Takaishi Akari plays the heroine in the NHK morning drama "Bakeke" (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 AM and others). In the 95th episode, which aired on February 13th, Toki (Takaishi) decides to go to Kumamoto with Heaven (Tommy Bastow). In the scene where they see off at the dock, Nishikori (Yoshizawa Ryo) does not show up, and Heaven does not try to go and meet Nishikori either. We asked Hashizume Kuniomi, the production manager, what the intention was behind such a direction.
In the same episode, Heaven tells his students at his junior high school that he will be leaving Matsue. Furthermore, it is revealed that Shoda (Hama Masago) will be the new principal of the school, causing great upset among the students. Nishikori says, "It's simple. I didn't graduate from the Imperial University. Unfortunately, I failed. Not only did I not graduate from the Imperial University, I don't even have a teaching license in English. There's no way a guy like that can become principal," and leaves the classroom.
As the rain falls, Heaven chases after Nishikori and says, "Is it my fault? Principal, please be careful! Let's do something!" However, Nishikori looks enlightened and says, "It's really okay. It's not like that," and leaves Heaven.
Hashizume explained, "The scene in the rain makes you wonder whether Heaven and Nishikori really connect with each other or not. Even though they are attracted to each other, I think they were in a state of mind where they didn't really know. So I think they didn't go to see each other in the end, thinking that they might just drift apart and that this might be the end."
At the end of the episode, Nishikori was shown coughing up blood.
"Nishikori said he couldn't go because of health reasons, but was it really because of illness? Heaven somehow knew the reason, and they were suspicious of each other and couldn't talk to each other. I think that's just how human beings are," he said.
The model for Nishikori is Nishida Sentaro, who is said to have been the "best friend" of Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) in real life, but there is also a record that he "did not attend" to see him off.
"Nishida Chitaro's diary doesn't give the real reason why he didn't go to see them off, so we also thought about why he didn't go. It does say that he couldn't go to see them off because he was ill, but we thought about a lot of things and had a lot of discussions before deciding on this production," he revealed.
In episode 95, it seemed like a final farewell, but Hashizume revealed that "we will be drawing on Matsue's story a little more." Why didn't Nishikori go to see Heaven off, and what were Heaven's feelings? Will these be revealed in the story? We look forward to seeing what happens next.
