Inoo Kei x Totsuka Shota - BARFOUT! (August 2018) English Translation
Fuyunosuke (Inoo Kei) is living in Tokyo as a university student to conduct field research for the "Earth Migration Plan. His brother, an "extraterrestrial" who arrives late and unexpectedly, is given the name Natsutaro (Totsuka Shota) and the two of them decide to proceed with the research. But behind the scenes, Fuyunosuke has a secret mission for Natsutaro. The cast of the drama adaptation of Shinzo Keigo's popular comic "Tokyo Alien Brothers" is just like the original! Shinzo fans can't get enough of this casting! Inoo Kei (Hey! Say! JUMP) and Totsuka Shota (A.B.C-Z). With these two fresh men on the cover, we made a cover story with "alien" (actually) as the keyword. Imagine the theme behind the shoot!
Inoo: When I heard about this, I was at first surprised to find out that I would be working with Totsu (Totsuka) (laughs). We used to work together as a group when we were juniors (T/N: Kitty, Kitty GYM), but not after we debuted, so this is almost the first time we've really been involved with each other through work.
Totsuka: At first, when I heard that I was gonna be in a drama with Inoo-chan, it didn't really hit me. I thought, "I get it. Hey! Say! JUMP from the same agency..." I never dreamed that I would be involved in that. I was like, "What?" I kept checking with my manager and asking, "Are you sure it's me? Are you sure?" But apparently it's true, and if that's the case, it's a rare and precious opportunity, so I thought I'd make the most of it.
Inoo: At first, when I was told that Totsu would be playing the role of the older brother, I honestly thought really... (laughs). I wondered "What would it be like to have Totsu as an older brother?" But as I went through the face-to-face meetings, the costume fittings, the reading sessions, and when we went to the actual set and faced the roles, I started to feel more and more like he was my brother (laughs).
Totsuka: I did it!
Barfout: You say this is almost the first time you've been involved with each other through work, but has anything changed since that time?
Totsuka: Inoo-chan's image has changed quite a bit. In terms of his appearance, first of all he has blonde hair (laughs) and I think he suits blonde hair better than Tsuka-chan (Tsukada Ryo), paired with glasses. And his skin colour is more white. At the time, when he was a junior like in Kitty, Inoo-chan was pretty girlish. He had a delicate image. However, now that I've seen him again after such a long time, I found that he had become more reliable. I mean, I guess he was always reliable. I thought that when I saw him communicating with the staff. I thought it was great that he was able to do that, to put the set in a calm mood.
Inoo: I think I'm still delicate as always (laughs). I'm relieved to see that Totsu hasn't changed at all in my opinion, not even since he was in Kitty, and not even since he was a junior. I wonder what I would do if things had changed in some way...
Barfout: What do you think about the acting?
Totsuka: Very natural. Inoo-chan does everything so naturally, it's amazing. This time, I have a lot of "..." lines, so I feel sorry for Inoo-chan (laughs).
Inoo: On the other hand, my older brother often expresses himself with his body, and with his facial expressions. I think it's amazing that he has such a wide range of expressions. I was like, "Oh, so that's how he does it..." (laughs)
Barfout: Is this how you talk when you're waiting?
Totsuka: Yes, we always talk about acting theory.
Inoo: (laughs) Acting theory never stops.
Barfout: We interviewed Inoo-san when he was doing his butai, and at that time he kept saying, "I don't really know how to act. Since then, your awareness and response has changed, hasn't it?
Inoo: I had a strong feeling that I didn't know what I was doing before during my butai, but after doing my butai, I saw the enjoyment and difficulty in what I didn't know. I felt like I had taken one step further. From there, I gradually had more opportunities to work in dramas and movies. I think it was great that I found the enjoyment in it. Before, I didn't even know if it was fun, interesting, or not.
Barfout: This setting looks fun too.
Inoo: It's interesting. It's a setting where we can express ourselves visually and act in a way that's hard to do in a regular drama.
Barfout: However, Fuyunosuke seems to be difficult to play because there are parts of him that are elusive. For example, when I see his interactions with women, I can't read whether he's being cheerful or calm, whether he feels nothing or is just curious.
Inoo: But it's not a sense of picking up girls, it's an alien-like sense. I think it's an interest in other people, in human beings. There's also a feeling like he knows "if I do this, this will happen". As a result, it looks flirtatious.
Barfout: In the zoo scene in the original story, there was a portrayal of innocence even when separating from a woman, right?
Inoo: Yes, yes. I think that was also pretty faithful to the original work. So, that's why I find him difficult to play, because he's not malicious. It's not that he intentionally left her behind or he had malicious intent. He hurt her without malice (laughs). And because he's smiling, he hurts her as a human being.
Barfout: He's the opposite of Natsutaro, isn't he? Natsutaro is a man of few words, but he has something to convey.
Totsuka: Yes. In my role, I don't have much to say in words. The story is set in a place where we don't know anything, but how to express "I don't know" was the difficult part for me.
Barfout: We can't wait to see how it will be visualised!
Totsuka: I think it's interesting to see how people's daily lives are portrayed through the eyes of aliens. Also, I just think it's great that Natsutaro and Fuyunosuke are brothers.
Inoo: I don't usually get too clingy with members, but as we went along, it started to feel like Totsu was more like a big brother to me. There's naturally a lot of body contact. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing, though.
Totsuka: It's a good thing.
Inoo: (laughs) But I'm sure it's because I'm acting. I'm so used to seeing him in this costume that I might not be able to touch him at all when he's wearing casual clothes (laughs).
Totsuka: (laughs) I'm a little brother myself, so I'm happy to have him call me "big brother, big brother" and experience the feeling of being a big brother. There is quite a lot of footage of the two of us with accessories, and when I'm in a scene by myself, I look at it and think, "Fuyunosuke is so cute." I can't help but think of his face and think "Inoo-chan is so cute!"
Inoo: When I heard about this, I was at first surprised to find out that I would be working with Totsu (Totsuka) (laughs). We used to work together as a group when we were juniors (T/N: Kitty, Kitty GYM), but not after we debuted, so this is almost the first time we've really been involved with each other through work.
Totsuka: At first, when I heard that I was gonna be in a drama with Inoo-chan, it didn't really hit me. I thought, "I get it. Hey! Say! JUMP from the same agency..." I never dreamed that I would be involved in that. I was like, "What?" I kept checking with my manager and asking, "Are you sure it's me? Are you sure?" But apparently it's true, and if that's the case, it's a rare and precious opportunity, so I thought I'd make the most of it.
Inoo: At first, when I was told that Totsu would be playing the role of the older brother, I honestly thought really... (laughs). I wondered "What would it be like to have Totsu as an older brother?" But as I went through the face-to-face meetings, the costume fittings, the reading sessions, and when we went to the actual set and faced the roles, I started to feel more and more like he was my brother (laughs).
Totsuka: I did it!
Barfout: You say this is almost the first time you've been involved with each other through work, but has anything changed since that time?
Totsuka: Inoo-chan's image has changed quite a bit. In terms of his appearance, first of all he has blonde hair (laughs) and I think he suits blonde hair better than Tsuka-chan (Tsukada Ryo), paired with glasses. And his skin colour is more white. At the time, when he was a junior like in Kitty, Inoo-chan was pretty girlish. He had a delicate image. However, now that I've seen him again after such a long time, I found that he had become more reliable. I mean, I guess he was always reliable. I thought that when I saw him communicating with the staff. I thought it was great that he was able to do that, to put the set in a calm mood.
Inoo: I think I'm still delicate as always (laughs). I'm relieved to see that Totsu hasn't changed at all in my opinion, not even since he was in Kitty, and not even since he was a junior. I wonder what I would do if things had changed in some way...
Barfout: What do you think about the acting?
Totsuka: Very natural. Inoo-chan does everything so naturally, it's amazing. This time, I have a lot of "..." lines, so I feel sorry for Inoo-chan (laughs).
Inoo: On the other hand, my older brother often expresses himself with his body, and with his facial expressions. I think it's amazing that he has such a wide range of expressions. I was like, "Oh, so that's how he does it..." (laughs)
Barfout: Is this how you talk when you're waiting?
Totsuka: Yes, we always talk about acting theory.
Inoo: (laughs) Acting theory never stops.
Barfout: We interviewed Inoo-san when he was doing his butai, and at that time he kept saying, "I don't really know how to act. Since then, your awareness and response has changed, hasn't it?
Inoo: I had a strong feeling that I didn't know what I was doing before during my butai, but after doing my butai, I saw the enjoyment and difficulty in what I didn't know. I felt like I had taken one step further. From there, I gradually had more opportunities to work in dramas and movies. I think it was great that I found the enjoyment in it. Before, I didn't even know if it was fun, interesting, or not.
Barfout: This setting looks fun too.
Inoo: It's interesting. It's a setting where we can express ourselves visually and act in a way that's hard to do in a regular drama.
Barfout: However, Fuyunosuke seems to be difficult to play because there are parts of him that are elusive. For example, when I see his interactions with women, I can't read whether he's being cheerful or calm, whether he feels nothing or is just curious.
Inoo: But it's not a sense of picking up girls, it's an alien-like sense. I think it's an interest in other people, in human beings. There's also a feeling like he knows "if I do this, this will happen". As a result, it looks flirtatious.
Barfout: In the zoo scene in the original story, there was a portrayal of innocence even when separating from a woman, right?
Inoo: Yes, yes. I think that was also pretty faithful to the original work. So, that's why I find him difficult to play, because he's not malicious. It's not that he intentionally left her behind or he had malicious intent. He hurt her without malice (laughs). And because he's smiling, he hurts her as a human being.
Barfout: He's the opposite of Natsutaro, isn't he? Natsutaro is a man of few words, but he has something to convey.
Totsuka: Yes. In my role, I don't have much to say in words. The story is set in a place where we don't know anything, but how to express "I don't know" was the difficult part for me.
Barfout: We can't wait to see how it will be visualised!
Totsuka: I think it's interesting to see how people's daily lives are portrayed through the eyes of aliens. Also, I just think it's great that Natsutaro and Fuyunosuke are brothers.
Inoo: I don't usually get too clingy with members, but as we went along, it started to feel like Totsu was more like a big brother to me. There's naturally a lot of body contact. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing, though.
Totsuka: It's a good thing.
Inoo: (laughs) But I'm sure it's because I'm acting. I'm so used to seeing him in this costume that I might not be able to touch him at all when he's wearing casual clothes (laughs).
Totsuka: (laughs) I'm a little brother myself, so I'm happy to have him call me "big brother, big brother" and experience the feeling of being a big brother. There is quite a lot of footage of the two of us with accessories, and when I'm in a scene by myself, I look at it and think, "Fuyunosuke is so cute." I can't help but think of his face and think "Inoo-chan is so cute!"