Report on "B: The Beginning" World Premiere Preview! This work makes you want to watch it over and over again" (Hiroaki Hirata)

The world premiere preview and talk event for the third episode of the Netflix original anime "B: The Beginning" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, with Hiroaki Hirata as Keith Kazama Flick, Hiroki Kaji as Kurou, Hiroaki Hirata who plays Keith, Kazama Flick, Hiroki Kaji who plays Kurou, Asami Seto who plays Hoshina Lily, Kaito Ishikawa who plays Minazuki, and Kazuto Nakazawa, the director of the event, took the stage.
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B: The Beginning" is the story of Keith Kazama Flick, a genius investigator who pursues the serial killer "Killer B" and unravels the mysteries of various cases. In honor of the name of the film, both the speakers and audience members wore "B"-lack (black) dress code for this event. Mr. Hirata greeted the audience by saying, "This day has finally arrived. I am so happy that you are all finally here to see the film," beamed Mr. Kaji.

First, Director Nakazawa was asked about the impetus for making this film, to which he replied, "I was told by the producer that he wanted to do a dark hero story. The concept of a dark hero brought up images of loneliness and emptiness, and while playing with words, the director realized that the word "Kurou" could be read as "black feather," and said, "Then let's grow black feathers. Hearing Director Nakazawa's story about the birth of the character Kurou, Mr. Kaji expressed surprise and said, "This is my first time hearing this! He then laughed and said, "I wish I had heard it on the set. As for Keith, director Nakazawa said, "I wanted to have a character who is a complete opposite of Kurohane. He says that he created the character based on the motif of an actual mathematician because of his image of a man who thinks about everything in a complicated way.

Ms. Seto, who plays the heroine, said that her first impression of the film was that it was a comedy about a team of police officers and a complete story when she auditioned. But when he actually received the script, he was amazed at how epic the story was. The director then said that when he first heard Lily's voice during postrecording, he was amazed at how well she fit in with the cast, and the staff cheered. The director told an episode in which the staff cheered when they heard Lily's voice for the first time during post recording because of how well it fit.

Next, when asked about her most memorable lines, Hirata replied, "You've only played three episodes, right? Don't just summarize the story, it's a bad habit. It's a bad habit. While the cast members were listening to the line, Mr. Hirata said to Mr. Ishikawa, "No, I told you to be funny when you're being silly! and he was so impressed that he said, "You're right, I should be more precise in my interpretation. Seeing this, Mr. Kaji said, "We were talking about it backstage," to which Mr. Ishikawa replied happily, "I was just thinking, 'Thank you very much. Mr. Kaji said that he often has the opportunity to say the same line as Kurou's "I'm here" in various productions, and laughed, "I thought he really wanted to let us know where he is. He also said that Lily's line made him curious about a food called "zeppole di San Giuseppe," and he encouraged the audience to search for it after the event.

Ms. Seto commented on Lily's lines, "I thought she had some peculiar habits, such as saying 'yabai' for 'yabashi,' but when I tried to speak to her, her mouth movements were easy and I felt comfortable with her. Mr. Ishikawa recalls that he had a hard time deciding how to express Minazuki's line, "I found it," and had to retake it many times. He also said that Lily's line, "Roger-no-suke! When Mr. Ishikawa said, "Moreover, Mr. Seto sometimes says it," Mr. Seto continued, "It's 'kagome bashira' (scalloped pole)," which excited the audience.

When asked about the particulars of the film, Director Nakazawa began by talking about the music. Mr. Ike (Yorihiro), the musician, called me and said, 'I discovered a new musical instrument. I could hear the sound of the instrument over the phone," he laughed. The cast members were surprised to hear him say, "That's the opening. He also explained that since each episode could be viewed repeatedly on the Internet, "I thought there was no need to explain everything," and that he avoided explaining too much and focused on tempo and timing. He also expressed his own thoughts to the viewers, saying, "I hope to create a form that allows viewers to follow the characters they have grown to love and give them choices.

Mr. Hirata concluded his speech by saying, "The story, images, music and sound effects are all of high quality. The story, images, music, and sound effects are all of high quality, and since it is a bit difficult, if you watch it through once and then watch it again when you have a full understanding of the story, you may be able to find answers that you did not notice the first time you watched it. I am convinced that you will want to watch this work over and over again. （I hope that you will look forward to it." He then quietly raised expectations for the work, saying, "Please look forward to the distribution of 'B: The Beginning' on March 2. Please look forward to the release of "B: The Beginning" on March 2," he concluded the event on the much-talked-about work.

(Reporting by Yuri Harasawa)