In the final episode (aired March 27th) of the NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM, etc.), starring actress Akari Takaishi , what scene captivated viewers the most? We examined the minute-by-minute changes in "attention level" (according to REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which indicates the percentage of viewers glued to their screens, and found that the highest value was 71.5% at 8:14 AM, during the final scene.
" Bakebake" is the 113th morning Asadora. The heroine, Toki Matsuno, and her husband, Lefkada Heaven, are modeled after Koizumi Setsu, the daughter of a fallen samurai family in Matsue, and Lafcadio Hearn(Yakumo Koizumi ), known for his works such as "Kwaidan." The drama boldly reconstructs these events, changing some of the character and organization names to portray them as fiction.
◇The words spoken by the crested ibis are included in "A Record of Memories"
In the final episode (episode 125), Toki (Takaishi) recounts her memories of Heaven ( Takashi Okabe) to Jo (Sugita Chizuru Ikewaki ), while being watched over by Tsukasanosuke (Okabe Takashi) and Fumi ( Tommy Bastow). The words Toki speaks are compiled into a book called "A Record of Memories."
The "attention level," which indicates the percentage of viewers watching the screen intently, remained somewhat low for most of the program, hovering in the high 50s to low 60s. However, there was one significant peak towards the end of the program, exceeding 70%.
◇When you open "Memories," the theme song plays, and you can reminisce about Toki and Heaven's journey through photographs.
As Toki recounts her memories, it is revealed that she had mistaken a "frock coat" for a "frog coat." Toki blames herself for having held Heaven back, but this incident changes her perspective on the past. Fumi's words, "They were nothing special, really nothing special, but wonderful days," perfectly describe their life together. The entire story of "Bakebake" is like that.
In the final week, Toki, who had been blaming herself, finally shows signs of recovery in a crucial scene. It airs around 8:05-8:06 AM, but the viewership ratings actually declined to 61.2% and 58.9%, showing no signs of increasing at all.
The first slight increase occurred at 67.9% at 8:10 AM.
"KWAIDAN became a worldwide bestseller after the deaths of the two authors."
"The words spoken by the crested ibis became a book called 'A Record of Memories'."
After the words appear as text on the screen, Kanta opens the "Memoirs" book from his bookshelf and reads it to his younger brother, Isao. The moment he opens the book, the theme song begins to play. The video is presented as a slideshow of photographs that looks back on the story of "Bakebake" from the first episode.
At around 8:10 AM, when this development began, viewership surged, but it dropped to around 64% from 8:11 AM onwards, when the theme song was playing. The usual opening is in the 50% range, so this was still quite high, and even though it dropped, it can be said that viewers remained focused on the screen as the ending of the final episode approached.
◇The peak is the last scene: A conversation between two people echoing in a pitch-black world.
The final scene, after the theme song finishes playing, shows Toki and Heaven sitting opposite each other in a darkened room lit by candlelight. Toki says, "This is my story," to which Heaven replies, "It's wonderful, Mama." Toki smiles and asks, "Shall we go for a walk, Papa?" and Heaven nods, "Yes." Toki blows out the candle, and the story concludes with a brief exchange of casual conversation between the couple in the darkened screen.
At 8:13 AM, when the final scene began (69.8%), the viewership suddenly jumped 5 points. From around 8:14 AM, when the two stood up and left the room to go for a walk, the viewership reached its highest point of the day at 71.5%. When Toki returned, he blew out the candles and the screen went dark, but the conversation between the two continued: "Where should we take a walk?" "Um, a temple?" "Yeah!" "Huh?" "Shall we skip?" "Here?"
At the end of the "Bakebake" story, Toki says, "This is the story of me, Toki." Does this mean that the two of them met again after death, and that Toki told Heaven the story, including what happened after his death? It was a scene that sparked all sorts of imagination.
The video then goes completely dark, and the conversation between the two characters continues in a pitch-black image with only the "Bakebake" logo in the center of the screen. Like a radio drama, the pictureless conversation made me imagine what the two characters were doing, and it was a very enjoyable experience.
With Toki continuing to blame herself, some viewers wondered if the final episode would end on a positive note, and what kind of ending it would be. However, the final scene dispelled those concerns and captivated viewers, as evidenced by its high level of attention.
The data used is REVISIO's proprietary "Attention Level" index (Kanto region, preliminary figures), which surveys 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 recognition sensor constantly measures whether people are looking at the television screen, and calculates the percentage of people in front of the television who were paying close attention to the program. (Text by Hiroki Sasamoto/MANTAN)
