Actress Nanoka Hara appeared at the fan appreciation event for the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan" (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times) held in Kochi Prefecture on September 6th. Hara, who played Meiko, revealed, "I acted in the scenes with Kentaro with the hope of delivering a pure, heart-pounding feeling to everyone who watched," and added, "I've been watching over them since I didn't know if their first love would come to fruition, so I was happy that they were able to be united after such a long time. It felt like my daughter's first love had come to fruition."
There were approximately 4,400 applications for the event that day. The winning ratio was about 10 to 1, and about 900 "local fans" attended the venue. In addition to Hara, Mio Imada, who plays Nobu, and Noriko Eguchi, who plays Hatako, also appeared.
Hara reflected on the event, saying, "It's been a really fun year. Meiko is a curious and fun girl, and she will always be in my heart. Today, just seeing Eguchi-san and Imada-san's faces made me feel very warm. I was reminded once again what a wonderful production it is. The eyes of the audience today were shining even more than Meiko and Norakuro, and it was recharged with happiness. It was a really fun time."
The event will be broadcast and streamed on NHK General TV (for the Shikoku region) from 8:15 a.m. on September 20th, and on NHK General TV and World Premium from 6:10 a.m. on the 23rd.
"Anpan" is based on the married couple Takashi Yanase(1919-2013), the manga artist and picture book author who created "Anpanman," and his wife, 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 rough seas to become "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice."
