NHK’s TV series “Anpan,” in which Mio Imada (28) plays the main character, will finally reach its final episode on September 26. In “Anpan,” many actors, led by Yumi Kawai (24), who plays the main character’s younger sister, gave excellent performances and are said to have “raised their stock. –[Hereafter, “Anpan” story. Anpan” is inspired by the cartoonist Takashi Yanase and his wife Nobu Komatsu, the creators of the nationally known character “Anpanman. Imada plays the heroine Nobu Asada, modeled after Nobu, and Takumi Kitamura (27) plays the role of Takeshi Yanai, modeled after Yanase. In “Anpan,” a number of top-notch actors who have starred in films and serials have been cast, including Kazuya Ninomiya (42) and Nanako Matsushima (51) of Arashi fame as Takashi’s parents, and Satoshi Tsumabuki (44) as Shinnosuke Yagi, an important character from the middle of the film, who is played by a young man named Shinnosuke Yagi. The young cast was also excellent, including the cute Nanoha Hara (22) as Meiko, Nobu’s younger sister and youngest child, and the mischievous Fumiya Takahashi (24) as Kentaro Karashima, Bulk’s best friend. Kawai, in particular, gave a terrific performance that was said to be “star-eating,” and once again, her stock has risen. Kawai’s appearance in “Anpan” was the first time she played the role of Nobu’s younger sister, Ranko, in the hit “Inappropriate! (TBS, Jan. 2024), but her recognition skyrocketed due to the “Futeki” effect, and many viewers paid attention to Kawai from the beginning of the story. In the first half of the story, Ms. Kawai portrayed a tragic love affair with Gou Hara (Kaota Hosoda/23), a young man she had known like family, and in the second half, her romance with Yagi (Tsumabuki), both of which were a big hit. Ranko was in love with Gou and promised to marry him on the eve of his departure for war, but Gou was killed in battle two years later. At his funeral, the people around her praised him as a “heroic spirit.” Ranko, however, asked what was honorable about dying in battle after having promised to marry him. That’s a lie! It’s all a lie! The scene in which Ranko explodes with emotion, “It was the Yumi Kawai Theater. After the war, Ranko meets and is attracted to Yagi, who has similar values to her own and who also lost a loved one in the war. Many scenes, such as the scene where they touch each other’s hands on a rainy day while trying to hand over an umbrella, were also talked about as “feeling like watching a daytime drama instead of a morning drama. On the lifestyle information program “Asa Ichi,” which has become a staple for its viewers to “catch the morning drama” immediately after the drama ends, the MC, Hanamaru (55) of Hakata Hanamaru and Daikichi, was particularly smitten with Ranko, and in the September 25 broadcast, he said, “Before Ranko leaves for overseas, Yagi proposes to her, but she doesn’t smile. In the September 25 episode, Yagi proposes to Ranko before she leaves for overseas, but she leaves with a smile on her face. Her face (expression) is the reply,” he enthused. Hanamaru-san was completely devoted to Kawai’s Ranko, and was often taken aback by Daikichi-san’s lack of a proper “morning drama response. She had already become a big seller after her breakthrough role in “Futeboku,” but her success in “Anpan” has made her a household name. In addition to Mr. Kawai, there are many other actors whose stock has risen dramatically with their appearances in “Anpan. A representative example is probably Motoki Nakazawa (25), who played Chihiro, the younger brother of Bulk.
