The NHK morning drama series "Kumkum Everybody" (112 episodes in total) will begin rebroadcasting on General TV from 12:30pm to 12:45pm Monday to Friday from November 18th (also available on NHK Plus). As the 100-year story of the three heroines, Mone Kamishiraishi, Eri Fukatsu, and Rina Kawaei, begins again, production director Reijiro Horinouchi gave an interview, which is unusual for a rebroadcast.
◇Work was started immediately after the broadcast so that the final episode of the rebroadcast would be in spring 2025
"Kumkum Everybody" is the first morning drama in history to weave a 100-year family story woven by three heroines. Produced by NHK Osaka, the story is set in Kyoto, Okayama, and Osaka and depicts three generations of parents and children - a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter - who have walked together through a radio English course. Kamishiraishi took on the role of grandmother Yasuko, Fukada played mother Rui, and Kawaei played daughter Hinata.
This series, with Fujimoto Yuki's meticulous scriptwriting, has been much talked about for its spectacular resolution of loose ends. Horinouchi sees this rebroadcast as "the final resolution of loose ends."
The story of "Come Come Everybody" begins on March 22, 1925, the day the first radio broadcast began in Japan. Next March will mark 100 years since that day, and the final episode (scheduled for rebroadcast at the end of April) depicts the spring of 2025.
Horinouchi emphasized, "This is just my personal opinion, but I think this rebroadcast will be the 'final resolution of loose ends.'"
"At the beginning of the project, there was a possibility that it might end in the present day when the final episode aired, in the spring of 2022. In fact, that was what I was imagining. However, I was thinking about that before the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a period of about six months after the COVID-19 pandemic began where we couldn't do anything. I thought that instead of ending it in the future of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to go further. It would be nice to cut it off at exactly 100 years, so let's go to 2025. And by then, I hope the COVID-19 pandemic will be over. That's why in the scene in 2025 of the final episode, no one is wearing a mask. I drew that scene with the hope that the world will be a place where we can take off our masks without hesitation and laugh together."
Horinouchi has been working since the beginning of 2022, when the broadcast ended, so that the end of the rebroadcast will be in the spring of 2025.
"I wanted to see that (final episode) scene again in 2025, so I've been working on it ever since it ended in the spring of 2022. In fact, I asked the programming department to rebroadcast it in the fall of 2024 in the morning rebroadcast slot on BS. The programming department was also a fan of "KamKam," so they said, "Let's do it." Then, the person in charge was transferred (laughs). He passed it on to a junior, and when I talked to him about doing it again, he was also transferred. In fact, it was the third generation of programming that made it happen this time. Here too, the wishes of three generations have been connected, and this rebroadcast has come true, and I feel a great connection."
◇Unusual special program before the rebroadcast - Read all 2,800 questionnaires received
In preparation for the rebroadcast, an unusual pre-broadcast special program was organized for three days. A survey on "Your memorable scenes" was conducted in October for the special program, and 2,799 responses were received in 10 days. Horinouchi read through them all and "wrote the positive character" to tally up the top ten.
"We got 500 on the first day, and 1000 the next day. They all came in one after another, so I was most surprised by the magnitude and strength of the love. The contents were also incredibly passionate. I thought that each questionnaire would contain one or two scenes. But then, since it was free-form, some people wrote about ten. Some people wrote about all ten reasons, and some wrote the whole thing in their impressions. It made me realize just how much people loved the series, and I was really moved."
"As I was reading, all sorts of thoughts welled up in my mind, so it was like it was moving very slowly..." it took about 18 hours in total over three days to read all the questionnaires, but Horinouchi smiles and says, "It was a blissful time."
The rebroadcast of "Come Come Everybody" will be in the time slot immediately before the daytime rebroadcast of "Omusubi," so it's likely that more viewers will watch the two shows back to back. To such viewers, Horinouchi said, "It's a completely different experience, so I'd be happy if you could watch it with a fresh feeling."
"I think the modern world depicted in 'Omusubi' is the world in which those who fought to survive during the Pacific War hoped that a peaceful era would come someday. If you watch it while thinking that Yasuko and Minoru's wishes came true, and that Yui and we are living in Heisei and Reiwa, then I think you'll see the experience in a slightly different light. I hope it will connect in that way," he said.
