Rurou no Tsuki - Tori Matsuzaka - Nikkei Trendy (2022/6)

Q: How do you feel about the significance of encountering such a troublesome role at this time in your early 30s?

Tori: As we get older, there are fewer opportunities to go into a demanding environment where we are exposed to pressure and distress. I think we all want to go in and follow the success stories as examples. That way, we feel safer and have a better idea of what to expect. 

I am lucky and grateful to have had this opportunity to challenge myself. Even though I don't know what the outcome will be, I think it is a very happy thing for me to have this experience of challenging myself. This also gives me the feeling that I've managed to reach the point where I can have opportunity to challenge myself as an actor. I'm sure that I will not be able to encounter such a role for the next decade or so, at least in my 30s. 

Q: What's your criteria of selecting work and how it is for "Rurou no Tsuki"?

Tori: First, one of my criteria to work on a project is my interest in what kind of reaction I would get if I threw a rock like this, and what kind of ripple effect it would create. In an environment where info is so readily available and answers are so easy to find, it has become quite difficult for us to find something "stimulating" or "shocking". With abundance of entertainment platforms, the audience becomes more sophisticated and selective. Thus, as a person on delivery side, I do not want to deliver something unless it is of a high quality with a well-conveyed message. "Rurou no Tsuki" is a work with a strong message. It depicts something that does not easily fit into "any" existing society category.

(Note: any) 

I wish this film serves as a kind of hope if such thing really exists somewhere. I'd say "Having an existence where we can understand and accept each other,.. can lead to how comfortable and happy we are with each other,. and how necessary it is for us to live our lives." 

At the same time, I feel that there'll be considerable controversy. The relationship between Sarasa and Fumi may be rejected, or there'll be a notion that it should not be touched, so I understand that some people may not be able to accept it. However, I think that everyone is free to take it however they want and it's okay to feel however they want. I hope to broaden the viewer's sense of values even if by an iota, so I'm most eager to touch their thoughts and feelings, whatever their impressions may be. I think if people have a moment of their perspective broadened even a little by thinking, "What Fumi has is a little different from me, but there are some like him.", my life will be enriched and I'll have motivation to try something new. I believe that creating artwork plays a small role in creating such a trigger. That's why I'm interested in artworks with a message. I think I'll continue to challenge myself in the future.