Takaishi Akari plays the heroine in the NHK morning drama "Bakeke" (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and others). In the 87th episode, which aired on February 3rd, there was a scene in which Heaven (Tommy Bastow) vents his anger at Kajitani (Udai Iwasaki), a reporter for the Matsue Shimpo newspaper. We spoke to production manager Hashizume Kuniomi about how Bastow, who plays Heaven, portrayed this scene behind the scenes.
In episode 86 (broadcast on February 2nd), Kajitani, upon learning that he had been able to repay his debt thanks to Heaven, immediately featured in the newspaper the next morning. The town's attitude toward Toki (Takaishi) changed completely, and they began mocking her by calling her a "Rashamen." Later, Tsukasasuke (Okabe Takashi) also suffered a facial injury, and prank flyers began to be scattered in his garden.
Just then, Kajitani arrives at the Matsuno house. "You're really not a Rashamen, are you?" he asks, and Heaven ignites. "Don't mess with me! Shut up! I won't forgive you!" he shoves Kajitani away and yells at him, "Get out!" Toki, as well as Tsukasasuke and Nishikori (Yoshizawa Ryo), who have rushed over, can only stand there in shock.
Hashizume recalls, "Up until now, Heaven has sometimes seemed to get angry for no reason, but I don't think she's often taken out her strong anger on someone like she did this time. I think it was the first time Toki had seen that. So this scene showed a side of Heaven that we've never seen before."
It was a tense scene, but he said, "We're not a team where the director tells the actors, 'Act like this.' Basically, we had Tommy act according to his interpretation. I think he was able to effectively convey the 'anger' that he felt."
Heaven pushed Kajitani away and immediately told Toki, "I'll protect you," and hugged her tightly.
Hashizume said, "I think it was partly because he was scared of Heaven, but seeing her get so angry over him also made him realize how much she cared about him," and added that the scene was an important one that once again expressed the depth of Heaven's love for Toki.
On the other hand, regarding Iwasaki, who was pushed, he revealed, "I was given action instructions and I even threw him around, but he said something like, 'I was pretty well thrown around' (laughs)."
