The opening day stage greeting of the movie Tonde Saitama was held today, 22 February at Marunouchi TOEI in Tokyo and it was attended by the cast members Nikaido Fumi, GACKT, Iseya Yusuke, Kyomoto Masaki, and the director Takeuchi Hideki.

This movie is a live-action film adaptation of Maya Mineo’s manga of the same name, and is set in a world where “Saitama natives” are being oppressed. It tells of the meeting and love of Nikaido Fumi’s Dannoura Momomi, the son of the Tokyo governor and GACKT’s Asami Rei, the transfer student returning from America who is actually a Saitama native. On this day, everyone appeared dressed in Montsuki hakama. Nikaido seemed pleased with how her wishes have been fulfilled as she smiled and said, “This was the first time that I was given a male role to play. Throughout the promotions, I’ve been dressed in pants style, so I let them know that I definitely wanted to wear a hakama”.

GACKT appeared on numerous TV programs for the promotion of this movie. When he declared, “I decided that I would only appear on TV 5 times in a year. This time I’ve been appearing enough times to last 5 years. I’d like to take a break for a while”, and shouts of “Ehー!” came from the audience. Immediately, GACKT yelled back, “Don’t say ‘Ehー!’” but the fans increased their volume even more. To this, GACKT complained, “That’s right, that’s right, I keep getting bullied like this. When I get jeered I feel like going home earlier”.

Iseya, who acted as the leader of Chiba Liberation Front, Akutsu Sho, had a wry smile on his face as he looked back on filming and said, “Many things have left an impression on me”. What was particularly impressionable was that unplanned kiss scene between Rei and Akutsu. Iseya laughed and said, “Ah, well, won’t you be surprised? To think I’d be kissing GACKT-san in my acting career”, then Takeuchi revealed that it was a scene that suddenly appeared at GACKT’s proposal. GACKT stopped him, saying, “You promised not to say that”, but he went on to acknowledge it, saying “This is mixing private considerations with work. But I wanted to kiss Iseya-kun no matter what”.

Takeuchi also exposed that right after the kiss, Iseya muttered, “Surprisingly no different from a woman, huh”. On the other hand, Iseya praised GACKT’s showmanship, saying, “After kissing me, he just stayed there waiting without wiping his mouth”. And to that, GACKT riled up the audience with his words, “I haven’t wiped since then”. In addition to that, he mentioned more details about the kiss scene, saying, “Iseya-kun is serious. While rubbing my left nipple with his stick, he moved slightly to the right, turned around and said, ‘Director, how’s this?’ (smiles)”.

At the end of the event, Nikaido spoke of her love for Saitama, saying, “They’re really big hearted, and I’ve come to love them even more”. GACKT, too, commented, “I do hope that this movie will contribute to Saitama’s development, even if just a little”. They then broke the paper ball with a banner that said “Datsu Da-Saitama”, and the event concluded.

Source: natalie.mu

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA