Completion screening event of new movie "Niwatori Star"

The completion screening event of new movie "Niwatori Star" was held at Space FS Shiodome on 10 February 2018 which was attended by the director Kanata Ookami and cast members Iura Arata, Narita Ryo, Sara Mary, Abe Ryohei, LiLiCo and Tsuda Kanji. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 17 March and 24 March in Tokyo and Osaka respectively.

The story describes how a jaded marijuana dealer Souta (Iura) and Rakuto, a sex maniac covered with tattoos and sports a Mohawk live together without a worry. However, things change when Rakuto decides to move out to stay with a single mother Tsukimi (Sara) which then leads the yakuza to interrupt their peaceful life.

Iura who is an old friend of the director, commented on the latter's directorial debut as something which meant a lot to him especially since he had observed up close how the director came up with the novel and then the movie. Kanata had told him before that he would make a movie one day so Iura was always on standby to wait for that day.

Before the start of the filming, Iura and Narita lived together in a rented apartment for 10 days to prepare which led the director and LiLiCo to ask them teasingly if they had kissed. Narita then replied that this will be an answer he will bring to his grave while Iura joked that they had "made their dirty things clean" which was reflective of Souta and Rakuto's unusual relationship. As for the JPY 100,000 given by the producer as their living expenses for those 10 days, Iura revealed that they spent it all at the cabaret on drinks.

Narita commented that he was very confident about playing Rakuto when he got the offer and talked about the unusual workshop he had with the director. During the session, he was asked questions like whether he had anything to be embarrassed about and even told to strip and sing the song "Ponytail to shushu". The director then explained that as Narita is a model cum actor, he wanted to see how far he would go for this controversial movie and was very impressed by the latter's willingness to try anything. Likewise for Sara who is making her acting debut, she expressed her shock that the director was willing to give a chance to someone as inexperienced as her. She also had to go through the same workshop with Narita while holding hands with him and looking at him in the eyes as she talked about her life in 2 hours. As a result of this experience, this helped her to face up to the ugly emotions within herself which she couldn't even confide to her parents and play the character in the movie.

Iura and Narita gave the director a surprise present to express their gratitude which was revealed to be a bolster bearing their pictures. This made the audience laugh as the director said that this was in retaliation for what he did to them during the filming. During the event, it was also announced that there will be a lucky draw for one viewer who will get the naming certificate issued by Springbrook Research Observatory in Australia as one star near the Hercules Star will be named Niwatori Star. Details can be found on the official website.

Sources: Natalie / Eiga.com