A Surprise Appearance by Kaze Fujii in the “Miracle Ending” of “Ichiban Sukina Hana”

Artist Kaze Fujii made a surprise appearance in the final episode of “Ichiban Sukina Hana” (Fuji TV), the most popular drama in the October 2023 season. The scene where he played and talked about the theme song “Hana” had the netizens very excited.

 

Producer Ken Murase and scriptwriter Miku Ikata, who created the drama “silent” that aired in the same Thursday theater in October 2022 and became a social phenomenon, teamed up to produce this drama, starring four actors, Mikako Tabe, Kohei Matsushita, Mio Imada, and Kamio Fūju. The drama is a “Quattro-ism” drama.

The drama has attracted a great deal of attention from the start because of its development, which is reminiscent of the award-winning drama “Quartet” (TBS) that was broadcast in 2017.

“In the last scene, Fujii Kaze made an unexpected appearance. Murase P also commented, “We were able to create a miraculous ending,” and “An idea that came to me on a whim came true.””

“My favorite artists were singing my favorite songs, in my favorite place, with my favorite actors in the background. It was literally like a dream come true.”

The final episode was extended in air time. A surprise scene in which Fujii Kaze appeared was recorded on the day of the broadcast and made it on air in time.

 

However, this final episode was not a miracle. Can we really boast of the “miraculous ending”? 

Indeed, in the last episode, there is a “sumo episode” of Yukue (Tabe), “Murasaki” who married her first love comes to the hair salon where Yoru (Imada) works. Various foreshadowing was recovered, such as Momiha’s (Kamio) “It’s up to each person to decide whether they want to be garbage or not”.

After making too much curry, Tsubaki decides to invite her younger brother Kaede (Sasuke Ichinose) and Yukue’s sister Konomi (Asuka Saito). However, the story is also excellent when Yukue’s male friend Akada (Taga Nakano) and even Tsubaki’s ex-fiancée Junkoi (Asami Usuda) come to the party.

The conversational drama reminiscent of “Quartet” between four people who are not good at forming pairs was fascinating and kept the viewer’s attention until the end of the show.

Still, am I the only one who felt that something was missing?

 

“Before the end of the play, Yozora expresses her feelings for Tsubaki and Momiji expresses her feelings for Yukue, but it becomes clear that they cannot be fulfilled. In other words, the four of them are not a team of two.”

“In the final episode, the four live together until the day they leave “Tsubaki House”. The detailed foreshadowing that is depicted in the final episode is like an epilogue to the entire work,” said a producer from the production company.

The theme of the film, “Can friendship be established between a man and a woman?” is also discussed by Mitori Shiki (Rena Tanaka), a former resident of the “Tsubaki House” who comes back to the house again,

Yukue asks, “Do friendships between men and women exist? Or not?”

Mitori answers, “It doesn’t matter either way.”

The two are easily put to rest, “It’s up to each person, so it doesn’t matter which one you choose.”

Since there is no right answer from the beginning, I am not dissatisfied with this answer. However, for some reason, I can’t help but feel that it seems to me to be in a scheduled harmony.

Take “Quartet,” for example. Four amateur musicians in their 30s who enjoy stringed instruments meet by chance one day in a karaoke box, form the quartet “Donut Hole,” and start living together in Karuizawa.

The edgy conversational drama that unfolds from the very first scene, including the “fried lemon controversy,” is a must-see. Yuji Sakamoto, who wrote the script, said, “A funny group of people live together in Karuizawa,”

Yuji Sakamoto, who wrote the script, said, “It’s hard to make a story about funny people playing musical instruments and living in a villa in Karuizawa on TV nowadays, so I decided to push through with the same fluff.”

The resulting drama was not so “fluffy”

 

“It gradually becomes clear that the meeting of the four is no coincidence. Soon, Maki Maki, played by Takako Matsu, discovers that her husband Mikio (Kankuro Kudo) has disappeared. It is also revealed that she has a painful past, having lived as “Maki” by purchasing her husband’s family register.”

“Furthermore, she is placed on probation for the illegal act of buying her husband’s family register. She is also suspected of murdering her father-in-law, and is lynched by the media. The story unfolds in a way that is far beyond what we could have imagined. It was a work that could be called an “adult love suspense,”” said the director of the production company.

Nevertheless, the other three members believe in her to the end, and the four perform the hall concert that they had longed for. In other words, the drama “Quartet” is full of tricks here and there, with no room for any kind of scheduled harmony, until the grand finale. It is precisely because the drama is a “conversational drama” with this background that every word of dialogue has depth.

What kind of work will be the “next flower” that the two producers, Murase and Ikata, are going to make bloom? We look forward to seeing their next work.