The Common Thread Between *Until the T-Shirt Dries*, a Story About Searching for a “New Family,” and the Golden Drama Masterpiece *The Album on the Shore*

A New Kind of Family

The Friday drama “Until the T-Shirt Dries” (TBS) was the most talked-about series of this summer’s lineup.This series is an entirely original story by Miku Ikata, who previously worked on “silent” and “My Favorite Flower” (both on Fuji TV). It was directed by Hiroyasu Doi, known for the drama “Quartet” (TBS) and the film “A Love Like a Bouquet of Flowers.”

With each episode, the average household viewership rating has continued to rise. It has also set a new all-time record for the number of free streaming views in TBS’s Friday drama time slot.

On September 11, the story of “love and secrets”—which began with the loss suffered by two couples involved in a bus accident—reached its finale, and social media continues to be flooded with mixed reactions to the decision made by Sakiko (Yu Aoi) and Mitsuru (Kenichi Matsuyama).However, the impact of this series extends far beyond that.

“This series—marking the first collaboration between three industry heavyweights: lead actress Yu Aoi, screenwriter Miku Ikata, and director Hiroyasu Doi—had been garnering attention even before it aired.Once it actually began, it defied existing genres like drama, suspense, mystery, or romantic comedy. It masterfully pioneered a new genre that combines various elements and captivated audiences. The future of the drama world may come to be categorized as ‘before T-Inui’ and ‘after T-Inui,’” said a producer from the production company.

There’s Mitsuru, a husband with a desire to escape and a tendency to go missing, and Sakiko, who—seeking “family” beyond her estranged mother—had gone through four marriages and divorces.After discovering each other’s secrets, the two—even though they aren’t legally related and don’t live together—choose to let go of the traditional “form of family” in order to build a relationship where they feel comfortable and maintain just the right distance.

Now that I’ve watched all the episodes, I realize that *Until the T-Shirt Dries* was a drama that explored what a “new kind of family”—unbound by blood ties or marriage—should look like.

Witnessing the thrilling twists and turns of this series, I couldn’t help but recall the “pinnacle of Friday dramas” that aired in the same time slot 50 years ago. Am I the only one who was reminded of *The Album on the Shore*—the masterpiece by screenwriter Taichi Yamada, winner of the 15th Galaxy Award?

Kaoru Yachigusa’s affair

Accompanied by the theme song “Will You Dance”—a languid and melancholic track sung by Janis Ian—the drama opens with shocking footage of the Tama River’s levee collapsing. It follows a married couple harboring secrets and the anguish their children endure, which eventually comes to light and leads to the family’s collapse.

It’s fair to say that *The Album on the Shore* was a groundbreaking work that overturned the conventions of family dramas at the time.

“Above all, the secrets harbored by the family were so extreme that they would have been unthinkable in a television drama of that era.The husband, Kensaku (Naoki Sugiura), a trading company employee, was bringing in women from Southeast Asia to work as sex workers, while his wife, Noriko (Kaoru Yachigusa), was having an affair with a stranger, Tetsu (Muga Takewaki). Furthermore, their eldest daughter, Ritsuko (Yoshiko Nakata), was raped by a white exchange student.

Shigeru (Tomiyuki Kunihiro), the younger brother who is preparing for university entrance exams and comes to learn of these secrets, spills the truth in front of the family and walks out of the house. Above all, the sight of Kaoru Yachigusa—who epitomized chastity—engaged in an affair is still mesmerizing to watch even today.“There was no other drama in the prime-time slot of that era that was this shocking,” said the producer mentioned earlier.

Postwar Japan’s prosperity casts a shadow over each member of this family, who, at first glance, appear peaceful. Eventually, the “home”—once a symbol of the family’s happiness—is swept away following the breaching of the Tama River. Witnessing this scene firsthand, the family attempts to reconnect. I was also captivated by this story of family renewal.

“At the time, producer Atsutaka Horikawa, who selected ‘Will You Dance’ as the theme song,‘I struggled to find the right words to describe the format of this drama—how to explain it to reporters, actors, and staff,’ he recalls. Its innovative spirit and lofty aspirations, which went against the grain of the era’s heyday of lighthearted, cheerful family dramas, are points of similarity with *Until the T-Shirt Dries*, aren’t they?” (Director, Production Company)

*Album by the Shore* makes us rethink the meaning of family after losing their “home” due to the Tama River bursting its banks. *Until the T-Shirt Dries* makes us reconsider “what a family should be” when a washing machine filter breaks.

Expectations are only growing for the new drama from the cast and crew of *Until the T-Shirt Dries*, which has made me want to watch *The Album on the Shore* all over again.