Kis-My-Ft2’s Miyata Toshiya becomes a debate hero in the world of opinion in the drama “Warau Lady.” The highlight is “the scene where he runs through the city with a knife.”

■ “I tried acting hungry to express the feeling of dissatisfaction of (the character I play, Kanzaki Dogma)” (laughs) (Toshiya Miyata)

Kis-My-Ft2’s Miyata Toshiya will appear in the fourth episode of the nationwide drama “Smiling Lady,” which will be broadcast on August 17th on Tokai TV and Fuji TV.

This is a shocking psychological suspense drama in which Uchida Rio plays a rare villain, Gamo Michiru, who uses her beauty and genius oratory skills to stimulate people’s desires and send them one after another to hell.

Miyata plays the role of the drama’s original character, the debating hero of the world of opinion, Kanzaki Dogma, who is not in the original work. Already on the Internet, there are voices of mixed concern and expectation about what will happen to Miyata in the end.

■ Episode 4 Story
With his catchphrase, “You got what you deserve!”, Kanzaki Dogma (Miyata Toshiya) is the new hero of the internet’s opinion world, and is currently attracting the most attention. He appears on the live-streamed debate show “Genron Crash”, ruining the debate with his extreme opinions and abusive language, and then ignores the topic and exposes and belittles his opponents’ weaknesses, which has earned him the respect of the internet. Behind him is Gamo Michiru (Uchida Rio). With Michiru’s help, Dogma appears on “Genron Crash”, and continues to crush his opponents with extreme opinions as instructed by Michiru and exposé material researched by Nonomiya Kyoko (Matsui Rena), gaining support from the internet. However, Michiru’s plan leads Dogma to start walking the path to ruin…

■ Kis-My-Ft2 Miyata Toshiya Interview
–How did you feel when you were offered the role of “Kanzaki Dogma,” an original character for the drama who does not appear in the original work?
My manager approached me with an offer to appear in a drama, and when I said, “Let’s do it! Let’s do it! What kind of role?” he was like, “What? What do you mean? First of all, what is Dogma?”

-What is the atmosphere like on set?
Miyata: I had a lot of scenes where I was alone, so I only met Michiru for one day. That was when I finally felt like I could talk to people (laughs). In the scene in the drama called “Genron Crash,” there were so many lines that I didn’t have time to talk to people, so I was really happy when I met Michiru. It was a wonderful set with a great atmosphere.

-What is your impression of the lead actress, Rio Uchida?
Miyata: I thought she was a cheerful person who would talk to anyone in a friendly way. She would talk to me about all sorts of things during our free time, and we would talk about anime, like “What anime is interesting right now?”

–About your role as Kanzaki Dogma, a cult favorite on the online debate show “Genron Crash”
Miyata: I usually play refreshing characters, and I have never played a debating role before, so I thought it would be very interesting. At the same time, I felt that this work would be a challenge that would broaden the scope of my acting!

–This is a role you have no experience with, so please tell us if you had any difficulties preparing for the character.
Miyata: I had a bit of a hard time preparing for the role because there weren’t many parts where I could sympathize with Dogma, such as his dissatisfaction with society. The Tokyo gubernatorial election was happening when I was reading the script, so I think I kept my antennae up for politics more than usual in order to prepare for the role. Also, when I thought about what kind of person Dogma is, I thought it would be better if he was dissatisfied, so I tried acting hungry to express that feeling (laughs).

-What kind of conversations did you have with Director Matsuki when preparing to play “Kanzaki Dogma”?
Miyata: When we rehearsed the debate scene, I thought the image I had of the role at first was fine. However, we did talk about how it might be better to have a little less emotion.

– Once filming began, how did you feel when you actually started playing the role?
Miyata: When I was acting face-to-face with Okazaki Maria (Fukumuro Rion) in the debate scene on the debate show, I found myself thinking, “Dogma, are you really going to say that? Isn’t that an exaggeration?” I didn’t understand it when I was reading the script, but when I actually saw Maria’s face, I felt really sorry (for saying that much). On the other hand, I also thought that I was able to act well because that’s the kind of role Dogma is.

–Are there any similarities between you and Dogma? Also, are there any parts of Dogma’s words that you can relate to?
Miyata: There are no similarities at all (laughs). I think it was interesting because it doesn’t connect with the usual Miyata Toshiya. It would be one thing if it was a scandal involving a politician or someone in power, but the fact that he was able to protest to Michiru that the Okazaki Maria incident was going too far shows that I can still love Dogma. I was glad that even in Dogma there was a clear line of what not to say.

–Please tell us about a memorable scene that you have filmed so far.
Miyata: It’s the scene where I’m running with a knife (laughs). That was the first time in my life that I’ve ever done something like that. Running through the city with a knife (laughs). Actually, that was the first scene we shot. I felt strange because I wanted to do it with all my might. I was doing something dangerous, but I thought that’s the kind of feeling Dogma is.

–Dogma has a catchphrase, “You got what you deserve,” but has there ever been an incident where you felt that you got what you deserve?
Miyata: There are a lot (laughs). A long time ago, when I was little, I was so happy that I could let go of both hands while riding a bicycle. So when I was standing on a swing and trying to pedal away, I thought it would be cool if I could let go of both hands, but the moment I let go of both hands, I fell and broke my fingers… I guess I got what I deserved (laughs).

–This work features characters with various desires, but what is the one desire that you just can’t give up?
Miyata: I have a lot of things I want to do, and this year I wrote a novel. To begin with, I wanted to make my favorite anime, and when I thought about what I needed to do, I thought I needed an original work, so I started writing a novel. It was very hard to finish writing a novel with that goal in mind. I think I have a strong desire to make my dreams come true. If it is made into an anime, I will leave it to the production staff who respect the original work. But if I had the right to choose a voice actor, I would like to try this voice actor for this character. I usually work with Kis-My-Ft2, but there are things that can only be done in a group and things that can only be done alone, so I am chasing two dreams at the same time.

–Finally, please tell us what you think are the highlights of this work and your message to the viewers.
Miyata: First of all, I want people to enjoy watching the people who are going crazy. I think you’ll enjoy it more if you watch while thinking about what it is about Michiru that is making her go crazy. Maybe the viewers of the drama will also be driven crazy by Michiru. I’d be happy if they could become that engrossed in the story. And as for the strange man, please pay attention to Kanzaki Dogma!

Program Information

Tokai Television/Fuji Television Network“The Laughing Lady”
08/17 (Sat) 23:40-24:35 *Episode 4

Cast: Rio Uchida, Rena Matsui
Shuichiro Naito / Fujiko Kojima Sayaka Aoki Toshiya Miyata Wan Marui Kohei Takeda Kentaro Maeda Yoshihiko Hakamada / Shunsuke Daito
Original story: “The Laughing Lady” by Shichiri Nakayama (published by Jitsugyo no Nihonsha)
Screenplay: Yoko Izumizawa and Jun Tsuguta
Theme song: “Heaven” by Kotone (Victor Entertainment)
Opening song: “BLEEDING” by HYDE (Universal Music)

Drama “Laughing Lady” program site
https://www.tokai-tv.com/waraushukujo/