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. The episode frequently referenced the 1980s, drawing attention from viewers, who commented, "It's so exciting," "I can relate to it all," and "It brought tears to my eyes."
◇The following contains spoilers
Yuta (Sorimachi), Hajime (Omori), and Kisuke (Tsuda) decide to use social media to find information about their substitute teacher from their junior high school days, Michiru (Kiryu Aso), also known as "Matilda." A cafe employee, Hakuba (Fukumoto Riko), creates an account and begins gathering information under the title "Matilda in 1988."
At the same time, Yuta was remembering the time. He remembered how he was banned from drinking carbonated drinks because "we don't allow carbonated drinks at home. They say it melts your bones," and about Ohba Akari (Izumi Arino), the "Madonna of the school year" whom he secretly had feelings for... At the time, Yuta and his friends called Akari "Minmay."
When the topic of "Minmay" came up, Hajime explained to Hakuba that "the character's name was taken from a certain anime," to which Kisuke reminisced, "Lynn Minmay. She was so cute."
Lynn Minmay is a character that appears in the anime series "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross," which began airing in 1982, and has become a hot topic on social media with comments such as "It has such a strong '80s feel lol," "I'm so happy that even though it's '80s subculture, it's mainly anime and manga-themed," "It brings back memories of the '80s and I got teary-eyed in parts," "It's fun to learn all about the '80s!", "There are '80s elements all over the place, but you get it all," "My grandma used to tell me when I was little that drinking carbonated drinks would melt my bones lol," and "She definitely said that carbonated drinks would melt my bones."
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.
