Production press conference of TV Asahi Spring 2017 drama "Joshuu Seven"

The production press conference of TV Asahi Spring 2017 drama "Joshuu Seven" was held on 17 April which was attended by cast members Gouriki Ayame, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Triendl Reina, Hiraiwa Kami, Kino Hana, Hashimoto Manami and Adachi Yumi who were all dressed in pink and walked on a runway as to parade their outfits as if they were doing a fashion show. The drama which begins its run from 21 April in the Fridays 11.15pm timeslot, is written by Nishiogi Yumie and features seven female prisoners who had committed various crimes and describes their interaction and interpersonal relationships while behind bars. Gouriki plays the lead character Kamiwatari Kotone who was a geigi in Kyoto sentenced to five years in prison (the lowest sentence for this crime) for the murder of her fellow geigi while in a drunken stupor. Although all the evidence pointed to Kotone as the murderer, she insisted that she did not do it but to no avail. During her imprisonment, Kotone is bullied by other inmates but doesn't think much of it because she had been used to the tough disciplinary actions by her seniors in the geigi world. Unknown to the others, Kotone has a lot of strength, can easily fight anyone with aikido, pretends to be stupid but is actually very smart, fluent in English and French and has very good hearing. At the end of the drama, the reason why Kotone was framed for the murder will also be revealed.

Gouriki revealed that like her character Kotone, she has a lot of strength since she was a child and fought with boys when she was in primary school. There was also a time when she got into constant arguments with her mother but they are very close now so she wondered why she had been that rebellious then. Hashimoto chipped in to say that she had seen Gouriki's action scenes up close so she wanted to get a stand-in for her clashes with Gouriki because she didn't think that she would stand a chance against the latter.

Adachi who plays a prisoner caught for repeated dine-and-dash crimes, joked that people may think that she is still poor after all these years to resort to such crimes because she was known for playing a poor girl in her signature work "Ienakiko" when she was a child actor. On the other hand, Triendl who had to learn how to speak crudely like a gangster, bought the manga "Bukkomi no Taku" as preparation for the filming. Meanwhile, Hashimoto who usually played sexy characters in dramas, said that she would conceal her sexiness in this drama but her co-stars protested that she was still sexy even in the prisoner's uniform which covered most of her body.

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2