2026-02-20: Something from the Heart
- Log: 2026-02-20 Something from the Heart
- Cast: Gozaburou Gessou, Junko Kurosu (NPCed by Jun Kashihara)
- Where: Aoba - Main
- OOC Date: February 20, 2026
- IC Date: Friday, September 28, 2012
- Summary: Zabu hosts Junko Kurosu on Good Evening, Sumaru--but he's less interested in her recent role in horror film SMILE and more about the pro-LGBTQ+ activism she's been doing since it hit theatres.
(|=============================== Aoba - Main ================================|)
-=================================================== Sumaru City/Aoba Ward ====-
To Sumaru's east is Aoba Ward, where fashion and commerce abound. The city's
fire department headquarters is based here too. Ample shopping can be found at
the stores that dot Aoba Way. Past it, Aoba Park is a popular place to walk
around and relax, especially since there's an outdoor concert hall located
deeper within where one might catch a live concert.
Various programs are filmed at Sumaru TV, where famous stars like veteran
actress Junko Kurosu, talk show host Hidehiko "Brown" Uesugi, and popular model
Eriko "Elly" Kirishima might be spotted. Along the way, one will pass Kismet
Publishing, where popular publications like hot teen magazine Coolest are made.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Good Evening Sumaru's set is rather lively between takes. The crew runs around preparing for the next segment, calling for things to be set exactly to Gozaburou's strict specifications. Right now, the set is series of shades of purple and blue on most of the furniture, positioned in front of a cut out of the Sumaru skyline. Zabu's desk is pretty sparse save for a pillow dog bed in front of the desk as well as a mug some paper and pens.
Behind the set are the halls that lead to the green rooms, which are well stocked with comforts and amenities. Through the halls are various posters of Gozaburou and blown up magazine covers which feature "Good Evening, Sumaru".
As the stage crew exits, Zabu is doing vocal warm ups as he hands his glasses over to his assistant to clean. Once receiving them back, he inspects the work before putting them on. After a moment, he turns on the charm, smiling as he looks over his notes.
Gozaburou waits for his cue, looking to the camera in front of him. "Our next guest is a long time actress who is currently terrifying the public in the smash hit, SMILE....Please welcome Kurosu Junko-san!"
The Skyline splits and provides Junko with a path on stage where the comfortable chairs and the grinning host await.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Amidst shades of purple and blue, Junko both blends in and stands out as she strides elegantly onto the set in a long, emerald green dress. She smiles a cool, mysterious smile and waves regally to the cameras as she makes her way towards the chairs next to Gozaburou's desk, and draws herself up and seats herself with back straight. Her long, silky black hair drapes over one eye and down her back, and her ankles cross.
She is a picture-perfect actress. She needs to be, if she doesn't want anyone to know about her missing son--and she very much does not. Her husband, at home, waits tensely by the phone for the ransom phone call they're both sure will come sooner or later.
But that's not anything the cameras would know. They only know her cool smile, still beautiful if one doesn't mind a wrinkle here and there, before she turns it to Zabu.
"It's so lovely to be here tonight, Zabu-san," she says. "I'm honored to have you invite me. We've both worked at Sumaru TV for a long time, but we haven't had many opportunities to work together, have we?"
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Gozaburou smiles and stands as Junko makes her way on stage. He claps along with the audience until Junko is closer. He gestures for her to take the seat nearest to the desk.
Zabu, to be clear, doesn't know about the son's predicament. He is also savvy enough not to hit the particularly tense landmine intentionally even if he did.
As the lovely older woman makes her way to Gozaburou, he smiles more. "It is lovely to have you..." He sits back down, adjusting his suit jacket as he leans forward onto the desk. "We shockingly have not! Two stars walking parallel, never to cross paths until tonight." He chuckles.
"I must admit your latest movie doesn't seem to suit the woman before me. How does it feel to be playing an infamous urban legend like the kuchisake-onna? Was that hard? Where does someone pull to play a part like that?" Zabu smiles, tapping some cards as he looks over the woman sitting near by.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Junko chuckles, a graceful hand raised to her red-painted lips. It's a comparison Jun would make... Junko doesn't say as much. 'Stars' are common parlance in this world. If the kidnapper is watching, let them think she's maintaining her cool instead of feeling sick inside. "How poetic! Like a pair of comets in orbit. It simply wasn't our time until now."
She lowers her hand to her lap. "I admit, it does seem a bit out of character for me, doesn't it? I almost didn't accept the role because of that. But Takai-san, the director, he's such a fan of mine, and he told me he thought I could bring a spark to the role that no one else could. In the end, I let him talk me into it, and I'm glad I did." She winks, a touch of playfulness to contrast her queenly demeanor. "It was actually quite a bit of fun to play such a ghoulish role."
She chuckles at that, possibly prompting Zabu to laugh along with her whether he finds it funny or not. "As for how it felt--I wouldn't say it was difficult, per se. As you know, the Kuchisake-Onna in SMILE isn't simply a random ghost woman, but the spirit of a specific woman wronged by her husband. Channeling her pain, sorrow and wrath helped me bring quite a bit of life to what might have otherwise been a rather static character."
It's not like there's all that much to the urban legend, after all. One has to flesh out the story somewhere.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Zabu does in fact laugh along with Junko, nodding. "I think we're all glad you did." He looks over at the audience who cheer for Junko taking on the iconic role.
He listens to her describe the role, nodding his head. "Interesting! Yeah, it's not like you could ask the ghost her inner thoughts so it's great to see how you made it your own character." He smiles more as he taps the cards again, glancing ever so briefly to his notes. "But we're not here to discuss ghosts....though I'd love to have that conversation sometime. You've been seen doing some activism for some causes that you wanted to bring awareness to."
"Could you tell us about that?" Zabu turns his head to look at Junko, smiling in that cocky charming way he does.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Junko smiles at the audience as they cheer, her head tilting along with Zabu's. It's clear they're both professionals; they may have not worked together before, but they both have a feel for how these things are meant to go.
At least, that's what Junko thinks until Zabu brushes past the "ghost" part of the "ghost story" that is SMILE and asks instead about her recent activism. It takes her a little off guard--but only a little. Of course he'd want to know about the controversial stuff.
"Of course," Junko thus says with only the slightest of pauses, a smile still on her lips. "Specifically, I've been leading a push on the lawmakers of our country to legalize more rights for LBGTQ+ people, including gay marriage. I've long been a supporter of the queer community, in the sense that I believe love is love and no one should try to legislate something that isn't harming anyone..." Junko's smile fades into a more serious look. "...but it wasn't until recently that I was made aware of how much more I could actually do."
She could go on further; she doesn't. Her role at this point is to allow Zabu to prompt her, make sure he's a part of the conversation and gets to share in the spotlight.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Gozaburou smiles a little when he seems to catch the woman off guard. He isn't doing a 'gotcha' so much as keeping things interesting. SMILE has been out a few weeks now and this activism angle was what was now.
As she mentions her cause, Zabu's smile flattens ever so slightly. He gazes at her with some interest, nodding his head as the gears start to turn. This cause might be closer to Zabu than he lets on.
"Interesting..." Zabu catches her attempts to reel him and the audience in. Well played. "Well what more can you do?" He goes for the hook gratefully only asking that the results are juicy and clip worthy. "I mean, Kurosu-san...While they might have such relationships in the west, you must have some reason to take up such a cause...can we ask why you are championing this cause?"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Junko does catch how Zabu's smile flattens--but she simply doesn't know him well enough to understand why that is. Her first assumption is that he's a homophobe and he's trying to set her up for some debate on if human beings deserve rights. Junko is by no means a perfect person--she can be downright terrible at times--but she's worked on herself enough to get to the point where she cares because she loves someone who's gay.
So when he prompts her to talk about why she's championing this cause, she thinks about it for only a split-second. Jun is out in general--he doesn't advertise that he's gay, but he doesn't hide it, either--so she says primly, "Of course. It all started not too long ago, when my son and only child attended his teacher's wedding. He told my husband and me all about how lovely it was afterwards, and it sounded like such a splendid ceremony that I started to gush a bit about how excited I am for him to get married one day so I can help him plan his own wedding."
She averts her eyes then, hand on her cheek, smiling a rueful little smile. It's a theatrical gesture, but there's sincerity at its core. "...To which he and my husband reminded me that gay marriage isn't currently legal in Japan, so my son, who is of such a persuasion, can't get married." She sets her hand down to look back up at Zabu with steely eyes. "I was shocked, but more than that, I was appalled at myself. I had a general awareness of the fact, but I'd never stopped to think how it would affect my family.
"Once I did, I started to wonder--how many mothers and fathers are there out there with wonderful children they're proud of, who they nonetheless won't get to see experience life's milestones because our government cruelly denies them? What's even the point of that? Who does it hurt, actually, if two consenting adult men fall in love and get married?" (And two consenting adult women, of course, or two consenting non-binary people, or some kind of non-heterosexual combination thereof, but Junko is talking about her son right now.)
"Now, I could go on and on about the topic, but I'll leave it at that for now. In short, then, I'd say that I'm championing this cause for my son. I love him dearly--" She looks directly into the camera, a spark of challenge in her dark eyes. "--and I would do anything for him."
A little message for the kidnapper, if they're watching.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Zabu doesn't really show any sign of what his connection to this topic is. He watches the woman tell her story, nodding slightly. He seems interested but only so long as he's entertained. Something this juicy was definitely entertaining.
When Junko casually outs her son, that almost makes Zabu's eyes widen. Did she just---wow. The man grins with amusement. If people didn't know her son was gay, they did now. Blasting that on television was a bold move and Zabu was all about those.
"I think I was at that wedding actually...It was certainly inspiring if it " Gozaburou casually adds to her story.
Then she employs the heartfelt plea to those listening. Who did it hurt? Gozaburou could come up with the answers but he didn't really care to offer up the drivel that old politicians came up with. The TV host taps his cards on the desk as he continues to listen and let Junko have the floor.
When she finishes, Zabu nods and smiles, turning to the camera. "And who could fault a mother's love for her child? Love is a powerful thing." Something Zabu felt for very few things...even fewer people.
When Junko looks directly into the camera and says her plea, it makes Zabu pause for a moment. Why did she do that? Was there some politician who she meant to sway? Was she trying to coax back a runaway son? Zabu considers the possibilities and concludes that he didn't really need to know.
"I mean if there is something you wish to say, the floor is yours. But I think the viewers at home can relate to what you just said. After all, everyone has a mother and wants to be loved by them." He laughs as the audience cheers again. Suddenly, Zabu remembers loathing his mother.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It is a bold move, isn't it? But what's the point of keeping quiet about it if her son's already in trouble--and, for that matter, isn't in the closet? Junko has no intention of acting like she's ashamed of him. (And also it pulls attention on her. Again: Junko is by no means a perfect person.)
When Zabu grins, Junko's smile actually relaxes a bit. He seems to approve of her stance; maybe she'd misjudged him and why he was asking in the first place. In fact, if he's like Jun... But she'll keep that thought to herself, just like he keeps his question about why she stared into the camera for a moment there to himself.
"Oh, I could say so much, but if you give me an inch on this topic, I'm afraid I might just run with it for a mile!" Junko jokes ('jokes'). "I'll simply leave it at that. You summarized it splendidly already, Zabu-san."
She can only pray Akinari will have news once this program airs...
BBS: New BB message (7/14) posted to 'IC News And Rumors' by Gozaburou Gessou: Sumaru Talk Show televises mother's appeal for gay rights
======================= IC News And Rumors =======================
Message: 7/14 Author: Gozaburou Gessou Fri Feb 20 2026 Sumaru Talk Show televises mother's appeal for gay rights
Good Evening Sumaru made controversial waves tonight with guest, Kurosu Junko. Known for her work in movies, most recently as the smile killer in SMILE.
During the interview, the host brings the conversation abruptly to Kurosu's recent activist work. It is here where she reveals that she and her husband are strong supporters of legalizing gay marriage in Japan. She reveals that the inspiration was her gay son and wishes to one day see him have a wedding of his own.
While the episode caused some controversy amongst some of the community, the host of Good Evening, Sumaru later commented to the press that he would not edit the episode on future broadcasts or streams, citing that "a mother's love is a powerful thing and shouldn't be silenced by those who didn't understand."