The first episode of NHK’s television series “Bakebake,” starring actor Akari Takaishi (22), was broadcast on September 29. The story is based on the model of Setsu Koizumi, the wife of Yakumo Koizumi (Patrick Lafcadio Hearn), a Meiji-era novelist who sublimated Japanese folk tales into a literary work called “ghost stories” and spread them throughout the world. The story is based on Setsu Koizumi, the wife of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, a novelist of the Meiji era who transformed Japanese folktales into literary works called “ghost stories” and spread them throughout the world. Takaishi plays the heroine Toki Matsuno, and Tommy Bastow (34) plays Lefkada Haven, whose model was Yakumo. The previous morning drama “Anpan” (~September 24), starring Mio Imada (28), ended with great popularity, and many viewers had high expectations for the next drama, “Bakebake,” but it seems that “the same as the previous one” was unexpectedly criticized by a number of viewers However, a number of viewers seemed to be annoyed by the “same” unexpected aspects as in the previous episode. In the first episode, Toki (Takaishi) tells her husband Heaven (Tommy Bastow) a ghost story called “Hoichi the Earless” at night. There is also a scene in which Heaven kisses Toki on the forehead, depicting the couple’s friendly relationship before entering the opening scene. From there, the main character’s childhood (Miharu Fukuchi/10) was depicted – and so on. Although the story has only just begun, it was the content of the opening image that caused viewers to be disturbed.” (Women’s magazine editor) The opening image of “Bakebake” shows Toki and Heaven in a relaxed, friendly mood with the theme song “Laugh or Fall” by the husband-and-wife folk duo Humbert Humbert in the background. The “couple photo” is shown on the left side of the screen, and the credits of the cast and crew are shown on the right side of the screen. Unlike conventional morning dramas, no images are used, but only still pictures. Some people said that this novel opening for a morning drama was both innovative and lazy, but there were many positive comments, partly due to the quality of the photographs. I was surprised at the simple composition of only switching between photos, but the softness of the atmosphere and the warmth of the music slowly made me cry. According to the official explanation, the reason for using still images for the opening was to “give the viewer room for imagination. The photographer is the same as for the poster visual, popular photographer Kotori Kawashima, winner of the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for Photography, among others. However, while there were many positive comments about the couple’s photo, there was a flood of criticism about the cast and crew credits.
