Sakuma Yui’s Weariness vs. Yoshida Kotaro’s Dandy Charm on “Hey, Handsome!” Location Shoot

In early November of last year, a rather large scale film shoot was taking place on a bridge surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings in Shinagawa Ward (Tokyo). Several large trucks loaded with filming equipment were parked on the street, and about 20 staff members were running around with lights, cameras, and red lights to guide passersby.

Around them were about 30 men and women who appeared to be extras. And then, “Yo. Start! a woman walks with her shoulders slumped, looking forlorn and downcast in the middle of the people passing by…. It was Yui Sakuma (28). In fact, about an hour before this, Kotaro Yoshida (65) was walking on the bridge in the same manner, wearing a suit with a tie with a tie pin.

This is actually a scene from the drama series “Hey Handsome! (Tokai TV and Fuji TV), which was announced on January 26, and the movie “Hey Handsome! (directed by Masatoshi Yamaguchi, scheduled for release on June 21).

The drama is a family comedy about a stubborn father, three sisters who are blind to men, and a mother who transcends all obstacles. Season 1 aired in January 2010 in the late-night drama slot and was a huge hit. It has won numerous drama awards, including the Tokyo Drama Award for Excellence in the Serial Drama category. It was also ranked among the top eight best late-night dramas on Netflix, an unprecedented achievement for a late-night drama,” said a TV magazine writer.

Sakuma plays the role of Rika, the second daughter of Yoshida’s stubborn father, Gentaro. In season 1, she was a housewife living with her banker husband in Osaka, but became frustrated and often returned to her parents’ house in Tokyo. In season 2, she is divorced from her husband because he cheated on her, and she is living in a state of bewilderment, thinking that she may have forgotten how to fall in love….

Sakuma, walking in front of the camera, looks like a woman who is tired of her life, which is quite different from the dashing and healthy image she has been portraying, so when I learned about the setting of the drama, I was surprised to see it.

Yoshida, on the other hand, chatted with the female staff in a friendly manner between takes. His gestures were as sexy and dandy-like as ever. He didn’t look like a stubborn father, but I wonder what kind of father-daughter relationship the two of them will have in the drama. We look forward to season 2 and the movie.