What was the scene that most captivated viewers in the 80th episode (broadcast on January 23rd) of the NHK morning drama "Bakeke" (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring actress Takaishi Akari? When we looked at minute-by-minute trends in "attention level" (surveyed by REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which indicates the percentage of viewers glued to the screen, the highest point was 69.2% at 8:12 AM.
"Bakeke" is the 113th morning drama. The heroine, Toki Matsuno, and her husband, Lefkada Heaven, are based on Setsu Koizumi, the daughter of a fallen samurai from Matsue, and Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo), known for his works such as "Kwaidan." The drama boldly reconstructs the characters, changing some of the names of characters and organizations to create a fictionalized portrayal.
◇Signs of change like Sawatonami
In episode 80, Sawa (Marui Wan) is studying at the Shiratori Club, a salon on the second floor of Yamahashi Pharmacy, in order to become a full-time teacher. She is visited by Takichi Shoda (Hama Shogo). He has moved out of his home in Tokyo and returned to Matsue. Shoda was a candidate to be the English teacher if Nishikori were to become the school principal. There is also progress in the negotiations to buy the prostitute Nami (Sato Honami).
The "attention level," which indicates the percentage of viewers watching the TV intently, was low early on, but after the opening, the graph continued to fluctuate between 60% and the end of the show. The highest level of the day was 69.2%, just short of 70%.
◇Toki chased after Sawa. What was Sawa's reaction?
The interest graph peaked three times that day. The first was at 8:00 AM, immediately after the broadcast began, at 66.8%. At the end of the previous episode, the 69th, Toki chased after Sawa, who had packed her bags and suddenly left the Shiratori Club. By the time he went down to the first floor entrance of Yamahashi Pharmacy, Sawa was already gone, but just as he was about to give up, Sawa returned. Viewers were likely curious to see what would happen next.
Toki asked, "Why did you come back?" to which Sawa replied, "It would have been better if you hadn't come back." Toki shook his head and said, "No," to which Sawa replied, "I thought so." Perhaps because they were both quiet and there weren't any spectacular developments, attention began to drop sharply from the next 8:01 AM.
◇ Nami, who has been bought, says goodbye to Sawa
The next one is midway through the film, at around 8:06 AM, with a rating of 68.4%. It's the scene where Nami calls out to Sawa as she comes out of her tenement house. Nami is standing with Fukuma (Hiroueno), who she bought, and she has changed her makeup and outfit, so Sawa doesn't recognize her at first, asking, "Huh, who is that?" Her reaction is so rude it makes you chuckle. Even so, Fukuma and Nami are happy, and Nami bursts out laughing, saying, "No way."
Following Toki, Nami also decides to leave, leaving Sawa alone. Nami embraces Sawa and tells her, "But I don't think you have to force yourself to leave," and "When the time comes, your heart will make up its mind." As if to loosen up her rigid, stiff heart, Nami pushes up the corners of Sawa's mouth with her fingers, and then she says, "Take care then," and leaves with Fukuma. It's a sweet farewell scene, typical of Kip's good Nami. It drew attention, but it fell just short of peak popularity.
◇Sawa avoids Toki. Toki's skipping brings sadness to his heart.
The final scene, which recorded the highest ratings of the day at 8:12 AM (69.2%) and 8:14 AM (68.3%), was when Toki visits Sawa's tenement house. At 8:12 AM, Sawa's mother greets Toki when he visits the tenement house, but she says that Sawa is coming home late. However, she can see the feet of a woman who looks like Sawa in the back of the room, and Toki realizes what Sawa is thinking. This was a painful scene for Toki and the viewers, and it immediately drew a lot of attention.
At 8:14 AM, as Toki was about to leave, the children from the tenement boasted to him that they had learned to skip. Toki, who had been watching, joined in, but his smile soon faltered. The contrast between the painful events and the joyful skipping was striking, making it a memorable scene that further conveyed the sadness of Toki and Sawa.
The data used is REVISIO's proprietary indicator "Attention Level" (Kanto region, preliminary figures) published by the company that surveys TV program and commercial viewing habits in 2,000 households in the Kanto region and 600 households in the Kansai region. A dedicated device equipped with a human body recognition sensor constantly measures whether people are looking at the TV screen, and calculates the percentage of people in front of the TV who are paying close attention to the program. (Text by Sasamoto Hirozai/MANTAN)
