What was the scene that most captivated viewers in the 109th episode (broadcast on March 5th) of the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring actress Akari Takaishi ? 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 72.5% at 8:14 AM.
" Bakebake" is the 113th morning Asadora. 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(Yakumo Koizumi ), 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.
◇Following on from the previous day, attention is rising towards the ending
Heaven ( Tommy Bastow ) learns from Ran ( Misako Renbutsu ) that Toki (Takaishi) knows all about the Philippines. In episode 109, Heaven decides to leave Toki in Japan and travel to the Philippines. Meanwhile, Toki has also chosen to remain in Japan with his unborn child and family, and to support Heaven's writing career. To tell each other of their decisions, Toki and Heaven go on a walk.
The "attention rate," which shows the percentage of viewers watching the TV intently, continued to rise gradually towards the end of the 108th episode, reaching a peak of 72.5% at 8:14 a.m., about one point higher than the previous day.
◇ First half was sluggish, in the low 60s
Episode 109 begins with Haven being shocked when Ran tells her at her colleague Robert's (Joe Tremaine) house that Toki knows about the Philippines. After the opening scene, the episode shifts to Toki reminiscing while cleaning up Haven's study. The attention rating for this part remains roughly flat, at most in the low 60s.
It's around 8:06 AM when Heaven invites Toki to go for a walk. Their destination is a hilltop with a panoramic view of Kumamoto, a place the two have walked together before. Toki struggles to climb the slope, and they finally reach their destination. Heaven begins by apologizing to Toki for not telling him that she had been asked to write about her time in the Philippines. At around 8:08 AM, when the two begin to talk in earnest, you'd think the interest would increase, but instead it actually decreases.
◇The rating jumps to the high 60s when Heaven tries to convey her determination.
At around 8:09 a.m., it suddenly jumped up to the high 60s, and then remained in a stable, flat flight state until around 8:12 a.m.
The 8:09 AM mark begins when Heaven begins, "I've made it. I'm in Japan." Perhaps Heaven was trying to tell Toki that she was leaving him behind and heading to the Philippines. Toki instinctively says, "Wait," and his breathing gradually becomes heavier, he staggers, and collapses on the spot.
At around 8:10 AM, Heaven tries to carry Toki on her back to take him to the hospital, but Toki says, "I've been to the hospital," and "I'm not sick." When Heaven hears this, she realizes, "Baby?" and Toki nods, which is around 8:11 AM. Heaven runs around with Toki on her back, overjoyed.
Next, at around 8:12 AM, Heaven senses Toki's feelings of not being able to tell her about her pregnancy and tells her, "Philippines... I can't. Japan... I'm here. I'm here forever." The scenes at around 8:11 AM when Heaven explodes with joy and at around 8:12 AM when she tells him she will be staying in Japan are exciting, but even here the attention doesn't "explode."
◇ "I want to be with you" has gained a lot of attention, and
Attention ratings finally began to rise around 8:13 AM. "But," Toki protested Heaven's decision to remain in Japan, to which Heaven replied, "I'm your father, you're your mother. We're children and a family. We'll always be in Japan." Toki's words brought tears to her eyes, and Heaven assured her that she would stay in Japan, telling her in English, "I want to be with you." Toki responded in broken English, "I want to be with you." At the 13-minute mark, attention ratings rose 1.7 points to 68.7%.
"I want to be with you" is the only phrase that Toki, who has particular difficulty with English pronunciation, was able to speak fluently during his English conversation lesson with Heaven. Even though Toki is so bad at English that he couldn't even immediately respond to Ran's "What's your name?", he replies in broken but accurate English. It was a scene that made me want to applaud the screenwriter for the way it turned out.
At 8:14 AM, when the two embrace in joy, the ratings soar to 72.5%. While the drama could have ended with them saying "I want to be with you" and embracing each other, it's perhaps more " Bakebake"-esque than that. Heaven says they should tell Tsukasanosuke(Takashi Okabe) and Fumi (Chizuru Ikewaki) about her pregnancy as soon as possible, but Toki replies, "I'm sorry! I already know." Realizing she'd only just found out, Heaven laughs and asks, "Am I... the last one?" The ending sees the two holding hands and laughing together.
Although it is "inconsequential" to the flow of the story, the conversation that was important to the two of them happened at around 8:14 AM, and it attracted even more attention, which is perhaps what you would expect from a "Bakebake" viewer.
Still, am I the only one who feels that the story of "Bakebake" often reaches its peak on Thursdays?
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)
