The third episode of the NHK Asadora drama series "Kaze,Kaoru " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM, etc.), starring Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , aired on April 1st, and the shocking ending garnered significant attention from viewers.
" Kaze,Kaoru" is based on the story of two trained nurses, Chika Ozeki and Masa Suzuki, who graduated from the same nursing school. The drama depicts how these two women struggle with how to interact with patients and doctors, grow through their conflicts, and eventually become the "ultimate buddy" duo. Mikami plays the main character, Rin Ichinose, and Uesaka plays the other main character, Naomi Oya.
While Mitsu (Mizuki Mizuno) and Yasu (Miharu Hayasaka) are in Tokyo to arrange a marriage, Kotaro's (Toranosuke Kobayashi) mother contracts cholera, and Kotaro becomes an outcast in his village.
Rin tries to cheer up Kotaro, but it doesn't work. Seeing Rin's dejection, Shin'emon tells her about his past and how he went from being a samurai to a farmer. Shin'emon murmurs, "Honestly, I still don't know what I should have done. Someday, someday I'll find out, and then... then..." and holding back tears, he says to Rin, "It's hard to know what's right."
Towards the end of the episode, Shin'emon, who was teaching Rin how to use the naginata (a type of Japanese pole weapon), suddenly began coughing and collapsed in agony, covering his mouth with his hand. The episode ended with Rin calling out "Father!" and leaning over to him in concern.
On social media, comments included: "Dad, no way...", "No way, Dad!!", "Is Dad going to die too!?", "It's a sign he's going to be written out of the story...", "Good dads always leave early in Asadora...", "I have a bad feeling about this", and "Please tell me this is an April Fool's joke".
