Sakaguchi Kentaro: "I want to be a man who can watch over her by her side." What is your future relationship with Momone? <Okaeri Mone Interview>
The original interview can be found here. NHK's 104th Asadora "Okaeri Mone" aired a year ago and I still can't move on. Hence, I'm translating the remaining interviews related to Kiyohara Kaya and Sakaguchi Kentaro. I haven't translate for awhile now, so please pardon with the mistranslation.
Disclaimer: I'm still a novice translator, hence my translation is not 100% accurate.
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Actor Sakaguchi Kentaro is currently starring as a yoing doctor in NHK's television series "Okaeri Mone", in which actress Kiyohara Kaya starred as the heroine. We asked Sakaguchi, who is already attracting attention for his cool and unfriendly personality in this drama, to talk about the difficulties of acting, memories with his co-star, and his own thoughts on the future of the story.
Sakaguchi Kentaro plays a cool doctor in "Okaeri Mone"
The 104th Asadora "Okaeri Mone" is a story of hope for the heroine, Nagaura Momone who was born and raised in Kesennuma, the city of sea and spends her youth in Tome, the city of forest. She delivers a happy "future" to people through her job as a weather forecaster who is throughly deals with "weather". This is an original work written by Adachi Naoko.
Sakaguchi plays Suganami Kotaro, a young doctor who grows up together with Momone, who is played Kiyohara. Suganami works at Yonema Clinic, which is attached to the forestry cooperative office. He is based at a university hospital in Tokyo, but comes to the clinic in Miyagi every other week. He has cool personality that is calm and emotionally unreadable, constantly cold and unfriendly. His future relationship with Momone is also attracting a lot of attention.
Sakaguchi Kentaro: "I feel that a very beautiful asadora has started"
—Although the broadcast has just started on 17th May, can you tell us how do you feel about it now, including the response from the viewers?
Sakaguchi: Although it has only just begun, the background and relationships surrounding Momone are gradually revealed and I think that Momone's feelings are being gradually conveyed to the viewers. Above all, I feel that a very beautiful asadora has started in terms of visuals.
—Sakaguchi-san, what kind of role do you think your character Suganami plays?
Sakaguchi: I thought that this role allowed me to see many different sides of him. At first, Suganami may seem unfriendly but at the same time, there is a depressed Suganami who seems to have something in his past. While Suganami has a dark side, he also gets excited and spins around when he teaches Momone.
At first, the people at the forestry cooperative were like "There's this guy named Suganami-sensei." but eventually they started to say "Hey, Suganami-sensei!" and I think the viewers gradually began to see him in a more endearing light.
—Please tell us the main highlights of your role, Suganami.
Sakaguchi: In the first week, Suganami's character is still wrapped in mystery and I think there is a strong sense of "what kind of person is he?" that he is a bit distant from the people at forestry cooperative and Momone. He is still a mysterious character at the moment, but I would be happy if you could pay attention to how he and Momone will weave a story together and how he will be changed by Momone in the future.
Kiyohara Kaya is a "very pleasant actress" to work with
—Please tell us your impression of Kiyohara Kaya-san since participating in the current filming.
Sakaguchi: When I first worked with Kaya-chan, I thought that she was very serious about what her role is thinking. Recently, there have moments when I feel that "Kaya-chan is Momone and Momone is Kaya-chan". However, such moments are difficult to create unless you have a strong link with the role or if you don't mix yourself with the role. While I was acting in the drama, I was reminded again that she is a very pleasant actress.
Okaeri Mone's script is a kind of script that "you can gradually develop a taste for by chewing on it"
—There is an impression that Adachi Naoko-san's scripts are very careful, as if you can feel between the lines. Can you tell us what do you find attractive about her script and also the difficulties do you find in acting?
Sakaguchi: Adachi-san's script is truly wonderful. She wrote really well on things where "you'd like to taste more" in a scene. The script is written in such a way that the audience can enjoy the flavour of the story by chewing on it carefully. I think everyone feels that if we can comprehend the script that we received and make it work, it will be a very interesting drama.
—Were there any differences between your impressions when you read the original script and when you finished the filming? On the contrary, were there any things that were positive?
Sakaguchi: Kiyohara Kaya-chan's transparency and the sense of purity she possesses really matches the image in this drama. I think that the image of the script and the actual location footage are good crossovers.
When I first read the script, I thought "what's with this guy?" (laughs). But I am sure you will find it interesting and enjoyable to see how he changed after meeting Momone.
Ten years after the earthquake, the filming location Miyagi is "beautiful"
—As this time, the setting is in Miyagi Prefecture where it has attracted a lot of attention after 10 years since the earthquake. Does Sakaguchi-san have any memories of Miyagi Prefecture?
Sakaguchi: I have a lot of relatives in Tohoku region around Fukushima and Miyagi, somehow I feel a sense of closeness (laughs).
It has been 10 years since the earthquake, but as the years have passed and I have been in Tokyo for a little while, I feel that my memories of the disaster have somehow faded away, and I think that is not good. In the midst of the difficult situation caused by the Corona disaster, I was once again delighted to be able to do a drama surrounded by such beautiful scenery.
Sakaguchi Kentaro who is charmed by dialect, "I think it's all cute in general"
—In this drama, there are dialects are that are used. Does Sakaguchi-san ever have a "dialect crush" before?
Sakaguchi: I'm from Tokyo, so I don't have a dialect or accent myself, I think people who speak dialect are cute. I think it's cute when Momone uses dialect and I also think it's cute even when a man uses it (laughs). If you're from Tokyo, you have your parent's house, but you don't have the habit of going back to your hometown, so it's hard to feel like you're home. For example, when you go back to your parent's house, your dialect comes out. I envy people having such a "place to return".
—Sakaguchi-san, are there any dialect words spoken by women that you find cute?
Sakaguchi: I think women who impulsively speak in dialect are all cute in general (laughs).
Sakaguchi Kentaro: "I want to be a man who can watch over her by her side"
—In the current filming, you have many scenes in Tome City, but will you be taking more scenes in Kesennuma in the future?
Sakaguchi: I have many scenes in Tome City but not many scenes in Kesennuma. However, I had the opportunity to shoot a film in Kesennuma for a long time in another work and I was able to eat a lot of food there. Like, grilled swordfish.
—Kiyohara-san also mentioned that she likes grilled swordfish.
Sakaguchi: Did Kaya-chan say that too? (laughs). Grilled swordfish was delicious. Also, Suganami likes sharks so much that he has stuffed animals. I went to Shark Museum during my last filming break! There was a room that was -30 degrees Celcius, I went in there and it was very cold (laughs). I don't why I went to a colder place in winter, so I would like to go there in summer next time (laughs).
—A doctor from Tokyo and a girl from Kesennuma don't often meet each other. How do you see the role of Momone through the role of Suganami?
Sakaguchi: I was actually in Tokyo at the time of the earthquake and did not experience the real situation, but she (Mone) who was born in Tohoku region of Kesennuma, happened to be away at the time while her family was there. I was very much aware that this would be a sad or painful feeling.
There are many scenes in which I, as Suganami, look at her objectively. As time goes by and we both come to understand our relationship, I want to be a man who can support her or rather, watch over her by her side, through my role as Suganami and also my perspectives as someone from Tokyo.
The "future" of Suganami played by Sakaguchi Kentaro and Momone played by Kiyohara Kaya
—You mentioned earlier that Suganami has scenes where he is teased by forestry cooperative people, but will Suganami's character be different when he is alone with Momone? Please tell us how the relationship between the two will develop, including your hopes in the future.
Sakaguchi: This is hard (laughs). That being said, I think there is a part of him that is changing little by little. At first, Suganami was a man who was not very good at getting deeply involved with other people, but I feel that this will gradually changing as he gets involved with her and spends time with her.
At first, Suganami was just thinking, "There's a strange girl here" but not to the point of "I'm interested in her". But when he saw how Momone sacrificed herself for the forestry cooperative and worked for the benefit of others, his opinion changed from "she seems to be a cheerful girl" to "this person is a little different from the others".
—Finally, how would like the viewers to perceive the two of them?
Sakaguchi: I hope that you will feel relieved when you watch Momone and Suganami's scenes and find their relationship endearing.
—Thank you very much.
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