--Incidentally, among the characters from the program, who is most your type?

In this program, I really like Takeru. And the actor who played the role too. Rather than guys who just full of themselves and project an awful macho-ism, I like very visibly sweet guys that are feminine to the extent that there is no masculinity. Among the characters, Takeru carries the greatest hurt and his anxieties are the deepest, which gives his character the most succinct ability to understand people, and I love that.

--It seems that people are really pleased with how the friendship between Takeru and Ruka is portrayed. Takeru is extremely popular among lesbians. How did you come up with his lines, such as for the famous scene where he confesses his feelings for Ruka in the park?

All the lines just come to me. For the scene in the park, first of all, I felt strongly that I didn't want it to come off as just pretty words and superficial goodness. In other words, I thought it would be dishonest to paint this as an expression of a pure brotherly love. I wanted to show that they could work things out even while all these difficult emotions and feelings were included in the equation. While Takeru knows that he can't help but see Ruka as a woman he loves, he pushes that part of himself under out of respect for her. Even while he feels a certain way for her, he reaches beyond that to get the core of his full emotion across.

--Even though this drama has a relatively happy ending, many viewers may find the ending not so happy since no couples actually come from it. Do you think that there is a future for Japanese dramas where sexual minorities find love in the end?

If that happens, then I'd know the world has truly progressed! And I think it will happen. I hope so.

--Now at least we have had a character like Ruka on TV, yet Ruka wasn't a lesbian. At the same time, the hit American drama, The L Word, has become extremely popular in Japan. As someone involved in the creation of programs, do you think that it would be hard for a Japanese television series with a lesbian story to succeed?

I think so. But I also never thought our ratings would fall because a character like Ruka appears in the program. Actually, more than anything, the experience of struggling with feelings of love is something that I think all people relate to. They know what it's like, and they also - even if just for a time - know what it's like to bear the weight of worries you can't share, or what it's like to hide behind silence because you're so easily hurt. All of us have more or less experienced these things, and I think viewers feel those aspects of the story speak to their own lives. It has nothing to do with feelings or experiences that are limited to "only" lesbians or sexual minorities. I think it was great we were able to bring those elements out.

--Thank you so much for making a mainstream program portraying someone from a sexual minority. Owing to the broadcast, I think we are seeing more communication taking place between straight and sexual minority communities in Japan. We all look forward to seeing what other programs you create in the future!

translated by rayna