Completion screening event of new movie "Sangatsu no Lion Zenpen"

The completion screening event of new movie "Sangatsu no Lion Zenpen" was held on 22 February which was attended by the director Otomo Keishi and cast members Kamiki Ryuunosuke, Arimura Kasumi, Kurashina Kana, Sometani Shota, Kiyohara Kaya, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Maeda Gin, Nakamura Tomoya, Okuno Eita, Niitsu Chise and Toyokawa Etsushi. The movie which is based on the same-titled manga by Umino Chika, consists of two parts where Part 1 will be shown in cinemas from 18 March while Part 2 will be shown from 22 April.

Kamiki plays the lead character Kiriyama Rei, a 17-year-old professional shogi player who made his debut during junior high which was extremely rare. He lives alone at a suburb town in Tokyo as his parents and younger sister died during a traffic accident when he was young. While coping with the loneliness in his life, Rei aims to become a top-class shogi player. One day, Rei comes to know three sisters from the Kawamoto family i.e. Akari, Hinata and Momo (Kurashina, Kiyohara and Niitsu) which offers him much-needed warmth in his life as he grapples with the struggles in the competitive shogi world.

As Kamiki had to film a number of shogi game scenes, he cited having to sit on his soles as one of the toughest things he had to do since each scene would take about 10 to 15 mins. This resulted in his legs and feet being numb and he suffered cramps every time at the end of each scene. Sasaki who also plays a shogi player, echoed Kamiki's view and said that he suffered from pain in his back and legs for about two weeks after filming the shogi scenes.

During the event, the host asked the cast to share interesting episodes they had during the filming. Kamiki then took on the role of leading his co-stars to talk during the 15 minutes for this segment which led Nakamura to tease him for being so talkative. Upon hearing this, Kamiki "retorted" that he had to talk because the rest of them didn't want to take the initiative to talk. Arimura also related an incident when she saw Kamiki hiding something under the pillow in the bedroom of Rei on the set and found that it was chocolate. When she asked Kamiki about it, he replied her with a smile that he placed the chocolate there in case anyone wanted to eat it.

Before the filming began, the actresses who play the Kawamoto sisters actually spent a night together at the house which was featured as their home in the movie. As such, they got close really quickly to the extent that Kamiki "complained" that he felt left out when he was with them.

Sources: Nikkansports / Oricon / Eiga.com