Some of the recent modeled historical dramas have been criticized for twisting history in an aggressive manner for the sake of popularity. However, modeled dramas can be interesting enough without being reckless. Bakebake” is a good example. The heroine is Toki Matsuno (Akari Takaishi). She is the only daughter of a former samurai living in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. She is modeled on Setsu Koizumi. Toki eventually remarries Irishman Lefkada Heaven (Tommy Bastow). Haven’s model is the writer Koizumi Yakumo. So far, the essence of history has been correctly passed on and no forceful falsification has taken place. Both Toki and Setsu are adopted daughters. Both were born into prestigious samurai families. They have struggled since childhood with debts from their adoptive families, and the same is true of their son-in-law who ran away. Even so, the story is well seasoned because it is a story that attracts viewers. Toki was in Hongo, Tokyo in the 17th, which was 1886. He was there to bring back his son-in-law, Ginjiro (Kanichiro), who had left the Matsuno family because he was fed up with their debts. After walking around for a long time, he arrived at the boarding house where Ginjiro was staying. Toki happily sits down in front of Ginjiro’s room. I’m sorry for coming on such short notice. I’m sorry for coming. I know this is inconvenient for you, but I was wondering if I could see you. He was very pathetic. But the door would not open. Not even a reply. As you know, Toki is not so tough as to give up now. He raised his voice again. “May I see you?” Again, there was no response. Again, there was no response, but I was not discouraged. On the contrary, he was angry. I wonder if I could at least get an answer from you! I’d like to hear your answer at least! Toki was so noisy that the door opened, but it was not Ginjiro but Tomokazu Nishikori (Ryo Yoshizawa), whom he had never met before, who came out from inside. Toki exclaimed in surprise, “What! but he went straight into the room and fell asleep in a blink of an eye. Tomokazu’s voice became stronger as he said, “Hey, don’t fall asleep! but he was snoring. It lasted about four minutes. It was like a comedy. The tragedy of separation from a loved one was wrapped up in laughter. It was the power of Mr. Kimitsuhiko Fujiji, who wrote the script. Mr. Fujiki studied comedy at NSC (Yoshimoto Sogo Geino Gakuin) while a student at Waseda University. After graduating from Waseda University, he learned scriptwriting from Minoru Bessho, who was a major playwright. The basic style of Mr. Fujiki’s work is not a line from Matsuo Basho’s haiku, but rather, “Omoshiro wo yamatte sado shiki” (“It is fun and then it is sad.”). The same was true of his previous works, TV Tokyo’s “By Players” (2017-21) and NHK’s “Kiriko Hitotsubashi’s Crime Diary” (2022).
