Snow Man Meguro Ren will play the role of a father in his first lead role in a Monday drama! “The Beginning of the Sea”, a love story sent by the “silent” team, will be broadcast

■“I just want to be myself and do a play that moves the hearts of everyone who watches it.” (Ren Meguro)

It has been announced that Meguro Ren (Snow Man) will star in the monthly drama “Umi no Hajimari” starting in July.

The scriptwriter Miku Ubukata, the director Taiki Kazama, and the producer Ken Murase of “silent” (October 2022/Fuji TV), which was also called a social phenomenon, have reunited to share the “love between parent and child” this summer. We will broadcast completely original works based on the theme. It carefully depicts the love that is born between people and the story of family that we want to convey in this day and age.

■A story of “family” drawn through “love between parent and child” that we want to convey in this day and age
The main character of this story is Natsu Tsukioka (Ren Meguro). During her university days, she was spending happy days with her classmate, Mizuki Nagumo, who she started dating by chance. However, one day when she was about to start job hunting, she suddenly asked him to break up with her, and the two ended up breaking up. Seven years have passed since then, and in the summer she was starting a new life, she learns from a call from her college friend that Mizuki has passed away. Natsu hadn’t seen her even once since she said goodbye, and Natsu heads to her funeral without really realizing that fact. He meets a young girl named. Natsu can’t hide her surprise when she learns that the girl is Mizuki’s child. And then she hears from her mother that she is the father of the sea. Mizuki and Umi spent the summer when Mizuki learned that she had given birth to a child with him without her knowledge, and that she had been raising that child without saying a word. Thinking about her in the past 7 years…

One of the major themes in this work is “love between parent and child.” The relationship between Natsu, who didn’t know that her child had been alive for seven years, or how she had lived up until now, and the sea that suddenly appeared in her life, and the relationship between her deceased girlfriend and her daughter. This summer, we will deliver a work that realistically and carefully depicts and weaves the emotions that arise between “parents and children” among the characters that appear, such as the relationship between parents and children.

■Meguro Ren’s first starring role in Fuji TV’s serial drama is the traditional “Tsuki 9”
This will be her first leading role in a Fuji TV drama, and her first leading role in the traditional drama slot popularly known as “Monday 9.”Natsu, played by Meguro, is a 28-year-old young man who works at a printing company in Tokyo. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he was taken in by his mother. Since then, his mother has remarried, leaving him with a father and a younger brother who is three years younger than him. After graduating from high school in the summer, she went to a university in Tokyo. At the university’s welcome party for new students, he meets Mizuki. At first, Natsu thought that she was a strange girl because of the words she spoke and the way she thought, but the pace of her life was comfortable, and the distance between them naturally grew, so he started dating Mizuki. However, in the winter of his second year, Mizuki unilaterally bid him farewell. After that, he graduated without meeting Mizuki, who had quit university, and went straight to work. He still lives in the same apartment as he did during his university days. Natsu, who has a habit of saying “hmm,” sometimes gets poked at for her ambiguous answers by joking, “Can you stop replying like something between ‘Yeah’ and ‘Uh?'” Also, I have lived my life by avoiding troublesome things and using my brain, and I have lived my life without experiencing any major setbacks. After the death of Mizuki, whom she hadn’t seen for seven years since they broke up, Natsu comes to know about the existence of her blood-related daughter…

For Meguro, who plays the main character Natsu, this will be her first appearance in a Fuji TV drama in about two years since “silent” (October 2022/Fuji TV). The drama “silent” attracted attention for his delicate and careful acting skills, and he won the supporting actor award at the “Tokyo Drama Awards 2023”, as well as the “31st Hashida Award” and the 2024 “Ellandor Award”. It was also a work that served as a major opportunity to increase his reputation as an actor, including winning the Newcomer Award. Meguro, who will be teaming up with the “silent” team again for this work, said, “The production team knows me well, so I thought it was a role that I could naturally relate to.” I felt it,” he commented. Furthermore, regarding her first role, she said, “We had a lot of discussions from the stage of writing the script. However, of course, there are sensibilities and behaviors that are different from mine, so I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can create a new person called Natsu. I want summer to come soon!”, she said, expressing her feelings for the character Natsu. It will be interesting to see how Ren Meguro, an actor whose every move attracts attention, approaches and expresses his role as Natsu in this work.

■The girl with the name “sea” in the title will be played by Sena Izumiya, a rising star.
Umi, a 6-year-old girl, suddenly loses the mother she loved and ends up meeting the person her mother loved. Umi was born between Summer and Suizuki, but she grew up without knowing her father. One day, her beloved mother passes away, and at her funeral, she meets Natsu, who was attending. At first, the two did not exchange words, but then, as they were sitting alone on a bench in the lobby, summer came…

Sena Izumitani, who plays the role of Umi, has appeared in numerous dramas, commercials, and magazines, and is one of the child actors currently attracting the most attention. “Kitchen around! ” (October 2023/Tokai TV/Fuji TV) and “Church no Alice” (January 2024/Nippon TV), where he has brilliantly played the important role of the main character’s childhood. He is a rising star with both presence and expressive power. In particular, in the Thursday theater “Ichiban Sukina Hana” (October 2023/Fuji TV), which aired in the fall of 2023, Imada, one of the four main characters, is bound by memories from childhood and is troubled. Mio’s excellent portrayal of Yoyo Miyuki’s childhood became a hot topic. She was able to portray the many layers of complex backgrounds and emotions.

This role was decided through an audition. Since the role is an important role with the name “sea” included in the story’s title, the production team conducted a series of huge auditions, calling from all over the country. After that, Izumiya was chosen to play the role of Umi, and producer Murase commented, “I think I’ve seen almost all of the child actors of this generation, but I think Sena-chan is the only one who plays Umi.” She also said, “It’s a role I really wanted to play, so before the audition, I actually went to the beach and tried my best to imagine how Umi-chan would feel, so I’m very happy and happy that I got the role of Umi-chan.” She also commented, “I love acting, so I’m happy to be able to play the role of Umi-chan and I’m looking forward to the future!I want to put myself in Umi-chan’s feelings and do a play that moves everyone.” Let’s pay attention to his life-sized acting skills in this work as well.

■The “silent” team has reunited and weaves a story of “family” through “love between parent and child” in this work.
The scriptwriter for this work is Miku Ubukata, who made her impressive debut as a screenwriter with “silent.” Ubukata won the grand prize at the 33rd Fuji Television Young Scenario Award in 2021. Her work “On the Landing” (2021/Fuji TV), which won the grand prize at a competition that is also called the gateway to success for young screenwriters, has been made into a drama, and the delicateness of its worldview and the penetrating power of its lines have been made into a drama. captured the hearts of viewers. In 2022, she made her debut with the completely original work “Silent” in the traditional prime time slot of “Thursday Theater”, selected by producer Ken Murase, who fell in love with her talent. Furthermore, in the fall of 2023, we will be releasing the Thursday Theater “Ichiban Sukina Hana”, which will be our second collaboration with producer Murase, and will be a wonderful story of “friendship” between four men and women, drawn in a new style starring “Quatro”. I expressed it. This is Ubukata’s third work and depicts a story of a parent and child. Producer Murase, who discovered Ukata and selected him this time, and who will be working with him for the third time, also said, “Now, it goes without saying that I have no say in Ubukata’s talent, but I would like to work with Ukata. The main theme I had in mind was the story of a parent and child.”

This work will be directed by Taiki Kazama, a young creator who is attracting the most attention today, who shared the same thoughts and carefully worked on the work at the theater “silent” on Thursday, and this is Ubukata’s third consecutive work. Therefore, Mai Takano (formally known as Hashigodaka) knows the worldview depicted in this script better than anyone else, and she first came into contact with Ubukata’s work in “Ichiban Sukina Hana” and beautifully translated those words into images. It has also been decided that three people, including Jung Eun Hee, will be in charge.

Also, the person in charge of the music for this film is Masahiro Tokuda, a composer who, like the directors, has colored Ubukata’s works such as “Silent” and “Ichiban Sukina Hana.” As a duo with producer Murase, they also worked on nine dramas a month with “Someday I’ll Remember This Love and I’ll Cry” in 2016, and the beautiful and delicate music makes you remember the scenes of the drama just by listening to the melody. It is deeply engraved in the hearts of many drama fans that it makes them cry. This time as well, we will use music to express the sad yet warm worldview of Ukata’s works, enlivening the audience with melodies that touch their hearts. Producer Murase said, “In depicting the world of this drama, we couldn’t have asked for anything better, the best, and the best.” , it’s a perfect lineup.” As before, members who are able to create works while carefully attending to the lives of each person appearing in the story will “reunite” and the best team will be put into action this summer.

■The key visual of summer and the sea, which will be the center of the story, trying to communicate on the beach has also been released.
Furthermore, at the same time as this information was released, the key visual for this work was also released. The summer and sea look different, and the coastline is breathtakingly beautiful. The words that are exchanged and the time that passes between them are like a page of everyday life, and the result is a piece that looks like the precious and special moment that this story is trying to express. . The visual for this work was created by Shintaro Kira, who was also in charge of the visual for “silent.” Until now, Kira has been in charge of popular works such as “Sherlock” (October 2019 / Fuji TV) and the historical drama “13 People of Kamakura-dono” (2022 / NHK General), as well as the movie “Kingdom” (2019) ), the movie “Tokyo Revengers” (2021), the movie “Character” (2021), and the movie “Masquerade Night” (2021). Ta. This work is also an expression that perfectly captures the feelings put into the work.

Ren Meguro, who will finally be starring in the lead role for the first time on September 9, will be wondering how he feels and expresses his role, which can be said to be a new challenge for himself. With the reunion of the “silent” team, the carefully drawn world view and overwhelming visual beauty are sure to be the most memorable work of the summer for everyone. The monthly drama “Umi no Hajimari”, which is a completely original work, will start in July. We look forward to seeing such a delicate and gentle story that will surely make you realize the importance of caring for others.

■Meguro Ren comment
Q. Please tell us your impressions after receiving the offer to star in this film.
I was very happy. When I was 20 years old, I hadn’t even made my debut, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue this job.I half-forced myself to write in a dream notebook about things I admired for my girlfriend, even though there was no way it would come true. I remembered the day I wrote that I wanted to play the lead role in the 9th month of the month. It really feels like a dream.

Q.This will be Tsuki 9’s first appearance and first lead role. Please tell us your impressions of Tsuki 9 and if there is anything special about appearing in it.
I feel that Tsuki 9, which has been created by so many actors, including my seniors at the agency, is something special. When I was watching from afar, I thought it was a special place, just an amazing place, but when it came time for me to appear in the drama, the offer was not just for me, but for the thoughts and challenges of everyone who made the drama. Since I have been selected by the club, I want to make my feelings come true, and I want to be myself and do my best with a play that moves the hearts of everyone who watches it.

Q. Please tell us what you thought after reading the script, your impressions of the role of Natsu, and your enthusiasm for playing the role.
The production team knew me well, so I felt that it was a role that I could naturally relate to. We had a lot of discussions from the stage of writing the script. However, there are of course people with different sensibilities and behavior than myself, so I’m looking forward to seeing how much new people I can create, and I hope summer comes soon!

Q.Please give a message to the viewers.
I would like to work hard to create a world that will be cherished in my own way, and that will become one of the memories that my work and everyone will enjoy this summer. I will make it something that will remain in your heart in some way. I hope it becomes a work that is loved by many people. I also want to have fun taking pictures, so I hope everyone is looking forward to it!

■Sena Izumiya comment
When I heard that I could become Umi-chan, I felt very happy. It was a role I really wanted to play, so before the audition I actually went to the beach and tried my best to imagine how Umi-chan would feel, so I’m very happy and happy that I got the role of Umi-chan. I love acting, so I’m happy to be able to play the role of Umi-chan and I’m looking forward to the future! I want to put into Umi-chan’s feelings and do a play that will move everyone. Everyone, please take a look!

■Producer Ken Murase (Fuji Television Drama/Movie Production Department) Comments
We are happy to welcome Ren Meguro as the lead role. Meguro-san and I have talked a lot together since we worked together on “silent.” I was once again reminded of Meguro-san’s serious thoughts about her plays and her sincere thoughts about her work, and I was also strongly reminded that we share the same desire to create something that touches the hearts of those who watch it. That’s why I decided to collaborate with you on this project. The drama begins with the main character, Natsu, learning that the person she loved has passed away, and that she had a child with her. While reading the script written by Mr. Ubukata, the two of us talked and deepened our thoughts about our feelings over the summer, thinking about the long time we spent together in a place we didn’t know. . I can’t wait to see how Mr. Meguro will play Natsu, who learns that he is her father and tries to become her father. I am confident that a summer that only Meguro-san can portray will be born.

Also, the important role of Umi for this drama will be played by Sena Izumitani. Honestly, I’m just grateful that Sena-chan was still 6 years old at this time in 2024. In fact, preparations for this project had already begun when I was asked to play the role of Yoyoto, played by Mio Imada, in “Ichiban Sukina Hana.” At that point, she thought, “Maybe this girl would be good for Umi,” but she was still a little worried that she might be a little too young. After that, she held an audition and had Sena-chan also participate normally without a seed. Together with the directors and Ms. Ubukata, we looked at over 100 girls from this generation, and in the end, we unanimously decided on Sena. She definitely won this role with her ability. A few months is a big time for a child this age. I think that Sena-chan, who has grown even more than in “Ichiban Suki na Hana”, will carefully express her delicate emotions of the sea. Not only is she good at acting, but she’s also surprisingly cute. I’m sure she’s so cute that you won’t be able to take your eyes off her, so please look forward to it.

And for this drama, we have the best team: scriptwriter Ubukata, directors Kazama, Takano, John, and music composer Tokuda. I think this is the perfect lineup to visualize the world of this work. It’s sad, it hurts, but it’s kind and warm. This summer, I hope you will be able to fully immerse yourself in the stories of “parents and children” and “family” that only this team can create.

Program information

Fuji Television Network, Inc“The beginning of the sea”
Starting July 2024 Every Monday 21:00-21:54

Cast: Ren Meguro, Sena Izumiya, etc.
Screenplay: Miku Ikuta
Music: Masahiro Tokuda
Produced by: Ken Murase
Directed by: Taiki Kazama, Mai Takano (official spelling for “Taka” is “Hadashidaka”), Jung Eun-hee
Production/author: Fuji Television
(C)Fuji Television

Program site
https://www.fujitv.co.jp/uminohajimari/