Comments from Kaito Sakurai, who plays the main character Aqua in the live-action adaptation of "Oshi no Ko have been released. Sakurai, who was originally a fan of the original manga, said, "There was a lot of pressure because it's a work with a lot of fans," explaining how she felt when she received the offer. She continued, "I did feel pressure, but more than anything, I wanted to play the role of Aqua so much that when I first spoke with the director and producer, I told them honestly, 'To be honest, I don't want anyone else to play this role.'"
During the filming period, which took place from November last year to March this year, she re-read the original work and thoroughly incorporated the character of Aqua into herself. "First of all, it was my feelings towards the original work. I wanted to see how I could project myself into the character that (original authors) Aka Akasaka sensei and Mengo Yokoyari-sensei brought into this world," she explained.
He then reflected, "I absolutely did not want to destroy the image of Aqua from the original work, so before shooting each scene, I looked at the same scene in the original work and checked as many details as possible, such as Aqua's facial expression, how she moved, whether she was sitting or standing, whether she had her hands in her pockets or not, etc."
It seems that the original authors, Akasaka and Yokoyari, also visited the filming location several times, and he revealed, "The first time I met them, I was so nervous that I just stood there stiff. I heard later that even Akasaka-sensei and Yokoyari-sensei were like, 'You were extremely nervous'... (laughs). It was incredibly nerve-wracking to meet the authors of a work that I love and respect that much. But the second time I met them, they were so frank with me that I was able to talk to them about various things without feeling nervous."
Finally, he appealed, "It was an incredibly valuable experience for me as an actor to be able to play a role that I've always wanted to play in a work that I love, with the support of so many people. I hope as many people as possible will see the live-action version of Oshi no Ko we all created."
"Oshi no Ko is based on the manga of the same name, which has been serialized in Weekly Young Jump (Shueisha) since 2020 and has sold over 18 million copies (as of July this year). Set in the entertainment industry, it tells the story of the twin siblings of legendary idol Ai. The live-action version is a joint project between Amazon and Toei, and the eight-episode drama will be exclusively streamed on Prime Video from 9:00 pm on November 28th, with the movie opening nationwide on December 20th.