Takeharu Sakurai
| Takeharu Sakurai | |
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| |
| Profile | |
| Gender: | Male |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | November 25, 1970[1] |
| Place of birth: | Tokyo Metropolis, Japan |
| Position: | Screenplay |
| Years active: | 1993-present |
| Nicknames: | 飯田武[2] |
Takeharu Sakurai (櫻井 武晴 Sakurai Takeharu), born 25 November 1970[1], is a renowned Japanese screenplay writer that specializes in movie scripts. He is also active under the alias Takeshi Iida (飯田 武 Iida Takeshi) on minor occasions[2].
Contents
Biography
Takeharu Sakurai graduated from Waseda University Second Faculty of Literature (早稲田大学第二文学部)[3], and became a producer for Toho films in 1993.
In 2002, as a newcomer, he accepted the scriptwriting job for detective TV drama The Woman of Science Research Institute (科捜研の女) of Season 4. Back then, the production team of said drama underwent a crisis: veteran screenwriter Masaki Fukasawa (深沢 正樹) quit the production somehow and experienced screenwriter of Season 3; Masashi Todayama (戶田山 雅司) was recuperating due to illness; the main cast retired from the front line. Sakurai withstood this burden and made his way to Season 6, despite the TV rating of the drama decreasing in Season 5. With illness, Todayama returned and worked along with Sakurai in the process of producing the screenplay, and so the drama was allowed to prolongate. This thus became one of the most famous detective dramas, and both of them claimed great reputation.
Sakurai also held a position in the production of another detective TV drama called AIBOU (相棒), produced by TV Asahi. Whilst taking care of the screenplay for these works, he was also the screenplay cooperation of TV drama Shinzanmono (新参者), which was adapted from a novel written by a best-selling mystery novelist Keigo Higashino (東野 圭吾).
In 2013, due to the adjustment made by the AIBOU production team, Sakurai left the production team and joined the Detective Conan movie production team. In the same year, he wrote Movie 17: Private Eye in the Distant Sea. After that, he tends to write a movie script every other year, alternating with Takahiro Okura.
Style analysis
As Kazunari Kouchi and Hiroshi Kashiwabara were gradually fading away from the scriptwriting of Detective Conan movies due to ageing, in 2013, Gosho Aoyama invited Sakurai to the production team[Note 1], a screenwriter who has never written for an anime before. Aoyama, on the other hand, told him to compose the script freely; as such, due to Sakurai's lack of experience, his debut work in the series received a great deal of criticism. At the same time, the demand for commercial films had been increasing when Kobun Shizuno was still the director; thus, details of the case were downplayed in his scripts and explosion scenes were pervasive with the intent of increasing the impact of the movie. By featuring several action scenes, Movie 20: The Darkest Nightmare that he wrote was a huge success in terms of box office. Most of his Detective Conan scripts possess high conception and they reflect the law and values to some extent.
Outside of Detective Conan, Sakurai's style is more inclined towards the Shakai deduction (社会派推理), focusing on the unexpectedness of the story; most of them contain dark tone and ironic connotations, being very different from Detective Conan, which is for all ages of audiences. In 2018, when he was writing the script of Movie 22: Zero the Enforcer, he intended to conceive a story with a style of his forte. However, the first draft was way too realistic and thought-provoking, which was then rejected by Aoyama. After that, when he was writing the screenplay of Movie 24: The Scarlet Bullet, he dare not to write stories that he is best at and paid extra attention to depicting the personalities of each protagonist after confirming every detail with Aoyama and director Chika Nagaoka.
A character created by him, named Yuya Kazami, who first appeared in movie 20, was actually named after Yuya Usami (宇佐見 裕也); starred by Toru Kazama (風間 トオル), a character from one of the TV dramas that Sakurai is responsible for, The Woman of Science Research Institute (科捜研の女). Moreover, Sakurai is an expert at gourmet food. According to Aoyama, the plot featuring Amuro's cuisine recipes from the pre-story of movies 20 and 22 is all devised by Sakurai himself[4].
Scenarios written
Number of case scenarios written: 6 (6 episodes)
- The Missing Sweets in the Old Shop (Episode 694)
- Munch's Missing Scream (Episode 774)
- The Shadow Approaching Amuro (Episode 813)
- The Melting Cake! (Episode 898)
- The Beika City Shopping Center Garbage Bin Mystery (Episode 1002)
- The Cameras Targeting Haibara (Episode 1080)
Movie scenarios written
Number of movie scenarios written: 7
- Private Eye in the Distant Sea (Movie 17)
- Sunflowers of Inferno (Movie 19)
- The Darkest Nightmare (Movie 20)
- Zero the Enforcer (Movie 22)
- The Scarlet Bullet (Movie 24)
- Black Iron Submarine (Movie 26)
- One-eyed Flashback (Movie 28)
Other notable works
Dramas
- The Woman Of Science Research Institute S4-S23 (2002-2023): Screenplay
- AIBOU S2-S12 (2003-2013): Screenplay
- Shinzanmono (2010): Screenplay cooperation
Movie
- Designated Lawyer (2018): Screenplay
References
- 櫻井武晴 - Wikipedia
- Takeharu Sakurai - IMDb
- Takeharu Sakurai - Allociné
- Takeharu Sakurai - Anime News Network
- Detective Conan Staff Listing
- ^ a b 赤井一家（ファミリー）はなぜ集結したのか――劇場版『名探偵コナン 緋色の弾丸』制作秘話を脚本家・櫻井武晴が語る
- ^ a b http://www.toei.co.jp/release/movie/1174978_979.html
- ^ "櫻井 武晴 - 東宝芸能". https://www.toho-ent.co.jp/actor/48408.
- ^ RECIPE PLUS Super Digest Book
- ^ Note: Aoyama might have done so after he paid homage to Sakurai in a Kaitou Kid case, The Kirin's Horn That Vanished into the Dark - the idea of "Mosquito alarm" was first utilised by Sakurai in the first episode of The Woman of Science Research Institute (科捜研の女), of Season 8.
