What was the most captivating moment in the 119th episode (aired September 11th) of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM and other times), starring Mio Imada ? A minute-by-minute look at "attention levels" (surveyed by REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which measure the level of attention viewers were glued to the screen, revealed that the most attention-grabbing moment in the 119th episode, featuring the heartwarming words spoken by Tokaibayashi ( Kenjiro Tsuda), Imada's former boss at the Kochi Shimpo newspaper, to Nobu (Taka) and Taka (Takumi Kitamura), was at 8:14 AM, reaching 69.8%. The episode also peaked in the 69% range at 8:06 AM and 8:09 AM, making it a three-time peak with plenty to see.
"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 69.8% at 8:14 a.m. "I'll take responsibility"
Episode 119 is the main story of Tokairin (played by Kenjiro Tsuda), who suddenly visits the Yanai family. Tokairin happily tells Nobu (played by Takumi Kitamura) about Taka's (played by Takumi Kitamura) success, and gently encourages the two who are worried about the future development of "Anpanman."
The "attention level," which indicates the percentage of people actually watching the TV screen, did not peak above 70%, but it did reach a respectable 69% level three times. From start to finish, it was a very busy episode, with the graph fluctuating wildly.
The drama begins with Tokai's visit. Although the viewership level drops slightly during the opening hours, it starts to rise rapidly after bottoming out at 58.7% at 8:02 AM.
"Even back then, I knew he was a genius," he said, "but he was a total loser as a reporter." As Tokairin looked back on the past like this and laughed with Nobu, the ratings temporarily reached 67.5% at 8:04 AM, and then hit their first peak of 69.1% at 8:06 AM.
The day continued with scenes at the Yanai home, where Tokairin had visited, and the 8:06 AM scene was pretty much the only one outside of the Yanai home. It was a scene at Yagi's (Satoshi Tsumabuki) company, where Taka was editing the submission magazine "Poetry and Fairy Tales." Thinking that "Anpanman" was missing something, Taka confided his worries to Ranko (Yuumi Kawai) and Yagi during a break.
Among the various opinions expressed, Takashi says, "Anpanman shouldn't become cool or strong." Yagi, who understands Takashi, makes a memorable comment, "Aren't cool heroes the ones you can't trust the most?" It was a scene that really conveyed Takashi's feelings towards Anpanman. In fact, this theme continues in the following scene.
The next peak was at 8:09 AM, at 69.7%. Just before Nobu recounted his memories of the poor days he had just moved to Tokyo, at 8:08 AM, the ratings had dropped to 63.6%, but then suddenly shot up. This was right when the conversation between the two turned to "Anpanman."
"But there is one work that I just can't understand," Tokairin said, as he began talking about "Anpanman." "It's not that I like it or dislike it, once I saw it I couldn't help but be intrigued," he continued, asking questions like, "Why doesn't that guy defeat the bad guys? Why does he fly so coolly in the sky? Why is he wearing a tattered cape?" After a short pause, he asked, "Why did Yanai write that?"
The scene up to this point is around 9 minutes long. Here too, the topic of conversation turns to "Why is Anpanman uncool?" It's a long scene with Tokairin narrating, but Tsudaken's voice and acting made it feel like every word reached the heart.
After this, in response to Tokaibayashi's question, Nobu replied, "I think a true hero isn't someone who shows off his strength and defeats the enemy, but someone who saves the weak and those in trouble without thinking about himself. But Anpanman is uncool, so he's fine. He's weak, so he's fine. His cape is tattered, so he's fine. Anpanman is the only ally of justice that you can trust, Taka-san."
Hearing this, Tokaibayashi says, "I finally found it. That's what you said during the interview at Kochi Shimpo," remembering the "unreversible justice" that Nobu and Taka had spoken of during the employment exam, and asks, "After decades of trying...I finally found it. Isn't that right?"
This is a story about "unreversed justice," which is one of the themes of "Anpan," but it hasn't received much attention.
The third and final peak was at 69.8% at 8:14 AM, the final episode of the drama. This was the highest rating for the 119th episode of the day.
Just before the 8:13 AM mark, Takashi, who had rushed back from Yagi's company, sat in front of Tokairin. In the latter half of the 13-minute mark, Tokairin began to speak to Nobu and Takashi about "unreversed justice." It was almost like a "last will and testament." Even in the long Tokairin scene, this is the highlight.
"You guys have finally found it. A way to turn the tables." He then tells Taka, "Draw that guy even more!" and tells Nobu, "Cheer him on!" At this point, the time has just hit 8:14 AM.
"What you guys have spent so much time discovering can't be wrong. I will take responsibility for it." It was a memorable scene when Nobu, who had been listening to these words with tears in his eyes, replied "Yes." His character was already formed from his work at the newspaper company, and with the addition of Tsuda Ken's acting, it was surely what made it convincing for the viewers. It was such a memorable scene that the words "I will take responsibility" kept repeating in my head for a while.
Episode 119 was a special episode, with most of the scenes featuring Nobu and Tokairin. Although the attention level fluctuated somewhat, Tsudaken's acting really captured the attention of the viewers in the crucial scenes.
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)
