had a very hard time. I think it was the first time in his life he had to wear such extensive special effects makeup, but thanks to that, I think he was able to create a Heaven that looks natural and ages without any awkwardness."

When asked why they put so much effort into the special effects makeup, they recalled, "In Asadora, it's a signature feature to see actors in their 20s playing 80-year-olds... But I think that's only acceptable because it's a Asadora, and I believe it should be of proper quality. We talked about wanting to make it something that people would actually enjoy, and we decided we wanted to seriously do special effects makeup that would make the actors look their age."

Incidentally, Bastou said that her usual makeup routine takes less than an hour, but the special effects makeup took about three hours. "If filming was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., she would have had to start her makeup at 6 a.m., so... I think it must have been very difficult," he said, expressing his gratitude to Bastou once again.