Amachan
Amachan | |
---|---|
Narrated by | Nobuko Miyamoto Rena Nōnen Kyōko Koizumi |
Composer | Otomo Yoshihide |
Country of origin | Japan |
Original language | Japanese |
No. of episodes | 156 |
Production | |
Producers | Kei Kurube Hiroshi Kashi |
Running time | 15 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | NHK |
Release | April 1 September 28, 2013 | –
Amachan (あまちゃん) is a
Synopsis
Hometown chapter (Episode 1 - Episode 72)
Haruko Amano left the small northern seaside town of Sodegahama 24 years ago and has not returned since. When her childhood friend Daikichi emails her with news that her mother has collapsed, she rushes back with her 16-year-old daughter Aki in tow. It was all a ruse, however: Haruko's mother Natsu is fine.
Sodegahama depends on the
Hiroshi has a secret liking for Aki, and his videos of her, especially after she catches her first sea urchin, make her as big a sensation as Yui. At school, Aki falls in love with Kōichi Taneichi, a third-year student in the underwater engineering course, and decides to enroll as well. She and Haruko experience a shock when Chūbei, Haruko's father whom they thought was dead, suddenly appears in town. Natsu had apparently thought it too much trouble to correct their impression he was dead. Aki's father Masamune also comes to town hoping to get back together with his wife, but Haruko insists on a divorce.
Around that time Aki and Yui learn that Haruko had left Sodegahama originally to become an idol and had failed. This puts pressure on the two girls, on whose shoulders rest the hopes for the Kitasanriku Railroad's survival. But their relationship becomes strained when Aki finds out that Koichi is going out with Yui. They get back together, however, to perform on a special train in support of the railroad. The event is a great success and Yui begins to appear on local television. Haruko makes Aki promise that was her last performance as an idol. Yui then finds out that Mizuguchi, a man from Tokyo seemingly residing in town to mine amber, is really a talent scout. She tries to leave town with him but is stopped by Daikichi and the others. Yui holes up in her room and only emerges when Aki arranged for them to perform again at the Ama Cafe she and the other divers started. Haruko slaps her when she finds out she broke her promise, but Aki then declares she wants to become an idol, too. She only lets her daughter go to Tokyo after hearing how much she admired her mother's singing.
Tokyo chapter
First-half (Episode 73 - Episode 132)
On the day before they are scheduled to go to Tokyo, Yui's father collapses and Aki has to go alone. There she is a member of GMT47, a still incomplete group of idols from Japan's 47 prefectures produced by Taiichi Aramaki, who are currently just the bottom rung in Aramaki's idol empire, relegated to mostly doing backstage work. Aki runs into Koichi, but finds out he has quit his job as a diver. She also encounters Hiromi Suzuka, her favorite actress, who happens to know Aramaki. Through Aramaki's influence, Aki starts working as Suzuka's assistant, on top of her idol training. Meanwhile, Yui's mother runs away from home, sparking Yui to turn into a juvenile delinquent until Haruko stops her. Things are tough for Aki as well when Aramaki announces a general election involving all his idols: those who finish below 40th place will be fired. The six members of GMT47 feels this means the end of their careers until Aki sparks them to begin their own campaign. Their efforts largely succeed, but election day was bad for Aki: she only reached number 40 because another girl quit, and she flubbed her first acting role. Told by both Suzuka and Aramaki that she has no future, she returns to Kitasanriku depressed.
Aki only comes back after Mizuguchi and her Tokyo friends encourage her to continue. Yui too, who's given up on being an idol, prompts her to go. But on the train back, Aki finds a letter from her mother revealing that Aramaki had used Haruko when she had tried to become an idol, making her secretly serve as Harumi Suzuka's singing voice—because Suzuka could not sing—and effectively blocking her career. When Aramaki cancels GMT's debut single, Aki confronts him, asking if it is because she is Haruko's daughter. He says yes, and in front of only her and Mizuguchi, declares he will not let her succeed as an idol in his agency. Fired, Aki phones Haruko pleading to go home, but Haruko, like her mother before her, refuses her request. Instead, Haruko goes to Tokyo. Haruko, Aramaki and Suzuka meet by chance at the sushi restaurant, but it is Suzuka's threat to quit acting if Aki is not re-hired that saves her job. GMT finally get to record their debut single, but when Aramaki heavily manipulates their voices electronically, Haruko gets mad that Aki, like her, will not be able to sing in her own voice. Aki is again fired and Haruko decides to start her own talent agency, "3J". Mizuguchi also quits and becomes Aki's manager. GMT's single becomes a hit when Aramaki puts all his resources behind it, while Aki sees little success at first. But things look up when she finally lands a starring role in a children's program, which leads to a contract with a juku to appear in their ads. The contract stipulates, however, that Aki cannot have a boyfriend for a year — just when Aki and Koichi agree to begin going out. Meanwhile, Aki's fame prompts Yui's mother to seek out Haruko, who arranges for her to return to Sodegahama, even though Yui has a hard time accepting her. Natsu also visits Tokyo, revealing a past in which she herself was kind of an "idol".
To sell his idols, Aramaki decides to produce a remake of Memory of the Rising Tide (Shiosai no Memorī), the film that helped launch Suzuka's career. The eponymous song—really sung by Haruko—was also Suzuka's first hit. Suzuka is to appear in the remake, but it is on her insistence that the lead is to be decided by audition, enabling Aki to apply. With Suzuka's help, Aki passes through one stage of the audition after another. But at one point, Natsu collapses in Sodegahama and Haruko leaves to tend her. Mizuguchi also finds Koichi in Aki's apartment and urges the couple to cool down. In the end, Aramaki, in part feeling guilt over what he did to Haruko, opts for the better actress over his own idol and selects Aki for the starring role. Filming does not always go smoothly, but with Suzuka's help, Aki is able fulfill her role. During recording of the theme song, however, Suzuka finally learns for sure that Haruko had served as her voice in her songs. Haruko, who had returned to Tokyo, Aramaki, and Suzuka are finally able to settle old scores. Suzuka even switches to 3J.
Second-half (Episode 133 - Episode 156)
But only days after the film is released and the day before Aki was going to rejoin GMT in a concert, the
Cast
- Rena Nōnen as Aki Amano, a heroine (also as narrator on Tokyo chapter from episode 73 - episode 132)
- Kyōko Koizumias Haruko Amano, Aki's mother (also as narrator on Tokyo chapter from episode 133 - episode 156)
- Kasumi Arimura as Haruko Amano, age 18
- Nobuko Miyamoto as Natsu Amano, Aki's grandmother (also as narrator from episode 1 - episode 72)
- Toshinori Omi as Masamune Kurokawa, Aki's father
- Ryu Morioka as young Masamune Kurokawa
- Teppei Koike as Hiroshi Adachi, Yui's older brother
- Ai Hashimoto as Yui Adachi, Aki's best friend and Hiroshi's younger sister
- Keizo Kanieas Chūbee Amano, Aki's grandfather
- Eri Watanabe as Yayoi Konno, an ama
- Daikichi Sugawara as Atsushi Konno, her husband
- Hana Kino as Katsue Osanai, an ama
- Denden as Rokurō Osanai, her husband
- Jun Miho as Misuzu Kumagai, an ama
- Hairi Katagiri as Sayuri Anbe, an ama
- Tetta Sugimoto as Daikichi Ōmukai, the station master
- Masahiro Higashide as young Daikichi Ōmukai
- Yoshiyoshi Arakawa as Masayoshi Yoshida, Daikichi's assistant
- Mitsuru Fukikoshi as Tamotsu Sugawara, head of the tourism bureau
- Sei Hiraizumi as Isao Adachi, Hiroshi and Yui's father
- Akiko Yagi as Yoshie Adachi, Hiroshi and Yui's mother
- Sansei Shiomi as Ben Oda, an amber miner
- Ryuhei Matsuda as Takuma Mizuguchi, a talent scout
- Sota Fukushi as Kōichi Taneichi, Aki's senior in high school
- Arata Furuta as Taichi Aramaki, a talent company president
- Magy as Kōsaku Kawashima, Amejo's Chief Manager
- Rika Adachi as Megu Arima, ex-center of Amejo
- Mayu Matsuoka as Shiori Iruma, GMT leader from Saitama
- Ito Ohno as Mana Endō, GMT member from Fukuoka
- Rio Yamashita as Ayumi Miyashita, ex-GMT member from Tokushima
- Honami Kurashita as Ellen-kyan, GMT member from Okinawa
- Mio Yūki as Kaoruko Onodera, GMT member from Miyagi
- Hiroko Yakushimaru as Hiromi Suzuka, an actress
- Pierre Taki as Umezu, a sushi chef
- Suzuki Matsuo as Kai, a café owner
- Inori Minase as Rina Narita
Reception
Amachan was a ratings success, earning an average 20.6% rating over the span of the series, second amongst Asadora only to Umechan Sensei (at 20.7%) in the last decade.[2] Amachan, however, topped Umechan Sensei in NHK satellite TV ratings (5.5% to 4.7%), indicating to some observers that it had reached viewers new to morning dramas, and was watched by more viewers than the ratings show.[3] Some noted how social media became a prominent aspect of the viewership of Amachan.[4] Its success was called a "social phenomenon", as the series gave birth to such popular new phrases as "jejeje" (to indicate surprise).[5] "Jejeje" was selected as one of the four words of the year (ryūkōgo) in 2013.[6] The series was also broadcast in Taiwan, Thailand[7] and the Philippines.[8]
The series was said to bring ¥32.8 billion yen in economic benefits to the stricken Tohoku region.
Awards
Amachan was awarded the Grand Prix for best television program of 2013 at the 51st Galaxy Awards, given out by the Japan Council for Better Television and Radio.[14]
References
- ^ "Nounen Rena cast as heroine for next year's morning drama 'Amachan'". Tokyo Hive. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
- ^ 視聴率じぇじぇじぇ!あまちゃん最終回23・5%. Sanspo (in Japanese). Sankei. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "NHK朝ドラ「あまちゃん」全平均視聴率20.6%は意外?". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ Ōnishi, Hiroshi (19 October 2013). "意外すぎた「あまちゃん」視聴率から考えてみる". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "「あまちゃん」快走のわけ じぇじぇ!…社会現象「アマノミクス」!?". Mainichi Shinbun. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "「じぇじぇじぇ」「倍返し」など 流行語大賞、最多4語に". 47News. Press Net Japan. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
- ^ "Japanese TV drama "Amachan" to be aired in Taiwan, Thailand". Kyodo. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "Japanese hit series 'Amachan' to air in Tagalog on TV5". InterAksyon. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ Mesmer, Philippe (29 October 2013). "Le Japon sous le charme d'"Amachan"". Le Monde. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ 連続テレビ小説「あまちゃん」オリジナル・サウンドトラック (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ あまちゃん 歌のアルバム (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^ 潮騒のメモリー (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ あまちゃん、紅白ジャック!. Supōtsu Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ^ "Dai 51-kai Gyarakushī-shō Jushō Sakuhin". Hōsō Hihyō Kondankai (in Japanese). Japan Council for Better Radio and Television. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
External links
- Amachan at IMDb