"Oliver's Dog (Gosh!!) This Yarrow" Season 2 Director Joe Odagiri What kind of direction is possible only because he is an actor? [Director's Interview Vol.246]

Making complicity fun

Q: I think one of the most challenging symbols is Urushibara, played by Kumiko Aso. Aso-san's comedic touch goes without saying, but I felt that the way the people around him (especially the police dog team) were placed and how they were included in the editing was very calculated. I especially liked Amane Okayama's position.

Odagiri: As you said, depending on how outsiders like Amane-kun and Honda Tsubasa-san view them, they can be either a tsukkomi or a joke. This becomes something that viewers can empathize with, and it also serves as an explanation of ``this is how I see it.'' I think it's very important in comedy how the people around you view the blur in the center. For example, the expression on Urushibara's face as he watches the interaction between Oliver and Ippei from a distance asking, ``What are you doing?'' is extremely important in itself. I'm careful about that.

Q: It seems like there was no improvisation in the play.

Odagiri: Hardly. If so, Kukki! I guess it's about your Kansai dialect. I write scripts in standard Japanese, so I leave the nuances of the dialect up to them. There may be some ad-libbing, but the rest is 99% according to the script.

Drama 10 “Oliver Inu, (Gosh!!) This Yarrow” Season 2 Copyright NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.

Q: I laughed out loud at the scene where Oliver said something that could be considered ``outrageous,'' and Ippei scolded him in the dressing room, saying, ``You should get really angry just once!'' Is that all included in the script?

Odagiri: Yes. Everything is written in the script as dialogue. I think the beauty of television is that it allows you to feel close to the viewer. Movies are watched in the dark in front of the screen, but watching TV is an extension of our daily lives. Especially in this day and age, we watch dramas while hanging out on SNS. It would be better to see this unique perspective on television as a strength. That's why I close the distance by letting them express their opinions in a meta way, and by mixing fiction and non-fiction.

Q: Lately, there has been a tendency to become more square-shaped, so I sometimes feel like it's a bit suffocating. I thought Oliver handled that well.

Odagiri: What do you think? It's like a trick that's allowed because it's a dog (lol). Also, it makes a beep sound and says, ``Ah, it's NHK, right?'' and intentionally pulls the viewer into the feelings of the creator. You could call it a kind of complicity. I think that's what makes this drama so interesting. It's true that there are many laughs that can only be made with this drama.

An all-star cast that was inevitable