■ “It was a great honor to spend such stimulating days with such wonderful people as Miyama-san and Chansung-san.” (Nogizaka46, Kubo Shiori)
Director Eiji Uchida’s latest film, “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone,” has been scheduled for release nationwide in February 2025 at TOHO Cinemas Hibiya and other theaters.
Additionally, information about the lead cast members, Miyama Ryouki, Kubo Fumika (Nogizaka46), and Hwang Chansung (2PM), was released for the first time.
This film, “Dakishimete: Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone,” is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Shindo Fuyuki, “Dakishimete: Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone” (published by Kobunsha Bunko), which became a hot topic as a tear-jerking, ultimate pure love novel. This is a work that represents the true essence of director Uchida Eiji, who has portrayed the aspects of people who relate to others through love despite their difficulties in life, including “Midnight Swan” and “Silent Love.”
The script was written by screenwriter Lee Na-won, who studied under Sakamoto Yuji at the Graduate School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts, and has worked on popular works in recent years, such as “I Will Be the First to See You at Break.”
The lead roles will be played by Miyama Ryouki and Kubo Shiori (Nogizaka46). The role of Mizushima Ryojo, an aspiring picture book author who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and is obsessive-compulsive, always wears vinyl gloves and cannot even touch his cohabiting girlfriend, will be played by Miyama Ryouki, who is also active as a member of BE:FIRST, RYOKI, and has made waves for his role as Naoaki, the younger brother of the heroine Torako in NHK’s “Menstrual Man and His Daughter” and the currently airing NHK morning drama “Tiger and Wings.”
Co-starring with Miyama as Yoshishiro’s girlfriend is Kubo Fumi, who has also had success as an actress, appearing in the historical drama “What Will Ieyasu Do?”, and has also served as the center of Nogizaka46.
She plays Tsukina Kirimoto, a bookstore clerk who cannot be touched by her boyfriend and who understands his illness but is troubled by her own wavering feelings. As their relationship becomes unstable, a man named Lee Jae-hong appears before Tsukina, whose heart is not moved even when he touches her, and is played by Hwang Chansung, a member of the Korean vocal and dance group 2PM.
Carrying physical and mental conflicts, they find it difficult to express their love. As the lives of these three people intersect, what awaits them?
It is heartbreaking to empathize with the helplessness of not being able to hug the one you love, or not being able to be hugged by the one you love, something that everyone has experienced at least once. A heartbreaking yet beautiful, tranquil and warm love story of the highest purity has been born.
Comments from Miyama Ryouki, Kubo Shiori, Hwang Chansung, director Uchida Eiji, and original author Shindo Fuyuki have also arrived. More information about the cast will be released in the future, so be sure to check it out.
■ Comment from Ryouki Miyama
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.
Comment from Nogizaka46’s Kubo Shiori
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.
■ Comment from 2PM’s Hwang Chansung
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. ^^
■ Comment from Eiji Uchida (Director)
I came across a novel by chance, “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone,” and decided to make it into a film. 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 realism, and I hope you will come to the theater to see them.
■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.
Information
“Hold me tighter than anyone else”
Original work: Fuyuki Shindo “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone” (Kobunsha Bunko)
Director: Eiji Uchida
Screenwriter: Lee Na-won
Cast: Ryouki Miyama, Shiori Kubo (Nogizaka46), Hwang Chansung (2PM)
Distributor: Arc Entertainment
(C)2025 “Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone” HIAN / Arc Entertainment
“Hold Me Tighter Than Anyone” Official Website
http://dareyorimo-movie.com/
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