Completion screening event of new movie "Hitsuji no Ki"

The completion screening event of new movie "Hitsuji no Ki" was held at Yomiuri Hall on 13 December which was attended by the director Yoshida Daihachi and cast members Nishikido Ryo, Kimura Fumino, Yuka, Ichikawa Mikako, Mizusawa Shingo, Tanaka Min and Matsuda Ryuhei. The movie will be screened in cinemas from 3 February and is based on the same-titled manga by Yamagami Tatsuhiko and Igarashi Mikio where it describes how former offenders of serious crimes are allowed to live at a seaside town but face conflicts with the local residents after various cases happen after their arrival. The manga won the 2014 Agency for Cultural Affairs' Excellence Award in the Media Arts Awards.

Nishikido plays the role of Tsukisue Hajime, an employee in the city government at Uobukashi City which is located beside the sea and is tasked to be the person-in-charge of taking in the former offenders. Kimura Fumino plays the character Aya who was Tsukisue's ex-classmate and returns to her hometown. The six former offenders who were murderers will be played by Kitamura Kazuki who plays an arrogant man working on a fishing boat Sugiyama Katsushi, Yuka who plays a sexy welfare worker Ota Rieko, Ichikawa who plays a meticulous and shy cleaner Kurimoto Kiyomi, Mizusawa who plays a timid hair stylist Fukumoto Hiroki, Tanaka who plays a quiet man working at a laundry shop Ono Katsumi and Matsuda who plays an innocent and curious courier deliveryman Miyakoshi Ichiro.

Nishikido said that as this was the first time he was acting with Matsuda, he was very nervous but things got better between them after they went for some drinking sessions. Besides, his character was supposed to be led around by the nose by the former murderers, he was feeling rather stressed on the way to the filming location in Toyama and felt extremely relieved when he was on the way back to Tokyo. Matsuda also echoed his view and said that the confusion over how to interact with Nishikido was probably evident as well in the movie. When asked to reflect on any memorable incidents during the filming, Kimura said that there was a scene which didn't require Matsuda to dance but he suddenly started doing so without warning. With regard to this, Matsuda said that if that instruction had been written in the script, he would probably have hesitated to do so.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sponichi / Natalie / Eiga.com