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earth_colorsPrevious was Part 2 HERE.
Finally here is Part 3, last part, hopefully. :D
Enjoy...
More pop cultural references and inside jokes! Here's more of "Amachan" paying homage to other shows...
Finally here is Part 3, last part, hopefully. :D
Enjoy...
More pop cultural references and inside jokes! Here's more of "Amachan" paying homage to other shows...
1. Mugen Danshi (Infinite Boys). If you were wondering who the male Idols were on Kurihara-chan's uchiwas, they're the fictional boy band, Mugen Danshi from the NHK variety drama, "Shukujo". Mugen Danshi (official website) is composed of Poseidon (Motohiro Ota), Panther (Gong Teyu), and Dragon (Lee Te-Gang).
2. "Made by Takumi." If you noticed, the electrical appliances ("Plasma TV" in Ep. 92 and air humidifier in Ep. 135) were made by a company called "Takumi". Apparently, the company in the NHK 2-part drama, "Made in Japan" is called "Takumi Electric."
3. The empty envelope. In Ep. 144, Mizuguchi handed Haruko a resignation letter without any contents (above right pic). This is said to be an inside joke about a booboo committed in the 2007 NHK drama Hagetaka. In Ep. 3 of "Hagetaka", Shibata Kyohei's character handed a resignation letter to his superior. In the scene, the sun is streaming from behind, and so the viewers could see through the empty envelope (above left pic). It was mentioned in the internet the next day and so NHK took noticed. In reruns of the drama, and in the DVD copies later on, the "letter" can finally be seen, having been fixed with the use of CGI. Incidentally, Hagetaka also stars Matsuda Ryuhei, and had the same director and producer from Amachan.
6. "Find It and Break It". The Japanese title of Aki's educational TV show is "Mitsukete Kowasou" which was the Japanese title of Iggy Pop and the Stooges' 1973 album "Search and Destroy" (of course I could not use "Search and Destroy" in the subs since it's a kiddie show). But some say that "Ojii-chan" (Grandpa) puppet in the show is based on Iggy Pop lol.
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3. The empty envelope. In Ep. 144, Mizuguchi handed Haruko a resignation letter without any contents (above right pic). This is said to be an inside joke about a booboo committed in the 2007 NHK drama Hagetaka. In Ep. 3 of "Hagetaka", Shibata Kyohei's character handed a resignation letter to his superior. In the scene, the sun is streaming from behind, and so the viewers could see through the empty envelope (above left pic). It was mentioned in the internet the next day and so NHK took noticed. In reruns of the drama, and in the DVD copies later on, the "letter" can finally be seen, having been fixed with the use of CGI. Incidentally, Hagetaka also stars Matsuda Ryuhei, and had the same director and producer from Amachan.
4. That "Moon" show. In Ep. 136, Aki crashed the set where Suzuka is playing an astronaut on the moon. The title of the show, as shown in the poster, is "Tsuki wa kotchi ni dete iru no" (The Moon Is This Way). It seems to be answering the title/question of the 1993 movie, "Tsuki wa dotchi ni dete iru" (Literal title: "Where is the Moon?"; Official English title: "All Under the Moon").
5. "Bayside Shakedown." Comedies, most esp. funny cop shows always pay homage to Bayside Shakedown. "Amachan" did too when in Ep. 61, Daikichi said "Put up a blockade along State Route 45!" and motioned with his hand like he was calling someone on police radio. He was copying Aoshima (Yuji Oda)'s order to "blockade the Rainbow Bridge." (Btw, of course Daikichi and the Co-op President Osanai do not have the authority to put up a blockade along a national highway. Daikichi only wants Osanai to announce it on the public address system, but in the scene, Osanai was taking it seriously lol).
Then, on Ep. 67, Yoshida said, "An incident isn't happening on a diorama, it's at the scene-- (He got cut off by Sugawara, and felt irked). At least, let me finish the line." He was trying to quote another famous line from the movie, "The incident is happening in the scene, not in the meeting room!"
Then, on Ep. 67, Yoshida said, "An incident isn't happening on a diorama, it's at the scene-- (He got cut off by Sugawara, and felt irked). At least, let me finish the line." He was trying to quote another famous line from the movie, "The incident is happening in the scene, not in the meeting room!"
6. "Find It and Break It". The Japanese title of Aki's educational TV show is "Mitsukete Kowasou" which was the Japanese title of Iggy Pop and the Stooges' 1973 album "Search and Destroy" (of course I could not use "Search and Destroy" in the subs since it's a kiddie show). But some say that "Ojii-chan" (Grandpa) puppet in the show is based on Iggy Pop lol.
Meanwhile, the title is also taken from two NHK kiddie shows "Tsukutte Asobo" (Create and Play), and "Miitsuketa!" (Found it!).
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KudoKan Elements. And as mentioned before, it seems Kudo Kankuro enjoyed inserting elements from his past dramas (like "Manhattan Love Story") in "Amachan." Were you able to spot the following scenes?
That clam scene looks familiar... The clam shell on the suit of Adachi-sensei in Ep. 139 is reminiscent of the scene in "Kisarazu Cat's Eye" (2007 drama) when a dying Bussan (Okada Junichi) saw a clam shell stuck on the knitted blouse of his teacher (played by Yakushimaru Hiroko).
That battery, too... Also the battery hitting Futomaki in Ep. 153 reminded viewers of the baseball scene in Kisarazu, Ep. 2, wherein Ozzy (Furuta) got hit by a fastball in the face and lost consciousness, too.
"There's 11 people eating..." This quote about the breakfast scene at the Amano home in Ep 32 is reminiscent of the title of KudoKan's 2011 drama, "11 Nin Mo Iru!".
"I can't draw George Clooney!" Hanamaki cried out in Ep. 102. This is probably hinting at all the George Clooney references in KudoKan's 2007 drama "Ryusei no Kizuna".
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Behind the Scenes. Here are some comments made by actors, writer, and directors of the show (source: nhk):
The "Long Shot" scene. As mentioned in the previous notes (1st Batch P2), Ep. 103 was shot as a "long take". Nounen Rena had commented that "I was so nervous I felt like I'll vomit" during the filming of the episode. Furuta Arata who played the role of Futomaki also talked about the behind the scene of this filming on "Buramayo to Ukaina Nakamatachi" aired on September 29, 2013. He said, "My part was just standing and waiting at the entrance for 15 minutes." By the time 10 minutes or so had passed, (I couldn't take the tension anymore and thought to myself) Make a mistake! Make a mistake!". He also commented about how he felt scared of falling at the scene when he walked into "Burai Sushi".
(translation: danburi)
The Adlibs. Some moments or lines were done adlib style. Of course the master of adlibs in the show was Furuta Arata. Other notable adlibs were Ben-san's offer of "cheese" for Yankii Yui's neapolitan pasta (Ep. 83) and Yoshida's sudden burst of the song, "Ghostbusters" (Ep. 8). And also, during the final audition scene (Ep. 125), the strict screen test by Yakushimaru (Suzuka) was also done via adlib. Furuta: "You can really see the tension in the young actress (possibly Mio Yuki playing Onodera Kaoruko)."
(source: nhk)
(source: nhk)
"We're from the disaster area, after all." In an interview, KudoKan had said that this line told by Sugawara to a miffed Aki in Ep. 138, was taken from his own experience after 3/11. During the run of his stage play, "Sad Song For Ugly Daughter" in June-July 2011, a former classmate from Miyagi visited him and asked him to get an autograph from Miyazaki Aoi who was one of the actors in the play. The classmate had told him, "I came from a disaster area, after all. Surely, you can get her autograph for me?"
Suzuka's Charity Recital. The recital scene was filmed in NHK studio in Tokyo but some of the audience members were Tokyo-based people born in Kuji and Tohoku. They were gathered to play as extras in the episode to give Yakushimaru the real feeling of singing for the people of Tohoku.
Filming on a rainy day. If you were wondering why there were many rainy and wet outdoor scenes in the Tokyo Arc, it is because those scenes were all filmed on one rainy day: When Haruko and Aki were walking along Omotesando (Ep. 132); when a group of pre-school kids saw and mobbed Aki (Ep. 113); when Aki met Natsu and Daikichi at Ueno Station (Ep. 114-115) and when Aki shouted her frustration at a tunnel in Tokyo (Ep. 111). According to Director Inoue about the mother and daughter scene, "To speak about that scene in Omotesando... because of the rain, we had to use umbrellas and thanks to those umbrellas, everything else became hidden except those two which I believe created a nice effect. I wanted to film them from afar but when you do, other extra stuff come into the scene. Thanks to those umbrellas, I think the scene was focused in their world. The colors of the umbrellas were a nice accent, too."
(Translation: danburi)
The "Stop" sign. Director Inoue said "You can see "STOP" on the seawall, right? There is nothing written at the actual place. We wrote them there. At the scene from '84, it's "STOP", but when Aki is diving from the seawall, it's written as "STEP". There was one person who had noticed that. That was amazing. The art team was very happy that someone had noticed."
(Translation: danburi)
The dreaded Suzuka Special...
Director Inoue: "I tasted it. It was really bad! It was so thick!"
Director Yoshida said, "Suzuka Special was introduced in the episode that I was in charge with. And there was a recipe for Suzuka Special to make it taste good. But during the filming, Yakushimaru-san kept throwing things in so of course its taste became bad. After drinking, everyone yelled in harmony "Wah~!", right? That was Yakushimaru-san's idea (laughs)."
(Translation: danburi)
Who threw the sea urchin? Viewers were wondering about the sea urchin that was thrown and hit the back of Aki (Ep. 137). They even drew funny illustrations on how it was done, considering Natsu-bappa is too old and weak to manage such a feat. Director Inoue revealed that it was Assistant Director Murayama who did it.
Buzzwords. As Yui had declared in Ep. 68, "Je Je Je" had indeed become the buzzwords of 2013, sharing the top spot with "Ima desho?" "omotenashi" and "baigaeshi."
(info: japantoday)
(info: japantoday)
Building to be demolished. The building where the Kitasanriku Tourism Association is located is set to be demolished (btw, interior scenes where shot in NHK Tokyo). The 50 year old Kuji Ekimae Bldg. was undamaged after the 3/11 earthquake but its aging structure and leaking roof have become causes for concern. Once hosted a number of shops, it now only has 4 tenants (shop and offices). The municipal administration has plans of demolishing the structure, transforming it into a plaza in front of the station, along with a more modern commercial district surrounding it.
(info: yomiuri)
(info: yomiuri)
ToDai and "Amachan" model school tie up. Taneichi Prefectural High School in Hirono, Iwate Prefecture that served as the model school for "Kitasanriku High School" was chosen as a "database school" for marine education to be promoted by the University of Tokyo or ToDai. The two institutions are forging an agreement to promote marine education. Acc. to the agreement, faculty, researchers and students of Todai will be conducting visitations and interviews at the Ocean Development Department of Taneichi High School, and findings on ocean education will be published in a book.
(info: yomiuri)
"Episode 157". And of course, most of the Amachan cast were reunited at the 64th Kouhaku Utagassen. If you were wondering why Onodera-chan and Veronica were absent, it is because child actors and under-aged talents have a work curfew under Japanese child protection laws.
And in her blog, Nounen Rena had commented, "Kohaku Utagassen, the feeling was still lingering. Amachan group gathered togather! It was fun. Real stages of those singers, I wanted to see forever. Mom and Suzuka-san were so cool, GMT Amejo and Shiosai no Memories, they were all fun, I've been re-watching the recorded show. Aki's favorite is Yui-chan! It was fun~... It was funny to see Yui-chan embarrassed. Ha-ha! When I missed the beginning, Yui-chan got mad at me... Jeje.
(Source: Nounen's blog) (translation: danburi)
(Source: Nounen's blog) (translation: danburi)
The End~.
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Other Amachan Trivia Notes:
Amachan Episode Index: (link)
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