While creating the social phenomenon of “W Asano”… “I want to hug you! was the beginning of the end of trendy drama

This time we will focus on “I want to hug you! was aired from July to September 1988, in other words, the last summer of the Showa period.

I want to hug you! is written “W Asano (Daburu Asano). Yes, Atsuko Asano and Yuko Asano starred in this drama as if they were truly “W” stars. This drama triggered a huge boom for these two and the term “W Asano” itself.

Atsuko was born in 1961 and Yuko in 1960, but they were in the same grade, in other words, classmates. In “7 Men and 7 Women: A Summer’s Tale,” which we discussed last time, Akashiya Sanma and Otake Shinobu were both born in the 1950s (Sanma in 1955 and Shinobu in 1957), so the leading roles were handed to people born in the 1960s, and the category of “trendy drama” was finally accelerated.

In other words, trendy drama as entertainment played by people born in the 1960s and enjoyed by people born in the 1960s.

Now, let’s take a look at the popularity of “W Asano. Let’s take a look at Video Research’s talent popularity ranking (female category / August) for the following year, 1989.

No. 1: Yuko Asano
No. 1: Atsuko Asano
3rd : Sayuri Yoshinaga
No. 4: Kuniko Yamada
No.5 : Kyoko Koizumi
6th : Mitsuko Mori
No.7 : Yoshiko Mita
No.8 : Narumi Yasuda
9th : Ikue Sakakibara
10th : Akiko Wada

What a surprise, “W Asano” shared the top spot. Their popularity was that great. The catalyst for such great excitement was “I want to hug you! was the catalyst for such a huge rise in popularity.

Trendy drama in the original sense of the word

A quarter of a century after the passage of time, the 2013 release of the CD “I Want to Hug You! Music Collection” includes an interview with Shunsaku Kawage, who directed the drama.

Kawage says. He said he wanted to do a “realistic drama about women” at “the end of the 80’s, when women were gaining momentum,” and he wanted to “do a story between women from a completely different angle than before.

He also said that he “wanted to make a sophisticated urban drama,” and that “one of the concepts was to have a summery feel” and that he had in mind “a sense of the end of summer,” “the last youth,” and “the last paradise.

These can be summed up in one word, in other words, “trendy drama. Before that, we might add “in the original sense of the word. Dramas in which women strut about lively in an urban and sophisticated summer world–this is what trendy drama is all about!　And “W Asano” is the symbol of it!

Incidentally, the theme song is “Stay Aquamarine” by Carlos Tosiki & Omega Tribe. Music by Pizzicato Five. The script was written by Toshiharu Matsubara. He also wrote “Kaigan Monogatari: Just like old times…” for TBS in the previous season, in other words, he is the person who took charge of the “last summer drama in the Showa era”.

The producer was Ryo Ohta (currently senior managing director of Fuji Television Network). He talks about what happened to “trendy dramas in the original sense of the word,” which is no exaggeration to say that he created – “Trendy dramas were created one after another, but the settings did not change drastically. The audience was probably saturated as well.” (Sankei Shimbun / October 29, 2013)

This is because “I Want to Hug You! (starring Atsuko Asano) in 1990, which had the highest viewer rating of 21.8%, and “Sekai Ichiban Kimi ga Suki! (starring Atsuko Asano) in 1990, which received 25.5% of the same rating. However, “Koi no Paradise” (starring Yuko Asano) in 1990 was a flop with 17.0% of the same rating (still a great number from today’s perspective), forcing a change in strategy.

Therefore, “Sutekina Katakiai” (1990, starring Miho Nakayama), a “down-to-earth trendy drama” (Mr. Ota) in which an ordinary office worker and a salaryman meet on a commuter train and fall in love, was released in the same year with a 26.0% rating. (starring Miho Nakayama), which revived with the same 26.0% rating. In other words, at that moment, “trendy drama in the original sense of the word,” which seemed to have “no feet on the ground,” ended after only two years.

Broadcast in the last summer of the Showa era, “I Want to Hug You! was the beginning of the end of the summer of “trendy drama.

Trendy Drama and the Summer of the Showa Era Dusk

Now, let’s take a look at “I Want to Hug You! (available on Fuji TV On Demand). But there was no “big twist” (a popular word at the time), as if it was the last episode of the series, and the content was quite simple.

（Asako (Atsuko Asano) and Natsuko (Yuko Asano) are childhood friends, and Keisuke (Koichi Iwaki) and Natsuko are married. However, Keisuke falls in love with Asako and tells her that he will break up with Natsuko, but Asako says, “I can’t break up with Natsuko. I can’t break up with Natsuko. I can’t hurt Natsuko anymore! Natsuko replies, “I can’t break up with Natsuko. There is some back and forth, but in the end, Asako forces Keisuke and Natsuko back together.

I felt like I was let down by the smooth development of the story. However, Kawage may have meant “urban sophistication” when he said that the story was not overly grandiose just because it was the last episode.

Atsuko Asano plays a key role in the film. She delivers her lines, which have a lot of words, very fast, screaming, making funny faces, and, to top it all off, falling down with a loud, strange cry. The scene in which she rides around on a bicycle in the middle of the night on a playground while singing the Beatles’ “I Want to Embrace You” is truly surreal.

The need for a comedienne was probably a result of the need for entertainment for people born in the 1960s, whose blood was thick with the “manzai boom with Drifting and Kin-chan. However, to be honest, it looked like they were still in a state of groping.

In my opinion, the perfect comedienne in this sense would be Tomoko Yamaguchi in TBS’s “Double Kitchen” (1993), who moved her arms and legs longer than Atsuko Asano’s and moved them with great athleticism and agility.

Supporting the somewhat out-of-control Atsuko Asano, Junichi Ishida, and Masahiro Motoki, whose acting is still not up to par (pardon the pun), are Koichi Iwashiro and Yuko Asano, the “70’s breakout stars”. In particular, the stability of Koichi Iwashiro, who is 10 years older than Asano, adds depth to the drama. As one would expect from someone who has already given a very cool monologue at the beginning of the film “Burning Out: Carol’s Last Live” from Carol’s breakup concert in 1975.

I want to hug you!” on the night of September 19, 1988, three days before the final episode of “I Want to Embrace You! It was the beginning of the end of the trendy drama “I want to hug you! which was the beginning of the end of trendy dramas, and the end of the Showa era.