What was the most captivating scene in the 124th episode (aired September 18th) of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM and other times), starring Mio Imada ? When we looked at the minute-by-minute trend in "attention level" (surveyed by REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which indicates the degree to which viewers were glued to the screen, we found that it was 71.9% at 8:11 AM, a time when viewers would likely have sighed with relief.
" 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 rating was 71.9% at 8:11 AM. What saved the musical from a pinch was...
Episode 124 depicted the chaos leading up to the opening night of the musical "Anpanman."
The "attention level" used is a figure that measures the percentage of people actually watching the screen among those in front of the TV screen. Even if the TV is on, there is a chance that the person is not looking at the screen, so the actual viewing situation cannot be seen unless "viewership rate" and "attention level" are combined. In the case of "Anpan," which has a high "viewership rate," checking "attention level" gives a rough idea of the scenes that really captivated the viewers in front of the TV. In the 124th episode, which took a sudden turn towards its broadcast on the last Friday of the week, we checked the attention level to see which scenes glued the viewers' eyes.
The interest rate for the 124th episode peaked several times, but the highest on the day was 71.9% at 8:11 a.m., which was slightly lower than the other episodes this week, which often recorded ratings in the mid-70s.
The first peak was at 8:02 AM, at 70.4%. It was a scene that continued from the ending of episode 123, where Nobu (Imada) and Ranko (Yuumi Kawai) visited "Yam-on-chan" Kusakichi (Sadao Abe) the day before the musical opening. Early in the drama, Nobu asks Kusakichi to bake Anpan for the musical, but as always, Kusakichi is rude. It seems he's read the picture book carefully, but when Kusakichi belittles him by calling him "Monster Anpanman," Nobu becomes emotional and exclaims, "He's a great hero!"
At 8:02 AM, after this exchange continues, Nobu finally loses his temper, saying, "Yam-onchan, you have no idea what a fairy tale world is." Kusakichi says, "The Anpan monster and the (bread-making) father fairy. That's crazy," to which Nobu snaps, "Don't insult me. It's Taka-san's masterpiece." In the end, Kusakichi pretends to be called by someone and heads back to work. It was a fun scene to watch the exchange between Nobu, who showed his "big brother" side for the first time in a while, and Kusakichi, who remained as clueless as ever.
In fact, in "Anpan," the scenes where Kusakichi appears often attract a lot of attention. In episode 124, I had assumed that this scene at the beginning would be the peak, but in fact, the peak that surpasses this comes in the scene that follows.
The musical opens, but the audience turnout is poor. Nobu (Imada) and Takuya (Motoki Omori) apologize, but Takashi (Takumi Kitamura) gathers everyone together and encourages the performers, saying, "My motto is that it's precisely in times of trouble and hardship that we should do what makes people happy," and "Let's do our best to please the 10 audience members."
Taka's speech began at 8:09 AM, and the ratings peaked again at 70.4%. Nobu's tea ceremony apprentice, Hoshiko (Furukawa Kotone), also arrived at the venue. Nobu expressed his gratitude, saying, "I'm sorry. You came to fill up the seats, didn't you?" Hoshiko replied emphatically, "No, I, well... I love Anpanman. I've read 'The Great Anpanman' and the picture books, and I laugh and cry every time. I came purely because I wanted to see the music. I believe that Anpanman will be loved by even more people. I'm serious."
Hoshiko's scene is from the latter half of 8:09 AM to 8:10 AM. Up until now, Hoshiko had shown signs of being interested in Anpanman, but had never spoken out her feelings. This is the first time she has expressed her feelings.
The level of attention dropped slightly at 8:10 AM, but at 8:11 AM it hit a peak of 71.9% for the day. If it wasn't Yam-onchan or Hoshiko, who had been silent up until then, then who was making an appearance?
Just before 8:11 AM, Ranko, who was sitting at the reception desk, said to Nobu, who had just arrived, "Nobu-neechan, you tried your best, but there weren't many people in, were there?" At that moment, four children arrived. "All the kids want to see Auntie Anpanman's play." The accompanying man's reference to "Auntie Anpanman" made the audience chuckle. After this, more and more children arrived, and the theater was filled to capacity. It seemed that Nobu's storytelling had finally paid off. It was a moment of relief for the audience as well. This scene was the highlight of the day.
Incidentally, at 8:14 AM, the rating peaked at 69.8%, though a little lower. The musical "Anpanman" opened, and the play began exactly 14 minutes into the show. As was the case with the previous musical "Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni," the attention level for the stage performance scenes somehow skyrocketed.
The musical begins with Furukawa Mamoru (Nishiyama Jun), who plays the role of manga artist Yaruse Nakasu in the musical, appearing from the back of the audience. Komiya Mika (Satake Momoka), who was sitting in the audience, suddenly stands up and begins acting as the editor Mirka, calling out "Yaruse-san," surprising Hatako (Noriko Eguchi), who is sitting next to her. It may have been these stage directions that attracted the attention of the audience.
The 124th festival had many highlights, but the turning point in the story where the children save the musical from a crisis with many empty seats attracted the most attention. This may have been the result that the producers had intended.
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)
