Ep. 22 Kankurô Kudô

Written by Cordelia, edited by Grace

In this episode, we are not going to talk about tv shows, but a screenplay writer, Kankurō Kudō (宮藤 官九郎).

Listen to full episode :

Who is Kankuro Kudo?

While I was working on several other eps, I realized that many of the TV shows that we are going to talk about are written by Kankuro Kudo, so I thought we need to talk about one of my favorite screenwriters, Kankuro Kudo, first.

Kankuro Kudo, whose real name is Shunichiro Miyato, was born in 1970 in Kurihara, Miyagi. He is known as a screenwriter, director, and actor. He has won the Best Screenwriter award 11 times.

Without finishing his university studies, Kudo joined the Adult Project Theater in 1991 and became a copywriting assistant.

From 1996, he began to write and direct a series of stage plays. In 1999, he started his career as a screenwriter for TV shows. In 2000, his work, "Ikebukuro West Exit Park," won the Best Screenplay Award at the 25th Japanese Drama Academy Awards for the action drama. Tomohisa Yamashita had his most beautiful acting moment in Japanese TV history in "Ikebukuro West Exit Park." The role he played passed away and fell to the ground from a locker with black feathers all over his body, sad and spectacular, just like how the sakura fell from the trees in the spring. That moment has stayed in my brain for the past 23 years.

In 2002, Kankuro Kudo served as the screenwriter of the feature film "GO!," a story about the Korean Japanese living experience and history. This movie won the Best Screenplay Award at the 25th Japan Film Academy Awards, which greatly increased Kankuro Kudo's reputation.

In 2003, he won the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Newcomer Award at the Japanese Art Selection Awards for his comedy "Kisarazu Cat's Eye." In 2005, he won the Best Screenplay Award at the 45th Japanese Drama Academy Awards for the comedy "Tiger and Dragon." In 2009, he won the Screenwriter Award at the 59th Japanese Drama Academy Awards for his suspenseful reasoning drama "Ryusei no Kizuna." In 2011, he won the 29th Mukada Kuniko Award for his self-directed criminal comedy "Narcissist Detective." In 2013, with the morning drama "Ama Chan," he won the Best Script Award at the 6th Tokyo International Television Festival Tokyo TV Drama Awards and the Best Script Award at the 78th Japanese Drama Academy Awards.

Kankuro's TV Shows and His Storytelling

If you have a Netflix account, you can access many of Kankuro's shows, including "Tiger and Dragon," "Quartet," "Story of My House," "Saving My Stupid Youth," and the latest one, "Let's Get Divorced."

Kankuro Kudo is a genius; any story under his pen gains soul, life, and hunts in the audience's brain. When it comes to his screenwriting style, the first impression is often inseparable from labels such as "a unique way of thinking" or "extreme brain circuit rotation." His narrative style consists of an unpredictable series of twists and turns, along with spoofs and a sense of variety. For example, in the TV show "Ryusei no Kizuna," the story is based on Keigo Higashino's novel. In the book, it reveals who killed the parents at the beginning, but in the TV show, the answer is revealed at the end with many twists and turns. Even those who have read the novel before watching the show are still caught in the trap and follow the story line created by Kankuro Kudo. Compared to orthodox screenwriters who come from a professional background, Kankuro Kudo's experience is like that of a heretic. He started with writing, even though he wanted to act, and with his extensive life experience, he has become a screenwriting god. Audiences can sense how his unstable life has influenced his writing and creations.

Kankuro Kudo is one of the very few screenwriters who dared to ignore audience ratings. Generally, a high-quality TV show script can often bring good ratings to the TV channel. However, Kankuro Kudo is the exception. After "Ikebukuro West Exit Park" became an instant hit, major TV channels scrambled to secure the distribution rights to Kankuro Kudo's works. They all wanted to launch his works during prime time, but most of the shows received dismal ratings. When the world was ready to offer vitriolic criticisms, the TV show DVDs were sold with record-breaking performance. It is assumed that Kankuro Kudo has a very particular but large group of audience members. His shows deserve to be watched, rewatched, and even included in collections in any library focused on Japanese social studies. This contradiction of "low ratings and high popularity" soon earned him another title: "A screenwriter who cannot be defined by audience rating numbers." From 2006 to 2016, Kankuro Kudo, with his "low-rated works," swept the best Japanese drama awards. He is truly a genius.

Every time I watch his work, I am amazed. I willingly give up control and let his story take me wherever it leads. It is extremely relaxing for me.

In "Ikebukuro West Exit Park," here are the opening lines written by Kankuro Kudo: "In A.D. 2000, a brave man shows up on the street, and everything begins with a murder. He helps solve so many murder cases, leading to a flight at the end. Yellow Country on the West, Black Country on the East. Here we go to the largest game of thrones. And Makoto stops the flight, and that is me. I am Makoto."

In "Kisarazu Cat's Eye," Kankuro Kudo's most popular work, he abandons the step-by-step narrative and creatively uses the rewind arrangement method to divide the story of each episode into outer and inner layers. The story gradually unfolds from the outside to the inside, encompassing the friend group, community, and the protagonist's heart. The most famous line from the show is, "You are not a Bambi anymore; you are a deer." HAHAHHAHA, you have to watch the show to understand this line—it is bittersweet in every single moment of the show.

In "Manhattan Love Story," the owner of the coffee shop Manhattan never talks but observes the customers, their relationships, and their love stories. Here is a line that the owner says to a customer, "I like Columbia Coffee, but I also like Madrid coffee. However, I never thought about mixing those two together, because they have completely different flavors, just like how I cannot fall in love with two women at the same time. You may enjoy blended coffee, but that's your problem. If you truly want to receive someone's love, you will have to let go of another party. The same goes for coffee."

In Kankuro Kudo's masterpiece, "Tiger and Dragon," Tiger (Ryuji) says, "Whenever I find myself in a difficult situation, I always think that I must share this energy with others when I return. And when I think about it, I feel that what's happening now is far from enough! These experiences are not enough to make people laugh! Don't you want to go back and tell others about your current experiences? Don't you want to make them laugh after hearing it?" 

I will remember this quote forever. I often tell myself that everything is just an experience that can become a poem or a short novel under my hands. So, it's not enough. I need more to write about. I think that's how I carry it with me all the time—a theory like this that keeps me and many others going.

In "Ryusei no Kizuna," oh, "Ryusei no Kizuna," one of my favorites, my absolute favorite show, the big brother tells his younger brother and sister, "We are all like shooting stars, aimless and drifting away, not knowing when we will burn out and disappear. But we are connected. No matter when, whenever, we are bound together. So, do not be afraid."

In "Ama-Chan," a 15-minute NHK morning TV show, a turning point in Kankuro's life and the pinnacle of his screenwriting career, it is no longer just pure spoofs and hilarious jokes. It showcases Kankuro's sense of mission as a screenwriter to contemplate society. Of course, "Ama-Chan" is a major NHK morning show. He showed the reconstruction of the 2011 Japanese earthquake through the eyes of two Ama-Chan characters, providing healing and solace to many wounded souls. Haruko in "Ama-Chan" says, "Those who hate their own hometowns and run off to big cities like Tokyo are hopeless. Only those who love their hometowns will thrive no matter where they go. I have thought about this. It is not about the environment or society around us, but about ourselves!" 

So true. Those who don't love themselves or their heritage will find it difficult and miserable no matter where they go or who they end up with. Those who are unwilling to spend time learning about themselves will not be willing to learn about others either. The 2011 earthquake changed many Japanese lives and their worldview, including creators like Kankuro and anime director Makoto Shinkai.

In "Saving My Stupid Youth," even though the ratings were not high, it is still listed in the Top Ten Japanese Highschool Dramas. Every single line, every single sentiment is the best in the history of highschool dramas. The young male teacher says, "Youth cannot be fully understood. If you cannot understand it, then just forget about it. Once we look back on it after growing up, we realize that being confused is just a part of life."

In another work on a similar topic about youth, "So What About Being the Loose Generation" explores embedded social responsibilities with deeper thoughts and heavier emotions. Kankuro's main character says, "Does a perfect adult really exist? Unlike our physical bodies, some of us remain in a state of mental adolescence and continue living like that. So, adults also make mistakes. They can be lazy, avoid responsibilities, lose direction, find excuses to cry, blame others, and fall in love with someone they shouldn't. Adults also make mistakes, so please be a person who allows others to make mistakes."

Ending

As you can see, Kankuro Kudo is incredibly talented. Honestly, I grew up watching Kankuro Kudo's work. I initially started watching because many Johnny’s boys are actors in them. It might give you an idea of which generation I belong to, but to be honest, I've learned so many life lessons from Kankuro Kudo's work.

One of the greatest gifts I have received as a human being is Kankuro Kudo's works. Somehow, his works light up the path for me. I'm going to rewatch "Ryusei No Kizuna" before diving into the new show, "Let's Get Divorced," because Ninomiya Kazunari showed up in my dream last night.

Stay tuned for our next episode. Talk to you soon!

Reference

Let’s Get Divorced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ThqEZezKw