Wata Yome” Haru vs. “Sorepaku” Kyoko Yoshine What was the unexpected key person who won the “morning drama actress duel”?

The much-awaited “morning drama actress showdown” is likely to end with Haru’s overwhelming victory.

The most watched drama in the April season was the “man who wants to be hugged duel” between Takuya Kimura and Masaharu Fukuyama. The drama that drew the most attention was “My Wife” (Fuji TV), starring Haru, vs. (NTV) starring Kyoko Yoshine. The showdown became a topic of conversation because they both starred in the same Wednesday at 10 p.m., the same time slot, and both premiered on the same day, April 12,” said a production company staff member.

Incidentally, Mitsuki Takahata, who starred in “Toto-chan” in the first half of 2004, sandwiched between “Asa ga Kita” (Haru) in the second half of 2003 and “Bepin-san” (Yoshine) in the second half of 2004, is currently starring in “unknown” (TV Asahi, Tuesdays from 9 pm), but since the two are not directly competing, we will not mention it here. However, since they are not in direct competition with each other, I will not mention them here.

The reason for the excitement of the showdown was due in part to the fact that the two dramas are broadcast in the same time slot.

Nippon TV’s Wednesday 10 o’clock slot has produced hits with heroines such as “Haken no Hinkaku” and “Kaseifu no Mita” in the past. Fuji Television, on the other hand, has had three drama series in the same time slot, but has pulled out of each of them. Then, in April last year, Fuji Television introduced four dramas with male leads under the concept of “New Hero,” but has so far lost all four battles in terms of viewer ratings. This time, for the first time, they have introduced a drama with a female lead character.

In the first episode, “Wata Yome” and “Sorepaku” were almost on par with each other with ratings of 6.1% and 6.0%, respectively. Many viewers also commented, “They both have similar atmospheres, and both seem interesting,” wondering which one they should watch in the future. However, from the second episode onward, the difference between the two shows clearly. Currently, the average viewer ratings are 5.8% for “Watashi” and 4.4% for “Sorepaku,” which is a huge difference. Moreover, “Sorepaku” is also likely to break the worst record of “Tutor Trako” averaging 5.8% in the July season of last year at Nippon TV’s Mizuho 10.

Sorepaku” is a work drama with a nice sense of déjà vu, featuring a good-natured new employee played by Yoshine and a dry, elite boss played by Shigeoka Daiki. It is an easy-to-understand take on the niche genre of intellectual property. It is by no means a has-been. However, Yoshine has a strong image of the “shigo-nareki” girl who has played in “True Criminal Flag” and “Old Rookie”. Some said that Yoshine’s portrayal of the heroine, who loves people too much and is always in a dithering mood, is irritating to watch, while others said that the company building of the manufacturer in the drama is quite classic and the office atmosphere is somewhat gloomy.

On the other hand, “Watayome” was billed as a socially-conscious romantic comedy that delves into gender issues, but upon opening the door, it turned out to be a “mushy” romantic comedy in which the heroine, Haru, and her partner, Mahiro Takasugi, seem to be getting together, but are not.

The setting of a slovenly girl and a boy who is good at housework is reminiscent of “My Housekeeper Nagisa-san” and the contractual cohabitation scene is reminiscent of “Runaway is Shameful but Useful”. The characters, including Terunosuke Takezai and Yudai Furukawa as Takasugi’s brothers and Sawa Himura as his colleague, are popular for their comedic performances.

Such differences in the color of the works seem to be the reason for the difference. And the key players in the difference were not so much Haru and Yoshine, but Mahiro Takasugi and Hiroki Shigeoka, who played the opposite roles.

The most brilliant part of this romantic comedy is Takasugi’s “puppy dog” attitude as he single-mindedly loves Haru, his older boss. Shigeoka, on the other hand, also has a tsundere image, but he has a more serious image as seen in “Shiranai Konnai Koito” and “Yuki-onna to Kani wo Kudanai” (Snow Woman and Crab Eating). It is true to say that they are on different playing fields, but it seems that Takasugi was the one who struck a chord with the target audience that determined the outcome of the “actress duel.

Was it the actor who decided the outcome of the “actress vs. actress battle”?