It was revealed on January 13th that the spin-off audio drama "Saigo no Uta" of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan, " starring Mio Imada , which will air on NHK-FM on January 3rd, recorded the highest number of listeners in the station's history for a radio drama program.
The figures are the number of listeners for simultaneous or missed broadcasts on NHK Internet radio "Radiru☆Radiru" and "radiko" (numbers from the day of broadcast to 7 days after the broadcast), and were compared with the number of UBs (unique browsers) for radio drama programs broadcast from 2022 onwards.
The lead role is played by Motoki Omori of the popular rock band " Mrs. Green Apple, " who played the composer Takuya Ise in " Anpan ." The drama depicts "Takuya's unknown final years" that were not depicted in the main story. It will also be broadcast on NHK-R1 from 9:05 pm on January 13th.
◇Comment from Chief Producer Ken Kurasaki, Production Supervisor
Thank you to everyone who listened to "The Last Song." Many people commented that they were captivated by the audio drama after listening to it for the first time, and I'm delighted by the overwhelming response. Because it's a world of words, sound effects, and music, rather than visuals, listeners were able to freely imagine, and I believe they experienced a mysterious sensation, as if they were seeing scenes and expressions right before their eyes. I'm also delighted that Motoki Omori played the lead role of Takuya Ise , modeled after composer Izumi Takuya. Just as Izumi Takuya's songs continue to be passed down and loved to this day, this audio drama made me think that the many songs created by Omori will remain in the future, hummed and loved by people of all ages. I hope this story will reach even more people through tonight's rebroadcast on NHK Radio 1 (R1) and the catch-up streaming on Rajiru☆Rajiru.
