Empathizing with the “sadness” of older women

The film “Pride of a Friend with Benefits” is a hotly anticipated live-action adaptation of this hugely popular ladies’ comic by Minato, directed by Jotei Hideo, who also directed “At the Edge of the Alps Stands” and “I Want to Be Killed by a High School Girl” (the first part, “First Love”, will be released on July 21st, and the second part, “Determination”, on August 4th).

The lead role of Shoko Morimura is played by Aika Yukihira, who made her debut in the 2018 film “Be My Slave Chapter 2: Let Me Call You Master,” directed by Joji. This year, she also appeared in the dramas “Reversal Orchestra” and “Kazama Koshin – Kyojo 0.” She won the lead role in “The Dignity of a Sex Friend” through an audition.

“The original work depicts the emotional turmoil of the characters in delicate pictures. From the audition I was conscious of not wanting to destroy this worldview.

At the venue, Director Jyojo and producer Kazuaki Kubo asked me to play the main character, Shoko. Shoko was 36 years old, and I was 30 at the time. I thought she might be a little older than me, but I passed the role of Shoko.

Shoko is the oldest character I’ve ever played. Moreover, she has a daughter who is 15 or 16 years old. I thought that if I didn’t prepare for the role properly, it would end up sounding fake.”

Shoko is a divorced single mother who works as a temporary worker and is raising her daughter. She meets her first love, obstetrician and gynecologist Kazuki Kitada, at a class reunion, and is confused when he proposes a “sex friend” relationship after they have sex.

“Shoko was a character that was easy to relate to and you could easily empathize with her, thinking, ‘I’ve been through things like that, too,’ or ‘I have these kinds of worries,'”

For example, in your 30s, the time for romance generally comes to an end, and if you’re married, your children grow up little by little, and as a woman, it’s a time when events gradually become less frequent.

I’m not married or raising children yet, but the frequency of events is different from when I was in my 20s, the way I enjoy them has also changed, and I can no longer do the things I used to do with my youth and energy… I felt a strong sense of sadness that comes with age as a woman, something quite similar.”