TOKYO (TR) – Striding through the sparse Obon holiday crowds in the Ginza district, actress Mei Nagano looked less like a squeaky-clean starlet and more like a fierce, bubble-era club mama. Dressed in a metallic silver suit with heavy shoulder pads, the 26-year-old was spotted shooting her gritty return to the screen.
The return follows an affair scandal last year severely derailed her career, reports Friday (Sep. 11-18).
Nagano was on location in Ginza 8-chome — a notorious battleground for high-end nightlife —filming the upcoming DMM TV exclusive drama “Himachi no Jouou” (Queen of Himachi). Actor Kentaro Ito, 29, was also seen on set, reportedly playing a club worker named Jun.
Based on a hit manga with over 1.2 million copies in print, the series follows Ayane Ichijo, a former No. 1 hostess from Shinjuku Ward’s Kabukicho red-light district. Nagano plays the greedy, hyper-competitive protagonist who vows to build Japan’s greatest cabaret club to revitalize her rural hometown in Tottori Prefecture.
Dual role
While the show won’t feature explicit sex scenes, production insiders promise a wild departure from Nagano’s usual roles. Viewers can expect to see the actress in revealing dresses seducing clients and engaging in violent brawls with street thugs.
Nagano is heavily invested in the project, taking on a dual role as producer and involving herself in both scriptwriting and casting. However, the sudden shift from a pure-hearted leading lady to a ruthless nightlife queen has raised eyebrows in the industry.
The underlying reason for the drastic image change appears to be financial.
Adultery scandal
According to an entertainment industry insider, Nagano’s talent agency is scrambling for cash after being forced to shoulder massive penalty fees stemming from a highly publicized adultery scandal involving another talent on their roster.
“With the agency desperate to recoup that money as quickly as possible, DMM came in with a highly lucrative offer,” the insider explained. “They simply couldn’t afford to refuse.”
Behind the scenes, Nagano’s own status is precarious. Her trusted manager recently left the agency to go independent, sparking rumors that the actress may eventually follow suit.
While Nagano is also slated to star in the upcoming Netflix film “My Crazed Feminist Girlfriend” later this year, her prospects for returning to mainstream terrestrial television remain completely up in the air.
