"With Respect for the Original Work Above All" - Interview with Noritaka Hamao, Playing Jo Togame [Film "WIND BREAKER"]

The film "WIND BREAKER" has been showing in theaters nationwide since Friday, December 5th. This live-action adaptation is based on a manga that surpassed 10 million copies in worldwide circulation just four years after serialization began, and the TV anime's first season aired from April 2024, with the second season scheduled to air from April 2025.

The story depicts Haruka Sakura, a delinquent high school student who transfers to Furin High School aiming to reach the top of the fighting world, as he battles and grows alongside his comrades in Bofurin, a group that protects the town. The work has gained high popularity through its innovative setting and distinctive characters.

In this article, we conducted an interview with actor Noritaka Hamao, who plays Jo Togame, the number two of Shishitoren, an organization that confronts Sakura and Bofurin in the film. We asked him about his first impressions of the work, and what he was conscious of when playing Togame, who exchanges fists with Sakura under Choji Tomiyama, the top leader of Shishitoren.

——The setting where Bofurin protects the town is innovative in this work, but what were your first impressions when you read the original work?

Hamao: Since I read it after receiving the offer, my impressions are strongly from Togame's perspective within Shishitoren, but first I felt that (Shishitoren) was an unbalanced organization.

There are two people at the top, Choji and Togame, but Togame is effectively operating as the top. It's not that Choji is forcibly making him obey, and Togame has so much anguish as the number two, so even while reading the original work, I thought it was painful.

The organization of Shishitoren itself also has suffering, and there might be easier aspects if they could completely swing toward being evil. But because that's not the case, and there's probably kindness at the foundation of the organization, I think the contrast with Bofurin is interesting.