Kaya Kiyohara’s bodhisattva nature and terrifying power of the eyes in “Welcome Back Mone”

(This article contains a discussion of the film “To Those Who Were Not Protected” and an explanation of its development. (This article contains a discussion of the movie “To Those Who Were Not Protected” and its development, so please be careful if you have not seen it.

Record-breaking morning drama

Ten years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. NHK’s morning drama “Welcome Back Monet” (NHK) aired on the anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and although the average household viewership did not exceed 20% at any time, the praise for the drama has only grown since it ended.

Okaeri Monet” is a contemporary drama about the pain and rebirth of people who were hurt by the earthquake. Naoko Adachi, who wrote the script, was highly praised for her meticulous and sensitive scenario, and her brilliant foreshadowing, which made a big breakthrough in the history of morning dramas, which had often depicted “the story of a woman’s life.

However, at the beginning of the broadcast, some people said that the heroine was gloomy and the story was heavy. As the number of people who don’t care about watching the drama in real time is increasing, this drama has been highly evaluated because it is worth watching and there is always something to discover no matter how many times you watch it.

In particular, many viewers were fascinated by the performance of Kaya Kiyohara, who plays the heroine Momone.

“In particular, many viewers were fascinated by the performance of Kaya Kiyohara as the heroine Momon, who experienced the earthquake but did not see the tsunami. She is a woman who has experienced the disaster but did not see the tsunami, and is in the difficult position of ‘being a party to the disaster but not being a party to it.

The screenwriter, Naoko Adachi, also wrote, “Living with ‘pain’ at the age when you are the most fresh and dazzling,” and “By comparing yourself with the people you meet, you face your ‘pain’ and sublimate it. Mr. Kiyohara meticulously and delicately expressed the way he sublimates his ‘pain’ by comparing himself with the people he meets,” he said with words of gratitude.

Adachi also expresses his extraordinary trust in Kiyohara, saying, “I wrote the heroine, Momon, with full confidence in Kiyohara. In 2006, Kiyohara played the lead role of Aoi in the NHK drama “Transparent Cradle,” for which Adachi wrote the script, and won numerous awards.

Of all the foreshadowing in “Welcome Back Monet,” episode 118, which aired on October 27, may have been the most surprising. With only three episodes left until the final episode, the trauma of the younger sister Michiru’s (Ayama Makita) inability to leave her hometown is suddenly revealed.

“She confesses that on the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake, she fled alone, leaving behind her grandmother who refused to move no matter what she said or pulled. Momon stares in amazement at her as she cries, “I will never be able to forgive myself. The power in her eyes was mesmerizing.” (Production company director)

In the 119th episode aired the next day, Momon invites unknown to the winter sea. “The next day in episode 119, Momone invites unknown to the winter sea.

“The next day, in episode 119, Momon invites Michiko to the winter sea. It’s not your fault.”

“It’s definitely not your fault.

She repeated. As Momon hugged her, unknown was released from the trauma she had been trapped in and decided to go on to higher education. The divine beauty of Momon, who holds the crying unknown in her arms and lets her tears flow, is simply stunning.

However, divine is not the only charm of actress Kaya Kiyohara. In the movie “To Those Who Were Not Protected,” which is currently in theaters, Kiyohara exposes her fierce gaze.

“Ten years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, a series of bizarre murders occur in Sendai, where people are forced to “starve” to death while being tied up. The investigation leads to the existence of Kei Toshima (Mitsuko Baisho), Yasuhisa Tone (Ken Sato), and a young girl who met at an evacuation center and lived together.

Eventually, Tone is arrested as a suspect, but along with the third murder, the horrific past of one girl, Mikiko Maruyama (Kiyohara), is exposed in broad daylight.

In playing this difficult role, Kiyohara says

“In playing this difficult role, Kiyohara confided, “I was worried about how much I could balance the purity of her character with the roughness deep inside.

But it was Kiyohara’s eyes that caught my attention.

“Kei (Baisho) has starved to death without welfare. When Uesaki (Hidetaka Yoshioka), the target of the murder, rushes to the crematorium, Mikiko (Kiyohara) stares at Uesaki with wide eyes, saying, ‘If she dies, it’s over. The anger lurking behind her eyes was extraordinary.

In an interview, Kiyohara said, “When I finished filming that scene, I was in agony, thinking, ‘This is where it starts. Kiyohara appeared in a completely different film that depicted the theme of the disaster. When his eyes light up, he can become a bodhisattva or a murderer. Kiyohara’s eyes have that kind of terrifying look in them,” said the director of a production company.

One actor who does not hesitate to call Kiyohara a “genius” is Takayuki Yamada.

In the film “Day and Night,” directed by Michihito Fujii and released in 2007, Yamada did not appear in any of the films, but concentrated on planning and producing them. At that time, Kiyohara played Nana, a mysterious girl who lives in an orphanage and gradually plays with the main character, Akashi (Shinnosuke Abe).

Yamada, who saw Kiyohara’s performance out of 500 people at the audition, said, “It was Nana by far. I found her! I cried with joy that I had found her and that she had taken on the role of Nana from the beginning.

In this film, in the scene where she expresses her feelings to Kitamura (Masanobu Ando), the owner of a children’s home, Nana, played by Kiyohara, has a fierce light in her eyes. Kaya Kiyohara is 19 years old. Her potential as an actress is far from over.