Drama Production Professionals Analyze the Future of the Morning Drama “Omusubi” “The Osaka Bureau’s ‘Sticky Production’ Has Turned Out Badly

Compared to “Wings to the Tiger,” I was…

Compared to “Tora ni Tsubasa,” I am surprised at the difference between “Omusubi” and “Tora ni Tsubasa,” said Toshihiko Tabuchi, Professor of Arts and Sciences at J. F. Oberlin University and former TV Tokyo Drama Pro ducer. What is the cause of the bad reputation of the morning drama “Omusubi”?　Can we expect it to recover in the future?　He will be analyzing the subject saying, “I’m sure it will be quite dry, but it’s a subject I would love to write about.”

I’m not feeling it. ……

Omusubi” (NHK Sogo), the 111th “serial TV novel” or “morning drama” as it is affectionately called, is currently on air.

This work is a “Heisei Seishun Graffiti” in which the heroine, born in the first year of the Heisei Era, connects people’s hearts and futures as a nutritionist (from NHK’s official website). The main character, Yoneda Yui, is played by Hashimoto Kanna. In the fourth week’s episode “Uchi to Sis,” the conflict between Yui and her older sister Ayumi, who was known as the “legendary gal,” was depicted, and in the fifth week’s episode “That Day,” which is currently airing, the events nine years ago (the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake) that caused that conflict are revealed.

However, despite the fact that it deals with a subject that is important to us Japanese, unfortunately, I don’t get the feeling.

Why is that?

One reason, to be honest, is largely due to Hashimoto’s acting expression. Hashimoto has an image of “comedy” and “cheerful”. I am not the only one who feels a gap between that image and the crying and broken-down appearance. It is too much to ask Hashimoto to bear the burden of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

NHK’s devious scheme is also apparent in the sudden and forced inclusion of a “social issue” in the drama.

What is the “dramaturgy” of morning dramas?

There is something I would like to confirm here. In NHK’s drama productions, morning dramas play a major role along with the Taiga drama series. I analyze that there are three main reasons for this.

• 1_ To provide a refreshing morning
• 2＿Give courage and hope
• 3_Give people a sense of security.

In order to accomplish these roles, the production and development of the film tends to follow a pattern. Of course, the main characters are always different, but they are usually cheerful and full of youth and vitality.

They also have “dedication” and “energy” to face their destiny. The protagonist’s character cannot be removed from this line of thinking. Even though the storyline may have setbacks and almost give up at times, the protagonist eventually overcomes these difficulties. This is because “exhilaration” is essential in the morning time zone. The production team has been plagued by this dramaturgy of morning dramas.

Also, in the beginning, the pattern was for men and women to alternate as the main characters, but in recent years, there have been many female protagonists. This is because NHK is conscious of the “empowerment” of women. In the midst of the growing call for gender equality, NHK cannot afford not to play a leading role in this regard.

In order for the female protagonist to overcome various difficulties and achieve her goals, she must be portrayed as somewhat dangerous. At such times, the role of those around her who give advice to the protagonist becomes important. These are the parents, family members, childhood friends, partners, and other figures who ensure a “sense of security. This is the reason why morning dramas are styled as home dramas, focusing on the protagonist’s life and the family and household that surround him or her.

What can we derive from the above “morning dramaturgy” and its characteristics?

How to bring out the “color” of each semi-annual season is the key to success.

The answer is that while following a pattern that tends to fall into stereotypes, the key to success will be how to create the “color” of each half-year season.

Morning dramas are produced by Tokyo NHK in the first half of the year (called the “A system”) and by Osaka NHK in the second half (called the “B system” in contrast to the “A system”).

Naturally, there is a sense of awareness of each other and a competitive spirit that tries to show the differences between the two. However, the “truggy” aspect of the morning drama cannot be removed. The only way to make a drama different and show its individuality is to devise a “theme” and a “main character”.

In these two respects, “Omusubi” is undeniably lacking. Compared to “Tora ni Tsubasa,” in which these points were clarified, “Omusubi” is a far cry from “Tora ni Tsubasa. This may have contributed to the ratings and the unpopularity of the film on the Internet.

The so-called “Osaka style” of “solid production” has been a bad thing…

There is also a discrepancy between the historical setting and the viewers.

Many of the morning dramas depict the turbulent period from “Meiji to Showa” or “prewar to postwar,” and more than 60% of the 111 productions fall into this period. However, “Omusubi” is set in the Heisei period (Heisei era) and is an original work without an original story.

Takashi Usagawa, the production supervisor, explains the reason for this: “We wanted to try something different as a possibility for morning dramas. Indeed, “Ranman,” “Boogie Woogie,” and “Tiger with Wings,” the previous three works, all have models, and are “period pieces” that are different from contemporary ones. Although he may have wanted to be “unexpected” and unique in this way, it seems that he was a little far from what the viewers were looking for.

This divergence in what viewers wanted can also be glimpsed in the production. Many of my friends around me were a little surprised when Yui, the main character, jumped into the sea for a crying boy who had lost his hat and muttered to herself, “Am I a heroine in a morning drama? and then she mumbled to herself, “Am I a heroine of an morning drama? It is possible that this kind of “Osaka-style” “goofy” production went badly wrong. This is all due to the competitive scheme of “A system ⇔ B system.

Osaka Production” with Many Challenges and Adventures

As mentioned above, the Osaka Bureau, which is under the “B” system, often takes on various challenges and adventures in its productions.

In the 69th production of “Teruteru Kazoku,” the lines were suddenly sung in a musical style. The 91st “Massan” was the first morning drama ever to feature a foreign actor (Charlotte Kate Fox) as the heroine, and the 99th “Manpuku” was the first morning drama ever to feature a “mama-san heroine” (Sakura Ando). The 105th “Come Come Everybody” featured the oldest heroine (Eri Fukatsu), and the attempt to have three different heroines in each period was also a first in the history of morning dramas.

In this way, the Osaka bureau was eager to create a topic of conversation. The reality is that the Osaka bureaus are aware of the Tokyo bureaus, which are under the “A” system, and they have no choice but to view them as rivals. This inevitably results in a lot of hit-and-miss results.

Since many commentators have already pointed out the contents of the program on their websites, I will now analyze the morning drama from a slightly different perspective for the benefit of readers who have taken the trouble to read this article, thereby highlighting the merits and demerits of the “A system versus B system” structure and the characteristics of “Omusubi” in this case.

In particular, I will focus on the “main character image,” one of the two aforementioned points, and compare the past 10 years.

Of the 20 dramas over the past 10 years, half (10) are based on real people, but 7 of them are based on the Osaka Bureau’s “B” system. Moreover, this has been the case for six consecutive years, from ’15 (the 93rd film) to ’20 (the 103rd film).

Tokyo productions have a “fluffy” image of women, while Osaka productions have a strong “women’s empowerment” image.

Next, we can identify the “main characters.” In the A series, in order of broadcast order, there were a pastry chef, magazine editor, migrant worker, disabled woman, female animator, writer and his wife, weather forecaster, woman who dreams of Okinawan cuisine, botanist, and judge, while in the B series, also in broadcast order, there were a female entrepreneur, founder of a children’s clothing manufacturer, yoseban proprietor, and cup noodles maker, A female entrepreneur, the founder of a children’s clothing manufacturer, a yose owner, a woman who develops cup noodles, a female potter, an actress, a mother-daughter-granddaughter triplet who lived with a radio English class, jazz, and period drama, an entrepreneur of a local factory, a singer, and a nutritionist” in the same broadcast order.

Analyzing this trend, one gets the impression that the “A” category is generally filled with “fluffy” female figures. It can be read from this that the filmmakers are trying to create a protagonist that is more thematic than one with a strong personality, so that social themes such as “the disabled,” “migrant workers,” “the Okinawa problem,” and “the Constitution” can be incorporated into the film.

In comparison, the B system has many occupations related to livelihood and business, such as “entrepreneurship,” “founding,” “development,” and “invention. In addition, the image of “female empowerment” is stronger than that of the “A” lineup. These trends suggest that, in addition to the regional characteristics of the Kanto and Kansai regions, each of the two systems differentiates itself by having “A system = theme rather than protagonist image” and “B system = protagonist image rather than theme,” so that each system can be distinctive.

The B system of the Osaka bureau is inevitably conscious of the A system of the first half of the fiscal year.

In this sense, it is like the “second attack” of the “first attack, second attack,” so it will either go for the “backside” of the A system or differentiate itself by being the first “morning drama” to be broadcast on a topical basis, as mentioned above.

In this light, since the previous “Tora ni Tsubasa” dealt head-on with themes that Japan must face in the international community, such as basic human rights and equality in the Constitution, it would be better to go for a slightly “looser” style, a kind of “refreshing break” in the back of the drama. It is a legitimate strategy to have a lineup of works that are a little “loose” and provide a kind of “refreshment” for the audience.

This is why the main character of “Omusubi” has been criticized by some people on the Internet for not having a strong character. In addition, since the 108th, 109th, and 110th productions were modeled after real people for three consecutive productions, the creators were probably eager to compete with an original character in this area.

Finally, as for the question of whether the drama will be able to make a comeback in the future, I believe that it will face a tough battle this time because it is a “plain line,” so to speak, without the “first in the history of morning dramas,” a trick that the B system is known for. However, looking at it the other way around, if “Omusubi” can be transformed into a drama that will become a social phenomenon, it would be a “first ever accomplishment in the history of morning dramas”.