NHK's "Drama 10 ' Shiawase wa tabete nete mate '" (General TV, Tuesdays at 10pm), starring actress Yuki Sakurai , is a hot topic. The series began on April 1st, and the number of viewers (simultaneous or catch-up streaming) of the first episode on NHK Plus was the highest of any drama series in the station's history, excluding its Asadora and historical dramas. Some viewers have described it as a "drama that works on the mind" and a "detox to watch," but we spoke to production manager Komatsu Masayo about what goes on behind the scenes in the production of this successful drama.
◇The appeal I felt from the original manga was...
The drama is based on the manga of the same name by Tori Mizunagi. The main character, who is troubled by various issues such as health, work, apartments, and future plans, regains her mind and body through delicious medicinal food and the gentle human relationships of the housing complex, and realizes the happiness that is close to her and depends on her. It is a heartwarming story that will warm your heart.
In addition to the viewership figures for NHK Plus, the high level of access to articles on the drama's official website (including information about the collagen disease suffered by the protagonist played by Sakurai, medicinal recipes, and interviews with the cast) is indicative of the huge response, with Komatsu stating that she is "pleasantly surprised."
"Nothing big happens in the drama, but I really feel that the viewers are very sensitive to the words and gestures that Satoko (Sakurai) utters, and the casual interactions in her everyday life. I've also received a lot of feedback from people who have the same illness as Satoko, and even if they don't, people who are experiencing the same thing, so I feel there is a lot of interest."
The first thing that Komatsu thought when reading the original manga by Mizunagi was, "This is not a story of a battle with illness."
He also seemed to be attracted to the fact that "the protagonist is a normal person, and although she does get depressed when various things are torn away from her, she is not a tragic heroine; rather, she is wonderful in the way she simply does what she can and tries to live in the present, her reactions are quick, sometimes even humorous, and the underlying warmth and atmosphere in the way she looks at others."
"I thought it was a work that often made me stop and realize things through words scattered throughout casual conversations, so the challenge was how to faithfully incorporate those things into the drama."
◇The biggest rule is "Don't make it dramatic"
So, what did he pay the most attention to when adapting the story into a TV drama? He and the original author, Minagi, discussed and confirmed not only the character design of the characters, but also "how to end the story as a TV drama" since the original is still being serialized, before starting work on the script...
"First of all, I decided not to make it too dramatic. This was the most important thing. When you try to fit one episode into 45 minutes and create a plot with an introduction, development, twist and conclusion, it's tempting to make something happen somewhere to develop the story, or to make it more dramatic than necessary, but I absolutely won't do that. What I want to portray is the very small ups and downs and ups and downs that occur every day, and how to turn those into enjoyment, and there's no need for drama in that."
Another awareness that Komatsu and the rest of the drama's production team shared was that they did not want to make Satoko "particularly the heroine."
"That was also very important to me, and also how to utilize the characters, including their visuals, within the drama. I think that this is the case for everyone producing dramas based on manga, but when real people are acting, the impression of the interactions can inevitably become stronger, so to avoid that, I thought very hard about how to move the characters and what the people should look like. There are some really wonderful lines and phrases in the original manga, so in order to make the most of those lines as much as possible, I was very careful to create natural situations in which real people could say them."
◇ Don't make it too good to be true, but don't make it too tiring either.
It's not dramatic, and she isn't made into a heroine. In a sense, the paradoxical structure worked, but that alone would not have made it a "heartwarming" drama.
"Of course, the illness and financial issues are depicted realistically, but we're always conscious of the 'tip of the iceberg' so as not to make it too serious or dark, or too heavy for the viewers. I've had discussions about this with the scriptwriter, and both during filming and in the editing process, we all kept in mind the fine line between realism and humor, and weakness and strength, so that it wouldn't become 'too good,' but also not too tiring."
In the play, there is always a moment when Satoko (or sometimes another character) "falls," but the faint light that appears as she emerges just a little from that point, and the warmth that wells up, create a mysterious feeling after reading the drama, which is "Shiawase wa tabete nete mate."
"The viewers also notice the most trivial things, feel them and use their imaginations, so as a creator I think there is a certain amount of room for error, and I don't want to make assumptions about the outcome, but rather leave it to the creators. I also think that the contributions of the cast members who actually express themselves through their roles are huge."
