The first episode of the Fuji TV drama series "Ramune Monkey" (Wednesdays at 10pm), starring Takashi Sorimachi, Nao Omori, and Kenjiro Tsuda Tsuda, aired on January 14th. The scene in which Hajime Fujimaki, played by Omori, unexpectedly talks about "harassment" became a hot topic among viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers
The original story and screenplay for the drama was written by Ryota Furusawa. It is a youth-recovering human comedy that depicts the reunion and rebirth of two middle-aged men who were passionate about making kung fu movies together in their junior high school days in 1988, but now feel stuck in life, thinking, "This isn't how it was supposed to be." The story is about a trio of very different characters, with different looks and personalities: Yuta Yoshii, also known as "Yun," played by Sorimachi; Hajime Fujimaki, also known as "Chen," played by Omori; and Kikuhara Kisuke, also known as "Kinpo," played by Tsuda.
The three reunite after news breaks that human bones have been discovered at a construction site in Tanbe City. They visit Tanbe City, where they used to live, and head to the video rental shop where they used to hang out, only to find that it has been turned into a cafe called Gandhara Coffee.
As they reminisce about the past, including the store clerk Hakuba (Fukumoto Riko), the topic turns to Misa (Kiryu Aso), who was a substitute teacher at the junior high school. Kisuke explains to Hakuba, "She was a wonderful teacher, and we called her 'Matilda'."
Hakuba looked confused and asked, "Matilda?", but Kisuke continued bashfully, "I'm a Frau Bow fan." Yuta then remarked with nostalgia, "Ah, I was always a Sayla fan," and Hajime said, "I've been a Hamon fan since back then!", referring to the characters from the popular anime Mobile Suit Gundam.
Seeing Hakuba tilt his head at the conversation between the three, Hajime comes to his senses and warns Yuta and Kisuke, "Ah, let's stop. This is what we call 'gunhara.' I was trying to be careful not to become a 'gunhara uncle.'"
Social media was abuzz with comments such as, "Is it called gunhara lol," "I've never heard of gunhara before but I understand what it means (lol)," "That's bad lol, I actually do gunhara lol," "That's bad, I do gunhara too," and "I have to be careful of Gundam harassment (gunhara)..."
