HIAN’s first film production “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone” is set for release! “Midnight Swan” director Eiji Uchida’s latest work! A film adaptation starring Ryouki Miyama and Shiori Kubo (Nogizaka46) is set! Hwang Chansung (2PM) also co-stars!

Comment from Ryouki Miyama (role of Yoshiki Mizushima)

I had met Director Uchida by chance overseas some time ago, and we had been talking about working together on a project someday, but I never expected it to happen so soon, and that I would be playing my first leading role in one of his films. I was truly surprised, including the speed at which it all happened.

At first, I was simply excited about playing Yoshijo, but since he is very different from my own positive nature and also suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, I continued to think about how I should approach this difficult character, who is the complete opposite of myself, and I kept trying and testing things until the very end.

The film itself has a wonderful atmosphere that flows through the images, but it is not just another love story. It deliberately depicts the vague contradictions people have, and has a realistic plot that makes you think, “This kind of thing happens in life…” It is full of the charm that only Director Uchida can have, and I think it is a deep work that will surely tug at people’s hearts. By deliberately depicting the complex feelings and actions that cannot be simply resolved, the kind that everyone unknowingly experiences in human relationships and romance, what kind of impression will it leave on everyone’s hearts? I am looking forward to it, and I hope you will look forward to it too.

Born April 26, 1999 in Aichi Prefecture. Actor. Also active as a member of BE:FIRST as RYOKI. Recent major appearances include the dramas “Know the Meaning of Giving Up!” (23/MBS), “The Menstrual Man and His Daughter” (23/NHK), “Wings on a Tiger” (24/NHK), and the movie “High & Low: The Worst X” (22). This is his first lead role in a movie.

Comment from Shiori Kubo (role of Tsukina Kirimoto)

I’m Kubo Shiori, and I played the role of Kirimoto Tsukina.

Looking back on the days I spent as Tsukina, I feel like it was very suffocating. It felt like I was always bottling up my emotions, wondering what was most important to me – myself, someone I loved, or something else? Even as I was tossed about by my environment and feelings that had nowhere to go, it always seemed like “love” was what filled my heart and what corroded it. It was a real honor to have had the opportunity to spend such exciting days with such wonderful people, including Miyama-san and Chansung-san.

This is also my third time working with Director Uchida. I am truly grateful that he was able to translate Tsukina’s delicate, fluctuating feelings into words and confront her head-on. I hope this work will help people find the form of love that we search for every day in our lives. And I would be delighted if you could see the answer to love that Tsukina finds and arrives at.

We look forward to seeing you at the theater.

Born July 14, 2001, from Miyagi Prefecture. A member of the idol group Nogizaka46. In addition to being the main personality of the radio show “Nogizaka46’s All Night Nippon,” he is also active as an actor. Recent major appearances include the dramas “What Will Ieyasu Do?” (23/NHK), “Sunset” (23/WOWOW), and the films “River, Don’t Run Away” (23) and “The Most Tragic Day in Detective Mariko’s Life” (23). Starting in October, he will be appearing in the drama “My Future Self Will Blow You Away!?” (NHK).

Comment from Hwang Chan-seong (role of Lee Jae-hong)

When I received the offer, I was very excited because I thought it might be the opportunity for me to continue my career as an actor in Japan. I was offered such a wonderful project, so more than anything, I was filled with the desire to do my best.

The character I play, Lee Jae Hong, is a man who refuses to take over his father’s business and works hard in Japan, dreaming of becoming a chef. Just when Jae Hong is about to give up on his dream of becoming a chef, something happens in Japan that makes him continue to dream, and he is a passionate person who loves and cherishes his own path.

Although the filming time wasn’t long, I think I got along very well with the staff and my co-stars during the shoot. I was really lucky to be able to work with Director Uchida’s precise and detailed direction, the staff who carried out that direction, and the wonderful actors.

The feelings and conflicts of love are not necessarily things that need to be resolved at the moment. The story of forgotten feelings melts into the flow of time, and we can come to understand and forgive each other. Through this movie, I thought that this is what we who are in love need. I hope you enjoy watching it. ^^

Born on February 11, 1990 in Seoul, South Korea. A member of the Korean idol group 2PM. As an actor, his recent major appearances include the dramas “That’s Why I Married My Anti” (21/NAVER TV), “Show Window: The Queen’s House” (21/Channel A), “Bora! Deborah: Always Serious about Love” (23/ENA), and the films “Wasureyuki” (15), “Midnight Runners” (17), and “Roses and Tulips” (19).

Comment from Eiji Uchida (Director)

I came across a novel by chance, “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone,” and decided to make it into a movie. Driven by the urge to project onto the screen the sadness and pure feelings surrounding love depicted in the novel, I created the film together with young actors. The performances of the three actors, Miyama Ryouki, Kubo Shiori, and Chansung, who are also active as musicians, are a wonderful mix of freshness and reality, and I hope you will come to the theater to see them.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1971. Film director and screenwriter. In 2019, the Netflix original drama “The Naked Director,” which he played a part in writing and directing, was distributed worldwide and swept the world. In 2021, “Midnight Swan” won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Picture and was screened at film festivals in over 30 countries around the world. In recent years, he has worked on many works, including “Transfer Order is a Music Corps!” (22), “Detective Mariko’s Most Tragic Day in Her Life” (23), “Silent Love” (24), and “Matching” (24).

Comment from Fuyuki Shindo (original author)

It was six years ago that I first met director Eiji Uchida.
Through a mutual acquaintance, the owner of a production company, I heard about an idea for making a film based on my book, “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone.”
This book was released in 2005, making it a novel that was published 13 years ago at the time.
The work was serialized in Kobunsha’s Josei Jishin magazine, and from the moment it was released, there was a flood of talk about turning it into a movie or a TV drama.
Due to various issues that prevented the plan from coming to fruition, it ultimately took 20 years to make the film, but in the end, it was decided that a rare hit maker like Director Uchida would be directing it, so I’m glad we waited that long.
The first thing I thought when I saw the preview the other day was that the lead actor, Miyama, had, in a good way, broken the image of Miyama Ryouki from “BE:FIRST.”
What I mean is that the acting of the main character, Yoshijo, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, was as if he was possessed.
Due to my job as a novelist, I watch around 300 movies and dramas a year, but I can’t remember seeing a young actor’s performance so completely betrayal of his celebrity image.
I was left speechless by the performance of Kubo Fumika, who played the other main character, Tsukina.
Not only was the dialogue excellent, but the expressions and eye acting even when there were no lines touched my heart just as much, if not more, than when there were lines.
To put it in novelist terms, it’s like the acting ability to move every muscle in your face, every single capillary.
It’s no wonder that even before he met Kubo, director Uchida, who rarely praises people, had such an unusually high opinion of her as an actress.
Her ability to distinguish between stillness and movement in her acting and to vary the strength and weakness of her voice tones is outstanding, and although it may be a cliché, someone like her is what you would call a genius.

It was my first reunion with Chansung since he played the lead role in my book “Wasureyuki” about 10 years ago, and watching the screen with deep emotion, I realized that he has become a mature actor, with his acting skills now having gained depth compared to before, having been active in Korean dramas and movies.
Director Uchida’s keen eye and directing ability in selecting two young leading actors who are not just newsworthy, and turning them into such a great piece of work, are the work of an undeniable genius.
It has turned out to be such a wonderful movie, and I feel truly rewarded as a novelist.

Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1966. In 1998, he made his debut as an author, winning the Mephisto Prize for “Bloodstained Myth.” Boasting a wide range of writing styles, he has also attracted attention for his worldview, as seen in the underworld noir work “Kuroshindo” and the literary work “Hakushindo,” which tells the story of pure love. “Wasureyuki,” “A Love Story,” and “I’m Glad to Meet You” are known as the “Pure Love Trilogy” and have become bestsellers. “Wasureyuki” was made into a film starring Hwang Chan-sung in 2015. He has also written many other books, including “Black Sun,” “Pillow Actress,” “Bottomless Swamp,” and “Unfaithful Pure Love.” In 2007, he founded the entertainment production company “Shindo Pro,” where he serves as president. He is active in a variety of fields, including serving as the film director for the 2009 film “Mushi Emperor: The Movie.”