Trends in popularity for the 115th episode: "Yam On-chan" is the strongest after all! The highest was 67.2% at 8:02 AM

What was the most captivating scene in the 115th episode (aired September 5th) of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM and others), starring Mio Imada ? The identity of the "unbelievable person" Ranko ( Yuumi Kawai) encountered in the hallway was left unsolved in the 114th episode, which ended with the question "homework" left unanswered. When examining the minute-by-minute trends in "attention level" (surveyed by REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which indicates the degree to which viewers were glued to the screen, the highest level of attention was, as expected, at 8:02 AM, when the answer was revealed at the beginning, at 67.2%.

"Anpan" is based on the married couple Yanase (1919-2013), the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman," and Nobu (1918-1993). It is a "story of love and courage" that will fill you with the joy of living, depicting how these two, who were once nobodys, overcame all sorts of troubles to become "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice."

◇The highest reading was 67.2% at 8:02 AM. Everyone was glued to the screen when "Yam-on-chan" appeared.

After leaving Yagi's company, Ranko meets the wandering baker Sokichi Yamura(Sadao Abe), also known as "Yam-onchan," in the hallway. Kusakichi has come to deliver Anpan and tries to go home as if nothing happened, but Ranko says, "Don't let me get away, Yam-onchan. This is the 100th year since we last met," and takes him to the Yanai house.

The episode that depicted the exchange between Ranko and Kusakichi at 8:00 AM immediately recorded the second highest viewership of the day with 66.5%. At 8:01 AM when the opening theme song started playing, the viewership dropped to 58.7% but by 8:02 AM when the real reunion scene at the Yanai household began, it had reached a peak of 67.2%.

"Yam-san, where have you been? Everyone was worried about you. Send me some news." Hatako (Noriko Eguchi) is rambling on in a loud voice, to which Kusakichi brushes her off, saying, "Shut up. Are you my parent?" Meiko (Nanoka Hara) rushes over and is moved, saying, "No way," and "I'm happy to see you again." The exchanges between Kusakichi and each member of the family are shown at around 8:02 AM.

The happy mood of the reunion suddenly changed, but at 8:03 AM. "But you know what? You've all gotten older," Kusakichi said, and the friendly atmosphere changed completely. The four women's expressions froze, as if the screen had frozen. Nobu was the first to speak. "Why did you say that?" exclaimed Hatako angrily, "Do you want to look in the mirror?" Kusakichi apologized to each of the four, "I'm sorry," changing his tone slightly as he apologized. Hearing this exchange, Meiko burst out laughing, saying, "You're really the same as always, Yamu-onchan."

The frozen scenes and other scenes were captivating, with the actors' well-coordinated acting. Although the attention rating dropped slightly to 65.8%, it remained at 65-66% until around 8:05 AM, when Yam-on-chan appeared. The ratings remained roughly flat, indicating that the show continued to attract the attention of viewers.

The 8:04-8:05 AM segment, in which Kusakichi rejoices over Nobu and Taka's marriage, was also memorable. "Chibi... You were the one I was most worried about. How would this paragon of patriotism survive after the world was turned upside down? Would he be able to recover? Would he end up sleeping on the train tracks like Taka?" "I guess being next to despair wasn't such a bad place after all." Yamu-chan's words can be harsh at times, but his feelings are warm. Every word he says touches the hearts of the viewers.

In July, we published an article that listed the most popular episodes from the first half of "Anpan" (episodes 1 to 65), and it was clear that the episodes featuring Yamu-onchan stood out as being at the top of the list, regardless of gender or age. For example, episode 8, in which Kusakichi bakes Anpan at the request of a young Nobu, with the promise that it will only happen once, and episode 45, in which Kusakichi bakes hardtack on the orders of the military police. After watching episode 115, I was reminded that Yamu-onchan, a wandering man who speaks his mind, is a key and most important character in this drama.

The attention rating for this day went up and down, then slowly dropped off after Yam-on-chan's appearance. The graph was clearly biased towards the early part of the episode, which could be described as a "first half" type. The rating never exceeded 70%, making this episode low in overall attention, but Yam-on-chan's strength was what stood out in the 115th episode.

The data used is a unique indicator called "attention level" published by REVISIO, a company that surveys the viewing habits of programs and commercials in 2,000 households in the Kanto region and 600 households in the Kansai region. A dedicated device equipped with a human body recognition sensor constantly measures whether people are looking at the TV screen, and calculates the percentage of people in front of the TV who are paying close attention to the program. (Text by Sasamoto Hirozai/MANTAN)