Bisco Hatori Blog: 2011-10-05

The Drama Cast - Part 1

translated by yanie

Host Club Live Action successfully created it's own imaginative world.
I have to thank the cast for that too.

There might be spoilers so I'm hiding the contents here.
I just realized I might have written comments for each episode here...

Since this is gonna be long, I'll separate this into several entries.

I'll talk about Haruhi and Tamaki for now.

TBS suggested "Kawaguchi Haruna" name to me to play Haruhi's role. And so I checked out her commercials and drama, "Yankee-kun and Megane-chan".

I remember my expectation got higher as I saw them and thought, "So this cute and pretty girl will play Haruhi!". I was kinda worried if it's okay for this cute girl to disguise as a boy... And is it okay that her first leading drama would be Host Club...!? But then I started to get used to her short hair, episode by episode. And her natural acting was excellent. By now, I think it's impossible for anyone else besides Kawaguchi Haruna, to play Haruhi.
She's a bit tall for a girl, and that's the only difference she has with Haruhi. But in any case, she has a nice style and when she's standing next to the other Host Club members, the balance looked great. She's really the live-action Haruhi in her own way.

For the manga, I created each character to be extremely unique and that's the selling point. But during the minutes meeting, I realized that as the characters will be played by real people, on the contrary, we can't cast ones with the exact same appearances as the manga. But then I really couldn't imagine the direction.
However, Haruna-chan's version of Haruhi, although she's cool, but she has her human side showing through more than the manga version, and I think that's nice and wonderful. I feel really touched.

I have many favorite Haruhi's scenes, but I especially love her cold look toward Tamaki (laughs). It reflects her beautiful face features. Her expressionless yet annoyed face while getting rid of Tamaki's hearts in the opening scene of Episode 3, was perfect! Episode 7 is generally my most fav episode. And I totally love her expression saying "Kikoetemasu (I heard you)" and her intonation saying "Shouganai naa (It can't be helped)". Furthermore, her acting performance in the final episode was really wonderful, that I cried too. I'm really grateful to everyone who has suggested her and to Haruna-chan herself for accepting Haruhi's role. Thank you so much!!

Haruna-chan really looks pretty with her long hair. She's totally Haruhi! I thought, so different than the manga, I wanted her to keep her long hair in Tamaki's imaginary scenes, and I'm glad that the director had the same opinion as mine (^^)
She especially looked super cute in the bento imaginary scene in Episode 6!

I heard from the director and producer that she always makes the situation lively on the set. I feel touched with that personality of hers too. I feel so happy to hear that all the cast are getting along so well, too (^^)

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Regarding Yamamoto Yusuke-kun playing Tamaki...

First of all, if Yamamoto-kun didn't accept the role offer, this live action project wouldn't have even started.

Before, even when someone offered a live action idea, I had turn it down for reasons, besides I couldn't imagine how it'd be like, it was mostly because "I can't imagine a live action Tamaki".

Yamamoto Yusuke-kun's name was suggested to me by someone a couple of years ago.

That time, I was watching "Ninkyo Helper" drama and when I saw him I thought "This employee boy is so firm and handsome,". He stay calm facing a violent new guy and when I saw the scene when he was explaining everyone's job in front of a white board, for a second there I thought "He looked like Tamaki...". The key point was the white board though. (laughs) He looks great in suits and he has a nice voice.

And then, when someone suggested me Yamamoto-kun for Tamaki's role, this might be rude, but I honestly didn't know that name. When I asked which drama he's acting in, I was surprised to hear "Ninkyo Helper". Then, my assistant recommended me "Atashinchi no Danshi" drama. As I watched him playing a character with such high tension, I vaguely felt "He might be able to play Tamaki". Yamamoto-kun is not a mix, so many things has to be definitely changed. But Tamaki's character has a wide range. Acting skill is definitely essential for a wide-ranged role. The first time I ever think "He might be able to play Tamaki" is when I saw Yamamoto-kun.

And then, a couple of years later, this live action idea came again to me. The whole project plan started once TBS and me agreed about Tamaki's role.

The result, Yamamoto-kun was totally Tamaki, more than I expected. (laughs) Tamaki is the vital point of the story. So it might give pressure to whoever playing him. I heard he had his worries, indeed, playing the role. I feel really sorry for him, but I'm really, very glad that Yamamoto-kun is Tamaki, and I think this drama won't be perfect without Yamamoto-kun.

There are many popular Tamaki's scenes but my favorites were in the opening of Episode 3 when Haruhi pushed him down and he shouted, "Aaa... ita'!(it hurt!)"... Tamaki searching for Kuma-chan...Tamaki who kept pushing the trap buttons which were set by the twins in Episode 6.... and his childish crying scene by the river in Episode 7. Episode 7 especially surpassed my expectation. I was really impressed!

I love all of his serious scenes, but I especially love his serious parts in Episode 5 and the final episode. He's realistically playing the idiotic Tamaki, to the extent that it made me think "This guy... yeah, he's really an idiot..."... (IT'S A COMPLIMENT!)
But then the contrast looked really great, during his serious scene, like when he was angry toward Haruhi. I feel moved by Yamamoto-kun's ability in building up Tamaki's character in his own way.

He made improvised adlib starting midway too... and I thought, "He went too much!" (laughs) He really made me laugh (^^) Thank you so much for such an excellent Tamaki!

Next part would be about Kyoya and Hikaru-Kaoru!

source: http://biscoroom.blog99.fc2.com/blog-entry-130.html