The 126th episode of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday to Saturday at 8:00 AM and other times), starring Mio Imada , was broadcast on September 22nd, and viewers were drawn to the "big-name actor" who appeared in the last two minutes.
In episode 126, Takashi ( Takumi Kitamura) is looking at photos of the musical taken by Nobu (Imada) and is surprised to see a photo of Tomiko (Nanako Matsushima), who had secretly come.
Meanwhile, Nobu, Tomiko, and Hatako (Noriko Eguchi) decide to go on a trip. On the night before their departure, Taka lies down next to Tomiko, who is staying at the Yanai house for the first time, and says that he was happy to see her smiling face in a photo.
Towards the end of the film, Nobu returns from his trip and visits a photo shop with his camera in hand, asking the shop owner, Horii Mitsuru (Ishibashi Renji), to develop and print the film. Horii asks, "Your teacher is the illustrator of a picture book called 'Anpanman,' right?" Nobu happily replies, "Yes, it's a picture book for kindergarteners, but you know it well."
Horii revealed, "My three-year-old grandson loves Anpanman. He asks me to read it to him every night," and recited Anpanman's lines, "I'm Anpanman! I'm always helping hungry people. My face is incredibly delicious. Come on, hurry up."
Horii pointed to the camera that Nobu was carrying over her shoulder, a keepsake from her ex-husband Jiro (Ayumu Nakajima), and said, "Just like that camera, things left behind with love never go out of style. The more people read it, the better it will become. Please tell the author to draw more." Nobu smiled happily and bowed, saying, "Thank you."
The 126th episode came to a close with the station's announcer , Risa Hayashida, narrating, "Nobu was cheered on in an unexpected place, which gave him 100 times the courage. See you then."
This is Ishibashi's first appearance in a Asadora in 11 years, since "Hanako to Anne" in the first half of 2014. His appearance was only about a minute and a half, but on social media, comments such as "What a luxurious casting for the final week," "Ishibashi Renji appears. He really changes the atmosphere," "If Ishibashi Renji was just for this one scene, that would be too luxurious," "I never thought we'd see Ishibashi Renji as Anpanman lol," and "This is the role he's in! It makes sense! The story about the camera shop owner's child is famous, after all!" were posted.
