Koji Yakusho, Tao Tsuchiya and Fumihiko Sori appear on stage at the premiere screening of the movie 'Hakkenden'; the makeup for the role of Bakin Takizawa took three hours.

The spectacular film ' Hakkenden ,' which depicts how Takizawa Bakin wrote the novel 'Nansō Satomi Hakkenden' by intersecting Bakin's life with the story of 'Hakkenden,' will be held at TOHO Cinemas Umeda Screen 2 on Monday, October 7, 2024, with a premiere screening with stage greetings in Osaka. Yakusho Koji, who plays Takizawa Bakin , Tsuchiya Tao , who plays Fushimihime, and director Sori Fumihiko appeared on stage.

Official website for the movie 'Hakkenden' | Released in theaters on October 25, 2024

There was also a life-sized panel of Yabusa. It was huge, as it is the one that Fushimihime, played by Tsuchiya, rides on in the story.

Director Sori, Yakusho, and Tsuchiya appeared on stage at the event. When they were taking the stage, Yakusho, who had gone up on stage first, offered his hand to Tsuchiya, who was trying to climb the stairs behind him.

When asked about his impression of Osaka fans, Yakusho, who had not been to Osaka for a year and a half since the film 'Father of the Galaxy Railroad,' commented, 'I feel like the heat of the applause is different from the moment I enter the theater.' Tsuchiya also commented, 'The pressure of the welcome...the heat is incredible.' Meanwhile, Director Sori is originally from Osaka. He reminisced about skipping school to go to the Daimai Underground Theater in Dojima to watch triple feature movies.

Yakusho plays Bakin Takizawa, a writer who spent 28 years writing the novel 'Nansō Satomi Hakkenden.' In order to play Bakin, the makeup artists, costume designers, and set designers all carefully recreated the changes over the course of 28 years, so as he became Bakin on set, he felt like his age was ingrained in his body, which made it easier for him.

Tsuchiya has known 'Hakkenden' since she was a child, and it was her dream to appear in the work. Although her time as Fushimihime was not very long this time, she said that she was able to exert her 'supernatural powers' with the support of many people, including the makeup artists and art directors, which made her more convincing.

Director Sori is from the generation that saw the puppet show 'Shin Hakkenden,' and commented that he wanted the 'jewel' that the Eight Swordsmen possess. Although he had always wanted to film 'Nansō Satomi Hakkenden,' the project was not coming to fruition. So he came across Yamada Futaro's novel 'Hakkenden,' which combines the stories of Hakkenden and Bakin, and pushed forward, saying, 'I wish I could film this.' He said that he was thrilled to see it come to fruition.

As this was a premiere screening, there was also a Q&A session for attendees in the second half.

When asked about the most memorable scene, Yakusho commented that the scene in the story that made the biggest impression on him was when the physically weak son, Sohaku, gradually became weaker. Hayato Isomura, who played Sohaku, actually lost a lot of weight for the filming, and it was painful to watch.

Other examples of 'hollow' stories include the fight on the roof tiles and the sight of Fushimihime riding away on Yafusa.

When asked what was difficult and challenging, Yakusho mentioned that since the makeup takes about three hours to apply, he, along with Uchino Masaaki, who plays Katsushika Hokusai, had to start applying makeup before dark.

In response to the same question, Tsuchiya revealed that the scene where she was lying on the ground was filmed in late October, so it was freezing cold, and that it was difficult to convey emotion in the character because Yabu, who Tsuchiya was riding on, was played by an assistant director during filming.

The film 'Hakkenden', which interweaves Bakin Takizawa's 28-year writing process of 'Hakkenden' with the epic story of the original, will be released nationwide on Friday, October 25, 2024.