Murakami: The filming began not long after I knew I got to play Chishiya. I remember I downloaded all volumes of the manga and finished reading them in one go inside the airplane.
Tsuchiya: In one go? That’s amazing!
Murakami: My intention was to read it while thinking about how I should portray Chishiya, but it was too interesting that in the end I was totally absorbed into the story and forgot about that (laugh).
Tsuchiya: I was really into it too when I read it. Actually, I think it’s difficult to create a live action adaptation from a manga. There are manga which keep going for so many years and when you make it into a movie or drama series, you have to summarize the whole story in just some hours. You have to go through lots of troubles to be able to properly convey the charm of the original work. But it’s not only the fans of the manga who will watch the live action adaptation later. There will also be people who start reading the manga after watching the live action version. Knowing that, you have to make a live action adaptation which is interesting enough to be enjoyed by all of them.
Murakami: When I was a student, I had a chance to study abroad in Canada for a year. People often associate the word “Japanese” with the image of “manga” or “ninja”. By the way, my name Nijiro looks similar to “ninja” when it’s written in Roman letters, so I was often called “NINJA”.
Tsuchiya: I see! (laugh)
Murakami: Well, I don’t mind about that (laugh), but it’s true that passionate fans of manga exist all around the world. Overseas manga fans even know some manga I don’t know… From my experience of studying abroad, I could confirm it once again that manga is indeed one of the things which represent Japanese culture. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be Hollywood who creates the live action adaptations. I think it’s only us Japanese who can properly convey what’s so good about our own culture. It’s a perfect choice to let Director Sato (Shinsuke) who is experienced in making live action adaptations to handle this one.
Tsuchiya: It’s my second time working together with Director Sato, but the moment I thought that he’s seriously amazing was when I watched the finished scenes after the VFX was added. There were lots of scenes which were filmed using green screen, so I thought I had to do my best while acting so that the result wouldn’t lose to those using special effects, but the final result was even beyond what I imagined. I think it’s really amazing that the director can always picture those scenes inside his head.
Murakami: I had a few discussions with the director about Chishiya’s outfit and how blond his hair should be, but apart from that, I don’t remember having any other discussion with him. He basically leaves it up to every actor about how we should act, and in some ways, I think it’s such a privilege. I’m sure there must be so many things to pay attention to, but the picture the director had in his mind was a bigger one which included all the macro and micro elements. And if it’s for Netflix, he could take his time in producing the series so it could show the best of his art.
Tsuchiya: It’s exactly like what you said. But even so, seems like Chishiya is a complicated character.
Murakami: Yeah, you’re right. Arisu (played by Yamazaki Kento) is very clever but he’s just an ordinary guy, and there are other characters who have special abilities surpassing ordinary people. Chishiya is somewhere between that. But everyone has their own circumstances and they have to hold their values or they won’t find what’s important for them and their happiness. If the audience can feel that too, I’ll be very happy.
Tsuchiya: My character Usagi has been living her life while losing sight of the meaning of life, but because of her encounter with Arisu and other people there, she starts to open up her heart more. I hope by looking at that, it can make the audience look for the meaning of their life and having friends.
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat