"Asakusa Kid" Theatrical Company Solo Director The story of Beat Takeshi and his master who has been longing for is made into a movie with his own script [Director's Interview Vol.168]

A strange casting that is different from the image

Q: Hiroshi Oizumi plays Sensaburo Fukami.

Alone: ​​If you like the original " Asakusa Kid " and have been imagining Master Fukami in your head, you probably aren't imagining Hiroshi Oizumi, right?

Q: Yes. Before watching this film, I honestly thought it was a little different from what I had imagined.

Hitori: After all, Mr. Oizumi's public image is a little fanciful. But when Takeshi saw Master Fukami for the first time, he thought he was a yakuza, so he was a tough guy. At first, I thought that I should naturally cast someone like that.

But I don't really like getting too addicted to it. I want to deviate a little. The same goes for Mari (Honami Suzuki). Mari is the wife of a comedian, but I find it hard to get hooked on her strong-willed side and support for her husband. That's why when I met Honami Suzuki, I thought, ``Maybe this person could portray an interesting Mari, who isn't a stereotype, and who can compete on an equal footing with Sensaburo Fukami.''

Netflix movie “Asakusa Kid” will be distributed exclusively worldwide from December 9th (Thursday)

The reason I asked Mr. Oizumi to play the role was because I was rewatching `` Raise of the Blue Sky '' and simply thought, ``I'd like to see Senzaburo Fukami played by Mr. Oizumi.'' My image of Hiroshi Oizumi was so different from the Fukami-san that I had in mind, that I hadn't even thought of him until then. But I was kind of excited, thinking, ``What would happen if Oizumi-san played the role?'' It's not that it's right or wrong, it's that I want to see what kind of Chizaburo Fukami this person will play! If I wanted to see it, then the viewers must want to see it too.

But… it was amazing. In my mind, Master Fukami was something of an idol, and I had an ideal image in my head, but Mr. Oizumi was better than Sensaburo Fukami.

Netflix movie “Asakusa Kid” will be distributed exclusively worldwide from December 9th (Thursday)

Q: What was the deciding factor in casting Yuya Yagira to play Takeshi?

Hitori: When you think about Takeshi-san without considering how interesting and clever he is as a comedian, I think he's quite lonely as a person. I feel like I'm lonely because I'm a genius, and no matter how far I go, I can't understand anyone. Yagira-san also smells like that. I feel lonely somehow. I thought that kind of appearance was really nice, so I asked for it.

Q: I thought the exquisite reproduction of Takeshi played by Yagira was amazing. How did you prepare for that role?

Hitori: I really wanted to look like Takeshi as much as possible, so I asked Kunihiro Matsumura to teach me and practiced for about eight hours a day. From morning until night, we watched past videos of Takeshi and practiced various versions, from ``Energetic Takeshi-san'' to ``Takeshi-san when he's a little scary.'' Sometimes I would come to the scene where Yagira-san was filming for another drama and say things like, ``This is how you say it.'' I think it was quite depressing (lol).

Thanks to that, the quality of my impersonation improved, but in the end I had them stop impersonating me. Please stop trying to make our voices similar. In the end, it ended up looking like a mere impersonation, making it difficult to see the play. However, this does not mean that he does not impersonate completely. I thought it was best that we were similar in spirit.

Reproducing the deserted Asakusa