So Long! (Special Drama) is a special three-segment drama featuring the AKB48 Senbatsu members for the single So long! as the central characters. The story was divided into three parts for each of Teams A, K, and B.
Concept
Based on the concept of "Can AKB48 make you cry?" (あなたはAKB48で泣けますか?), the show is made up of stories about tears, such as tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of anger, and tears of happiness.
During this broadcast, viewers were asked to call in to say whether they cried after watching a drama, and the drama with the most calls was chosen as the "Most Tear-jerking Drama". Immediately after the end of each episode, an announcement was made within the program and on the official website to call in a dedicated phone number for viewers who "cried" after watching the drama (calls were accepted within 23 hours after the end of each drama's broadcast). The results were announced on the official website at 9:00 PM on February 17, 2013, and 10 participants were randomly selected to receive an original program poster signed by the cast. As a result of the voting, the third night (Team B) received the most votes.
In addition to the telephone voting, a viewer voting project called "AKB Drama General Election" was held using data broadcasting on AKBINGO! , which was broadcast live immediately after the third night of the program, to determine the Best Actress and Best Drama awards. The winning team was awarded the right to appear in a comedy directed and written by Yuichi Fukuda, which began airing on Nippon Television in April 2013. As a result of the voting, Shimazaki Haruka was selected as the Best Actress award winner, and Night 3 (Team B) was selected as the Best Drama award winner.
The reward program for the winning Team B was decided to be "Saturday Night Child Machine", which aired every Sunday from 1:20 to 1:50 (late Saturday night) from April 14 to June 30, 2013.
Cast
- Synopsis
Kawakami Fukaba is the only remaining member of the Broadcasting Club. While she was cleaning the clubroom, she encountered a strange cassette player that connects her to another member of the club 8 years earlier.
- Team A Cast
- Main Characters
- Watanabe Mayu - Kawakami Fukaba
- Shinoda Mariko - Hara Kirie
- Takahashi Minami - Koga Akane
- Yokoyama Yui - Tsuda Tomoe
- Kawaei Rina - Makino Riko (ballet classmate)
- Iriyama Anna - Miyauchi Yuki (ballet classmate)
- Tano Yuka - Inoue Mako (ballet classmate)
- Supporting Characters
- Izuta Rina
- Iwata Karen
- Kikuchi Ayaka
- Kotani Riho
- Kobayashi Marina
- Sato Sumire
- Takahashi Juri
- Nakatsuka Tomomi
- Nakamata Shiori
- Nito Moeno
- Matsui Sakiko
- Morikawa Ayaka
- Non-AKB Cast
- Main Characters
- Ishii Momoka - young Kawakami Fukaba
- Suga Kenta - Morisawa Naozumi
- Osugi Ren - Suzuki Teruo
- Supporting Characters
- Nishihara Nobuhiro
- Motohashi Yuka
- Kojima Ichika - Sae (Kawakami Fukaba's former friend in 2005)
- Yoneyama Miku - (Kawakami Fukaba's former friend in 2005)
- Hirata Saori (Tokyo City Ballet)
- Koto Mai (Tokyo City Ballet)
- Matsumoto Kaori (Tokyo City Ballet)
- Synopsis
Miho is annoyed at her younger sister Tsubasa, who is trying to make her participate in a piano competition. Unknown to Miho, Tsubasa is hiding something from her.
- Team K Cast
- Main Characters
- Oshima Yuko - Kurabayashi Miho
- Matsui Jurina - Kurabayashi Tsubasa
- Itano Tomomi - Tokigawa Ai
- Kitahara Rie - Higashi Kanako
- Supporting Characters
- Kuramochi Asuka - Matsuki Chiharu
- Akimoto Sayaka
- Abe Maria
- Uchida Mayumi
- Kobayashi Kana
- Sato Amina
- Nakata Chisato
- Nagao Mariya
- Fujita Nana
- Maeda Ami
- Matsubara Natsumi
- Miyazaki Miho
- Muto Tomu
- Non-AKB Cast
- Main Characters
- Takahashi Hitomi - Kurabayashi Atsuko
- Hongo Kanata - Okajima Wataru
- Supporting Characters
- Ikeda Minoru
- Inoue Sho
- Konno Soryu
- Synopsis
Asuka keeps a blog titled "Tsuki ga nai Sora" (Moonless Sky), where she writes about all her problems. The only person who comments on the blog is called Spaceboy (6B6), and seems to know more about Asuka than anyone in her class.
- Team B Cast
- Main Characters
- Shimazaki Haruka - Hashimoto Asuka
- Kojima Haruna - Komiyama Kaoru
- Minegishi Minami - Watase Mitsuki
- Watanabe Miyuki - Kanda Saki
- Kashiwagi Yuki - Goto Midori
- Supporting Characters
- Yamauchi Suzuran - Shirasaka Erina
- Kato Rena - Shimamura Aya
- Fujie Reina - Andou Misato
- Katayama Haruka - Eguchi Kanako
- Oba Mina - Saotome Mami
- Takeuchi Miyu - Okubo Natsumi
- Umeda Ayaka - Kikuchi Mika
- Nakamura Mariko
- Komori Mika
- Ichikawa Miori
- Ishida Haruka
- Iwasa Misaki
- Nonaka Misato
- AKB48 Kenkyuusei
- Non-AKB Cast
- Main Characters
- Supporting Characters
- Asakura Erika
Trivia
- Sashihara Rino, Yamamoto Sayaka, and Matsui Rena were the only Senbatsu members of So long! who did not appear in any of the drama episodes, because they're not part of Teams A, K, and B.
- In Team B Episode, the blog contains hidden terms denoting Mitsuki (tsuki, moon), Asuka (a play on the name Asuka: "a sukai", can be read as "a sky" or "sora"), and Komiyama-sensei (Spaceboy, students call her 'alien').
- AKB48 Kenkyuusei appeared only in the Team B episode.
- Some elements of the stories have distinct similarities to Sakura Kara no Tegami.
- Kawakami Fukaba (played by Watanabe Mayu) mentioned that she had a best friend named "Sae".
- Miho (played by Oshima Yuko) was having a hard time balancing her feelings between finding a job and taking care of Tsubasa (played by Matsui Jurina); in Sakura Kara no Tegami, Maeda Atsuko played a slightly similar role, as she was torn between choosing between her resentment towards her father and her concern for him.
- The homeroom teacher, Komiyama (played by Kojima Haruna), was suffering from an incurable ailment.
External Link
- So Long! (Special Drama) in Wikipedia (Japan)