The second episode of the Fuji TV drama series "Ramune Monkey" (Wednesdays at 10pm), starring Takashi Sorimachi, Nao Omori, and Kenjiro Tsuda, aired on January 21st. A line spoken by Yuta Yoshii, played by Sorimachi, became a hot topic among viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers
Yuta, Hajime Fujimaki (Omori), and Kikuhara Kisuke (Tsuda) decide to go and meet their middle school classmate, Akari Ohba (Nishida Naomi), also known as "Minmay." A cafe employee, Hakuba Nishino (Fukumoto Riko), asks for information on social media and finds the cafe where Akari works.
When the three of them head to the restaurant with Hakuba, it turns out to be an okonomiyaki restaurant. They think the waitress is Akari, but Yuta and the others can't bring themselves to say that she's their classmate.
As Yuta was about to pay the bill, Akari said to him, "I'm relieved to see you're doing well. I saw you on the news and was worried about you. You've always been a bit sensitive." Happy that she remembered him, Yuta replied, "I'm glad you're doing well too," to which Akari replied, "I'm sure you're disappointed to see me like a real old lady, but please come and eat with us again if you feel like it."
Meanwhile, when a regular customer at the bar treats Akari like an "old lady," Yuta snaps, "Stop it. That's rude," and gets into trouble with the regular. However, Akari, enraged by Yuta's behavior, pours a glass of water over him and tells him to apologize to the regular. Yuta apologizes, and the regulars leave.
Afterwards, Yuta heard from Akari about her experiences with "Matilda" Miyashita Misa (Kiryu Aso) and her memories from that time. "Stop calling yourself an old lady or an old hag. To us, you are Minmay, now and always," he told Akari.
On social media, people were talking about the scene, saying things like, "I cried at the scene with Minmay and Yuta," "Eternal Minmay really pierced my heart... it's filled with sadness that I can only understand now that I'm older," "Ramune Monkey really pierced my heart," "'To us you'll always be Minmay' and 'Stop calling yourself an old lady or an old hag' really hit home," and "I'll cry when they say you'll always be Minmay."
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.
