The final episode of “Then, You Cook It” (TBS), a drama series starring Kaho (34) and Ryoma Takeuchi (32), was broadcast on December 9, 2012. The average viewer rating was 8.7% for households and 5.2% for individuals (according to Video Research, Kanto region), setting a new program record and marking the end of a successful run. In the first episode, Katsuo was dumped by Kaho, and his growth and development as a man who updates his sense of values became a hot topic of conversation. In the previous week’s ninth episode, he was rejected by Kaho, and his growth and development became the talk of the town. In the previous week’s episode 9, Ayumi was the victim of fraud and Katsuo was suspended from work due to allegations of power harassment, and the two continued to hit rock bottom. In the final episode, the story began with the two getting back together without incident. In the middle part of the episode, Katsuo was showing his usual “annoyance” by saying, “Tell me if you are in trouble,” “I want to support you,” and “I want to help you,” but when he realized that this was an unconscious imposition, the story seemed to be headed for a happy ending. However, in the last 10 minutes of the episode, Ayumi, who has stepped into her dream of opening her own restaurant, expressed her determination, saying, “I want to stand beside myself, not behind someone else. Hearing this, Katsuo chose to part ways with Ayumi and stepped aside to support her. This was met with a series of comments on the Internet from viewers, but many of them accepted it as “sad but understandable” and “this was Ayumi’s story,” making clear the theme of the work, “You should shine as yourself. (Sports paper reporter) Anyway, the actor who gained the most recognition for “Saratsuku” was Takeuchi. There is no doubt that his role as Katsuo, a character with a strong quirk, made him the perfect fit for the role and led to the drama’s success. In fact, Takeuchi’s character was given a “seasoning” that was unique to his role. Katsuo is a man with Showa-era values who believes that “granulated dashi is cut corners” and “a woman’s happiness is in the home,” and his words and actions are often stereotypical and irritating, but Takeuchi is “straightforward,” “innocent,” and “without malice. However, Takeuchi thoroughly adhered to his characterization of the character as “honest,” “innocent,” and “without malice,” and made a character who could have been a “jerk” into a “clumsy man who is hard to hate. Katsuo did not yell, he did not retort, and he carefully built up the “pauses” when he was about to say something and then swallowed, which gradually revealed his inner tenderness and made many viewers want to root for him. (Drama watcher Aokei Ko)
