First-day-screening event of new movie "Funouhan"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Funouhan" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on 1 February which was attended by the director Shiraishi Koji and cast members Matsuzaka Toori, Sawajiri Erika, Arata Mackenyu, Mamiya Shotaro, Mano Erina and Ashina Sei. The story is based on the ongoing same-titled manga by Miyatsuki Arata and Kanzaki Yuuya and features Matsuzaka as Usobuki Tadashi who is a mysterious man with red eyes, wears black suits with a wine-red shirt and possesses a special power which will drive people to their death through methods such as curses and brainwashing. However, it is impossible for his crimes to be proven in court thus Usobuki cannot be taken to justice for the killings he did on behalf of his clients. Sawajiri plays the role of Tada Tomoko who is a police detective and the only person who cannot be controlled by Usobuki. She is the number one beauty in the police station who hates lies and beating around the bush. Although she may speak harshly, she's actually very caring towards her subordinates and even the criminals. In the original manga, this character is actually a man but it was decided to change this to a female instead so as to contrast against the evil and bewitching Usobuki.

Matsuzaka revealed that he had been doing so much promotion in the past month that 90% of his work was related to variety shows while the remaining 10% was acting. However, thanks to this experience, he found himself being more adept at communicating with other people such as comedians so it was a positive experience after all. As for Sawajiri, she also reflected on the enjoyable filming and that this movie is a memorable work for her. The director even promoted the movie in an unusual way by describing this as a film about murders which families can watch together. Matsuzaka then expressed his thanks to the PR staff of this movie for doing their best to help them promote the film to as many people as possible.

During the event, the cast were also subjected to a psychological test where they were asked to name their favourite food without knowing the nature of the test. Shiraishi chose takoyaki while Ashina chose steak, Arata chose fish, Mamiya chose sushi, Sawajiri and Mano opted for cheese and vinegared mozuku seaweed. Last but not least, Matsuzaka picked the red flesh of maguro. It turned out that the test was to see how wicked they are based on the experimental results released by University of Innsbruck in 2016 which found that those who are psychopathic, narcissistic or sadistic tend to like foods which are very sour or bitter. As Mano chose the most sour food among everyone, everyone burst out laughing at this revelation.

Sources: Eiga.com / Natalie