Playback ’13] “‘Amachan’ is a Treasure for Life,” Reina Nohni Sheds Tears at the Launch of an Asadora Morning Drama

What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we take a look back at the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we present “Aki, Yui, Haruko, Omaki, Kudokan… Thanks for ‘Amachan’! is now available for your viewing pleasure.

Reina Nohni (then 20), who played the heroine, and Kasumi Arimura (then 20), who played her young mother, are chatting and laughing! It’s a scene you don’t see in dramas.

In mid-August, a “party to celebrate the end of filming” of the morning drama “Amachan” was held at a hotel in Tokyo, where all the cast members gathered as shown in the photo.

About 200 people involved gathered, and the first party ended with Nohni tearfully saying, “Amachan is my treasure for the rest of my life. The after-party was held at a rented-out club and was a great success, with a live band playing and Nohni, Kyoko Koizumi, and others singing “Memory of Tidal Wave,” and a sushi chef’s stall. At the end of the event, Nohni exclaimed, “I want to do ‘Amachan 2’ after all! was very impressive.

Amachan,” a morning drama broadcast in the first half of 2001, became a masterpiece that will remain in the history of morning dramas. Set in Kita Sanriku, a fictional town along the Sanriku coast of Iwate Prefecture, the drama depicted the main character Aki, a high school girl from Tokyo, following in her grandmother’s footsteps to become a diver and then an idol, along with the local people and family. The play also drew attention for its coverage of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred less than two years ago.

Viewer ratings exceeded 20% every day, averaging 20.6% for all episodes and 5.5% for BS Premium. This was followed by “Gochisousan,” “Hanako and Anne,” and “Massan,” all of which averaged over 20% per week, symbolizing the resurgence of morning dramas that had been stagnant from the 1980s to the 2000s. In addition, “Amachan” was littered with subculture and idol-loving tidbits, which attracted even people who would not normally watch morning dramas. It became a national boom, riding on the momentum of social networking services, which spread rapidly from that time.

Here is a rare glimpse of a work that is still loved even after 10 years.