The third episode of the drama series "Galaxy Vote" (Kansai TV/Fuji TV, Mondays at 10 PM), starring actress Haru Kuroki, which aired on May 4th, featured several cast members from the NHK morning drama "Amachan," becoming a hot topic among fans of Asadora.
◇The following contains spoilers.
The drama is an election entertainment series in which the protagonist, played by Kuroki, who has been ousted from the political world, recruits a bar owner with no political experience as his campaign strategist and takes on the Tokyo gubernatorial election.
In episode 3, Akari (Noro Kayoko) continues to run the snack bar, desperate to ensure that Toshiko (Kino Hana), the previous owner who suffers from dementia and lives in a care facility, doesn't lose her home. Upon learning of Akari's feelings, Mari (Kuroki) gives up her plan to nominate Akari for governor. However, having lost both her home and her job, Mari ends up staying at Akari's apartment for a while.
At that moment, Keigo Takebayashi (played by Kyuichiro Nakayama), the lawyer who serves as Toshiko's legal guardian, announces that he will sell the snack bar. Takebayashi points out that the snack bar has been suffering serious losses and will go bankrupt if things continue as they are, and asserts that the best course of action is for Toshiko to sell her properties and secure the necessary funds. He says that at least 10 million yen will be needed to keep the shop open without selling it, but Akari is devastated because she cannot come up with that amount.
Wanting to save Akari, Mari comes up with a solution that overturns Takebayashi's claims. Furthermore, Mari learns from Atsushi Kashida (Ryo Iwamatsu), a regular customer who has learned that the shop is in danger of closing, that Toshiko had been keeping a secret from Akari... and the story unfolds from there.
Kino, who plays Toshiko, played Katsue Osanai, the "glasses-wearing accounting grandma" and a member of the Kitasanriku Ama Club, in the 2013 drama "Amachan." The director of the group home "Soyokaze no Sato" where Toshiko resides, Masae Matsui, was played by Ise Shima, who played Tamako Hanamaki, the "white grandma" and office worker at the fisheries cooperative in "Amachan."
On social media, some users commented, "When Kinohana and Iseshima appeared one after the other in the nursing home scene, I had a sense of déjà vu. Aren't they the bespectacled accounting lady and the white-haired lady from 'Amachan'?" and "I was already excited when the bespectacled accounting lady appeared, but then Hanamaki-san showed up too, it's just too much like 'Amachan'."
Furthermore, since Ise had dressed up as Freddie Mercury, the vocalist of the British rock band Queen, in the drama "Amachan," fans of the morning drama expressed their delight, saying things like, "In 'Galaxy Vote,' not only did the bespectacled accounting old lady appear, but Freddie also showed up. 'Amachan' is strong," and "I wonder if Ise Shima will do a Freddie Asadora impression as entertainment?"
