Preview of "Ai wo kou hito" (Drama SP)

Title: Ai wo kou hito 愛を乞うひと (A person begging for love)
Official website: here
Official Twitter page: here
O.A. Date: 11 January 2017, 9pm
Broadcast by: NTV / Yomiuri TV
Original novel by: Shimoda Harumi
Theme Song: Alone by Nakashima Mika
Cast: Shinohara Ryoko, Hirose Arisu, Suzuki Rio, Sugimoto Tetta, Muro Tsuyoshi, Hirayama Hiroyuki, Terajima Susumu, Toyohara Kousuke, Kimura Tae and Kamikawa Takaya

Hirose Arisu to play the daughter of Shinohara Ryoko in NTV drama SP "Ai wo kou hito"

Hirose Arisu will be working with Shinohara Ryoko for the first time when she plays her daughter in the upcoming NTV drama SP "Ai wo kou hito" which is due to be shown this winter. Hirose's role will be Migusa, the daughter of Terue (Shinohara) who had suffered abuse by her mother Toyoko (also played by Shinohara) as a child. When Terue reunites with her brother who had been separated from her when he was born, memories of her past resurface and she comes to know about her mother's whereabouts in Taiwan. With Migusa's encouragement, Terue musters up the courage to find her mother which also lets Migusa know a side of the latter who she has never been aware of.

Hirose recounted that while seeing Shinohara manage two very different roles, she was very inspired by her great acting and felt like like she was looking at two different persons. This led her to resolve to improve her acting so as to do something like this one day. As Migusa is the only innocent and bright character in this emotionally-heavy drama, the staff decided to choose Hirose to play the character due to her cheerful image.

During the filming at Taiwan and Japan in August, Hirose revealed that she had a lot of fun chatting with Shinohara when they took the flight home. She praised Shinohara for being someone easy to talk to and it was very comfortable to spend time with her. In response, Shinohara said that Hirose's cheerfulness was a great help to her during the filming period.

Source: Sanspo

Shinohara Ryoko to star in NTV drama SP "Ai wo kou hito"

Shinohara Ryoko will be starring in the upcoming NTV drama SP "Ai wo kou hito" (A person begging for love) which will be shown during winter this year. The drama SP which is based on the same-titled novel by Shimoda Harumi, describes the bond between mother and daughter and is Shinohara's first drama SP in seven and a half years and her first playing two characters.

Shinohara plays a mother named Toyoko who doesn't know how to love her daughter Terue and subjects the latter to physical abuse when she was a child. As a result, Terue was hungry for love but didn't know how to be loved. Years later, Terue grows up and has a daughter Migusa who is in senior high school when she reunites with her brother Takenori who was separated from her at birth. Due to the reunion, memories of her miserable childhood come flooding back. With the support of Migusa, Terue decides to head to Taiwan to look for her late father's grave and finds out the truth behind her mother's behaviour after meeting Toyoko there. The entire filming had been completed with parts of it done in Taiwan.

Prior to this drama SP, there was a movie version in 1998 starring Harada Mieko which had won eight awards including Best Movie and Best Leading Actress in the Nihon Academy Prize. Shinohara revealed that she had watched the movie and was so impressed by it so she had wanted to act in an adaptation of this novel one day if she had the chance. As such, when the offer came along, she was very happy and hopes that viewers will be touched by this drama. As for having to play two very different characters this time, Shinohara said that it was difficult but she found a lot of meaning and satisfaction in playing them. In particular, she liked playing Toyoko very much and would sometimes wonder if she can go back to playing her while she was acting as Terue. Shinohara also revealed that one reason which prompted her participation in this drama is the theme of child abuse and she wanted to make more people aware of this issue through this meaningful production.

Sources: Oricon / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi