( interview yuuki and taishi for messiah - entertainment station july 28th 2017 )

[devilism]

"Messiah - Yuukyuu no Toki", Izawa Yuuki and Taishi Sugie doing their graduation mission. The way of living they'll show after the conflict is――


Police Department Security Bureau Special Public Security Section Five― commonly known as "Sakura." The special training institution for it known as Church is the setting of the Messiah series, which shows the Sakura cadets' bonds and the rigorous struggles they go through. Once again it's reaching a magnificent climax.

A "Messiah" is the only thing a "Sakura" can trust - a solitary spy that moves secretly in order to successfully complete missions. Up until now successive generations' great pairs have fought together as Messiah and tightened their bonds.

In the series' latest installment, the stage play Messiah - Yuukyuu no Toki, Izawa Yuuki playing Ariga Ryo and Sugie Taishi playing Kagami Itsuki finally tackle their graduation mission. The mission given to the two is assassination. Can Ariga and Kagami really successfully graduate from Church?

Finally the time has arrived for the graduation mission. First of all, could you please tell us what sort of thing the Messiah series is for you two?


Izawa Yuuki: Since I see my role in any production as something that I myself created, I rarely rank them in that sort of way, like thinking about which stayed with me the most or which was the most fun to do. But just this series is different to me. Since I've been involved in the Messiah series for almost three years, I have a very strong emotional attachment to it. If If I think about what I would be doing now if I hadn't been involved in Messiah, I realise that it's a production that was a branch point for me. I see Messiah as my masterpiece work.


Sugie Taishi: I was allowed to participate in Messiah fairly shortly after my debut. I did my very best to play Kagami Itsuki, even while I still didn't fully understand what acting entailed. That's why it really feels like Kagami's growth in the series and my own growth are linked. In every single installment I acted with all that I had. Just like Kagami lives with all he has. That growth is firmly engraved in the series. So in that sense, Messiah is like my growth record.

Ariga had a Messiah named Mamiya (Someya Toshiyuki). After that he was paired up anew with Kagami. Please tell us about your meeting.

Izawa: I met Taishi for the first time when we were filming the movie Shinku no Shou. But since the filming for the TV drama (Eisei no Shou) and the movie were close together at that time, my position as Ariga is also very complicated. Since Mamiya was my Messiah in the TV drama, but Kagami was my Messiah in the movie, I didn't have the opportunity to talk with Taishi a whole lot. After that was Hagane no Shou, but since Mamiya was still my Messiah at that moment, I didn't really have a whole lot of scenes in common with Taishi. Our relationship as Messiah really started during the previous installment, Akatsuki no Toki. From then on we started talking a lot, and even now we're always together, so he feels like my partner publically and privately by now.

There's a lot of things which I'm helped in by Sugie Taishi and his personality. When I enter the workplace, I'm concentrating on myself, and it's difficult to focus on my surroundings. But Taishi is the opposite and is constantly watching his surroundings. It's a great help since he compensates for the stuff I can't do, I really like that.

Sugie: Stop it~ (bashfully) But for me Yuuki is a senpai, both as an actor and within the Messiah series as a production. Since I felt like I wanted to hurry up and be on par with him already, I'm very glad that he's saying these things. Yuuki has really carried the responsibility for this production called Messiah all this time, he carried the production on his back more than anyone else at the workplace. I think that's something that only Yuuki can do. Since we complement each other's good and weak sides, the balance between us is very good. He's a partner that I can trust both within my role and as a person.


Yuuki: I'm also really glad that Taishi puts it that way.

Sugie: Before I just frantically felt like I had to hurry up and catch up with him. Especially around the time of Hagane no Shou, it felt like I was just watching Yuuki's back. It seemed like I could finally be on par with him during Akatsuki no Toki. It's not as if I consciously felt I had to do something for Yuuki, but instead I just did stuff I happened to notice by chance. We hit just that right kind of balance, and I think that's the merit of our relationship.

Although the action is also a highlight of Messiah, I think that more than anything it's a human drama that deeply digs into the suffering and wounds of each character. I was wondering if you're forced to face your inner self as well as the actors who are trying to chase after that.

Izawa: There's a lot of that. Especially while I was still trying to grasp Ariga's images on the outside in the beginning, I went into the role with the feeling of trying to trace his outward image. Although the director Nishimori-san was the one who broke through that, Nishimori's san of directing is...

Sugie: He's an S, right. (laughs)

(note: "s" as in sadist, most likely.)

Izawa: Yes, it's harsh. (laughs) Nishimori-san often tells the actors, "don't you want to vent?" The emphasis is placed upon a conflict as a way of creating feelings. The aim is having something you want to do, and then surpressing it. He wants the actors to get to a state where both parties' nerves are stretched out as much as possible. But it's very tough to put yourself into a conflict that much while you're acting. It's really a good feeling when you can vent. Until around the time of Hisui no Shou I was the type who immediately tried to vent while acting. The one who broke through that was Nishimori-san. Although it's not easy, and it's a big burden, I had a very big experience as an actor without a doubt.


Sugie: For me the last installment, Akatsuki no Toki, was very difficult. Until then Kagami seemed like someone who was pretty close to what I'm like. But in Akatsuki no Toki his past was revealed, which is far from the real me. I was really worried about digesting all of that and taking it all in. I still thought about it for a long time even after practice was over. But now I think that time was very important. After all, if normal people were put in Kagami's position, there's no way they could understand it so easily. To accept Kagami's circumstances as a real thing, it's important to take the time to face them. By thinking about what I would do if it was me and repeating that simulation many times over, I was able to complete the character of Kagami Itsuki and add the missing parts.

Izawa: When I was practicing for Hagane no Shou, Nishimori-san told me to think more concretely about what it's like to kill someone. Pieces of the brain that fly around after being struck by a bullet, blood coming out of the holes all over the body, since Ariga was raised as a murder machine, he has seen such cruel ways of dying many times. If I couldn't get a more clear image for myself about Ariga's past, which wasn't shown off through the script, I couldn't express Ariga's inner self. That part was quite difficult.


Thinking about it that way, Ariga and Kagami have changed a lot through the series.

Izawa: That's right. Although there was a line in Akatsuki no Toki that went, "since when have I become so weak?", I thought to myself that Ariga has become strong rather than weak. When he was with "Dai san no yami" ("Third Nigma"), he just killed people without thinking about anything. Through his encounters with his Messiahs, he learned about the importance of life and people's strengths and weaknesses, and in that sense Ariga got really strong.

Sugie: Kagami might not have changed to that surprising extent. You could say that Kagami originally was an obedient child. Because of that, he was easily influenced a lot by his surroundings. And since until that point his uncle was the only thing that influenced him, his uncle was the only thing that was right to him. I think that before entering the Church and now as well him being an obedient child at the root is the same. Ah, but there's still a change. What's important to Kagami has changed. That's the biggest change about him.

Well then, please finally show us your enthusiasm towards this upcoming installment.

Sugie: On one hand I'm very glad to be able to take the lead in this installment, but more than anything I feel a really big sense of responsibility right now. Until now our wonderful senpai have shown us their amazing backs. Every single one of them is still etched in my memory now. I want to show that to my kouhai as well, and I'm feeling very passionate about the responsibility of making something that's a must see. We'll definitely create an installment that will make fans want to see the next Messiah as well, so please make sure to come and see our way of doing it.

Izawa: I've been part of Messiah for three years. Before I noticed it, we have become the oldest senpai among the Sakura. Although I don't know what sort of graduation we'll have until practice begins, right now, to put it bluntly, I believe that Ariga and Kagami will continue to exist in the work, even though they're graduating. So we want to continue to support the production called Messiah after this as well in some way or another. It was really great that I happened to become part of the Messiah series. Since I'll be giving all that I've got with my feeling of gratitude of being allowed to be part of it, I hope many people will support Ariga and Kagami's way of living.

( link to the original )