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<h3><span class="strongInContent">Have I been overlooked in the splendid supporting cast?</span></h3>
<p> It would be nice to see a little more excitement in the evaluation of &#8230;&#8230;. One person I feel so sorry for is Takumi Kitamura, 27, in the NHK morning drama &#8220;Anpan&#8221; currently airing.</p>
<p> Anpan&#8221; is a story based on Takashi Yanase, the author of &#8220;Anpanman&#8221; and his wife, Nobu. Although the ratings have not been outstanding, the articles and viewer comments flying around the Internet have been quite favorable.</p>
<p> The biggest reason for this is the strong supporting cast.</p>
<p> Yumi Kawai (24) plays Nobu&#8217;s sister, Ayumi Nakajima (36) plays her husband, Noriko Eguchi (45) plays her mother, Sadawo Abe (55) plays a baker, Yutaka Takenouchi (54) plays the bulky uncle who is the model for Takashi Yanase, Nanako Matsushima (51) plays her mother, and Motoki Nakazawa (25) plays her brother. The list goes on and on. &#8230;&#8230; is truly &#8220;too long to enumerate.</p>
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<p> A TV magazine editor said the following.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The lead actress, Mio Imada (28), is supported by a group of skilled actors, and her efforts are well matched to the character of the main character. This is a big difference from the previous &#8220;Omusubi,&#8221; which had few professional supporting actors and the protagonist&#8217;s lack of acting ability became conspicuous.</span></p>
<p> However, the editor said that what has been surprisingly overlooked here is Takumi Kitamura, who plays the most important role for the main character.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The editor said, &#8220;Kitamura-san&#8217;s character, Bulk, is the most intertwined with the main character, both physically and mentally. If he is not good at his job, Mr. Imada&#8217;s charm will not come alive. He also has many solo scenes, so much so that it could be said that he is the second lead, so if his performance is poor, the story itself will be ruined. However, Mr. Kitamura&#8217;s performance has so far been nothing short of excellent.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In fact, the ratings began to climb into the 16% range around the time when Bulk went off to war and became almost the star of the show. Although there is no flashy, &#8220;Ta-da!&#8221; Although there is nothing flashy about the show, I think it is proof that Kitamura&#8217;s solid performance is delivering the weight of the war to the viewers.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> But the focus of attention has been on Satoshi Tsumabuki (44) as the mysterious senior soldier, or on Motoki Nakazawa as the younger brother who grabbed the hearts of viewers with his tearful confession that <span class="strongInContent">he had always loved Nobu.</span>&#8230;&#8230; Why is it that Takumi Kitamura is so often in the limelight? The reason is that the media has been so busy with the film industry for so long.</p>
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<p> A veteran interview writer laments as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Kitamura-san&#8217;s looks and acting ability are superb, and he has been considered a gem in the industry since he was in his early teens. He has also had a breakthrough in his own right, but he is a typical behind-the-scenes actor with a somewhat reserved air, and his reputation is easily taken away by his co-stars.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Therefore, even though his starring role in the movie &#8220;Kimi no Pancreas wo Tabetai&#8221; became a big hit and his starring role in the movie series &#8220;Tokyo Revengers&#8221; became a social phenomenon, I have the impression that he is not widely recognized. Maybe that&#8217;s why I haven&#8217;t been able to grab a leading role in dramas.</span></p>
<p> In fact, many writers who have interviewed Kitamura have said that <span class="strongInContent">he speaks positively about his works and co-stars, but suddenly becomes reserved when it comes to himself</span>.</p>
<p> However, there was one &#8220;episode of himself&#8221; that he spoke passionately about. What was it all about?</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The only &quot;episode&quot; that Kitamura spoke passionately about"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Always putting others before himself</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I have interviewed him many times since he was a teenager, and I have never seen him speak in a &#8220;me-me-me&#8221; way. If anything, I got the impression that he always praised his co-stars and directors.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Once, when I asked him how he spends his day off, he enthusiastically told me that he is addicted to making curry. He even detailed how he makes it, including using spices and making it from scratch. He even said, &#8216;Someday I want to open a restaurant that serves delicious curry and coffee,&#8217; which I thought was unusual.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He also said that he would be happy if his friends would gather there.</span></p>
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<p> Kitamura always puts the people around him before himself, no matter how far he goes. Kitamura is a man who always puts others before himself, and perhaps it is because he plays opposite Kitamura that Mio Imada shines even more brightly.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent">Kitamura&#8217;s expressive power is superb. But rather than being at the forefront, it is as if something stored up inside slowly oozes out,&#8221;</span> said Takahiko Kageyama, a professor at Doshisha Women&#8217;s University and media critic.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Mr. Kitamura does not consider his play to be the best. I think he is a person who thinks about how he is in the work. He wants to talk about the work and other people&#8217;s performances, but he never talks about himself, and I think that is because he always looks at the work as a whole.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In &#8220;Anpan,&#8221; Bulk is currently experiencing an extreme situation where he has no food and is on the verge of starvation, and as mentioned in episode 59, there may be an incident in the future that will make him reflect further on the words of Private Yagi, played by Tsumabuki: &#8220;The only way for a weak man to survive on the battlefield is to be a coward. The future will be the highlight of the film. I am looking forward to it.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Until now, Kitamura has been a bit overshadowed by his &#8220;weak&#8221; character, such as not being able to confess his feelings to Nobu, whom he liked, until the very end. We will be watching Kitamura&#8217;s performance in the future.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Takumi Kitamura and a popular actress at an izakaya..."></div>
<figure id="attachment_428930" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428930" style="width: 1606px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ae97a9fc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/9f95b2c92127c8c54c58f129e6060966.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428930" class="wp-caption-text">Kitamura and Yuna Kuroshima (then 24) were in Shimokitazawa on location for a movie. They had worked together in the past, so they were in perfect sync with each other.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_428931" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428931" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d1542922"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/6b66555b5f191d4fc4f21ea9884dacf0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428931" class="wp-caption-text"> Kitamura and Yuriko Yoshitaka (then 34) on location for the drama &#8220;On a Starry Night&#8221; (TV Asahi). Kitamura was highly acclaimed for his performance as a young man with a hearing impairment in the drama (from the January 20 and 27, 2011 issues).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_428932" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-428932" style="width: 987px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9a3c95d4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/06/04f9e1ecf76fece9fdd3e10fa702b1ba.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-428932" class="wp-caption-text"> The scene was filmed in a yakatabune-style tavern, where they smile and talk, taking nearly four hours to shoot (from the January 20 and 27, 2011 issues).</figcaption></figure>


 Takahiro Kagawa (1st), Yusuke Kondo (2nd), Kenji Sugawara (3rd, 4th)

 Takumi Kitamura plays the role of Mio Imada's partner in the morning drama "Anpan". Although he has starred in many hit movies, he is somewhat "reserved" and does not talk much about himself in interviews. Let us take a look at what he had to say about himself in an unusually passionate manner.

The &#8220;shady&#8221; actor who supports Mio Imada in the morning drama &#8220;is too modest&#8230;&#8221; He was the only one who spoke passionately about the topic in the interview.

The “shady” actor who supports Mio Imada in the morning drama “is too modest…” He was the only one who spoke passionately about the topic in the interview.

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