It was revealed on March 18th that model and actress Natsuki Deguchi will appear in the Fuji TV Getsuku drama "Saba-can, Uchuu e Iku" (Canned Mackerel Goes to Space), which will start on April 13th and stars Takumi Kitamura . The drama is an original coming-of-age story based on the true story of students at a fisheries high school in Fukui Prefecture who challenged themselves to achieve their big dream of "developing space food." Deguchi will play Nami Sugawara, a student of the protagonist, rookie teacher Shunichi Asano (Kitamura), a high school student who is torn between her dreams and reality. This will be the first time that Deguchi and Kitamura have co-starred in a drama.
Deguchi was born on October 4, 2001, making her 24 years old. She is currently working as an exclusive model for the women's fashion magazine "non-no" (Shueisha), and last year she became the image character for Meiji's "Meltykiss," which garnered attention. She also co-stars with Sara Minami in the film "All Greens" (directed by Koyama Takashi), which will be released on January 16.
Nami Sugawara, whom she plays in "Canned Mackerel Goes to Space," is one of the first students to launch a "space food development" project. Always cheerful and outspoken, she's a natural leader in her class. She grew up in Obama, a town known for its thriving fishing industry, and her family runs a seafood shop in the town's outer market. After graduation, she's troubled by the fact that her parents and those around her naturally assume she'll take over the family business. In reality, she loves dancing and secretly harbors a dream, but she can't confide in her friends. Asano's words, "You won't know unless you try," trigger a change in Nami's daily life...
Deguchi said, "This film was the catalyst for me learning about high school students who developed space food. I was moved by the determination of those who took on the challenge with the attitude of 'Let's just give it a try!' even though they didn't know if they would succeed. The script carefully depicts how the high school students unite to try to turn canned mackerel into space food, which I thought was wonderful. It's also a story from which you can learn a lot of things, so I would like to learn as I go along with the filming."
Regarding the character Nami, she said, "Ms. Asano tells Nami, 'You won't know unless you try,' and Nami re-evaluates her life. I myself am actually conscious of that in my work. There are many times when I think, 'Maybe I can't do it...', but when I actually try, there are also fun things. I think it's a wonderful message, and I would like to deliver it to the viewers through Nami."
