Honda Tsubasa & Yamamoto Mizuki work together in new movie "Shoujo"

Honda Tsubasa and Yamamoto Mizuki will be appearing together as the leads in the new movie "Shoujo" (Young Girl) based on Minato Kanae's same-titled bestselling novel. Filming has been completed and the movie is in post-production stage which is expected to end in March so as to meet the release date in autumn 2016.

Despite being 23 and 24 years old respectively, Honda and Yamamoto will be playing Year 2 senior high school girls who are 17 years old in this movie directed by Mishima Yukiko. According to the producer, they had deliberately chosen them who are in their twenties rather than someone around the same age as the characters because they have already gone through their teenager years and are able to show how it is like to grow from a teenager to a woman in a realistic way.

Honda takes on the role of Yuki who is a girl that nobody can understand and comprehend what she's thinking about. She comes from a family who has to take care of her grandmother who is suffering from dementia. Due to a past incident, Yuki suffered an injury which cannot be erased on her left hand thus leading her to hate her grandmother. On the other hand, Yamamoto plays her best friend Atsuko who is a naive and innocent girl who was bullied in the past. As a result of that experience, Atsuko would get a hyperpnea attack when she's overly nervous or treated badly by others. Bonded by their own emotional traumas, the girls start to have this idea of wanting to see the moment when someone dies so the movie describes what happens during their summer vacation from their respective viewpoints as they try to make this idea come true.

Honda who has played mostly cheerful characters to date, revealed that she was worried about playing such a dark character but also views it as a welcome challenge. As for Yamamoto, she also had a similar concern and commented that it was stressful in trying to convey the various emotions felt by her character. Having worked together four times to date, Honda praised her co-star for having a high level of concentration and is very observant towards people which helps in her acting. On the other hand, Yamamoto commented that Honda has her pace of doing things and they had fun playing games and chatting during the filming breaks

When interviewed about the leads, Minato praised them for fitting the image of the characters. She explained that Honda was who she had in mind for Yuki who may seem strong on the surface but is fragile inside. On the other hand, Yamamoto who plays Atsuko, may seem like someone who is weak but actually has a tough psychological state which is concealed under her appearance. Minato said that viewers will find it interesting to picture them in the characters even if they are to re-read the novel.

Source: Oricon