Ren Nagase of King and Prince Deems First Starring Role in Adulterous Drama is a Waste of Time
King & Prince Ren Nagase will star in the April season of Osidora Saturday’s “Tokyo Tower” (TV Asahi, Saturdays at 11 p.m.).
Nagase will play the main character, Kojima Toru, who is in love with Asano Shifumi (actress Itaya Yuka), a married woman over 20 years his junior. There was a film version of the story in 2005, in which Junichi Okada, then a member of V6, enthusiastically played the main character. Since the movie version had some intense love scenes, Nagase fans on SNS are already screaming.
The drama is based on a novel of the same title by Kaori Ekuni, published in ’01.’ In the 2005 movie “Tokyo Tower,” actress Hitomi Kuroki played Okada’s partner, and the love story of an older couple played by Jun Matsumoto and Shinobu Terajima of Arashi fame was also depicted.
On February 29, Nagase’s first starring role in a romantic drama drew a lot of attention when a photo was released showing her embracing Itaya with her breasts exposed.
In an interview posted on the drama’s official website, Nagase said, “As you can see from the stills that have been released, there are many exciting scenes, so I am sure that I will be able to show my fans something they have never seen before, and I also think that it will be a work that will improve me personally. I am sure that I will be able to show my fans something they have never seen before, and I am confident that this will be a film in which I will be able to improve myself as well.
He also said that he checked out the movie version in which his senpai played the role, and commented, “Okada-san’s buttocks were beautiful, and the expression of Koji, played by Matsumoto Jun-san, eating peaches in the bath, which is not part of the main story, left a strong impression on me (laughs).
Meanwhile, Okada, who once played Toru, updated his X (formerly Twitter) account under the name “Junichi Okada / AISTON. He used hashtags such as “#Tokyo Tower,” and wrote, “Don’t look at my butt! I hear that Ren-kun is a hard worker and a wonderful person. I’m sure he will play the role of Ren-kun Toru. I’ m rooting for you,” he added with humor.
In response to this, Nagase wrote on the group’s official X page, “It was a wonderful Ootatsuji. I can’t forget that of Mr. Okada since I was allowed to see the Tokyo Tower,'” he said, showing a relaxed response to his senior partner. The official side of the drama stated that it would be “Reiwa’s version of Tokyo Tower,” as it is the first time in 19 years that the drama has been filmed in Japan. Fans are anxious to see if Nagase will try her hand at similar scenes.
