What was the scene that most captivated viewers in the 100th episode (aired on February 20th) of the NHK morning drama "Bakeke" (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring actress Takaishi Akari? When we looked at minute-by-minute trends in "attention level" (surveyed by REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which indicates the percentage of viewers glued to the screen, the peak was 67.0% at 8:14 AM.
"Bakeke" is the 113th morning drama. The heroine, Toki Matsuno, and her husband, Lefkada Heaven, are based on Setsu Koizumi, the daughter of a fallen samurai from Matsue, and Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo), known for his works such as "Kwaidan." The drama boldly reconstructs the characters, changing some of the names of characters and organizations to create a fictionalized portrayal.
◇The “grill net” incident is becoming more and more confusing, and is attention waning?
The 100th episode continues with the Grill Incident, where the culprit has yet to be found. Unable to bear the atmosphere of mutual suspicion in the Matsuno household, Kuma (Natsume Towa) feels that she is suspected of being the culprit and announces that she will quit her job as a maid. Despite desperate attempts to calm her down by Toki (Takaishi) and Heaven (Tommy Bastow), Kuma tries to run out of the house. At that moment, Joe (Sugita Rairin) also announces that his pocket watch has gone missing.
The "attention rate," which indicates the percentage of viewers watching the TV intently, remained low at around 50% for a long time, and only barely reached the upper 60% range in two episodes: at 8:08 AM and at 8:12-13 AM. Following on from the 99th episode the day before, it appears the show failed to capture viewers' attention.
◇Takeru's pocket watch, Masaki's wallet. More and more things are disappearing.
The first peaks were at 8:03 a.m. (65.5%) and 8:04 a.m. (65.7%). In the first scene after the opening theme song plays, Joe says he's lost his pocket watch, so the Matsuno family begins searching his room.
Takeru says that Kuma has an alibi for being out shopping around 8:03 AM, the time when the theft is thought to have occurred, and pleads that "there is no need for her to quit her job as a maid." Fumi (Chizuru Ikewaki), Toki, and Heaven also say, "Don't quit."
The next segment, at around 8:04 AM, begins with Kuma deciding not to quit, saying, "If that's what you say," to which Tsukasasuke (Okabe Takashi) responds, "Of course. Even though she's a maid, she's still family." The Kuma issue is resolved, but the grill and pocket watch have not been found. Suspicion of the family still lingers. When Masaki (Hidaka Yukito), who is left alone with Joe, asks, "Hey, do you suspect me?", the segment ends at around 4:00 AM, with Joe confessing that the pocket watch was not stolen. It turns out that he lied to protect Kuma.
The scene drew a lot of attention as the grill incident began to take on unexpected dimensions. The incident became increasingly complicated when even Masaki's wallet went missing. Eventually, Takeru reported that he had found his pocket watch, and Masaki took his wallet out of his pocket and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry. My wallet was there too!"
Heaven, who noticed Takeru and Masaki's lie, told them in English, "I hate lies, but you two told a good lie," and praised them, saying, "That's wonderful! That's wonderful!" This brought back Heaven's motivation to write, and she immediately sat down at her desk and began to put pen to paper.
◇The highest price was the unexpected result of the grill. Snake and frog explain
Another "peak" occurred at 8:14 AM, reaching the highest point of the day at 67.0%. This scene marks the resolution of the "grill" incident. The whereabouts of the grill, which remained a mystery until the very end, are explained by the Snake and Frog (Asagaya Sisters). "It was a gap," "It must have slipped and fallen without anyone noticing," "Another gap?" "Things often fall into gaps in this house." The ending was so peaceful and unexpected that it seems viewers' attention was drawn to the "gap."
The data used is REVISIO's proprietary indicator "Attention Level" (Kanto region, preliminary figures) published by the company that surveys TV 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 body recognition sensor constantly measures whether people are looking at the TV screen, and calculates the percentage of people in front of the TV who are paying close attention to the program. (Text by Sasamoto Hirozai/MANTAN)
