Poster visual unveiled for the Monday 9pm drama "The Beginning of the Sea" starring Ren Meguro (Snow Man)

■ The catchphrase “The ‘connection’ that we couldn’t choose is still unbroken” was written by scriptwriter Miku Ubukata

The poster visual for Fuji TV’s Monday 9pm drama “The Beginning of the Sea” (starting July 1st), starring Meguro Ren (Snow Man), has been released.

“The Beginning of the Sea” is a completely original work with the theme of “parent-child love” written by Miku Ubukata, directed by Taiki Kazama, and produced by Ken Murase. It carefully depicts the love that is born between people and the story of a family that we want to convey in this day and age.

The protagonist of the story is Tsukioka Natsu (played by Meguro Ren). During his university days, he started dating his classmate Nagumo Mizuki (played by Furukawa Kotone) by chance and spent happy days with her. However, one day when he was about to start job hunting, she suddenly broke up with him, and the two of them broke up. Seven years have passed since then, and now he is dating Momose Yayoi (played by Arimura Kasumi) and is starting a new life.

During this time, Natsu learns from a friend from her university days that Mizuki has passed away. Since she had not seen her friend since she was told that she was leaving, it did not sink in that fact, and she heads to the funeral, where she meets a young girl named Umi (played by Izumiya Sena). Natsu is shocked to learn that the girl is Mizuki’s child. Then, Mizuki’s mother Akane (played by Otake Shinobu) tells her that she is Umi’s father.

When Natsu finds out that Mizuki had given birth to a child with him without his knowledge and had been raising the child without telling him anything, he begins to think back on the seven years that Mizuki and Umi had spent together.

The poster shows Natsu, overflowing with love and kindness as she faces her child, and Umi smiling innocently. All emotions seem to converge in her eyes as Yayoi looks up into the distance, pondering something. Mizuki holds hands and walks along the beach with a determined look on her face. Akane looks as if she is reminiscing about a random moment at home. Tsuno (Ikematsu Sosuke) seems to be following someone with his eyes even though he should be right in front of him. Yamato (Kido Daisei) has a smile that flickers with a hint of loneliness. And in the background, the horizon of the sea captures a changing moment that could be interpreted as either a sunrise or a sunset.

The visual, in which several stories blend together into one, also seems to convey the message that even though we may all be dealing with different things, the feeling of “thinking about someone important” may be the same.

The poster’s catchphrase was also written by scriptwriter Miku Ubukata, following on from her posters for “Silent” and “My Favorite Flower.” Ubukata’s unique phrase, “The ‘connection’ I couldn’t choose is still unbroken,” expresses not only the protagonist Natsu, but also the complicated situations each of the characters find themselves in, as well as the emotions that come from them, just like the visuals.

What does “parental love” mean to each of the characters? We look forward to the drama’s broadcast while feeling the difference between the released visuals and catchphrases.

Program Information

Fuji TV Network“The Beginning of the Sea”
Starts Monday, July 1st *First episode extended by 30 minutes
Every Monday 21:00-21:54

Cast: Ren Meguro, Kasumi Arimura, Sena Izumiya, Kotone Furukawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Shinobu Otake and others
Screenplay: Miku Ubukata
Produced by: Ken Murase
Directed by: Kazama Taiki, Takano Mai (the official spelling of “taka” is “hasigotaka”), Jeong Eun-hee
(C) Fuji Television

“The Beginning of the Sea” program site
https://www.fujitv.co.jp/uminohajimari/