LINEBLOG.ME: GACKT "wanted to kiss Iseya-kun", backstory of kiss scene with Iseya Yusuke ＜Tonde Saitama＞

GACKT, Nikaido Fumi and others appear at Tonde Saitama opening day stage greeting
The movie Tonde Saitama releases nationwide on 22 February. On the opening day, a stage greeting was held and lead stars Nikaido Fumi, GACKT, and their co-stars Kyomoto Masaki and Iseya Yusuke attended the event with director Takeuchi Hideki.

GACKT “wanted to kiss Iseya-kun”, proposed kiss scene himself
The cast entered the hall dressed in traditional Japanese garb to the music of comedian Hanawa’s song “Saitama-ken (Saitama Prefecture)” as the BGM. As soon as GACKT appears, he declares, “Kyomoto Masaki-san will be the one talking about everything today”, and hearing that, Kyomoto became confused, saying, “You just made it difficult to talk”.

Nikaido, who came dressed in a crested kimono and a hakama, said with a smile, “This was the first time that I was given a male role to play and throughout the promotions, I’ve been dressed in pants style, so I let them know that I definitely wanted to wear a hakama. What do you think?”. With regards to performing a male role, she said, “The story itself is a work that goes beyond anything like gender or age, so I performed without being too particular about those areas”.

Hearing that, a startled expression appeared on Iseya’s face and he was once against shocked by GACKT playing the role of a high schooler, saying, “Oh right, GACKT-san was a high school student, wasn’t he”. GACKT responded, “And we could’ve just moved on without touching on that. Even though I get asked in interviews, it just keeps going on and on, doesn’t it”.

GACKT said that he had decided to only appear on TV 5 times a year, but for this time’s movie starring, he declared, “I guess I’ve appeared enough times to last 5 years. I won’t show up for the next 5 years”. The audience jeered with “Ehー!” and he retorted, “Don’t say ‘Eh’!”. Following that, he commented, “Ah, that’s right, that’s right, I keep getting bullied like that with those statements… I hope it goes on longer. Since I’m getting jeered at by everyone, it makes me want to go home sooner”, making the audience laugh.

Also, Iseya looked back on his taking on the kiss scene with GACKT, saying, “It left all sorts of impressions on me”. To that, director Takeuchi revealed, “That was proposed by GACKT-san…” and the audience cheered with a “Hyaー!”.

Even as GACKT retorted with “You promised not to say that!”, he went on to explain, “This is mixing private considerations with work. But I wanted to kiss Iseya-kun no matter what”. Having heard his thoughts, Iseya seemed perplexed as he remarked, “But I like women…”.

Furthermore, Iseya revealed that “GACKT-san was tied up for that kiss scene, but after getting kissed my me, he just remained there without wiping his mouth”. GACKT calmly replied, “Well, I haven’t wiped my mouth since then”.

After that, they broke the paper ball that was provided by the venue, and a drop-down banner with “Datsu Da-Saitama!!” written on it unfolded. Even though GACKT laughed as he said, “Do you really want to accept this title?”, he went on to deliver a message Saitama Prefecture, saying, “I think it’s lovely that you get teased, so going forward, I hope that Saitama natives will continue to feel rewarded being teased. The way your prefectural mayor said ‘Saitama natives won’t get angry over something like this’ while twitching left such an impression on me”.