Sunday, October 22, 2017

Press conference of new NHK drama SP "Attamaru Utopia"

The press conference of new NHK drama SP "Attamaru Utopia" was held at Kinosaki Onsen in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, on 29 September which was attended by cast members Kurashina Kana, Hori Haruna, Ayaka Wilson, Watabe Gota, scriptwriter Watabe Ryohei and dance instructor Kojiri Kenta. The drama SP will be shown on 24 January 2018 at 10pm.


The drama is set at Kinosaki Onsen which is featured in the short story "Kinosaki nite"by Shiga Naoya where there is a line saying that there is hardly any difference between living and dying despite the impression that they are at two ends of the spectrum. The drama will also feature the Kinosaki Onsen Kaidan Matsuri which is a horror event held at Toyooka in September. The story talks about three women who find it tough to survive in the modern society and try to find a place where they can belong to. Kurashina plays the role of Takamiya Iori who was born and raised in Kobe and experienced the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake when she was 8 years old. She used to dream of being a novelist when she was in senior high school and gave up somehow along the way to become a bank employee. However, she could not stay long in her job and later moves to Toyooka where she attends a boarding school to undergo training as a bag maker. Hori Haruna plays Shirotono Ren who is a senior high school student and the only daughter of a family who manages a ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen while Ayaka Wilson plays Lala who works at Kinosaki International Art Centre after moving to Japan with her famous dancer husband. Watabe Gota will play Katsuoka Yuuto who is the only son of a fishmonger family and is Ren's boyfriend.

Kurashina said that being able to film in the beautiful scenery at Kinosaki and Toyooka and experience the warm hospitality of the locals was a very memorable experience and said that the viewers will be able to feel the same through watching this drama. As for her character, she said that Iori is trying hard to refresh her heart and find new hope to live on so she hopes that the viewers will be able to identify with this theme.

Filming began from 19 September.

Sources: Nikkansports / Oricon

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