Nana the Live Action movei
As many of you already know, a Nana Live Action movie came out during the Fall of 2005. The movie covered around the first 5 volumes of the manga, and was revelently good. In an article invertiew with Kenichi Matsuyama, Shin's actor, he said the follower:
"I was chosen to play Shin only two weeks before the filming began. On top of that, Shin was established to be a 15-year-old and of small statue. I am 20 year old and have the height of 185cm, so it erally made me wonder if everything was going to be alright, but what I was most worried about was the bass. I'm a completely amateur. However, my teacher who taught me and I got along pretty well, and I actually had so much fun practing, that before I knew it, I became a proficient player. Because of this, I was able to memorize the music for the live concerts in two days, allowing me to be in peace of mind. Since then, I have been completely abosrbed in playing the bass, and even through filiming is over, I still continue playing it. In order to become even better, I stil lwant to learn from my teacher.
In regards to the role of shin, Direct Ooya told me that "because he had the same eyes that few people in, like those of Ren. Shi nwas selected to be in Blast". But I twas told that basically "Shin is mysterious". Therefore, at the shoot, I acted with a conscious of an enigmatic aura. When watching the completelyed movie, I had no idea what kind of guy he was (laughs). I nthat regards, I think it was a success. Of course, there were times when Shin didn't really get to say much, but I guess Shin expresses his feelings not through words, but with actions and music.
At the shoot, the live scenes left impressions, as expected. Especially with Maruyama, he said "Sincewe are the drums and bass, if we fall there will be much trouble occuring", so I practiced a lot. As a result, I think the live scenes were well done. I first saw the finished movie on tape, and I rewinded it 3 times and watched just that part (laughs). BTW, at the live concert, Nobu and Shin plays withthe same movements, but that was not on purpose, it just happened to be by chance. WE happened to be on the same wavelength, but that was a great wavelength.
Because I usually wear a punk-like fahsion, the custom had no sense of incongruity. Since I like Johnny Rotten from the punk band Sex Pistols, I was glad that I would wear that kind of clothes. Like the shirt and pants, the clothese were some that were adjusted to tightly fit my body. I like each and every accessory too. The rare aesthetic Vivienne lighter that Shin has is one of my favorites. EVen the numerous body piercing isn't vague, but rather cool. Although I wouldn't be able to connect my ear and mouth with a chain (laughs).
I personally think that I have both Nana and Hachi sides to my personality. Like Nana, there a part of me that is loney, where I tend to keep my problems within myself, rather than talking to tohers about it. But also, like Hachi, I can get over problems fairly rapidly, and have parts that are indifferent about some things. I felt sympathetic. Nana's charm is that the characters are indivialisitc, and everyone can relate to them in one way or another, thereby feeling sympathetic. That's why I think everyone who watches the movie will be fully satistifed."
(The quote was translated and scanlated by @iko from TAKOYAKIS in one of the manga volumes.)
Mmmm. Kenichi Matsuyama will also be staring as L in the Death Note movie.
Where to start. Personally, I thought the movie was great despite the lack of Shin's scenes. One of my favorite scenes inthe manga (in chapter 8) when Shin goes to the resturant with Hachi and Nana to visit Shouji was left out; I suppose it was for dramatic pause or something. Also, the actor was just too old to be Shin. How hard is it to find a younger and more gorgeous guy in the Japanese film industry, I wonder? Sometimes my friend and I joke about the fact the director should've found an AV star for Shin's role. Also, Shin has hyper and spunky personality changes, and this wasn't expressed at all throughout the movie. Despite, my love for Nana surprised even my pickiness when it came to Shin, and I was glad that Shin was included in the movie, and I, like Matsumora-sama, danced to the "Glamorous Sky" part many times mimking the moves of Noubu and Shin; it was fun.
Basically, although the movie did Shin little justice, you should all go and watch it.