In the 26th episode (aired on May 4th) of the NHK Asadora drama series "Kaze,Kaoru " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday, 8:00 AM, etc.), Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , what scene captivated viewers the most? We examined the minute-by-minute changes in "attention level" (according to REVISIO, Kanto region, preliminary figures), which indicates the percentage of viewers glued to the screen, and found that the peak was 72.5% at 8:11 AM.
" 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, clash with each other, grow as individuals, and eventually become the "ultimate buddy duo." Mikami plays Rin Ichinose, and Uesaka plays Naomi Oya.
◇Mr. Burns, what was your first lesson?
In the 26th episode, nursing instructor Burns (Emma Howard) arrives from Scotland. Naomi (Uesaka) and Tae (Ikuta Erika) act as interpreters as the class begins, but the content is completely unexpected for the students. Rin (Mikami) tries asking Burns a question.
The "attention level," which indicates the percentage of viewers watching the screen intently, remained above the high 60% range after the opening credits, when the theme song played. It remained almost constant, keeping viewers' attention focused on the drama, and even reached the 70% range for three separate five-minute segments.
The data used is REVISIO's proprietary "Attention Level" index (Kanto region, preliminary figures), which surveys 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 recognition sensor constantly measures whether people are looking at the television screen, and calculates the percentage of people in front of the television who were paying close attention to the program.
◇Was the Spartan-style class keeping viewers on edge the whole time?
Professor Burns finally arrived from Scotland. His lessons were full of surprises, not only for the students but also for the viewers, and the viewership rating remained around 70% for most of the time, staying high until the very end.
The ratings rose to over 70% three times, for a total of five minutes, with the first time being 71.6% at 8:04 AM. Mr. Burns, meeting the students for the first time, led them out of the classroom. The students, not knowing where they were going, headed to the teachers' quarters. "This is your classroom," Mr. Burns said, and then instructed them to change the bed sheets in all the rooms every day from now on. The meaning of this was not explained, so the students were confused.
The next times with ratings in the 70% range are 8:08 AM (70.9%) and 8:09 AM (71.3%). In the 8:08 AM scene, Rin is changing the bed sheets when Dr. Burns stops her and asks, "Did you see that?" Rin asks, "I saw it, but what is nursing?" to which he simply replies, "Think for yourself." Naomi grumbles, "Put your hand on your heart and think..." and Izumi Kiyo (Akiko Kikuchi) says, "There are pastors like that too, aren't there?"
When it came to breaking the 9-minute barrier, Mr. Burns instructed Naomi to give it a try. She swapped sheets with Mr. Burns, but it didn't work. Mr. Burns said, "Are you kidding me?" and made her try again.
The last times with ratings in the 70% range were 8:11 AM (72.5%) and 8:12 AM (70.3%). The peak times of the day, around 8:11 AM, depict students busy cleaning classrooms and dormitories. Footsteps are heard, and Mr. Burns arrives, running his finger along the window frame to check for any remaining dust. Kiyo's comment that he's "like a nagging mother-in-law" is perfectly fitting.
The 12-minute mark is from about a month after those nonsensical lessons began. Naomi had just finished changing the sheets when Mr. Burns came in and said, "This is...nursing." It's understandable that Naomi, who was about to immediately change the sheets again, would look at Mr. Burns in surprise. He also tells Rin and the others, who were cleaning, "This is nursing."
While the aim of conveying the importance of maintaining hygiene is somewhat understandable, Mr. Burns's lessons are extreme and thorough. Viewers were practically glued to the screen until the ending. It's not entirely clear why the peak of the day was around 8:11 AM, when no incident occurred, but perhaps Mr. Burns' Spartan-style lessons brought the viewers' tension to a kind of peak. (Text by Hiroki Sasamoto/MANTANWEB)
