Amazon Original Drama "Ryu ga Gotoku ~Beyond the Game~" Yumi Kawai Injects 10 Years of Experience into Her Role [Actor's Interview Vol.45]

"Ryu ga Gotoku: Beyond the Game", which will be exclusively distributed worldwide on Prime Video, is an Amazon Original drama based on the hit Sega The Game series "Ryu ga Gotoku". Directed by Take Masaharu and Takimoto Kengo. Set in the entertainment district of Kamurocho, which also appears in The Game, the story revolves around the protagonist Kiryu Kazuma (Takeuchi Ryoma) and his childhood friend Nishikiyama Akira (Kaku Kento), and depicts the "family ties" and "friendship" that led them to fall into the underworld due to a certain incident, as well as the lives of passionate men living as gangsters, crossing the two time periods of 1995 and 2005.

Sawamura Yumi, played by Kawai Yumi, is a childhood friend of Kiryu and Nishiki who grew up in the same orphanage. In 1995 she was still an innocent girl, but by 2005 she has become the manager of New Serena, a club under the control of the Dojima Group. Although this is an entertainment piece based on The Game, the realistic acting of Kawai and other actors gives the drama a sense of depth. How did Kawai Yumi portray the life of one woman over the course of 10 years? We spoke to her.

Summary of the Amazon Original Drama "Ryu ga Gotoku ~Beyond the Game~"

The story is set in Kamurocho, an entertainment district that also appears in The Game. Kiryu Kazuma (Takeuchi Ryoma), Nishikiyama Akira (Kaku Kento), Sawamura Yumi (Kawai Yumi), and Nishikiyama Miho (Nakayama Hinano) lost their parents at a young age and live in an orphanage. In an attempt to escape their disciplined lives and enter a new world, they jump into the world of the yakuza that rules Kamurocho in 1995. Meanwhile, in 2005, Yumi's older sister Aiko (Morita Nozomi) steals 10 billion yen of the Omi Alliance's secret funds, putting the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance on the brink of war. Kiryu, Nishiki, and Yumi, whose relationship has been completely torn apart over the past ten years, are caught up in a new vortex of destiny.

Index

• Putting 10 years of experience into practice
• Costume and hair and makeup help
• Collaborating with great seniors

Putting 10 years of experience into practice

Q: It's The Game-based work with a strong entertainment flavor, but the realistic acting of Kawai and the other cast members made it convincing. What did Director Takeshi say to you?

Kawai: When I first met Director Takeshi, he talked to me for a long time about how he felt about making this live-action film (laughs). He was trying to successfully combine what he had done up until now with this Big budget project. I really got that feeling. I was so grateful that he spoke to me so enthusiastically, face to face, despite being so much younger than me.

I was worried because I had no experience with The Game culture, but Director Takeshi told me, "You don't have to worry about that at all." He also told me, "Come with a fresh mind," which gave me a lot of confidence.

Amazon Original Drama "Ryu ga Gotoku ~Beyond the Game~" Yumi Kawai

Q: Yumi maintains a resolute attitude even though she is in the male-dominated society of the yakuza. How did you perceive the role of Yumi?

Kawai: The original work has a strong influence from the genres of The Game and yakuza, so at first I thought it was necessary to have an easy-to-understand image, like "a strong woman who has lived in a male-dominated society." Filming began with the 1995 part, and Yumi at that time was in a state of losing people close to her one after another, and was suffering repeated losses. I was able to take on the filming in 2005 with those emotions in mind, so that was very good. I also felt that the hesitation about "how realistic it should be" naturally disappeared halfway through. I think I was able to create a base for Yumi by first playing her childhood in 1995.

Anyway, I think Yumi was afraid of being alone. She grew up in an orphanage where children without parents gathered, and later spent 10 years making up her mind to live alone. I gradually came to understand this while playing the role of Yumi.

Q: Was the filming done completely separately in 1995 and 2005?

Kawai: There was a little bit of a mix, but we shot them roughly separately. We shot 1995 in the first half and 2005 in the second half, and it was very easy to do. I'm really glad that we were able to shoot the '95 film first.

Costume and hair and makeup help