Nonn Independent, Pierre Taki “Arrested”… NHK’s “Amachan”, finally back on air, attracts first-time viewers of the “Generation Z”

Amachan,” an NHK BS Premium morning drama that began its rebroadcast on April 3, has been gaining momentum on Twitter, with related words trending daily, surpassing this season’s morning drama, “Ranman,” which began on the same day.

The drama is an original story written by Kudo Kankuro, who drew attention when it aired in the first half of 2001. In the first part, Aki (Reina Noh, now Non), a high school girl from Tokyo, returns to her hometown with her mother Haruko (Kyoko Koizumi) in Kita Sanriku, a fictional town along the Sanriku coast in Iwate Prefecture.

The story follows Aki as she follows in the footsteps of her grandmother Natsu (Miyamoto Nobuko) and becomes a diver, and through an unexpected turn of events, gains popularity and becomes a local idol. The word “jee-jee-jee” in the drama won that year’s “Ryuko” award for the most popular word of the year. After the final episode, many viewers fell into ‘Ama loss,’ setting a milestone in the world of morning dramas,” said a person involved in a wide-ranging TV show.

The national drama is back after a 10-year absence. However, the road to the rebroadcast was a long and difficult one.

The following year, Nohni won the Japan Academy Award for Best New Actor for her role in the movie “Hot Road. It seemed as if she was on the fast track to becoming a star. However, she set up her own private agency and became independent. She changed her name from Reina Noh to “Non.

After that, due to her absence from the TV world, the long-awaited compilation of “Amachan” was decided to be rebroadcast in 1919, although it was not aired very often. However, trouble occurred even here. Pierre Taki, who had appeared in the program, was arrested on suspicion of cocaine use, and the second half of the compilation was put on hold, never to be seen again on NHK. For that reason, many viewers are watching “Amachan” for the first time on this broadcast,” said a wide-show insider.

Amachan” was even called a national TV drama. The role played by this work is tremendous. I would like to reveal a part of it here.

“Amachan” was groundbreaking in that it pioneered the “tweeting while watching a drama” style of viewing and succeeded in attracting netizens to morning dramas. Thanks to this, the drama attracted a younger viewer base. From a biased viewpoint, without the collaboration with the netizens, the lifeblood of morning dramas might have been exhausted by now.

But what did the netizens find attractive about this drama? The secret lies in the “little tidbits” scattered here and there throughout the story.

Kudo Kankuro is known for his love of subplots, and since this love extends not only to the main cast but also to the unique actors in supporting roles, the number of subplots grew in a rat’s nest fashion. The “foreshadowing play” of the subplots became a trending topic on Twitter every day. It is no exaggeration to say that the “foreshadowing of minor plot points” ignited the “byplayers” boom and created a “culture of guesswork.

Furthermore, there is a good chance that this rerun will capture the hearts of “Generation Z” girls who have never seen “Amachan.”

The “Generation Z” girls born in the Heisei era are currently experiencing an 80’s idol boom. The current generation is in the midst of the heyday of group idols such as the “Sakamichi” type, so it is refreshing to see solo idols from the 80s who are cute, sing well, and have individuality.

Videos of “Generation Z” girls singing and dancing are increasingly being posted on TikTok and other social media. In addition, the popular music program “Music Station” (TV Asahi) has featured a special program called “The Best 15 Female Idol Songs of the 80’s.” This is becoming a major trend now.

Amachan” features Kyoko Koizumi and Hiroko Yakushimaru, two of the leading female idols of the 80s, and when Haruko Amano, played by Koizumi, sings “Memory of Tidal Wave” on May 20, netizens went wild.

The scene was called a “divine episode” and became the number one trending word on Twitter. Furthermore, just by showing a poster of Hiromi Suzuka, the actress played by Hiroko Yakushimaru, on May 24, the name “Suzuka Hiromi” began trending, indicating that the show is already on the verge of a major breakthrough.

The rerun of “Amachan” for the first time in 10 years has been met with mixed feelings. Among them, the most anticipated is probably Kyoko Koizumi.

This summer, Koizumi appeared in “Pieta,” a play that she herself produced. The play is an adaptation of Naoki Prize-winning author Masumi Oshima’s novel of the same title. Koizumi’s producer at the production company said, “It has been Koizumi’s long-cherished wish since she became independent from her agency to stage this work, which was cancelled in 2008 due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Whether or not the Honda Theatre in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, will be filled to capacity this summer may depend on “Amachan”.