The fourth episode of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " starring Mio Imada (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 AM and others) was broadcast on April 3rd. At the end of the episode, a shocking development was depicted in which a major character "exited," causing distress among viewers.
In the fourth episode, Nobu (Nagase Yuzuna) learns that her father, Yutaro ( Ryo Kase), will be away on a business trip for a month, and while feeling lonely, she also worries about her son Takashi (Nanako Matsushima) who has now lost his mother, Tomiko (Matsushima Nanako).
On the day that Yutaro leaves for his business trip to Seoul on the Korean peninsula, Nobu comes to the station to see him off. Yutaro tells him, "Take your time to find your dream," and gently places his soft hat on Nobu's head, who seems reluctant to let go. Takashi and the wandering baker Kusakichi (Sadao Abe) watch the two of them from afar.
One night a month later, the phone rang at Yanai Clinic, run by Takashi's uncle Hiroshi (Yutaka Takenouchi). Hiroshi immediately went to the Asada family and told them, "Yutaro... had a heart attack... on the boat on the way back... and passed away." The Asada family members looked shocked when they heard this, and the fourth episode ended.
In the second episode (broadcast on April 1st), when Yutaro visited Yanai Clinic, Hiroshi pointed out that his pulse was irregular and encouraged him to "don't push yourself, take a break every once in a while", which led to viewers expressing concern for Yutaro's health.
In response to the sudden turn of events, with Yutaro's death just four episodes after the series began, comments were made on social media such as, "The flag was resolved at lightning speed," "I can't believe Yutaro's father died on the fourth day after the series began...," "We lost Ryo Kase too soon...," "It's a little too early," "I was looking forward to Kase-san but he left so quickly I couldn't keep up," and "Asadora have a 'ghost slot' so I'm hoping that Nobu's father will reappear."
