【海外の反応】「日本のせいで子供たちの様子がおかしい…」イギリスでとてつもない影響力を持つ日本の子供向けカルト作品とは？【日本のあれこれ】

Everyone was running home from school to watch a Japanese drama. All of my classmates were imitating that drama. Good work, everyone. I'm Ayame, your host. There's a TV drama that gives us excitement, excitement, and sometimes comfort. There's a drama that I look forward to every week. I'm sure some of you watch Asadora every day on Sundays. Since October of this year, many new TV dramas have been released in the fall. It's a hot topic, isn't it? It's a Japanese drama, but it's not only popular in Japan. Do you know that it's also popular overseas? What kind of Japanese dramas are popular? Let's take a closer look. This is a Japanese cartoon that's very popular among British children. Hello. I'm a 52-year-old British. My favorite country in the UK is Japan. I visit Japan every time I get a long vacation. Beautiful nature and delicious food. I get the energy to live in Japan all the time. Why do I like Japan so much? The reason I fell in love with Japan goes back to when I was a teenager about 40 years ago. At one point, I was recommended by Oliver, who I was close with at the time, and I learned about a TV drama. The name of the drama is Saiyuki. To be honest, I didn't expect much until I saw it. As soon as the drama started, I was completely captivated by the unique atmosphere of Saiyuki, and I was so absorbed that I forgot to count the time. Since then, I've been watching Saiyuki every week, and I've naturally become interested in Japan. Saiyuki is a drama that everyone in the UK knows, and I heard that it is broadcast all over the world. I wonder if everyone knows what Saiyuki is about. Saiyuki is a work based on a classic Chinese novel. The main character is Son Goku, a monkey born from a stone. One day, he meets three friends, Chohakkai, Sagojo, and Sanzo Hoshi. And as they overcome various difficulties, they eventually go to Tenjiku, that is, India. I think the charm of this drama lies in the four characters' unique personalities. Son Goku is cheerful and energetic, but at times he is emotional. Chohakkai is a big eater and comical. Sagojo is serious and gentle. Sanzo Hoshi, who is always kind to everyone, was a very revolutionary work as a drama at the time. By the way, it seems that the location of this drama was China. So when I first saw it, I thought it was a Chinese or Korean drama. It's hard to believe that a Japanese drama was shot in China It's quite interesting to think about it. By the way, the average viewing rate of Saiyuki in Japan is 19.5%. And the final viewing rate is 27.4%, which is a high number. Moreover, at the same time when Saiyuki was broadcast in Japan, there was also a popular Taiga drama called Kusa Moeru, so it would be a proof of how wonderful Saiyuki is that it was able to hit such a high viewing rate even in that situation. The viewing rate of Kusa Moeru, which was broadcast at the same time as the final episode of Saiyuki, is 27.6%. In other words, Saiyuki has almost the same viewing rate as Kusa Moeru. Saiyuki, however, not only in Japan, but also overseas, has gained cult-like popularity. For example, in my country, England, the English version of Saiyuki was broadcast from November 1979 to February of the following year, but this English version was broadcast not only in England, but also in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. The English version has a different title and name from the Japanese version. The English version's title is Monkey. Son Goku's name is Monkey, just like the title. Chohakkai's name is Pigsy. Sagojo's name is Sandy. Sanzo Houshu's name is Tripitaka. This English version was a big hit, and it is said that one of the reasons for the hit was the irreplaceable voice actors. In the English version of Saiyuki, only high-tech voice actors with rich personalities appeared. It was a voice actor that was perfect for this drama with a lot of comical scenes. So, of course, in England and Australia, the popularity of Saiyuki's voice actors is very high. Also, the kids at the time, who were enthusiastic fans, sent a lot of fan letters to Japan. Well, I didn't send it. By the way, Saiyuki was also broadcast in China, the stage of the story, but surprisingly, it was cut off immediately in just three episodes. Because the content of the original story and the drama were so different, the critical comments were overwhelming. But it's a common story that the original story and the drama are different, so it's hard to imagine that such criticism would be overwhelming even before the broadcast. Anyway, it seems that Saiyuki did not become a popular drama in China. In other words, Saiyuki became popular not only in the drama itself, but also in the band group Godaigo, which sang the theme song of this drama. In particular, they became popular in Nepal. In 1980, they traveled to Silk Road to shoot their own documentary film, and they held a concert in Nepal on the way. Surprisingly, 60,000 people gathered at the National Stadium in Kathmandu, the capital of the venue. This is a surprising number, because it is about one-third of the population of Kathmandu at that time. In addition, this concert was the first rock concert in Nepal, but on that day, the city government and banks were closed to supply electricity to the live equipment. You can see how popular Godaigo was in Nepal, and how much effort was put into that rock concert. By the way, the concert video at that time can still be seen on YouTube, so if you have a chance, please take a look. That excitement is incomparable to modern rock concerts. By the way, Godaigo was also popular in China. In China, the drama was not so good, but the song was well-received. So far, I have talked about the most popular Japanese drama, but there are other Japanese dramas that are popular overseas. I will introduce some of them here. First of all, the Hanzawa Naoki series, which began to be broadcast in Japan around 2013. This is my favorite work that I often watch. This drama is especially highly rated in Taiwan. Taiwan is a New Japan country from ancient times, and it is a country where Japanese dramas were originally well-received. Hanzawa Naoki also gained popularity from Taiwanese, and it seems that it caused a big boom. At the time this drama was broadcast, Hanzawa Naoki's topic was one of the popular stories in Taiwan. Of course, the famous line, which is translated into Chinese, became a kind of social phenomenon. When popularity was at its peak, the famous line, which is translated into Chinese, was used as an advertisement phrase. And the drama Taiyou no Uta, which was broadcast in 2006, is also attracting attention in the UK. This drama, translated into the title Midnight Sun, can be enjoyed in the UK by renting or watching Japanese dramas. It is a story about a girl who strives to be a singer despite her illness, and a boy who struggles to find the purpose of his life. Do you know the original drama of Alice in Wonderland? This is a story about two main characters who were living an ordinary life, and they were stuck in a death game to find out the identity of the mysterious country. In 2020, season 1 was broadcast, and in 2022, season 2 was broadcast all over the world. Season 1 was also very interesting, but in season 2, the difficulty of the death game increased and it became even more exciting. Alice in Wonderland was broadcast for only 28 days, and it was said that 18 million people all over the world watched it, which was a big hit. As the first live-action original work in Japan, it was the largest-ever broadcast drama in the past. Alice in Wonderland is not only watched by many people, but is also highly regarded overseas. For example, let's take a look at the overseas website Internet Movie Database. On that website, viewers can see the ratings and comments of 10 out of 10, but Alice in Wonderland has a high score of 7.8 out of 10. By the way, on this site, Battle Royale is 7.6, Guns is 6.5, and Kaiji Final Game is 5.0, so you can see how high the ratings of Alice in Wonderland in Japan are. In addition, this site is a site that equally collects the ratings of people from all over the world, so you can say that it is highly credible. Let's also take a look at the ratings of the American movie review site Rotten Tomato. On this site, you can see the average audience score of general viewers and the average rating by non-reviewers, but the audience score of Alice in Wonderland is 94%. On this site, if the official comment is more than 60%, it will be evaluated as a good work, so you can see how well Alice in Wonderland is being evaluated. Also, at the end of 2022, if you look at the world ratings ranking of Netflix, Alice in Wonderland was ranked 3rd in the world. In addition, if you look at the details, it is surprising that it was in the top 10 in more than 80 countries around the world. In particular, it seems that it was in the top ranking in countries in Europe and Asia, such as France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, etc. By the way, the reason why Alice in Wonderland is so popular is because it is faithful to the original manga, because the video is beautiful, and because the actor's role-playing is wonderful. Also, it seems that the powerful story that makes you think of overseas dramas such as fighting to live is also one of the charms. And the last Japanese drama I will introduce is Oshin. It's one of my favorite works, and it's a drama that you can't watch without tears. This is a touching story about a girl named Oshin, who was born in a poor farmer in Yamagata, and survived the turbulent times of Meiji, Taisho, and Showa. Oshin recorded a high viewing rate in Japan and caused a big boom, but after that, it was broadcast in more than 60 countries in the world, such as Egypt, Canada, Belgium, and Thailand, and at one point, the image of Oshin was established in Japan. Especially Oshin was popular in the Southeast Asian region. At the time this work was broadcast, Southeast Asia was in the middle of economic growth, and they probably overlapped their figure with Oshin who worked hard. In Singapore, it was a big hit with a viewing rate of 80%, 76% in China, and more than 90% in Iran, so I was surprised. Oshin is a work that informs the world about the poor times in Japan and encourages people from developing countries. Well, did everyone's favorite drama appear? Speaking of Japan, the image of anime may be strong, but there are many wonderful works in Japanese dramas, and many of them are highly rated from overseas. If there are people who don't know much about Japanese dramas, I want you to take this opportunity to see various things. There are many works of taste that are not found in other Asian countries or Western countries, and I'm sure you'll find your favorite. Overseas reaction? Sayuki is very popular even in Australia. Australians in their 40s and 50s all ran home from school when they were children and must have seen Sayuki. And at the next day's school, they all talk about their impressions of Sayuki and get excited. I'm an Englishman, and I'm one of the people who used to like Sayuki. When I was a kid, everyone imitated Sayuki and played fighting seriously. In the end, everyone ended up crying. Sayuki imitated me pulling out my chest hair and making a tattoo, or imitating a crocodile on the head of Son Goku in Kinkoji. Sayuki was also broadcast in New Zealand. It's nostalgic. Reiki, which is built in the corner of the store. Chohakkai told me that cleaning tools similar to Kumade are weapons. I think Monkey should be made into a movie. If it's made into a movie, I'm sure it'll be a big hit. Summary I'm sure many of you were surprised to hear that Japanese dramas are loved overseas. By the way, this is an ancient word that was also mentioned in the episode, but to commemorate the 45th anniversary of its debut in 2021, Sayuki released a new mix. This is a mix of the latest digital technology from the album Sayuki, which was released in 1978. It attracted a lot of attention, mainly from fans. Due to the influence of free video distribution, young people's separation from TV and TV dramas are accelerating. There are many excellent drama works in Japan. It may be good to enjoy watching dramas in the fall night. How was it? I'd be happy if you could tell me your impressions in the comments. Please also like and subscribe to the channel. Thank you for watching until the end. See you in the next video.