The unexpected dinner was met with a series of “cruel” and “horrifying” responses, a tragedy not seen since the problematic morning drama.

　NHK’s television series “Bakebake” starring Akari Takaishi aired its fourth episode on the 2nd, and already the heroine Toki (currently played by Miharu Fukuchi in her childhood) is being tossed about by the waves of the times. Toki searches for her father Tsukinosuke (Takashi Okabe), who has suddenly disappeared, and encounters the scene where he attempts to commit suicide by entering the water. He desperately tries to bring him back, but learns that the reason for his disappearance is the collapse of the “rabbit business” that had temporarily enriched the family. Toki’s mother Fumi (Chizuru Ikewaki) calls Toki to dinner, saying, “Shimeko soup tonight. Toki is pleased to hear that the soup is delicious, but her grandfather Kanemon (Fumiyo Kohinata) questions what “shimeko” is. As Fumi and Tsukiyosuke are at a loss for an answer, Toki senses this and opens the closet in the other room, only to find that the basket that holds the rabbits for the business is empty. The cage that held the rabbits for the business was empty, and “Usaemon,” the beloved rabbit, was gone. Shimeko’s true identity is a rabbit. The ibis had become poor due to business failure, and the rabbits, whose prices had plummeted, were offered for food. Toki cried. The drama is modeled on Lafcadio Hearn, aka Koizumi Yakumo, a writer known for his ghost stories, and his wife Koizumi Setsu. The men of the Matsuno family, where Toki was born in the likeness of Setsu, are pretentious warriors and unable to adapt to the Meiji era. When the unemployed Tsukinosuke finally starts a business, success is fleeting. On X (formerly Twitter), viewers posted “Uusagi…,” “I can’t get it out of my head,” “Usaemon’s shock,” “cruel,” “horrifying,” and many others revealing their shock. One example of a morning drama in which the heroine’s family’s beloved animal made it to the dinner table was in the first semester of FY2022’s “Chimu Dodon. When Nobuko’s family, played by Yuna Kuroshima, invited guests for dinner, a local Okinawan dish of raftage, which they served, used a pig they loved and called “ababa”. Nobuko’s older brother Kenshu was shocked, but his father reminded him that the pig would eventually be used as meat, and he became aware of the importance of taking life. X pointed out that “Shimeko soup…reminded me of the pigs in Chimundo” and “I remembered the episode where the family ate the pigs raised by Ni Ni (Kenshu). The morning drama was also spotlighted as a problematic work, with viewers complaining about its “opportunistic” content, and “reflection meetings” on the Internet becoming a topic of conversation.