This round, the stories which will be broadcast for Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan are The Run for Episode 3, From Behind for Episode 4, and Mutsu-kabe Hill for Episode 6. From Behind is the only episode from main story JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but what did you think when this lineup was decided upon?
Takahashi: I wondered how Episode 5 would bridge Episodes 4 and 6. However, the script was completed having undergone various stages and careful consideration by people who love the world of the JoJo series, starting with director Kazutaka Watanabe and scriptwriter Yasuko Kobayashi. Therefore, it goes without saying that I had no misgivings. I once had a chat on set with Mr. Kazutaka postulating that there was only one person in Morioh who had a “golden spirit” in the alternate world of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. This is a world with no Koichi, no dingleberry Josuke, no idiot Okuyasu, nor that hotheaded Yukako. In other words, we were considering Rohan Kishibe from an alternate universe, in a Morioh different from the one of Part 4, to be the sole one having the golden spirit. If so, then maybe Kyoka Izumi could become a person who comes to have the golden spirit as well, or perhaps Jugo Shishi could become that person after Kushagara. The decision to avoid the term “Stand” and alter the expression to the phrase “gift” in this TV drama becomes satisfactory with this logic.
I see. A Rohan Kishibe from an alternate reality.
Takahashi: As luck would have it, the original author Hirohiko Araki had already developed the concept of “a world after a universe reset”, so we were able to overlay this possibility onto Rohan smoothly. But personally, I do think there are absolutes which occur in every alternate dimension, of “incidents which are waiting to happen, bound to happen”. Stories of Rohan’s own past and lineage, and of confronting his destiny would arise if further episodes were to be created, even if there was no approximate counterpart to Reimi Sugimoto in this TV drama. Matters which cannot be avoided due to fate will appear as something which Rohan must overcome in every alternate timeline. If this TV drama can cause viewers to wonder “what element of the ‘golden spirit’ of Rohan is being fortified by this episode which was allotted its role by destiny?” then they could enjoy watching even if they aren’t fans of the original work.
Was this line of thinking about parallel worlds, or how should I say this, a multiverse approach present from the beginning?
Takahashi: Yes. I’m over 40 years old, as opposed to Rohan who is 27. Although age is not necessarily proportional to experience, when thinking over on how to establish a Rohan Kishibe who possesses my body in this show’s world of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, I contemplated that by interpreting this world as one which had undergone a universe reset, or as taking place in a parallel universe, I might be able to become a convincing enough Rohan. This was since first reading the opening scene of Episode 1. Not to get wound up in details, but Rohan may have played cee-lo with an individual who is Josuke’s counterpart in this parallel reality, and his house could have partially burned down due to a fire. Conversely, an event concerning cheating might occur in a future episode. While entrusting the decision of choosing whether to see these possibilities or not to the audience, I incorporated this idea into my movements as I acted a “Rohan who feels something like a connection to dice, as unconscious as he may be to those feelings”.
Is that so?
Takahashi: Perhaps I wanted to suggest the chance of that story appearing in a different form in a future episode. I had been thinking so from Episode 1 which aired last year. Due to the nature of the relationship between director and actor enabling conversations through performance and production, I talked directly with Mr. Kazutaka about the concept of “a world after a universe reset” not during any meetings before filming, but while chit-chatting between takes. It turned out that Mr. Kazutaka had been thinking of something similar, so this worldview was certainly further enforced by us having a shared understanding concerning that.
I simply hoped for this project to become a series at the end of last year. But Mr. Issey, you yourself had been thinking ahead from the very beginning, on various matters.
[...]
Sorry to rush you, but if another new continuation of the series were to be announced again, are there any episodes you would like to do?
Takahashi: What Mr. Kazutaka and I have reached a consensus on is Rock-Paper-Scissors Kid Is Coming!
Ohh, a rock-paper-scissors showdown! I would love to see that!
Takahashi: Whether it be Yuyanagidai or Millionaire Village of Episode 1, Rohan is depicted as taking children seriously, not making allowances just due to their age. I grasp from there that age is an irrelevant factor for Rohan in situations which tests his convictions, and in Rock-Paper-Scissors Kid he discerns his fate which he must overcome, beyond the boy. Starting from wondering “who is this kid?” toward the boy who keeps on persistently challenging him to rock-paper-scissors, to coming to determine “if I don’t overcome the destiny this boy has brought forth to me, then this will keep on happening to me repeatedly”. He believes that the truth to living through life while being and maintaining his authentic self lies there, although he looks like he’s squabbling with a child from the outsider’s perspective. I would like for Rock-Paper-Scissors Kid Is Coming! to appear as an episode in this sense as well.
What do you say to an episode with Reimi Sugimoto? I would definitely want to see that happen, since the story also relates to Rohan’s roots.
Takahashi: I think that Reimi or someone who replaces her will eventually appear if there is a continuation. That said, I’m just pinning my hope on this. This is just my imagination but I think that Rohan's curiosity and interest, which compels him to read the upbringings and secrets of various people using his ability Heaven’s Door, is actually directed toward himself subconsciously. If the TV drama is to continue, then I think that the episode in the original work where he starts to recover memories of his time with Reimi for the first time only after being told by the monk at the temple will inevitably be required. I sense that the appearance of characters like Reimi and Nanase Fujikura, one influential in determining Rohan's past and the very formation of his character, and the other a femme fatale-like figure, would enable audiences to observe the depth of Rohan’s soul. As such, if their existence is realized then the show will become increasingly interesting.
