Today, it was announced that AKB48’s Shinoda Mariko will appear in the NHK movie, “Salaryman NEO Gekijouban (warai)” (“Salaryman NEO Movie (lol)”), based on a NHK’s unique comedy show.

This movie, which stars Koike Teppei and Namase Katsuhisa, has changed its title since our previous article, but it’ll still give the same atmosphere and outlook as the original TV series. The film focuses on ‘Shinjo‘ (Koike), a new employee at NEO Beer, and his eccentric cast of co-workers, such as an unreasonable section manager named ‘Nakanishi‘ (Namase) and ‘Kawakami‘ (Sawamura Ikki), a businessman who hasn’t been able to land a single sale in five years. The overall story is said to regale the life of a miserable and odd salaryman.


Shinoda will play a charismatic receptionist who works at Shinjo’s and Nakanishi’s company during the day, and has a mysterious part-time job at night. She will play an important role in Shinjo’s future, since she gives a substantial piece of advice, allowing him to succeed in a large company project.

Speaking on her role, Shinoda stated, “From the start, I have always been a fan of comedy, so I have always wanted to appear in a comedy drama or a movie.” She continued, “I was nervous at the beginning because they have already created the “team power” through the TV edition, but everyone is hilarious at their roles and even made me laugh during the breaks so it was a fun setting to work in. I did my best to try to not destroy that atmosphere with my presence and gave my utmost ability to make this film excellent.”

This movie will hit theaters nationwide on November 3rd.

Check out the 62-second trailer below!



source: tokyohive