What was the most captivating scene in the 81st episode (broadcast on January 26th) 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 peak was 71.5% at 8:14 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.
◇Over 70% in the last scene
In the 81st episode, Toki (Takaishi) is depressed by the deterioration of his relationship with Sawa (Marui Wan), who has finally resorted to playing hooky. Heaven (Tommy Bastow) teams up with Tsukasa (Okabe Takashi) to perform a magic trick to cheer Toki up.
The "attention level," which indicates the percentage of viewers watching the TV intently, fluctuated wildly from the beginning to the middle of the broadcast, peaking in the high 60s. However, towards the end of the broadcast, at around 8:14 a.m., it finally reached 71.5%, exceeding 70%.
◇Will Sawa's story be in the newspaper?
The day's highest reading of 71.5% was recorded at 8:14 AM, the final scene of the 81st episode. Newspaper reporter Kajitani (Iwasaki Udai) comes to Heaven's house for dinner, looking for material for his serial. "I come here every day, so I think you know what I'm going to say, but did anything interesting happen today?" Kajitani is as arrogant as ever, to which Tsukasa (Okabe Takashi) snaps, "I answer every day, so I think you know what I'm going to say, but I said 'nothing.'" It's at this moment that Heaven suddenly speaks up.
"Toki-san, Toki-san. What did you say about Osawa-san?"
The drama ends with Toki asking in disbelief, "Are you talking about Osawa?" Of all people, why would they write about Sawa in a newspaper article? Viewers must have felt the exact same way, and the attention on the show has risen dramatically.
Heaven and Shoda care for Toki and Sawa, respectively.
Before that final scene, there were two slightly smaller "mountains."
The 8:03 AM (67.4%) segment was when Heaven performed a magic trick to help a depressed Toki. After declaring, "Now it's Heaven's show time," he revealed that he is not from America, but from the moon, and invited Toki into the world of magic. This scene conveyed Heaven's desire to entertain Toki at all costs.
The next scene, at 8:09 AM (67.5%), shows Sawa (played by Marui Wan) arriving at the salon "Shirotori Club" and being approached by Shoda Takichi (played by Hama Shogo), who is already there. Sawa only gives a cold response to Shoda's questions, but at 8:10 AM, Shoda suggests, "Well... if you don't mind, I'll teach you. Study. I'm sure you're good at teaching." Shoda is a true gentleman, never rejecting Sawa's ideas and listening to her. This scene made us even more curious about how the relationship between these two would develop.
Incidentally, the scene where Nami (played by Sato Honami) visits Toki with Fukuma (played by Hiroueno) received a fair amount of attention, with the opening scene at around 8:06 a.m. receiving 62.8% of viewers, and the scene where Toki and Nami talk about Sawa at around 8:08 a.m. receiving 64.9% of viewers.
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)
