アオイとキクチ。currently outside the Japan top 100
＃２７「連ドラの話と感想」
Aoi Yu (葵優) and Kikuchi Akiko (菊池晃子) look back on the finale of Aoi's lead drama—broadcast on Saturdays and also streaming on Netflix the following day—and discuss how Mitsuru's sudden disappearance from his family rattled viewers' ideas about marriage and family. The episode also introduces co-star Matsuyama Ken'ichi's (松山ケンイチ) episode-by-episode SNS account-name stunt before the conversation turns to the importance of knowing what not to say. For Aoi, the role marked her first serial-drama lead in 18 years, and she shares behind-the-scenes details about balancing the shoot with parenting.
What this episode answers
What background did the drama portray as the reason Mitsuru left his family?
The finale revealed the reason was not an affair but the environment Mitsuru was raised in and his innate traits and disposition.
What kinds of real conversations did the drama spark among viewers and their own couples and families?
The drama triggered candid exchanges between couples—a friend's husband admitted in front of his wife that he sometimes wants to run away too, and his wife coolly replied 'that's the second time'—and Kikuchi herself ended up asking her own husband why he never runs away.
What unique SNS initiative did co-star Matsuyama Ken'ichi carry out?
Matsuyama changed his SNS account name immediately after each episode aired, running a staff-participation contest in the green room just outside the studio where the winning submitter received a drink worth up to 100 yen.
What working conditions did Aoi Yu put in place for her first serial-drama lead role in 18 years?
Aoi negotiated two days off per week and permission to arrive on set only after her children finished school; by contrast, her previous lead role 18 years ago involved break times as short as three minutes, and she says she can barely remember that shoot despite being the lead.
What was said about the importance of what you choose not to say on SNS?
Aoi argued that SNS is not a place to say whatever you want, and that what you choose not to say shapes your character just as much as what you do say; if you need to vent, a private locked account is more appropriate.
Drama Content and Viewer Theories
Recorded right after the finale of Aoi Yu's lead drama—broadcast on Saturdays and streaming on Netflix the following day—this episode has Kikuchi Akiko sharing her reactions alongside Aoi. The story opens with a man named Mitsuru suddenly walking out on his family, and the question of why he vanished drives the first half of the series. Many viewers had theorized that Kaho-chan and Azusa shared some hidden connection and that a reason deeper than an affair would eventually come to light; the finale, however, traced Mitsuru's behavior back to the environment he grew up in and his innate traits and disposition. Kikuchi recounts how a friend's husband abruptly turned to her and asked which side she was on—and then, right in front of his wife and child, admitted he himself sometimes wants to run away. His wife responded without missing a beat: "That's the second time."
The "Anchor" and Miyazaki Goro's Words
The drama's depiction of family as something that steadies you—a "weight" that keeps you from drifting—leads Kikuchi to recall a conversation she once had with Miyazaki Goro (宮崎五郎) of Studio Ghibli. Goro described himself as someone who, once absorbed in work or deep thought, tends to float somewhere far away; having a family, he said, drops an anchor that barely brings him back. "That weight is precisely what lets you swim out," he told her—a feeling that resonates with the suffocating sense of being held that Mitsuru carries in the drama. Aoi shared how she interpreted the character on set: while some might argue that a person with that kind of disposition simply should not get married, she felt it was wrong to dismiss Mitsuru's choice—his belief that with this particular person he could become someone different.
An 18-Year Gap: Leading a Serial Drama Again
This drama marks Aoi Yu's first serial-drama lead role in 18 years. She looks back on her previous stint: she was single at the time, the concept of work-life reform did not yet exist, quick-change scenes in kimono left her with break times of only three minutes, and the schedule was so relentless that she says she "barely remembers it despite being the lead." This time she accepted the offer on the condition that she could balance it with parenting—two days off per week, and the ability to arrive on set only after her children finished school. The staff agreed. During filming she was even able to take her daughter out into town on occasion, and while on location she was approached by a woman in her seventies who demanded to know why Mitsuru had come back after a year. That real-time passion from viewers was something she experienced firsthand throughout the shoot. Responses also arrived from friends in Taiwan and elsewhere abroad, reinforcing for Aoi the drama's universal resonance across cultures and borders.
Matsuyama Ken'ichi's SNS Creativity
Co-star Matsuyama Ken'ichi devised a running gag: immediately after each episode aired, he changed his SNS account name. He posted a sheet of paper in the green room just outside the studio inviting everyone on staff to submit ideas, with the rule that whoever's suggestion was chosen would be treated to a drink worth up to 100 yen. Aoi herself had two proposals accepted—one of them "Kitakuyama Ken'ichi" (北久山健一). In one episode, the name he switched to right after broadcast accidentally gave away plot details, so he quickly pivoted to "Pizza-yama Ken'ichi" (ピッツァ山健一) as an impromptu fix. Aoi praised the whole initiative as "building a bridge between the show and the people watching it" and highlighted his instruction to submit only "the most refined, polite suggestions possible" as a model of SNS used in a genuinely positive way.
The Importance of What You Don't Say
Reflecting on what the drama stirred up about social media, Aoi argues that SNS is not a platform for saying whatever you feel like. Just as the drama showed how the quiet understanding between Mitsuru and his wife—"you don't have to lie, but you don't have to say what you don't want to say"—gradually breaks down, couples and families are prone to losing their filters with each other too. If you need to let something out, she suggests a private, locked account may be more appropriate. The episode arrives at a clear conclusion: it is not just what you say, but what you choose not to say, that makes up who you are.
Takeaways
- Mitsuru's disappearance in the drama gave viewers and their partners a prompt to surface buried truths about wanting to escape family life.
- Matsuyama Ken'ichi's post-air account-name-change campaign—run as a staff-and-fan participation event with 100-yen drink prizes—was held up as a model of positive SNS engagement.
- "What you choose not to say shapes your character just as much as what you say" emerged as the episode's central takeaway on responsible use of social media.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.