Part 2 - 17

The weather forecast predicted that it would rain all day.
The chief staff called me in the morning in a desperate voice.
The location was Shinjuku. The main staff met at a nearby coffee shop and had an urgent meeting. We couldn’t possibly shoot the car scene in this rain.

Today will be the last day Kaneko-kun (one of the main cast) can join us for the shooting. He will start rehearsing for a play starting tomorrow.
Because we already filmed the scenes connected to the remaining one in fine weather, we cannot change the contents or setting.

“Too bad! This must be the end of the series of miracles …”
But the team worked with the strong determination to shoot whenever the rain stops for a short while. They started to prepare in the pouring rain. Then, gradually, the sky started to become lighter, and the rain turned to a fog. Immediately after we started the camera car which pulled the car to be used in the scene, the rain stopped completely.

Everyone turned all smiles. Postponing our lunch time, we were able to finish shooting before two o’clock.
We shook hands with Kaneko-kun in a pleasant atmosphere, and Marky gave him flowers to see him off.

Then, we moved to Shimo Kitazawa. We didn’t need to worry about the rain anymore, but we needed to hurry to shoot before sun down. We trusted Segawa-san with his great handheld camera work, and shot the scene straight through. And we were able to complete this, too!

A few hours later, we reassembled at Shin Okubo Station. We were scheduled to shoot the requiem scene. Shooting began late in the evening. This was the last scene to be shot at this station.
Losing Lee Soo Hyun, Yuri dedicates flowers, and cries on the platform.
Marky, who had come to the station for the first time, saw the place where the accident occurred. After reading the plate of requiem, she could not contain her emotions, and burst into tears.

(originally posted in Japanese on July 18, 2006)