Translation: TV Life 2008.09.27 (Ninomiya & Nishkido & Toda, Ninomiya, Kudou)
Cover Talk
A direct hit on the mental state of these three that will play siblings with strong personalities! We asked about their impressions of each other and about writer Kudou Kankurou-san.


Nishikido-san who has an aura of mischief has the feeling of being the center of the siblings

Toda Erika
●Toda・ Erika... Born August 17th, 1988. Born and raised in Hyougo prefecture. She's been in serial dramas Code Blue Doctor Heli Kinkyu Kyumei, Liar Game, and so on. Drama SP Arigatou, Okan (Fuji TV) will air on 10/7 (Tue.). Film Koikokyusei will open this winter.


TL This is the first time you'll be working together, but what were your impressions of each other before you met?
Ninomiya I'd seen Nishikido-kun's works, and felt kind of the sharpness of his sensitivity. I think it's probably very much because he's a charming actor that he gets called to work on a lot of projects. I was looking forward to working with him.
Nishikido When you say that kind of thing, it's kind of awe-inspiring. I'm the one who should say that, because every time I see one of Ninomiya-kun's dramas, I think, like, "Oh, fantastic."
Toda Something you two have in common is, your eyes are incredibly impressive, I think. If you look straight at them you get drawn in, and you kind feel there's something like a hidden emotion inside them.
Ninomiya No, no, that's Toda-san; no matter what she's in she sparkles.
Nishikido She sparkles.
Ninomiya Actually, when I met her it was just like that. The feeling of this is a performer.
Toda Thank you (smile).
TL If you look and compare each other, do you feel anything that's sibling-like?
Toda Of course Nishikido-san feels like he's the center of the siblings. Kind of like he has an aura of mischief for some reason.
Nishikido Oh, really? (Smile) Well, I actually have older and younger siblings, so I guess it might become that way somehow or another.
Toda Oppositely, I think Ninomiya-kun is incredibly older-brother-like. It's a feeling that he'll watch over us and pull us along.
Nishikido From the first read through he was already calm. How should I say it, he has a sense of stability. I thought, of course, he's really an older brother.
Ninomiya I thought the other way around looking at Nishikido-kun , that he was calm. ...Well, even saying this, that, or the other, I figure it'll become "the most adult is Toda-san," probably.
Nishikido It is that kind of feeling. Her deportment is really steady.
Toda That's not true (smile). I'm still very much a child, so if I goof off on set too much, please scold me (smile).

-----

...Well, even saying this, that, or that other, the most adult is Toda-san

Ninomiya Kazunari
●Ninomiya・Kazunari...Born June 17th, 1983. Born and raised in Tokyo. He's been in serial dramas Yamada Tarou Monogatari, Haikei Chichiue-sama, Yasashii Jikan and so on. Arashi's Asia tour that will go to Taipei, Seoul, and Shanghai started from Tokyo's National Olympic Stadium.

I saw Ninomiya-kun with his excellent sense of stability, and I thought, of course, he's really an older brother.

Nishikido Ryo
●Nishikido・Ryou...Born November 3rd, 1984. Born and raised in Osaka. He's been in serial dramas Last Friends, Attention Please and so on. NEWS's new single "Happy Birthday" goes on sale 10/1 (Wed.). They also are on tour from 10/25 (Sat.).


10/17 Start
Ryuusei no Kizuna
TBS Every week(Fri.) 10:00 PM-10:54 PM


TL You three each have individual roles, but how do you think you'll portray them?
Ninomiya I feel like I'll expand on my image of an "older brother," and the rest will be at the atmosphere of the set. Just, at the read through, the sound people told me "It's 'Taisuke,' not 'Daisuke.'" Even though I was trying to say it properly.... So, I think I'll be careful to say my lines properly (smile).
Nishikido I haven't thought too deeply about it either, just that I want to do my very best. And then, I want to wind* the filming as much as possible.
Ninomiya Ah, that's important.
Toda Understood, I'll do my best.
Nishikido When I read screenwriter Kudou (Kankurou)-san's comments, it said "High enthusiasm, low IQ" (smile) At any rate, I'm going to try to up my enthusiasm.
Toda According to Kudou-san, it seems to me he "wrote pretty rude things." I was worried just what they'd have me do, in episode one I feel like I could somehow see the just safe line (smile). Being able to say kind of embarrassing lines normally is Kudou-san's screenplay. I want to have as much fun as possible.
TL It's based off a novel, but saying the screenplay is by Kudou Kankurou-san, it seems the taste has changed quite a bit.
Toda I think Kudou-san and Higashino (Keigo)-san have different kind of charm. With those two participating on the same project, just what kind of world view will be born...? There's no assumption of looking forward to the continuation.
Nishikido At any rate, it's already a completely different atmosphere from the original.
Ninomiya For the time being, it's "faithfully written to the original," but.... Look, Kudou-san is bascially a person who kind of slips off of normal (smile).
Nishikido (Smile). Probably people who have read the original will think it's fresh. With the drama being the drama, I want to lot of people to enjoy this world.


●photo/Hanai Tooru text/Koyama Tomohisa hair&make/Mori Kaori (ORIBANNUM) (Mr. Ninomiya), Takenouchi Minori (Make-Up Room) (Mr. Nishikido), Uemura Takehisa (Ms. Toda), stylist/Nomura Masashi (STUTTGART) (Mr. Ninomiya, Mr. Nishikido), mick (Ms. Toda) wardrobe provided by/PPFM (FIVE FOXes) (Mr. Ninomiya, Mr. Nishikido), GALERIE DE POP (Ms. Toda)

*Wind...Being able to end early





New Serial!
Nino and Ryo-chan's Ryuusei no Kizuna Back Stage Talk!
Vol. 1
Starts 10/17
TBS Every Week (Fri.) 10:00PM-10:54PM

The first of a relay serial between Nino and Ryo-chan. Nino talks about hidden things at filming, and he even answers Ryo-chan's question. At the same time, Kunku's serial is revived!


Even if comes off as annoying, I'm aiming to be a good older brother!

The filming for Ryuusei no Kizuna has finally started. This is the same for everything I'm in, but I'm the type to rapidly perfect the role after arriving on set. I think because of course roles are born and raised by the people around me and the atmosphere on set, I try not to firm things up too much on my own beforehand. I guess I leave it to everyone in a good way (smile). So, what kind of character the Kouichi I'll portray from now on will become depends on my coactors and the atmosphere on set.

I really like a lot this unique world view Kudou (Kankurou)-san has painted. I haven't read the original work, but even so I was able to get the feeling this was expanding into an original world different from the original. That means people who both know and don't know the original can look forward to a fresh feeling, and I'm really looking forward to it. At any rate, I don't know know anything about future developments other than "the things happening around Koichi." This also something I do every time, but I try not to read the script outside the scenes I'm involved in wherever possible. It's not because it's too much trouble or anything (smile). It's because I don't want to get information unnecessary information beyond what I need to play the character. Say for example I read the whole script, and then in the future I knew something Kouichi didn't. If that happened, I'd want to make extraneous motions or facial expressions, so I presume I would. By doing that, I can get through my acting without idle thoughts coming in, and when I see it on air I can discover a lot, so I look forward to it twice as much (smile).

Inside that limited information, the Koichi I currently imagine is a "good older brother" who cares about his siblings. I have an older sister too, but when I was little I was compared to my serious sister at school and stuff due to our ages being close, and I really hated it (smile). It might be because of that I don't have many memories of following my sister around and playing with her. Comparing it to that, I think Kouichi and Taisuke (Nishikido Ryo) and Shizuna (Toda Erika) are somehow or another close to each other. At least, it looks like he makes Taisuke and Shizuna pretty annoyed, but I'm aiming to be someone the people watching will say, "He's a good older brother" about (smile).


Back Stage Q&A! from Nishikido Ryo
Q What type of girls do you like?
A I like "girls who don't flirt"!
I'm surprised at this question with no eagerness and a feeling of "Now?" (smile). It's true it's a question I haven't been asked recently, but still. I like girls who don't flirt. Maybe I should say "cold," or maybe "candid." It's not only girls, I think people acting who don't pander to the people watching are also fantastic.


Ninomiya Kazunari
●Ninomiya・Kazunari Born June 17th, 1983. Born and raised in Tokyo. He's been in serial dramas Yamada Tarou Monogatari, Haikei Chichiue-sama, and so on. Arashi's Asia tour that will go to Taipei, Seoul, and Shanghai started from Tokyo's National Olympic Stadium.



I've Never Seen a Falling Star...
The Lightning Column that's Come Back Again――No. 1
―Grated Story Edition―

Kudou Kankurou


Higashino x Kunku = Nice Balance!?


It's been a while, TV LIFE. After 2 years, it's Kunku. The drama Ryuusei no Kizuna will start on 10/17. It's Higashino Keigo's intricate and dynamic story organized into a heartrending human drama, a wonderful mystery, but for some reason Kunku is writing the screenplay.

It's my first time doing a serial drama from an original work since Ikeburo West Gate Park, huh. I wasn't really thinking I'd run out of material or that I'd return to my original intention, but isn't it my second serial drama this year? I just had the desire to try and do something a little different from my own taste, and it might as well be something completely opposite from Mirai Koushi Meguru. So, I wrote it. I read it. Yeah... It might not be all that different from my dramas up until now. Even though I was handed such a well done original, that it would come to be like this (smile). I've learned anew that I really can't write normally.

It's natural that the original would come out in my world view, but when it comes out like that despite being someone else's work, I guess I can only think that's already individuality. That it comes out in mind of my color no matter what means there might be people who are good, balance-wise. I think serious parts and parts you can laugh at are the the same in life. Maybe I should say that it's dishonest to express in the tone of only one of the other, or, there's also the feeling of the creator's circumstance, so with that meaning, I think when you add my taste to Higashino-san's painful world, doesn't it become a drama with a pretty good balance?

I think people familiar with the original will be surprised when they watch episode 1. Like, "There was this kind of story?" There is, okay. Because I did episdoe 1 expanding greatly on a part of the novel that didn't really matter, fans of the original might be uneasy. But in episode 1 you have to introduce the characters, and we decided from the very beginning to make it at a place that had no relation to the main thread of the story. As expected it's because it's a novel that it has interesting parts, and when flesh and blood people portray them, an out of place feeling is going to be produced no matter what. I took an interest in each of the different actors, and wrote while imagining this or that kind of place might be interesting, so if that place was different from the character of the original, there was nothing to do but break off from there. By doing that, for the first time each character could stand up from the print.


●Kudou・Kankurou...Born July 19th, 1970. Screenwriter, organizer, actor. A play written and performed by Kudou, Woman Live VOL. 11 "My 7 Lovers", will be performed at Tokyo's Shimokitagawata Theatre (11/8 (Sat.)-12/7(Sun.)! Shounen Merikensakku, written and directed by him, will open 2/14/09!

●text/Makita Youhei




Special thanks to yuckie_chan who is the originator of these scans (post locked).