【Event】
The Japan premiere in Tokyo for the movie Tonde Saitama was held on the 28th at Tokyo Dome City Hall. The glamorous cast made an appearance too.
Seeing the two leading stars, Nikaido Fumi and GACKT, along with co-stars Iseya Yusuke, Brother Tom, Shimazaki Haruka, Kato Ryo, Masuwaka Tsubasa, Nakao Akira, and Kyomoto Masaki all coming together especially for this premiere event made the audience go wild.

Based on the catchphrase “the grass over there” from the shocking line “Saitama citizens, eat the grass over there!”, a “green carpet of artificial grass” was laid out in the middle of the hall. When the event opened, Nikaido Fumi and GACKT entered from the end of the carpet and went close to the audience’s seats while throwing and passing them “Coloured balls (Sai-tama bo-ru / 彩玉ボール), a reference to the nickname “Sai no Kuni (彩の国)” for Saitama, as a form of fan service, much to the delight of the audience.

This movie is a live-action adaptation, a bold arrangement of Maya Mineo’s original manga “Tonde Saitama”. This version consists of 2 parts, a “legend part” and a “modern part”.

Nikaido Fumi (Dannoura Momomi in the movie): Today I came dressed a bit like a boy. Halfway through, it starts to head towards the direction of love so I’d be glad if you’d enjoy the evolution from dissing to love.

GACKT (Asami Rei in the movie): Good evening, good eveningー! Good eveningー!! Please spread the word about this movie. If it’s not funny, then nevermind (smiles).

Iseya, who plays Akutsu Sho, a butler who serves the governor of Tokyo, Dannoura Kenzo, appealed, “I’d like Chiba to work harder, so for the next movie, please! Make it “Oyoide Chiba (Swim, Chiba)”!”.

Kyomoto, who plays the legendary Saitama citizen, Saitama Duke, said that the original character was given the seal of approval from the author of the original work himself, saying, “Saitama Duke is a character who did not appear in the original work. It’s a perfectly original role. When Master Maya Mineo saw me, he said to me, ‘This is Saitama Duke!’, so given that this is the case, I would’ve wanted him to draw me first”. He also added that this was a highlight.

Brother Tom, who plays Sugawara Yoshimi, said, “May I do what GACKT did? ‘Good eveningー! Quietー!’”, suddenly diverging and looking satisfied with it. The audience burst out in laughter.
Shimazaki Haruka, who plays Sugawara Aimi, grinned as she said, “I am a Saitama native. Finally, today, I think I’ll be able to confidently say that I’m from Saitama for the first time!”.

Kato, who plays student Shimokawa Nobuo, felt that the clay soil makeup perfectly gave him motivation, saying, “ Please feel the world of Maya Mineo”.

Masuwaka, who plays Rei’s domestic helper Okayo, is also a Saitama native and shares Shimazaki’s sentiments, saying, “I am a Saitama citizen too, so I can say that I’m finally not embarrassed to be a native of Saitama. I can’t really say this out loud, but I think that you’ll definitely come to like Saitama after watching the movie”.

Nakao, who plays Dannoura Momomi’s father, the governor of Tokyo, revealed, “I play the role of the governor of Tokyo but I’m actually from Chiba”, getting cheers from members of the audience who are from Chiba too, to which he smiled shyly and said, “I”m embarrassed”. “In the beginning, I didn’t want to do it. Like, ‘is it really alright to insult Saitama to this extent’, and ‘can it really be turned into a movie’. But while doing it, I started to hate Saitama on the inside and it was fun. You don’t really get the chance to cosplay like this so I went all out,” said the veteran actor Nakao who also enjoyed the filming and became part of the movie.

ーーOn receiving the offer to act
GACKT: Initially, I heard that it was an offer to play a high school student, so I immediately declined. When I did that, they told me, ‘This is a special high school student’, and I got curious, like what high schooler is a special high school student?. I came to know of the plot and began filming, and on the first day, it was a kiss scene. I thought, ‘what a process’. But on that day, we started with an ornate and gorgeous set, as if it was on par with our appearances, to the point that it made the staff’s normal appearances look weird. The other co-stars’ makeup was amazing too, and with such a gateway as the entrance, it was off to an exceptionally good start for both me and Fumi-chan (Nikaido). Like I really got into its world view.
It felt like we were dancing in the palm of the director’s hand until the filming for this movie ended.

ーーWhat about the filming left an impression on you?
Nikaido: This time, highly individualistic persons were gathered as if they all came from their own planets to represent them, and suddenly came to earth together, and did whatever it was with a flourish before leaving with a flourish. That’s what the site I experienced felt like, so during filming, I thought that I should do my part properly while thinking that I was the most decent one around.

This movie is one with quite a strong impact, and the entire cast all said that filming was fun. Lastly, Nikaido said, “I hope that your local love will increase through this movie”, and GACKT closed off with “When you think that it’s lame, or when you’re wondering what on earth is going on, please let your voice out and laugh. I think that it’d be nice if you’d watch while laughing out lout. I think that this movie is the one that is most suitable for the title of ‘greatest farce of the century’”.

Source: moviecore 2019

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA