The NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 a.m. and others), starring Mio Imada, will begin airing in the first half of 2025 on March 31. The first episode began with the appearance of the "first generation Anpanman" flying in the sky, which caused a wave of surprise from viewers.
" Anpan" is based on the married couple Takashi Yanase(1919-2013) and Nobu Komatsu(1918-1993), the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman." It is a "story of love and courage" that will make you feel the joy of living, depicting how these two, who were once nobody, overcame all sorts of rough seas to become "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice."
Nobu Komatsu will play the main character (heroine), Nobu Asada, and Takashi Yanase will play Takashi Yanai, who is based on Takumi Kitamura.
The original Anpanman was a chubby man wearing a cloak, who is said to be the prototype for the later Anpanman. At the beginning of the first episode, he flies through the sky, sweating, to where Takashi Yanai(Kitamura) is sitting at his desk.
"Justice can be reversed. It's hard to believe, but justice can be easily overturned. So what is justice that never gets overturned? If someone is hungry and in need of bread, you should give them a piece of bread," he says, holding in his hands the well-known Anpanman. Then Nobu Asada(Imada) comes over and says with a smile, "Taka-san, good morning, it's morning," "I'll draw you again. It's not strong at all, it's uncool, but that's what makes it good," "Hey, Taka-san, I'm hungry," "Come on, let's eat breakfast."
Then, the narrator, announcer Risa Hayashida, explained, "What is about to begin is the story of the couple who created the world's weakest, most uncool hero, Anpanman," and the Anpanman that Taka had been drawing earlier was then "called out of the picture."
On social media, there was a flood of reactions such as, "The original Anpanman!", "Oh! It started with the original Anpanman!!", "' Anpan' started with the original Anpanman", "The original Anpanman!! That's amazing", "The original Anpanman is flying", "The original Anpanman is moving!" and "Anpanman flew."
