According to Our Butler is a short novel mystery series by Japanese author Shiina Takasato that has sold over 1.1 million copies in Japan. The film adaptation directed by Shinji Kuma finally hit Japanese theatres today (May 17).

Ren Nagase of six-member Japanese idol group King & Price―who will celebrate one year since their debut on May 23―is set to play the part of protagonist Kaei Karasuma.

A special promotional trailer showcasing Nagase performance as Kaei was posted on YouTube. The also unveils that the film’s main theme song Kimi ni Arigatou (“My Thanks to You”) will be performed by King & Prince themselves.

Kaei is the heir to the esteemed and affluent Karasuma family. The day after he returns home from a period of studying abroad in the United Kingdom, his father announces his sudden retirement, and that Kaei will take his place as the head of the family. As a child, Kaei grew up knowing and trusting the family’s now senior butler, but is now entrusted with a new butler, the highly intelligent Soma Kisaragi.

Speaking about his performance as Kaei, Ren Nagase commented: “I was told by the directed to play Kaei as someone who is not simply just selfish, but loved by everyone too, so I made sure to be conscious of that.” We can see in his performance that he has succeeded in that with his almost adorable selfishness and scene where he is surrounded by people who love him.

He continues: “By nature, Kaei is someone who has a strong perception of colour. This ended up being the cause of a traumatic event that happened when he was younger. Based on that, I made sure to value his warmth as a person as well as how he treasures the people who work for the Karasuma family. Just as Kaei and Soma grown together, I too feel that I have grown alongside Kaei.”

©2019 “According to Our Butler” Production Committee