Takuya Kimura’s Drama “Long Vacation” Got a Whooping 29.6% Rating!

It couldn’t just be “recorded.

The author watched the final episode of the TBS drama “Wife, Elementary School Student” (TBS), which aired until the end of March. I rushed home in time to catch the on-air show. I ran from the station. It had been more than 10 years since I had done such a thing. Nowadays, HDDs have a full recording function, and you can watch the program at a later date through a streaming service.

The reason why I did something like an endangered species was because I wanted to watch “Tsumasho” as soon as possible. It was such an interesting drama.

It was extremely heartwarming, and the spiritual depiction was also very interesting. The final episode could not be watched “at a later time,” and while this action and emotion may be difficult for those in their 20s and early 30s to comprehend, it was a very interesting experience for me, as I was 5 There was a time when this was the norm for the author, who is 0 years old.

I, who spent my late teens and twenties in the 1990s, dated women as much as anyone else, but I seldom asked them out on Monday nights. I think. When I did ask her out, there was a high probability that she would turn me down. Of course, it was the first day of the week and they were not in the mood to go out, but office workers, college girls, and freelancers of this era had reasons to go home early. It was because of “Tsuki 9.

It is not a myth that many women rushed home to watch Fuji Television’s Monday night 9:00 p.m. drama series, known as “Getsu 9. When I said, “Why don’t you just pre-record it on video? They also said, “I want to talk about the drama with my colleagues and friends the next morning. Some hardcore women even said, “I want to watch it while recording it on video and rewatch the recording later. That is how much Tsuki 9 was supported and needed by young people. There may be no doubt that Tsuki 9 changed the lives of the young people of that time. But what exactly was “Tsuki 9”?

For the author, who was born in 1971, Fuji Television’s Monday night 9:00 p.m. program was “Kin-don! The first time I saw it, it was The Imo Kin Kin trio (Kenji Nagae, Ryoichi Yamaguchi, and Koji Nishiyama) gained great popularity on “Kin Don! Good Girl, Bad Girl, Ordinary Girl” and “Good Office Lady, Bad Office Lady, Ordinary Office Lady. The series was followed by “Omake no ko” and “Mild Kin-don” but went into decline and ended at the end of March 1987, with a drama slot starting in April. The program began.

It started with “Announcer Puttun Monogatari” (starring Masateru Kanda, Kayoko Kishimoto, and Masashi Tashiro), which depicted the work and private life of an announcer, followed by “Radio Binbin Monogatari” (starring Toshihiko Tahara and Hironobu Nomura), about a radio salesman’s struggle to sell a new singer, and “Radio Binbin Monogatari” (starring Toshihiko Tahara and Hironobu Nomura), which is set in a record company that is eager to promote a new singer. Gyokaigun ga Go! (starring Tunnels and Atsuko Asano), and “TV Man in the Wilderness” (starring Noriyuki Higashiyama, Yoshiko Sakaguchi, and Hitoshi Ueki), which portrays TV men who are busy planning programs.

In addition, “Teachers’ Binbin Monogatari” by Toshihiko Tahara and Hironobu Nomura, who had gained popularity with “Radio Binbin Monogatari,” became a huge hit, completely establishing the Monday night 9:00 p.m. drama lineup.

Foreshadowed by a series of “industry drama series,” “trendy drama” blossomed. The era was in the midst of a bubble economy, and trendy dramas were a side effect of the bubble economy. The pioneering “trendy drama” was the 1986 TBS drama “7 Men and 7 Women: A Summer’s Tale” (starring Sanma Akashiya and Shinobu Otake). Some people believe that this is the case, but I do not hold that view. This is because I believe that it was born against the backdrop of the style and color of Fuji Television in the midst of the bubble economy.

It was only possible because it was our company.

During the bubble era, Fuji Television was the undisputed champion of the industry, with viewer ratings at an all-time high, and this atmosphere permeated not only the programs, but also the creators and all employees. The author interprets the trendy dramas that were produced as a result of this atmosphere. With this in mind, the first trendy drama was “Kimi no hitomi wo taiho suru! (Starring Takanori Jinnai, Yuko Asano, Hiroshi Mikami / January 4, 1988 – March 2, 1988) (January 1).

The producer was Ryo Ohta (currently Managing Director of Fuji Television Network, Inc.), who later worked on “Tokyo Love Story” and “101 Times Proposal”. This is also his memorable first film as a producer. I once invited Ohta to be a guest on a J-WAVE radio program that I was in charge of. At that time, he roughly described the film as follows.

I wanted to do a detective drama that had never been done before. Even detectives fall in love, go out for fun, and even have in-house romances. There are no detective dramas like that. If it were on another station, the project might not have been approved. I think we were able to do it because we were at that time.

There were only a few interrogation scenes, let alone a flashy gunfight, and the familiar scenes of detective work were not that memorable. I remember that a love story of a detective played by Takanori Jinnai was depicted in the film. I also heard about this surprising episode.

The film was set in Shibuya, so they did a large-scale location shoot on Park Avenue at Christmas. We did it without permission. Because so many people gathered, the actual Shibuya Police Department was extremely angry with us and made us write a thick report.

In other words, the story was light, and the creators were also light. The significance of the start of trendy drama from this point is great. Major trendy dramas since then are as follows.

I want to hug you! (Starring Atsuko Asano, Yuko Asano, Koichi Iwashiro)
Kimi ga Uso ni Shiteita” (starring Hiroshi Mikami, Yumi Aso, Shizuka Kudo / *Shinji Nojima’s first screenplay)
I’m in love with your eyes! (Starring Miho Nakayama, Koyo Maeda, Momoko Kikuchi)
Doukyusei” (starring Naoto Ogata, Narumi Yasuda, Junichi Ishida)
Love each other! (Starring Takanori Jinnai, Kyoko Koizumi, Atsushi Kondo)

Surprisingly, trendy dramas did not end when the bubble burst in the 1990s. On the contrary, they were produced in even greater numbers than during the bubble period.

I Love You More Than Anything in the World! (Starring Atsuko Asano, Hiroshi Mikami, Shizuka Kudo)
Paradise in Love” (starring Yuko Asano, Masahiro Motoki, and Honami Suzuki)
I want to fall in love with you! (Starring Narumi Yasuda, Eisaku Yoshida, Minako Tanaka)
Sutekina Katasoi” (starring Miho Nakayama, Toshiro Yanagiba, Isamu Aihara)

I want to hug you! It could not have been a coincidence that all of them were dramas in the Monday night 9:00 p.m. slot, with the exception of “Paradise in Love” and “Love in Paradise”. This is because popular dramas that could be called social phenomena were soon to be produced in this slot.

Tokyo Love Story” (starring Honami Suzuki, Yuji Oda, and Yami Arimori) (*Average rating: 22.9%, highest rating: 32.9% for the final episode) 3%)
The 101st Proposal” (starring Atsuko Asano, Tetsuya Takeda and Yosuke Eguchi) (The rating was 36.7% for the final episode.)

The popularity of these two films lends credence to the theory that the name “Tsuki 9,” originally reserved for Fuji Television’s programming bureaus, has spread to the general public. At the same time, there is no doubt that the image of “Geki 9 = trendy drama” took root. Even after the collapse of the bubble economy and the term “trendy” became a dead word, Gekkan 9 did not end. In fact, a series of masterpieces that will remain in the history of television were produced one after another. The following three works are indispensable as representative examples.

Bare Faces” (starring Narumi Yasuda, Akina Nakamori, and Koji Matoba) (*Average rating: 26.4%, highest rating: 31.9% for the final episode)
Under One Roof” (starring Yosuke Eguchi, Masaharu Fukuyama, and Noriko Sakai) (*Average rating: 28.4%, highest rating: 3.3% for episode 11) (7.8% = the highest rating for all commercial dramas in the 1990s)
Asunaro Hakusho” (starring Hikari Ishida, Michitaka Tsutsui and Takuya Kimura) (*average rating: 27.0%, highest rating: 31.9% for the final episode)

All three films, which shot to record-high ratings, took a contrasting approach to trendy drama and were full of humanist elements that questioned the nature of family and human relationships. The author also devoured them.

So, which of the Tsuki 9 dramas did you find most engrossing?”

If you ask me that, I will answer without hesitation. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most engrossing drama series I have ever watched, and I am not talking only about the Tsuki 9 series.

The Long Vacation” (starring Takuya Kimura, Tomoko Yamaguchi, and Takako Matsu; average rating: 29.6%; highest rating: 36.7% for the final episode) In.

The drama, which depicted the strange cohabitation of a woman who had run away from her husband and a man who was a pianist with an inferiority complex, was not an exaggeration: office workers and female college students frequently came home early to watch “Lombakke. The disappearance of women from the streets was not entirely mistaken; young men were also hooked, as was the author, who was 24 years old.

To tell a lie, I am still tempted to call Kimutaku by his role name, “Sena”. The dainty Ryoko Hirosue, a newcomer in TV history. And the lilting melody of the theme song “LALALA LOVESONG” …….

At this time, the author, who earned his living by working part-time at a sauna and karaoke box, clearly remembers that the manager of the restaurant was having a hard time keeping up with the shifts. No one wanted to work on Mondays.

As part of the “Lombake Phenomenon,” wide news shows gleefully reported that “the number of women dating younger men is rapidly increasing,” and one couple began living together in a dilapidated apartment on Kaigan 1-chome and, to top it off, they competed to buy a Super Bowl. Was it only in the author’s vicinity that he was seething with a strange fever?

Perhaps, but I don’t think it would have become such a boom if it had been on-air on Thursday or Friday. It was a Monday when there was no entertainment and the mood was gloomy, so viewers wanted to have a fleeting dream by watching Lonbake. The unprecedented boom of “Lonbake” may have made Gekijo 9 a firm fixture in the series. This is because it was followed by a string of hit productions.

Virgin Road” (starring Eimi Wakui, Takashi Sorimachi, and Mai Hosho)
Beach Boys” (starring Takashi Sorimachi, Yutaka Takenouchi, Ryoko Hirosue)
Love Generation” (starring Takuya Kimura, Takako Matsu, Risa Junna)
Yamato Nadeshiko” (starring Nanako Matsushima, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Akiko Yada)
HERO” (starring Takuya Kimura, Takako Matsu, Fumiyo Kohinata)

The author also watched as much as possible, but does not recall being as engrossed as Lombake. Lifestyle changes are not limited to this author, and the subsequent spread of the Internet and cell phones has drastically changed not only Gekkan, but also dramas and, by extension, everything else surrounding TV, but that is not the point of this article.

As April 2022 approaches, a drama series titled “The Testament of My Ex” (starring Haruka Ayase and Yo Oizumi) has been lined up for the Gekkan series. I would like to say that “Tsuki 9 is alive and well,” but what do you think? The only thing that can be said is that when dramas in this time slot are no longer called “Tsuki 9” by the public, they have more than fulfilled their mission.

（End)