Production press conference of NHK drama "Blanket Cats"

The production press conference of NHK drama "Blanket Cats" was held at the TV station's HQ on 14 June which was attended by cast members Nishijima Hidetoshi, Kichise Michiko and Shimazaki Haruka as well as the first episode's guest star Renbutsu Misako. The drama which is based on the short novel by Shigematsu Kiyoshi, features Nishijima as the lead character Shiina Shuusuke who owns a furniture shop and lives with the 7 cats left behind by his late wife. Through searching for new owners for his cats with his childhood friend Fujimura Misaki who is the director of a nearby animal hospital, this brings warmth to the lives of the people they meet during the process.

As they had to film with cats, it was a very tough process initially and the cast revealed that there were scenes in the first episode alone which had to be filmed 30 times. However, things got better from the second episode onwards which could be due to the cats being used to the filming. Nishijima revealed that it was amazing that the cats responded in the same way as depicted in the script as if the cats had read the script and knew how to react. Although Nishijima tended to appear in many suspense and action works where he hardly smiled, his co-stars revealed that his interactions with the cats turned out to be full of warmth so it will definitely bring a smile to the viewers as they watch the drama. Renbutsu who only appeared in the first episode, said that she didn't know that cats were so tough to deal with as they did not listen to instructions.

The drama which consists of 7 episodes, will begin its run from 23 June in the Fridays 10pm timeslot.

Sources: Eiga.com / Oricon