In the preview for the final week of the NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM, etc.), starring Akari Takaishi as the heroine, a scene in which Heaven ( Tommy Bastow) leans on Toki's (Takaishi) shoulder is overlaid with Toki's voice calling out "Heaven-sensei," "Heaven-san," and "Papa-san." We spoke to Chief Director Kuniomi Hashizume, who is in charge of production, about the intention behind this direction.
In episode 120 (aired March 20th), Toki suggests to Heaven that he write a book that he himself can read, which opens up Heaven's perspective after he had been trapped in the pressure of having to write a bestseller. With Toki's help, Heaven begins writing a book on the theme of "ghost stories," and finally completes "Kaidan" (Ghost Stories).
In the preview for the following week's episode, which aired immediately afterward, Heaven was seen leaning limply on Toki's shoulder, while Toki gazed into the distance and shed tears. Against this backdrop, Toki's voice was heard repeatedly, calling out things like, "By the way, Heaven...", "I'm sorry, Daddy", and "Goodnight, Heaven".
The preview video hints at a dramatic development in the final week, but Hashizume revealed, "I wanted the last two weeks to be a story about the pure love between Toki and Heaven."
"Toki's voice calling out 'Heaven-san' itself is a culmination of various emotions, allowing us to look back on the history so far, and giving us a glimpse of what will happen next. I thought it might be a good preview, so I created that kind of trailer."
The person who created this preview video is Naoki Murahashi, the chief director in charge of the final week. He also created the preview for week 19, which became a hot topic for its "unusual" direction, in which only the facial expressions of Yuichi Nishikiori (Ryo Yoshizawa) were shown for about 20 seconds.
Hashizume recalled, "The weeks in which the chief director is in charge often involve something significant happening or some kind of important turning point, so it's easy to create impactful previews for the weeks Murahashi is in charge of. Izumi Keishin, who was in charge of directing week 24, saw the preview for the final week and gave a wry smile, saying, 'They've got me again.'"
With only one week of broadcasting left, it will be impossible to take your eyes off the screen until the very end to see what events await Toki and Heaven.
