Completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Kenja no Ai"

The completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Kenja no Ai" was held on 19 August which was attended by cast members Nakayama Miho, Takaoka Saki and Ryusei Ryo. The drama which consists of 4 episodes and begins its run from 20 August in the Saturdays 10pm timeslot, is based on the same-titled romance novel by Yamada Amy. Nakayama plays the heroine Mayuko who always had her important things seized by her best friend Yuri. The last straw came when Yuri snatched her first love and married him subsequently. In order to get back at her, Mayuko spends the next 20 years cultivating the son of Yuri and her first love into the ideal man she likes in order to get back at the two of them for betraying her.

Nakayama commented that as this is the first time that she is acting in such a love-and-hatred drama, she was very eager to give it a shot. When asked about her character Mayuko's tenacity, she commented that although it was frightening, it was also interesting at the same time because her revenge which would turn into pure love at the end is going to be a sad tale. She also said that she can't keep on thinking of revenge all the time and would not recommend anyone to continue bearing a grudge like how Mayuko does. On the other hand, Takaoka explained that her character Yuri admired her buddy so much that she wanted to become her by snatching away what the latter treasured. Perhaps she did not mean any malice at first but her actions had messed up their lives in the end. To show how Yuri would pester Mayuko to give away the things she likes, Takaoka jokingly asked Nakayama to give her the earrings she was wearing but Nakayama retorted straight away that she wouldn't do that which was in contrast to how their relationship was in the drama. Nakayama also chipped in by saying that Mayuko must have hated Yuri for making all these demands but continued to be her friend because she couldn't bear to leave Yuri alone.

As for Ryusei, he was quite pressured to be filming a kiss scene with Nakayama and seeing her bare back and buttocks on the first day of the shooting. However, things got better later and he grew to enjoy the filming even though they had to act in more intimate scenes as the story progressed.

Source: Oricon