Playback ’13] The magazine caught a glimpse of Kimu-taku’s “unexpected” expression during the location shooting of the drama “Ando Roido” under extremely strict security conditions. | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Playback ’13] The magazine caught a glimpse of Kimu-taku’s “unexpected” expression during the location shooting of the drama “Ando Roido” under extremely strict security conditions.

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It was just a fleeting glimpse behind a high wall.

What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we take a look back at the topics that were popular at the time. This time, we will look back at the “FRIDAY” issue of December 27, 2001, which was published 10 years ago, and discuss the issue of “Are viewership ratings making you nervous? Kim Taku’s “Ando Roido” was shot on location under extremely strict security measures.

Takuya Kimura (41 at the time) has averaged a 26.1% rating for the past four Sunday theater productions he has starred in for TBS. He is now back with “GOOD LUCK! (GOOD LUCK!!!),” and was a big hit when it was announced that he would be co-starring with Kou Shibasaki (then 32) for the first time in 10 years. Kimura, who had played a variety of roles in the past, from hairdresser to racer to prime minister, was playing an android, which was a novel setting, but it was not well received. Perhaps because of this, when this magazine visited the location to cover the filming, the mood at the site was quite tense. ……

[Prevac! The neighborhood was on high alert, with no neighbors allowed to approach. ……]

The shooting site is tense, trying to get the actors to concentrate on their performances. When filming in the city, several security guards are posted and even residents of the neighborhood are not allowed to approach the location. If there is a suspicious vehicle, they immediately report it to the staff to get rid of it.

The December 8 episode of “Ando Lloyd” (TBS), a drama series starring Takuya Kimura, recorded a rating of 10.3%, tied for the worst since its inception. A TBS insider continued, “There is strong criticism within the station.

If the ratings drop to single digits with Kim Tak, the producer in charge will be ousted. The producer in charge would be ousted if the ratings dropped to the single digits using Kim Taku. and “ATARU,” but Johnny’s may say, “He won’t appear in any more of Kare’s dramas.

In early December, I headed to the location site on high alert. What was taking place at the Water Quality Control Center in Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, was the filming of the final episode to be broadcast on December 15. The center, which has a sports field and several buildings on its grounds, is bordered by mountains on one side and a river on the other. There are few houses around the center, and the area is sparsely populated. As expected, there were no security guards, but a 1.6-meter-high fence surrounded the center on all sides.

Filming began shortly after 10:00 am. Several location buses and luxury cars for pick-up and drop-off were lined up in the parking lot, but there was no indication of what was going on inside. This made it difficult to see the movements of the staff, let alone Kimura. The reporter couldn’t help but grumble.

I heard it was easy to get a good shot of Masato Sakai on location for “Legal High,” but it’s hell over here. Under these circumstances, it would be impossible. ……

However, just before noon, when they were about to give up on filming Kimura, things took a turn for the worse. Two large green tents were set up in the space leading from the parking lot to the building. A few men in white uniforms who appeared to be cooks entered the tents, and a few moments later, steam began to rise from the area around the tents. Relaxing background music played, and the staff who had been taking pictures exited the building and gathered in the tent. They seemed to be seated and eating, but it was hard to tell exactly who was in the tent.

About 30 minutes after the meal began, Kimura’s face suddenly appeared behind a high wall! He must have finished his meal and got up from his seat. He walked up to the chefs and called out to them with a smiling face, then entered the building with his co-star Kenta Kiritani (33 at the time).

The staff is desperate to boost the ratings, but as one would expect from Kimura. Whenever filming was going on for a long time, he would say to the AD, ‘Thank you for staying up so late at night. Thanks to Kimura, the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

The appreciation of Kimutaku by the on-set staff and co-stars has only increased. However, the ratings for the dramas in which he appears have been sluggish in inverse proportion to this.

The average rating for “Ando Lloyd” was 12.8% in the end. Although it was one of the top-ranked dramas of the same season, it was quite inferior to “Hanzawa Naoki” in the previous season of TBS’s Sunday drama series. And the number was the worst for a drama starring Kim Taku at the time.

The reasons for the poor performance were said to be that “viewers did not get used to the science fiction genre” and “the story was simply uninteresting.” On the other hand, some said, “As always, Kimutaku is Kimutaku no matter what he does,” and “the era of getting good numbers as long as Kimutaku is in the drama is over.

However, conversely, the fact that even now, 10 years later, the same people are saying on the Internet that “Kimutaku’s films are bombing,” but his starring roles have not been interrupted, shows the extent of his presence in the industry. Currently, due to the fallout from his office’s sex-abuse problems, Kimutaku is reportedly in a difficult situation, with the filming of his lead drama “Kyobo” (Fuji TV) postponed and commercials dropped, but he is sure to be able to overcome this.

Kenta Kiritani (33 at the time) plays an SE at an IT company. He played the role of a partner who learns the identity of the main character played by Kimura and cooperates with him.
  • PHOTO Keisuke Nishi

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