The fourth episode of the Fuji TV drama series "Ramune Monkey" (Wednesdays at 10pm), starring Takashi Sorimachi, Nao Omori, and Kenjiro Tsuda, aired on February 4th. Tsuda's performance as Kikuhara Kisuke touched the hearts of viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers
Kisuke, along with Yoshii Yuta (Sorimachi), Fujimaki Hajime (Omori), and cafe employee Nishino Hakuba (Fukumoto Riko), goes to meet Tsukuda Masamichi (Higashinesaku Hisahide), a former leader of a group of delinquents, as they suspect he may be the culprit who killed Miyashita Misaru (Kiryu Aso), also known as Matilda.
Having completely reformed, Tsukuda was working as a caregiver and the representative director of a local welfare service center. When he met Kisuke and the others, Tsukuda reflected on his time there, saying, "When I was young, I was a really naughty kid and often got into trouble with the police. I was a really stupid kid." He said that after meeting his wife, who would honestly scold him, he decided to "be reborn" and took up a job as a caregiver.
Learning that Kisuke's mother, Shoko (Takahashi Keiko), suffers from dementia, Tsukuda offers to let him take care of his mother and asks for a handshake. Kisuke, who had been listening to Tsukuda with a bitter expression on his face the whole time, accepts the handshake, and Tsukuda says with satisfaction, "In this way, we can let go of the past and build new relationships. I guess getting older isn't so bad after all."
At that moment, Kisuke remembered past events, such as Tsukuda hitting him over and over again. "It must feel so good to reform yourself and turn your past misdeeds into sepia-tinted memories, calling them 'naughty,'" he said, as he shook Tsukuda's hand with all his might, as if to release the emotions he had been suppressing.
He continued, "What happens to the people who were hurt? What happens to the hearts of those who were tortured? There are people who are still suffering in the same places!"
When Tsukuda apologizes, Kisuke brushes him off, saying, "If you think you were wrong, then you should apologize. But whether or not I forgive you is up to us to decide." He then expresses his anger, saying, "I will never forgive you! Not in the past, not now, and never in the future! Don't ever forget that!"
On social media, people were talking about the episode, saying things like, "Tsuda Kenjiro's acting was so amazing I cried," "I could only sympathize with Kinpo today. It's fine to apologize for something that happened in the past, but whether or not to forgive is up to the person who was apologised for," "I was overwhelmed by Tsuda Kenjiro's expressiveness," "Tsuda Kenjiro was fantastic in the episode where Kinpo's feelings, which had been so reserved up until then, explode. I cried," and "I liked that he didn't easily make peace with the bullies."
The original story and screenplay for the drama was written by Ryota Furusawa. It is a "youth-recovering human comedy" that depicts the reunion and rebirth of two middle-aged men who were both passionate about making kung fu movies when they were in junior high school in 1988, but now feel like their lives have reached a dead end, thinking "this isn't how it was supposed to be."
