Takuya Kimura Stars in the Highly-Anticipated “Kazehama Kimochin-Kyobashira 0-” Series

The final episode of “Kazama Kochin – Kyobo 0” (Fuji TV), a special 65th anniversary program starring Takuya Kimura, was broadcast on June 19, with an average household rating of 10.6%. The special episode will be broadcast on June 26, and there are growing expectations for a film adaptation.

This film is based on the novel of the same title by Hiroki Nagaoka, which is set in the police academy that dominated the mystery world. It was broadcast for two consecutive nights on New Year’s Day in 2008, and the average viewer rating was in the 15% range. The following New Year’s Day, “Kyobo II” was also broadcast, recording an average household rating in the 13% range. Takuya Kimura played the ruthless instructor Kimichika Kazama, with his white hair and artificial eyes, breaking new ground.

Since “Kyobo” and “Kyobo II,” there have been a number of young actors who have expressed a desire to co-star with Kimura-san, and this drama series has gathered a number of young actors in leading roles, including Eiji Akachu, Yui Aragaki, Takumi Kitamura, Mai Shiraishi, and Shota Sometani. It even had the feel of a Kimura teaching room.

What attracted attention this time was the foreshadowing of the “5-minute tragedy” that suddenly appeared after the end roll of “Kyobo II.” When the end of the tragedy was revealed in the sixth episode, in which a dark battle unfolded in the suspicious light of neon tubes, causing the loss of not only the right eye but also the heart, there were concerns about the safety of Detective Tono (Takumi Kitamura), who had fallen into a coma.

However, Tono’s condition suddenly changed in episode 10. After finishing the instruction of Nakagome (Someya), he rushed to the hospital, but it was already too late. As he bids farewell to the dying Tono, Kazama changes into his kendo suit and, swinging his wooden sword like a madman, snaps it off, but still stands there in the darkness, tears streaming from his lost right eye. In this “silent” scene, we saw the determination of Takuya Kimura, who plays the role of Kazama Kimichika.

However, in “Kimochika Kazama: Kyobo 0” this time, he said, “In a serial drama, I’ve never seen anything like this. Why did Kimura, who thought it was impossible to play Kimochika Kazama in a serial drama, give the go-ahead for a “serial drama” to be aired in the “Tsuki 9” slot?

The reason lies in the strong bond, akin to a “master-disciple” relationship, that he has had with Nakae Isao, who is producing and directing the film, over the past 30 years.

Kimura appeared in his first Nakae film, “All About the Young,” in 1994, followed by “The Gift” in 1997, “Sleeping Forest” in 1998, “100 Million Stars Falling from the Sky” in 2002, and “Pride” in 2004, He starred in “Pride” in 2004. She has created a number of legends with director Nakae.

In the case of this drama series, he said, “I grew up in Nakae’s studio, so after Mr. Nakae’s explanation and enthusiasm, I said, ‘Yes.’ Nakae is a director who demands high quality, so there is tension every day. We are proceeding one cut at a time, so it is very fulfilling.

Nakae began his career as a director by working as an assistant director on “Kita no Kuni Kara ’89 Homecoming,” a drama scripted by Satoshi Kuramoto. One of his best-known works is “Dr. Coto Clinic,” starring Hidetaka Yoshioka, which was made into a movie last year. In particular, the grueling filming of the 2003 drama series “Dr. Coto Clinic” has become a legend.

The first shooting on Yonaguni Island lasted two months, and Nakae, who was determined not to return home with anything strange on the island, often stopped shooting because “there were no clouds where he wanted them” or “the wind was too strong. He would often stop filming for reasons such as “there are no clouds where I want them” or “the wind is strong,” and he would not give the OK. The schedule was pushed to the limit, and eventually Kaoru Kobayashi called him in and asked him, “What is more important, the clouds or the actors?

He was still insistent, saying, “Just wait until the first episode is finished. This resulted in more than one or two staff members going home in tears. But such persistence paid off, and the first episode was wonderful. Since then, the staff and actors have been convinced to participate in the filming” (producer, production company).

Perhaps it was director Nakae’s direct approach to filming that swayed Takuya Kimura’s spirit as an actor. Playing the role of a “dark hero” in this film marked the beginning of a new challenge for Kimura, now 50 years old.

Then came the final episode. In the last scene at the end of the end roll, there was a shock waiting for us, no less than the “5-minute tragedy” in “Kyobo II”.

When Kazama arrived at the police academy and was standing in front of a flowerbed, he felt an unusual presence and turned around. There, Tosaki (Mirai Moriyama), a serial killer who was once arrested by Kazama, stands there holding a 1,000-page stick and asks, “Where’s my sister? He asks, “Where’s my sister? This spine-chilling ending sent the netizens into a tizzy.

The “special episode” to be aired a week after the last episode will mainly look back on the incidents that have occurred so far and the episodes between Kazama and the five rookie detectives. There is a good chance that the foreshadowing play of the shocking last scene will be depicted in the theater version. The basis for this is the presence of actor and dancer Mirai Moriyama, who plays Haruki Tosaki, the last boss.

The drama “Moteki” (TV Tokyo), which aired in 2010, won various awards, and the movie was also a big hit. In the 1919 historical drama “Idaten – Tokyo Olimpic Story,” she received rave reviews for her portrayal of the young Kokontei Shinsyu.

At the Japan Academy Awards alone, he won the Best New Actor Award, the Best Leading Actor Award, and three times the Best Supporting Actor Award. If the film ends with Moriyama having nothing to show, it could be called “a waste of future Moriyama. I would love to see Kimichika Kazama and Haruki Tosaki face off on the big screen.

Moriyama gave an impressive performance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Takuya Kimura will have no shortage of opponents.