{"rewrite":{"id":"r_5d494e3e08b41737892bec85","clusterId":"c_8fe60fcfb09a05f052adeaa3","slug":"vivant-actor-ryu-kobata-built-li-mingze-s-laugh-over-a-month","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"VIVANT Actor Ryu Kobata Built Li Mingze's Laugh Over a Month","summary":"Ryu Kobata, who plays Li Mingze in TBS drama VIVANT, said he spent about a month working out the character's laugh and tone of voice. He referenced the laugh of the irritating character in the American film The Shawshank Redemption, and asked people around him which laugh was more annoying. Kobata also said he binge-watched Season 1 after being cast and was surprised by its scale.","whyItMatters":"Kobata's account shows the show's antagonist being assembled from the outside in, with a deliberately irritating laugh and a haircut decided on set, rather than from a backstory.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eKobata said the direction came at his costume fitting, when he was told the character above all had to get on the viewer\u0026#39;s nerves. It was the first time he had been given a role in a single phrase, and he set out to see it through.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe also described the scale of the production. After being cast, he watched Season 1 all at once and was surprised a Japanese drama could be made on that scale, and on set he saw a car hanging in the air at a shooting location. He named Episode 21 as the moment he was overwhelmed by Masato Sakai\u0026#39;s acting.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Ryu Kobata tested Li Mingze's laugh on the people around him rather than on the audience, which puts the annoyance test before the performance. The Shawshank Redemption reference gave him the target.","twitterPost":"Ryu Kobata workshopped Li Mingze's laugh on friends, not viewers. The annoyance had to land on real people first.","threadsPost":"Ryu Kobata spent a month on Li Mingze's laugh and asked people around him which version was more annoying, using The Shawshank Redemption as a reference. The annoying laugh was tested on real listeners before it ever reached the VIVANT audience.","newsletterBlurb":"Ryu Kobata, who plays Li Mingze in VIVANT, said he built the character's laugh and tone of voice over about a month, referencing the irritating character in The Shawshank Redemption. He also said he binge-watched Season 1 after being cast and was surprised by its scale.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Cinema Today\",\"url\":\"https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0157861\",\"title\":\"VIVANT's Shin-Shin Lee actor Ryu Kobata devised his \\\"annoying\\\" laugh over a month, influenced by the classic \\\"The Shawshank Redemption\\\"\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":5613,"outputTokens":674,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1794023393,"createdAt":"2026-11-07T03:44:31.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-11-07T03:48:52.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-07T03:48:52.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_8fe60fcfb09a05f052adeaa3","canonicalTitle":"「VIVANT」シンシー李役・木幡竜、“ムカつく”笑い方は1か月かけて考案　名作『ショーシャンクの空に』からも影響","representativeArticleId":"a_5814abde29ad4fd0ed41a27f","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"VIVANT\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Ryu Kowata\",\"Masato Sakai\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-11-07T03:00:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-11-07T03:00:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-07T03:48:52.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Cinema Today","url":"https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0157861","title":"「VIVANT」シンシー李役・木幡竜、“ムカつく”笑い方は1か月かけて考案　名作『ショーシャンクの空に』からも影響"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["VIVANT"],"studios":[],"people":["Ryu Kowata","Masato Sakai"],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Ryu Kobata plays Li Mingze in the TBS drama VIVANT.","Kobata said he thought about the character's laugh for about a month.","Kobata referenced the laugh of the irritating character in the American film The Shawshank Redemption.","Kobata said he binge-watched Season 1 after being cast and was surprised by its scale.","Kobata named Episode 21 as the moment he was overwhelmed by Masato Sakai's acting."],"pageLinks":{"healthSlugs":["vivant","ryu-kowata","masato-sakai"],"storySlugs":[],"entities":[{"slug":"vivant","supported":3,"disputed":0,"contradicted":2,"unverified":151,"overall":"red","story_count":89,"has_dossier":true},{"slug":"ryu-kowata","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":2,"overall":"unverified","story_count":2,"has_dossier":false},{"slug":"masato-sakai","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":3,"overall":"unverified","story_count":4,"has_dossier":true}],"stories":[],"entitiesOk":true,"storiesOk":true}}