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noviceaoiryusei · 2 years

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「 KAMEN RIDER'S CROSS TALK_02 」 Yamaguchi Takaya × Aoki Ryo × Naito Shuichiro interview

The three who portrayed as Kamen Riders, fought as swordsmen and supported each other as friends. Looking back on their days of working hard as actors (in this) "friends" tripartite talk. They talk about their experiences while working diligently with their roles on "Kamen Rider Saber" in a course of a year.

「 KAMEN RIDER'S CROSS TALK_02 」

Three swordsmen's encounter and the other side

→ What was the relationship between the three of you when you first met?

Naito: All I heard was about Yamaguchi-kun's personal life. When I heard that he was doing muscle training, I asked him how he worked out and such. That's how I started muscle training.

Yamaguchi: I had less work experience than Naito-kun, so I relied on him for many things.

Aoki: Takaya seemed serious and I thought he must be very solid, but he was really absentminded. The gap made me laugh.

Yamaguchi: Within the four of us, including Kawazu (Asuka)-san, who will be in charge? Aoki-kun was taking the lead so I thought, "Oh, it's okay to have this person turn it around". However, I didn't know what or how much to say, so I was a bit idle. (everyone laughed)

→ What are the most memorable on-set episodes of the three of you worked together?

Aoki: For me, it was the scene wherein Kento fights Calibur, Kamijo-san (played by Hirayama Hiroyuki) and is beaten to pulp, the scene wherein Touma is holding him (Kento) in his arms. The scene was supposed to be about Kento dying, but instead of gently holding him in the lining... what are you thinking that you just blasted it off? (everyone laughed) I was so surprised that I wondered if we were really going to do this.

Naito: No, that was my stance and also my lack of muscle strength... When I saw it on the video, I totally messed up.

Aoki: That was the finishing blow, huh.

Naito: Kento's expression became like "tightly".

Aoki: It was an act that I was supposed to be dying. (laughs) It's really hard.

Yamaguchi: What left an impression to me was when Kento and Touma we're working face to face, for some reason, I remembered that they laughed on my face.

Aoki: Well, that... (laughs) It's because your eyes move so much! When I'm talking to you one-on-one, your eyes immediately go "choro, choro" (wandering around). (T/N: the original expression used was 「チョロッ、チョロッ」 and there's no direct translation for it so probably it could mean "wandering around" because they are talking how Yamaguchi's eyes move quite a lot but reading the next sentence, it could really mean so.)

Naito: Indeed! (laughs) It looks at the different parts of my face.

Yamaguchi: No, I get embarrassed when I stare at them. Besides, you two are tall, so your gazes are different from mine!

Aoki: Ah, so that's how it was!!

Yamaguchi: If I looked forward normally, I wouldn't be able to look at them. Since the camera was shooting from the side, looking up would be a bit unnatural. So, I tried to look at their chin.

Aoki: That was very interesting. Although we were usually friendly, the atmosphere changed completely once filming starts. Everyone was a good rival. Everyone, including Kawazu-san is working earnestly during the shoot.

In a drama where relationships change

→ What was your impression of Kawazu-san who played the role of Mei?

Yamaguchi: At the scene, she can swing around and play a character like that. She's a great mood maker. We were attracted by her cheerfulness, it means a lot (to us).

Naito: Because we're men, sometimes things get stiff. There are even times that we're bachi bachi (sputtering) during shooting. (T/N: the expression used was 「バチバチ」 meaning crackling, sparking. I just used the other synonymous meaning that I read on google.)

Aoki: Yes, we clash in a good way. Each of us has our own work that we desire to do. However, when Mei-chan comes in at such times, it makes me feel a little more at ease.

→ By the way, when did Rintaro became aware of Mei-chan?

Yamaguchi: It was around episode 7 where I appeared as Blades and carried her like a princess. If anything, the first one was Sophia-san who is more like a mother that raised me so, I have an image of her as a cherished woman.

Naito: Really!

Yamaguchi: So when Sophia-san would say "Blades", it made me feel in my heart that I should do my best. However, when he is at odds with Touma, a word from Mei-chan shakes him up a bit and he gradually starts to....... So, around the time I fought the Neko Megido, I thought that "Maybe I can fight for this person". With that in mind, I decided to put it out in the act. Kawazu-san and I used to discuss, "Which one do you prefer?" He might feel that Mei-chan is significant, but then I thought maybe she's like this with everyone.

Aoki: There wasn't even a clear depiction. You didn't use the word "like".

Yamaguchi: It's reserved at the end.

Naito: That's romantic!

→ What about the time that Kento left the show halfway?

Aoki: To be honest, I was surprised when I first received the script, but I was convinced "Just as I've thought". Up until now, I had been running alone, overcoming the restraints of my friends, and I knew that I would be sanctioned at some point.

Naito: From the beginning we had talked that we're so many so we have (already) thought someone would be gone. Who did you expect?

Aoki: Would it be Ren? I had it in my thoughts though.

Naito: I also thought so.

Aoki: I thought maybe he'd get killed one day.

Naito: When I read the script, I thought it was fast. I honestly thought it was too hasty for Kento to disappear while Touma was occupied with himself.

Aoki: Everyone except me thought "Isn't it a little too early?" but, I knew that it's definitely coming. Well that's fun.

Yamaguchi: I never imagined that you would disappear in front of everyone.

Aoki: You know, it's nice to die while being taken cared of by everyone. (everyone laughed)

“The three of us felt like there wasn't much difference between the roles and ourselves which was nice. After a year, it will resemble each other more and more.” (Aoki)

→ After that, Kento returned with a bit dangerous aura.

Aoki: I had a lot of discussions with Director Kamihoriuchi (Kazuya) about that part. All the ideas I had were rejected (laughs).

Yamaguchi: Yeah. (laughs) I just happened to be see it, what Aoki-kun had made was completely covered.

Aoki: It was all useless. However, the director came up with a lot of ideas, and I performed it all for a number of times so that I could compare them....... I was told "Uhm, no" "Well, that's not right". It took me a lot of time, it was a really important (part of the) filming.

Naito: Did you finally convinced them?

Aoki: Of course!

Naito: Director Kamihoriuchi's ideas exceeded our imagination. At the beginning, we could only come up with something mundane. The first time I shoot a PR video, I prepared everything.

Yamaguchi: That's how it was!

Naito: But the director wanted more than that. Everything I've brought was fixed.

Aoki: But those things are important, isn't it? It's frustrating, but (at the same time) it's also interesting. The director's point of view is outside of our own, and it makes us realize that this way of thinking exists. The words from the director is really important. (T/N: the phrase is actually written as 「ものすごく重いんですよ」 which literally meant as "something really heavy", I just rephrased it.)

Naito: But the last part was something I brought myself. If the director gave me instructions that were different, I would say, "I can't do that".

Aoki: Ohh, that's impressive! (everyone laughed)

→ Is that a sign that you have understood the character better than anyone else in your performance?

Naito: After all, I've been close to the role for a year. The director changes every time, so I thought that I am the one who understands the role the best.

→ Well then, at what point do you feel like you've grab each of the characters?

Yamaguchi: For me, it was around episode 29 to 32 when I transformed into Tategami (Kamen Rider Blades Tategami Hyouju Senki). It was the time that I had faced on Rintaro for such a long time, and this is when I started to feel that I should be confident with him. Also, I think it was around that time that I was able to convince the audience of what I thought Rintaro was like.

Naito: When I was alone and split out with everyone else. Until then, there were no episodes depicting the firmness of Touma so I think there was a part of me and Touma that did not match. But after being separated from everyone else, I started to think and act as if I were in the other person's shoes in order to fight together with them again. That's when I began to realize that Touma is that kind of person. (T/N: the word used was 'backbone' figuratively meaning 'firmness'.)

Aoki: I don't have a clear timing. Since I had disappeared, my character had changed once, and it didn't feel like it fits, but rather that I was getting more and more comfortable with it as I went along.

→ The scene with the 3 of you, the Momotaro in episode 39 was impressive.

Yamaguchi: The time Rintaro portrayed a dog with a monkey for Kento. (laughs) (T/N: this is quite a play of Japanese words.)

Aoki: Indeed. In that scene, the once-sullen Kento gradually returns to his former Kento self. It is a trivial scene, but I felt that I've finally came to their side. Kento has accumulated so many things that he gets tired from the weight of it all during the work. It was gone in that scene. From that point on, it became easier to act.

Naito: Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing it.

Aoki: It is also a meaningful scene because it brings in Mei-chan and Rintaro as his new friends in that fantasy. There's also Touma's line "Hey! Don't change the story!" and it was also a scene that had many implications for Kento's new step forward.

A year in which the three of us grew together as heroes.

→ After the transformation, you all pass the baton to the suit actors, but how do you interact with them?

Yamaguchi: I was with the action department quite a lot. I was with Eitoku-san all the time and imitated him. Whether he was talking or walking...... even the way he eat.

Aoki: (laughs)

Yamaguchi: I consulted him about the portrayal, especially in episodes 29 to 32, it's created together by the two of us. We both said to each other, "We'll do what we want to show, and then we'll pick up the rest together". I think we were able to achieve it and for that I can only be grateful.

Aoki: When I first met Nakata (Yuji)-san, he never looked people in the eye (laughs), and I thought that "He must be shy". I tried to get into his pocket, but he just won't look me in the eye.

Yamaguchi: Is that so!?!?!

Aoki: That's what I really like about Nakata-san, he's modest and humble. When he teaches me something, he takes it very seriously, but very sensitively. He says "I do it like this, I would do it like this, I do it in this manner...... Can you do it?".

Yamaguchi, Naito: (laughs)

Aoki: Since it was a little difficult for me I would say, "No, it's still a little difficult". Later, he would carefully teach me, but that was just Nakata-san's humility.

Naito: My impression of Asai (Kousuke)-san has changed a lot since when I first met him. At first, he was too kind and gentle that it's hard for me to say "This is what I want to do". But Asai-san said, "That's not good enough! I'm just going to imitate Naito-kun's Touma, so just tell me anything". But Asai-san was also very competitive and doesn't want to loose, so he gradually said, "I think this way, but what about Touma?" (and) "I'm thinking of doing it this way, so take a look one more time". Ah, I could tell that he was self-motivated and a passionate person. Whenever we were together, we would talk about Kamen Rider. Seeing him like that really motivated me in portraying Kamiyama Touma.

→ Asai-san is always serious.

Naito: No, he surprisingly fools around but, the way he jokes is serious. At first, didn't even know how much I could tease him. (laughs)

“For me, I felt most relaxed and at ease when it was the four of us, including Kawazu-san.” (Yamaguchi)

→ What was the most exciting part of the transformation scene?

Naito: It is still the scene of the simultaneous transformation by the three of us. Episode 10, directed by Koichi Sakamoto.

Yamaguchi: The duck (episode)!

Naito: It was the first time for all of us to do a lot of action, but each of us looked so cool, and the transformation at that moment made me think, "This is Kamen Rider!".

Aoki: For me it's the part wherein Kento comes back from his dark fall and the three of us fought Master Logos in the woods. Is that the second transformation of the cross saber?

Naito: (You've got to) Remember it!

Aoki: The simultaneous transformation of the three of us in that scene really got me excited! For me, that was the first time we had transformed at the same time after Kento came back, so it left a deep impression on me.

Naito: It is when the three of us said「物語の結末は俺“たち”が決める！」("We" will decide how the story ends!)

Yamaguchi: In terms of simultaneous transformations, I would have to say the 10 simultaneous transformations we did in episode 45, I think that was very valuable. It was a miracle that the timing was right for all of us. They said, "Well in the next cut I'll have you all say 'henshin' at the same time", "Se no (ready)" and without any shouts of "Yoi, Hai! (alright, cue!)" we all said "Henshin!" and we're all at the same time.

Aoki: I (even) wonder(ed) how we did it all together, huh?

Naito: I've never been able to fit in with everyone else, so I know that everyone's trying to adapt with me. (everyone laughed)

Aoki: Since Touma is in the forefront, he can't watch from the back, so we have to look behind him and adjust the timing.

Yamaguchi: Everyone fits in with him, and if we get covered by his movements, everyone avoids it.

Naito: That was the easiest (part).

Aoki: In a good way, you don't care about what's behind you at all. Does that mean you have a strong core of your own.

Yamaguchi: There's splendid feeling that makes me feel like I should go follow you from behind.

Naito: It's not selfish, I think it is important to stand in front and make a firm decision.

Yamaguchi: And everyone supports it.

Naito: If it was about simultaneous transformations, when Kento and I transformed at the same time in the collaboration episode with "Kamen Rider Revice" ("Kamen Rider Saber" extra issue), it was the first time we put the book in the belt without looking. I don't have to do that because I usually do it with cuts, but I was impressed to be able to do a simultaneous no-look transformation for the first time. Director Ishida told us, "Give it a try, guys!" and he let us do it...... We did it in one shot.

Aoki: I thought I might do it for a few times. (laughs)

Yamaguchi: I was surprised that it was done in one shot.

Aoki: On the contrary, I was worried (and thought) "Eh, would it be alright?".

Naito: But I've been doing that for a year, so I've been able to do it.

“When I was about to disappear in the last chapter, I could feel the relief in their expressions and their hands supporting me.” (Naito)

→ What do you feel now after a year of performing as trio?

Naito: Anyway, "I'm glad that it was the three of us". When I was about to disappear in the last chapter, I could feel a relief in their expressions and their hands supporting me. I felt that it was because of the two of them that I was able to feel the way I do now. I felt that I could disappear with peace of mind. Nothing special about it.

Aoki: It will be conveyed. I understand.

Yamaguchi: Yes, I can't put it into words. I was lonely when Kento disappeared and even when Touma is about to disappear. It's like we are a family now. For me, I felt most relaxed and at ease when it was the four of us, including Kawazu-san

Aoki: There are a lot of people, so there are a lot of emotions. So it can feel frustrating in the midst of it all. But more than that, "like" is stronger. Moreover, I feel that Touma and Naito Shuichiro, Rintaro and Yamaguchi Takaya, Kento and I...... the 3 of us felt like there wasn't much difference between our roles and ourselves which was nice. After a year, it will resemble each other more and more. It's not that we are getting closer to either one, but both the role and myself are getting closer to each other.

Naito: Yeah, there's that!

#aoki ryo #naito shuichiro #yamaguchi takaya #translation interview #kamen rider saber

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