Come Come Everybody (2021.12.31)

On November 1st of this year, the NHK morning TV drama series titled "Come Come Everybody" started. And now, I'm hooked on it. This is not just another morning drama, but a special drama for me, so I would like to write about it here.

This is not the first time for me to watch an NHK morning drama series. My mother, who lives with me, likes to watch some morning drama series, so naturally, I have seen some of them with her. Among the ones I have watched, I especially enjoyed "Ama-chan" and "Asa-ga-Kita”. However, I didn't catch every episode of them.

On the other hand, I’ve been watching "Come Come Everybody" without missing a single episode since the very first one. In fact, I had been looking forward to this drama for almost two months before it started, because I had known that “radio English courses” would play an important role in the story.

Looking back, I was 18 years old in 1991 when I first listened to an NHK radio English course. It was thanks to a schoolmate who was a good friend of mine at that time. She was fluent in English, and I thought she was amazing. I wanted to get closer to her English proficiency level, so I started listening to the radio program. The instructor at that time was Mr. Masaaki Osugi. I was fascinated by his easy-to-understand lectures and the exciting content of English conversation, so I continued to listen to his courses for several years. I still remember many English phrases I learned from his lessons. And even now, I listen to another radio English program lectured by another teacher.

Therefore, I knew quite a lot about radio English courses, and I knew how fun they could be. So, I was very curious about how radio English courses could be incorporated into the story. I was eager to see how radio programs could affect characters' lives and behaviors.

After I started watching it, however, I realized that it was not just a story about radio English courses. It was about the stormy life of a pure-hearted girl, who was born in a family running a traditional Japanese sweets shop. (Then, the story follows her daughter’s life and then her granddaughter’s. The whole story spans 100 years.)

Something I'd like to emphasize here is the phenomenal acting skills of the lead character. The heroine, Yasuko, played by Mone Kamishiraishi, felt so real to me, and I was totally absorbed in the world she created with her expressive acting. She is 23 years old in real life, but in the scene where she first appeared, her character was only 14. This was the first time I had ever seen her, and I believed she was really around 14.

One day, she met a nice man, and the man told her about a radio English course. As time went by, she fell in love with him, got married, had a baby, and raised the daughter through a lot of hardships. Her acting expressions as a mother were completely different from those of a young girl. Her performance was brilliant. I sincerely thought she was a wonderful actress.

It was not only the heroine's magnetism that was awesome but also the story itself was pretty unique and entertaining. It tells a lot of dramatic stories in a short time of 15 minutes each time. Although the story develops very quickly and many things are omitted, we can read between the lines and enjoy imagining what has happened. The camera work is interesting and the timing of the theme song and the way the credits were shown were sometimes surprising and unexpected. As far as I know, this is the only TV drama which uses such a distinctive effect of the theme song and credits. I thought this was a revolutionary drama.

In addition to this, there is also a radio program called "Come Come Everybody on the radio" that is linked to this drama. The lecturer of the program is none other than Mr. Masaaki Osugi. What a coincidence! Thirty years have passed since I first heard his radio lectures, and I have never imagined that I would be able to listen to Mr. Osugi's lectures again. Now, through this radio program, I’ve been enjoying learning English using the content of the drama. The synergy with the drama makes me feel like I am in a dream, listening to the program. Of course, I listen to this program without missing a single broadcast.

The drama finished its first third of its story on the 28th of this month, and the story has shifted to the part of Rui, Yasuko's daughter. I was shocked by the tragic ending of Yasuko's part, in which Rui said, “I HATE YOU,” to Yasuko. And Yasuko had gone to the United States leaving Rui in Japan. Yasuko had just wanted “a normal life” with Rui, but the misunderstanding between them caused their estrangement. When I watched this story, I was puzzled and wondered, “Is this a message that life could be so unfortunate? Or is the story going to get happier someday?” There are many people on the Internet who are critical of this sudden and unfortunate closing, but I am still enjoying this drama. This is a show where we really can’t see what's going to happen next at all. And isn't that what our real life is all about? I think the tagline of this drama expresses the message of this drama very well. That is, "I will live my life, even though I can’t see the future."

Now in the year 2021, I am 48 years old, and my mother is 75. Time flies! I am already middle-aged, and she is total elderly. But I am happy that my mother and I are healthy, living “a normal life”, and enjoying such a touching drama together.

I’ve had some difficulties this year, but after all, it was a good year. I hope that the next year will be even better. And I hope that "Come Come Everybody" will have a happy ending, including Yasuko's life.