佐藤 健

The “Rurouni Kenshin” series has earned a cumulative total of 125 million yen, and “8 Toshikoshi no Hayayome kiseki no jitsuwa” is 26,2 billion yen. Takeru Satoh has continued to win with high probability in terms of box office results, such as exceeding billion yen. LINE and SUGAR have also become a hot topic, and he has more than 200,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel (as of March 25, 2021), giving me the impression that he is “unbeatable” no matter what he does. How does Satoh-sab know what he’s going to win? Satoh: First, I don’t choose because it seems like a hit, and because he seems to be popular with the world. In the case of movies, when I see a chance to make a good movie, I think I should do it. If it was “Rurouni Kenshin”, I could see it when I first saw the video made by the action team. That’s why I thought I’d do it. If it’s “Ajin”, I thought that I could use the fact that the main character doesn’t die to create and action that I’ve never seen before. If you can see such a winning chance and share it with the director and staff, you can get a GO. Even if you can see it in yourself, you can’t share it, you can’t go out.

SUGAR and LINE looked interesting, didn’t it? Satoh: When I felt the other person’s feelings, I thought, “This is happy” and “This is fun”, so I started. Every time I see it, the point is different, so I can’t say that it is so, but it’s one thing. And if no matter how much you look for a chance to win, you won’t do it.

The ability to calmly choose not to do it is one of Satoh-san’s strengths and talents. Satoh: What I’ve struggled with in my life as an actor.

About Satoh-san’s acting power “Rurouni Kenshin”, Hiroyoshi Koiwai-san, the executive producer of the series, said, “All the correct answers for the role of Kenshin are inside him. Not only can you get into the role and see the world of the works subjectively, but you can also look at the work objectively. He also points out problems with editing. Also, Director Keishi Ohtomo, grinned, “He’s cool, isn’t he? Extracting grief in an interview? Impossible,” he laughs. It seems that even his director, who has overcome harsh filming together for 10 years, has never seen Satoh-san “fallen”. Kenji Tanigaki, the action director, said, “There may be times when he is loose, but that doesn’t affect the play. His calmness and neutrality are amazing.” And he testified: “There was a moment when I saw red flames in the blue flames during the action practise for the first game. “Because I can’t lose. I can’t lose,” he said a lot, which left an impression on me.

What made Satoh-san think, “I don’t want to lose?” I asked him what he fought the most in his 15-year career. Satoh: What is it? Hmm… Hmm (laughs). Well, if I were to say something really boring, it would be me. I guess everyone does. I’m no different from everyone else, and I think I came here fighting against myself. When it comes to playing a role, and facing a work, I can be comfortable no matter what. While there is no option to take it easy, I will encourage myself. So… does that mean I’m fighting against myself for wanting to have fun? I wonder if I’ve been able to overcome, inspire and push myself all the way through each work.

“Beginning” breaks new ground. The “Rurouni Kenshin” series is a representative work and opened new horizons in Japanese action movies. Before the release of the final chapter of his work, which he has been fighting for 10 years, he says, “This year will be a turning point in my career as an actor.” Satoh: “Final” and “Beginning” are definitely going to be a turning point for him. I’m in my thirties, so it’s definitely a milestone. Especially big is “Beginning”. I don’t want to judge the work I’ve done as much, and I can’t, but I probably think “Beginning” is the best work of my entire career. I don’t know if it’s because I feel that way or not. The reason is… the quality of the plays is also different. Both “Final” and the past “Rurouni Kenshin” are based on shounen manga, so I acted as a character, or rather, I dared to think about his manga-like, anime-like approach. Of course, I put my soul into my performance, but in “Beginning”, I completely eliminated that and was facing one person, Battosai Himura. It really made me think that Kenshin, who was such an inhuman character, might have lived in the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate. To that extent, I had the sense that my own flesh and blood had entered the role, and I was able to stay with Kenshin throughout the filming period. I don’t think he can do that much, and I wonder if he can be more integrated with the role in the future. In that sense, before and after the “Beginning”. I don’t know if it’s Chapter 2 or Chapter 3, but I think that this year will be a turning point in my career as an actor.

This year, the film “Mamora renakatta sha tachi e”, in which he once again teamed up with director Takahisa Zeze, the mater director of “8 toshikoshi no hanayome kiseki no jitsuwa”, is scheduled to be released in autumn. The Netflix original drama series “First Love”, which will be filmed in collaboration with Hikaru Mitsushisa-san, is scheduled to be released in 190 countries around the world in 2022. At the end of March, Amuse will become independent. At the new company Co-LaVo, in which Amuse also invests, he will take on new challenges in addition to his acting career.

What kind of actor does Satoh-san aim to become in the future? When I asked that question, the answer came back from a bird’s- eye view from Satoh-san. Satoh: I genuinely wish there were more interesting works. Especially drama. Korean dramas are interesting these days. I think it’s purely because the budgets are different, but in Japan as well, I’d like to create more high-quality and interesting things than ever before, and share them not only with people in Japan, but also with people all over the world. I want you to be able to see it. Now I have a desire to be involved in that. Looking forward to the future, the “Rurouni Kenshin” series will undoubtedly become my foundation. From now on, I think I must do activities that are worthy of the work “Rurouni Kenshin.”

Netflix First Love 2022

This is the first relationship between Yuri Kantake and Satoh-san, director of Netflix “First Love 1^st Edition”, which will be filmed from this spring, since the 1^st DVD “My Co-or.” Kantake: It was around the time he was doing “Kamen Rider Den-O”, and I was just starting out. When I met him, even though he was still a teenager, he was a person who spoke in hiragana like he was talking about deep things. I was amazed at the choice of words and the structure of the story. You can convey your thoughts accurately and flexibly while paying attention to the other person’s reaction and degree of understanding. I think it is still his greatest weapon. At that time, I thought, “He is a person who will definitely become a movie actor. He also proactively offered his own ideas, and it became a work that I personally have a deep affection for.” After that, we reunited for the first time in a long time for “First Love.” He wants to portray the 20 years of a pair of men and women as a magnificent love story. When I think about it, the most important thing is a strong coupling, he said. They are as beautiful as paintings. Well, there is also a premonition that love is about to begin. Considering the freshness and chemistry with Hikaru Mitsushima-san, I thought he was number one. Her works depict not only the beginning of love, but also the end of youth and the youth of life. I wanted to shoot with the current Satoh-kun, even in the sense of making such a drama more persuasive.

During the script stage, we had discussions at my house in Yatsugatake. He is someone who can read scripts, so if I write like this, I will scoop it up and give it to him, or conversely, he will read it. Some of his comments have awakened something in myself. Now, he’s so beautiful, isn’t he? I want to keep that wonderful season in the video, and I want to see more of Satoh-san, who plays his story in adult love, so I increased the book from 7 to 8 episodes (laughs). He has the fragility of a guy who gives it his all and goes somewhere far away. In fact, it may be possible that he is not, but I want to continue to be in the film industry as a player. For that reason, I want to make good scripts and good works.