Thinking about 'Prison Life' Activities

At the beginning of this week, I heard from a friend.

"I watched the first episode of this drama and it was so interesting, you should watch the rebroadcast! The rebroadcast is on Tuesday late at night!"

Recently, I've become out of touch with "which drama starts on what day and at what time" because I can catch up on shows via TVer and other services even if I don't watch them in real-time, but

it seems that drama is an NHK drama.
(If it's NHK, I can't afford to miss the rebroadcast) I hurriedly set a recording, and

I was able to watch the rebroadcast of the first episode safely, but...

It was surprisingly interesting!

Here is that drama ↓

Kiriko Hitotsubashi's Crime Diary

I will borrow the description of what this drama is about directly from the official NHK page ↓

The protagonist, Kiriko Hitotsubashi (Keiko Matsuzaka), was sinking into the depths of sorrow. Living on a pension and part-time income, life was not easy, and when her only hope, her best friend, passed away due to illness, her days suddenly became empty. If things continue like this, will I die alone? The difficulty of living squeezes Kiriko's heart. At that time, captivated by a statement she saw on TV from an arrestee who said, "I had no regrets in this world. I did it because I wanted to go to prison," Kiriko sets "prison" as her final home. She begins to search for a "way to get arrested without causing trouble for others as much as possible"—.

Keiko Matsuzaka plays the protagonist, Kiriko Hitotsubashi.

She is a beautiful actress, and as for her grandmother roles, is it still fresh in our memory that she played a cheerful and laid-back grandmother in the NHK morning drama "Manpuku"?

But this role... well, it's so realistic.

Since she plays an elderly person who has lost her best friend and is left all alone in the world, I assume the hair and makeup are used to bring out that realism, but it really comes across—that loneliness and the feeling of having no other way. That kind of acting is amazing!

The supporting cast is also luxurious,

Saori Yuki plays the best friend who passed away. Hairi Katagiri plays the haiku class teacher. Masao Kusakari plays the dandy man who attends that haiku class. Tae Kimura plays Masao Kusakari's fiancée.

Phew! Even just up to here, it's quite intense, or rather, full of character and luxurious, but
Takanori Iwata plays the pachinko parlor manager who teaches Kiriko Hitotsubashi "this and that about prison." In my mind, Iwata-san was a prince-like, rich-boy character, so I didn't even realize it was him at first. That's how perfectly he pulled off the vibe of a manager who has been to prison.

My friend recommended it to me saying, "It's an interesting and healing drama~," but

For me, it felt more like it 'made me think' rather than 'being healed'.

I thought about my mother living alone, and wondered how I would live if I lost someone dear to me in my old age, and how lonely that would be.

Right now, I have family and friends.

There are troublesome things, but because someone is nearby, I can do my best for that person.

When I am alone, how will I live?

When I don't have the energy for that, what should I do?

And I have to find a way to live without bothering anyone. If I were in the same position, could I do that?

My heart aches.

But, including that pain, it is an incredibly interesting drama.

Job hunting, marriage hunting, end-of-life planning... there are various 'katsu' (activities) these days, but

'Activities to enter prison', or 'prison hunting', has become a drama.

I highly recommend this drama!!!

(Along the way, haiku appear here and there, so it is also recommended for those who like haiku~)

****************************************

*The original work is 'Kiriko Hitotsubashi (76)'s Crime Diary' by Hika Harada

#TVDramaReview