The 42nd episode of the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 AM and other times), starring Akari Takaishi , was broadcast on November 25th, and viewers were drawn to the meaningful words uttered by the drunk Heaven ( Tommy Bastow).
Toki (Takaishi) and Heaven show off the Japanese bush warbler that Rio (Kana Kita) gave them as a gift at the Hanada Inn. Because it doesn't sing "hohokekkyo" for a while, they begin to suspect it's a different bird, but Heita (Namase Katsuhisa) explains that it is a Japanese bush warbler, and they are convinced. Heita explains that male Japanese bush warblers are slightly larger than females, so this bird must be a male. Heita then goes on to say that Japanese bush warblers are polygamous, "So you're like a foreigner who has a wife back home and comes to Japan to have fun," to which Heaven replies angrily, "You're talking bad about me again."
Just then, Kajitani (Iwasaki Udai), a reporter for the Matsue Shimpo, appears. Looking at the bird in the cage, Kajitani explains, "This is just a white-eye. It's not a Japanese bush warbler." "Its bush warbler color makes you think it's a Japanese bush warbler, but it's a white-eye. And it doesn't sing. No matter how long you wait, it never sings." However, the ibises don't believe Kajitani, who turns even a small story into big news.
Afterwards, Heaven is invited to the home of Governor Eto (Shiro Sano) for dinner. After drinking wine and enjoying Rio's (Kana Kita Kita) home-cooked meal, Heaven becomes completely drunk and is cared for by Nishikori (Ryo Yoshizawa) as she heads home. Heaven murmurs to Toki, "If the Japanese bush warbler is a white-eye, then maybe I'm a white-eye too."
Comments on social media about Heaven's meaningful line included, "I've been thinking about the true meaning of 'If a bush warbler is a white-eye, then perhaps I'm a white-eye too,'" "It was heartbreaking that he compared himself to a white-eye that was mistaken for a bush warbler," "I think it's an analogy to the fact that he's not a teacher but actually a newspaper reporter, and I get the sense that he's different from the foreigners who return to Japan leaving their wives and children behind..." "When I heard Heaven's words, I took it as sarcasm, a 'fake that resembles a bush warbler,'" "He came to Matsue in the hopes of becoming a bush warbler, but in reality, a white-eye doesn't sing 'hohokekkyo'..." "Is it a manifestation of the anxiety he's been feeling for a long time..." "Does the fact that he's a newspaper reporter and not a teacher make him feel guilty the longer he spends with students?"
