Yoko Maki Performing Again on the Stage as A Sexy but with Funny Character in “Parasite”

The stage play “Parasite” (“Theater Milanza,” Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo), in which Yoko Maki (40) appears, has been well received.’ The stage version of the 19-year-old Korean film “Parasite: A Family in the Half-Land” won the Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, the first time a Korean film has won the Palme d’Or. At the 92nd Academy Awards, it won the most number of awards in four categories. I went to see what the film would be like on stage, and the result exceeded my expectations.

Although the setting of the story was changed from Seoul, Korea to Kobe and replaced with the story of a Japanese family, the story is almost the same as the movie. The actors playing the roles of the father, played by the famous Korean actor Song Gang-ho in the movie, are played by Arata Furuta (57), the mother by Noriko Eguchi (43), the son who plans to parasitize the rich family is played by Hio Miyazawa (29), and his sister is played by Sairi Ito (29). The rich family’s host is Keiya Yamauchi (51), his wife is played by Yoko Maki, and the housekeeper is played by Midoriko Kimura (61). Among them, Maki was the most conspicuous.

Maki appeared in the movie “Nemesis: The Mystery of the Golden Spiral,” which was released in March of this year, but has not appeared in a drama since “Nemesis” (NTV), which was broadcast in April 2009, and only appeared in a drama on the information program “ZIP! It has been 10 years since she appeared on stage.

Maki’s life as an actress had been going smoothly until then, but in July 2005, she became concerned about the low ratings of the drama in which she starred, “Cecil’s Mokuroku” (Fuji TV), and posted a “video” on her Twitter account in which she got down on her knees. In August of the same year, he was invited to a comic book market, Photo Magazine. In August of the same year, she announced that she would sell a photo magazine and a newly shot calendar at Comic Market. In November, she cancelled the movie “SUNNY: Strong Feelings, Strong Love” just before the shooting. In January of the following year, she left her longtime agency. The announcement stated that her contract had expired, but some reported that there had been some trouble.

Although Maki has been labeled a “disturbed actress,” she showed her presence in the movie “Blood of a Lone Wolf,” released in May 2006, in which she played a club mama whose lover is killed.

This is the first time in 10 years that Maki has taken on the stage in “Parasite. The role is that of a madam of a rich family who is a parasite. In the movie, the madam is a refined wife of the upper class, but the madam played by Maki is an “Obachan of the Kansai region” with a strong accent. Most of the outfits she wears are leopard print and clearly show the lines of her body. She also showed off her racy bathrobe, and her style, which has been talked about at every opportunity, was still there.

What was more surprising to the audience was her acting ability. Her squeaky, high-pitched voice, occasional use of English, and overacted mannerisms were far removed from the Maki the audience had imagined. The audience loved this performance. It was a valuable spice to the tense story. At the end of the performance, the audience gave her a standing ovation, just like at Cannes.

Maki has put an extraordinary amount of thought into this play. “Maki is going into this play with a very special feeling,” said Maki, “because her co-stars are all talented actors, and she is performing with Sairi Ito, who is at the peak of her powers. But that doesn’t mean he is going to compete with them. I feel that he has awakened to a new genre of “character actor” through this stage performance. I think we will be able to see more than just cool performances from Maki in TV dramas in the future.

There is no doubt that Yoko Maki has made a complete comeback. Having broken new ground, Maki’s next starring role will be in “Undercurrent,” scheduled for release in October. We can’t wait to see what kind of performance she will give.