Watching TV, I was affirmed with a 'You're okay just as you are!'

The hopes and despairs of a 26-year-old

This is a monologue by the protagonist, Fumi, played by Eri Fukatsu, in the 1999 drama 'Kanojo-tachi no Jidai' (Fuji TV). It is an ensemble drama centered on 26-year-old Fumi and her friends of the same age, Chizu (Miki Mizuno) and Tsuguko (Shinobu Nakayama), and it is a drama that feels like the 'origin' for me, a fan of ensemble dramas. I started watching it because I liked Fukatsu-chan, and their struggles pierced me deeply.
At the time, I was a 21-year-old university student. I had no particular dreams or prospects for the future; all I had was a vague sense of anxiety. I truly didn't know which way was forward. The three of them showed me the worries of a future just a little bit ahead of me.
At 26, you've been a working adult for four or five years since graduating from university. When you first start working, you're so busy learning the ropes that you don't have time to worry. But once you learn the job and get used to it to some extent, you have the leeway to worry about whether this is really okay, or if there might be a job better suited for you. That's partly why the protagonist starts attending a culture school. That's where she meets her two friends.
Come to think of it, I became a writer because I started writing a blog while working as a regular company employee, and I started that blog when I was exactly 26 or 27. What I wrote earlier about not having a dream was half a lie; the truth is that I originally wanted to be a magazine editor but gave up on it. Starting a blog was a substitute for that dream.

The script for 'Kanojo-tachi no Jidai' was written by Yoshikazu Okada. The director once said it was like being challenged to 'try filming a drama with such a plain script,' as almost no major dramatic events occur. In that context, there is a scene that left a deep impression on me.
In episode 7, the three of them talk until late at night and fall asleep. When they wake up in the morning, they suddenly decide to go to the sea and head there by car, but they take a wrong turn and never reach the sea. When they are at a loss, they find a small hill. They get out of the car, climb the hill, and can see the sea just a little bit from there. The three of them shout toward the sea.
“Sea! Why are you so far away!”
The fact that the sea looks far away is both hope and despair. It is depicted as simply existing as both, and it is a scene I love very much.

“You’re okay just as you are!”

Four years after 'Kanojo-tachi no Jidai' aired, a drama called 'Suika' (Watermelon) was broadcast on Nippon TV.
It was produced by Hidehiro Kono, who later teamed up with Yoshikazu Okada to create masterpieces, and written by Izumi Kizara. The 34-year-old protagonist, Motoko Hayakawa (Satomi Kobayashi), lived an ordinary life as a credit union employee, but her few peers, Baba-chan (Kyoko Koizumi), embezzled 300 million yen and fled. That incident led the protagonist to move into a boarding house called 'Happiness Sancha,' and the drama depicts her daily life with the people living there, such as the erotic manga artist Kizuna (Rie Tomosaka), university professor Natsuko Sakiya (Ruriko Asaoka), and the landlady's college student Yuka (Mikako Ichikawa).
Although there is no connection between the works, I felt somewhere that I was watching the eight years later version of 'Kanojo-tachi no Jidai.'
A major difference is the presence of the professor, who is the elder. She affirms the protagonists with words that are both strict and kind. For example, words like these.

When she said “You’re okay just as you are!” to the characters, I felt like I was being affirmed as a whole, and tears naturally welled up in my eyes.

Knowing things properly

Kyoichi (Takatoshi Kaneko), who works part-time at a convenience store, writes a fan letter to the erotic manga artist Kizuna, whom he met at Happiness Sancha. He confesses that he knew the magazine containing Kizuna's manga was on the convenience store shelf but had never read it, and writes the following.

TV is often said to be boring. As someone who identifies as a 'TV kid,' I honestly think most TV programs are boring. But isn't that just looking at the surface and thinking you understand it?
Whether it's manga, novels, or movies, most entertainment is something you actively go to see because you're interested in it, so it's natural that there's a high possibility you'll find it interesting in a sense. However, for some reason, TV is often judged as boring by watching what flows by passively. Neither 'Kanojo-tachi no Jidai' nor 'Suika' had high viewership ratings. However, there are still many fans who pass them on. If you search actively, there must be programs that will resonate with you.
It was two years after 'Suika' ended that I started the blog 'Terebi no Sukima' (TV Gap), where I write about my 'likes' on TV with that thought in mind. At the time, on the internet, except for fan blogs of specific talents, writing about TV meant writing critical things, so my blog, which was not like that, stood out a bit, and I was lucky enough to get work as a writer. I felt affirmed that it was okay to stay a TV lover, with a 'You're okay just as you are!'

Plum seed

Eventually, Baba-chan, who embezzled 300 million yen and continues to live as a fugitive, reunites with the protagonist. There, Baba-chan says.
“When I went to Hayakawa's boarding house, I saw a plum seed and cried.”
That must be the daily life worth loving.
The final episode of 'Kanojo-tachi no Jidai' also closes with a monologue by the protagonist about 'daily life'.

I was saved by such TV dramas. That's why I can't abandon a life where TV is part of my daily life. Even now, I don't know if I'm facing forward or backward.

For other works in the "#FavoriteProgram" series and details on the SkyPerfectTV! x note collaboration feature, please visit here.