The second episode of the drama "When I Was Young, There Was a God" (Fuji TV, Thursdays at 10pm), starring actor Kitamura Yukiya and co-starring Nakama Yukie, aired on October 16th. The scene in which Nakama's character, Ogura Ann, says, "I wasn't born just to live as a mother," became a hot topic among viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers
The drama is an original work by screenwriter Yoshikazu Okada, known for the "Second to Last Love" series. It is a home comedy about three families living in a retro apartment building, with Kitamura and Nakama playing a married couple. This is Kitamura's first lead role in a prime-time terrestrial TV drama.
One day, when his daughter Yuzu (Kondo Hana) is not at home, Wataru (Kitamura), who does not want to be alone with An, consults Nagashima Shinichi (Kusakari Masao), who lives on the first floor, about something. Pretending it was Shinichi's wish, the three Nagashima families gather for dinner. However, An sees through Wataru's "plot" and apologizes to Shinichi. An awkward atmosphere spread among those gathered at the Nagashima home. When Shinichi's wife Satoko (Agawa Sawako) asks An, "Are you getting divorced after all?", the Ogura family's divorce becomes a hot topic.
Ann declared in front of everyone that she was getting a divorce. She told Wataru, "This isn't a personal issue for you. I think you've thought about it as much as you could. I understand that," but she also confessed, "I've been going crazy."
She also touched on her two children, revealing her conflict, "I had nothing but the existence of a mother. I started to get a little tired of these adorable children. Why do I have to hold back? Do I have to lose everything? Everyone around me looks at me like, 'That's what mothers are like, that's what happiness is.'"
She then burst into tears and said, "But I wasn't born just to live as a mother. I have my own thoughts. Why am I only allowed to have those?"
On social media, people were saying things like, "Ann's confession at the end made me cry. I understand how she feels. I think she did a great job," "That line really hit home...she's a woman before she's a mother and a wife," "Nakama Yukie's line really hit me hard and I can't stop crying," and "I can really understand how Ann feels. She didn't want to end up like that, so she didn't give up on her job."
On the other hand, there were also opinions such as, "Hmm... I don't really understand how Anne feels," "I can understand that she might suffer from postpartum depression when her children are small, but was there absolutely no time in those 20 years when she felt happy?", "That's impossible for Anne. She's too selfish and wants what she doesn't have," and "I never felt like I didn't have a life while raising my children. Raising them was a happy experience."
