On July 13th, actors Hayashi Kento and Kiritani Mirei attended the premiere of their new drama, �Arakawa Under the Bridge�.

The casting of Oguri Shun as a kappa (or �water imp�) and Yamada Takayuki as a star-masked singer has become a raging topic for this work, but what shocked Kiritani more was to see them in normal dress. She commented, �It's more surprising to see them outside of their costumes. During the break, the two of them would eat their lunches [in their normal clothes], and it was very surreal to me.� Hayashi added, �This is my first time co-starring with Mr. Oguri. I wasn�t really able to talk with him because I thought he might be mad that everyone was�staring�at him as a �kappa�.�

This drama is based on Nakamura Hikaru's hit comic series with the same name, which has been serialized through 'Young Gangan' since 2004. This story focuses on the relationship between Riku/Kou Ichinomiya (Hayashi), a boy who hates being indebted to anybody, and Nino (Kiritani), a beautiful homeless girl who claims that she's a Venusian and lives on the Arakawa river. Oguri plays the �kappa� or the village man of Arakawa river, and the drama features other mysterious and unexplainable characters such as Yamada�s role as �Hoshi� (�Star�).

This drama adaptation was filmed alongside� the movie adaptation, which is scheduled to be released in February 2012. Hayashi said, �For this role, I made sure that the creation of this character was properly portrayed.� He continued, �Although I felt peer pressure in the beginning as a starring actor, I got used to it as time went on. I decided to give my utmost love to this work.�

Kiritani, who had to wear jerseys for most of the filming, commented, �This Venusian barely changes her facial expressions, so it was hard not being able to laugh.�� Thus, she was �healed� as �Oguri Kappa� and �Yamada Hoshi� made her laugh.

This drama will start its broadcast on July 26th at 12:55 am on TBS on every Tuesday.

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Source & Images: Oricon News