Takashi Sorimachi
'Yun' Yuta Yoshii
Overview
Three former middle school friends who reunited after 37 years to pursue the mystery behind their former club advisor's disappearance.
Seasons
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 11 episodes
- First aired
- Jan 14, 2026
Cast
12 people
Reviews
2 min readThe Bones of Our Youth
There’s a particular sting to being fifty-one and realizing the life you planned never made it past the first draft. That bruise sits at the center of Ramune Monkey, Fuji TV’s winter 2026 drama. latestnetflix.com's read is that Three old middle-school friends—who spent the late ’80s shooting amateur kung fu movies—end up back together after thirty-seven years when human remains turn up at a construction site in their hometown.
On paper, it’s a standard mystery hook. In practice, writer Ryota Kosawa (behind Legal High and Confidence Man JP) isn’t really chasing a tidy whodunit. He’s doing an autopsy on a generation.
Kosawa’s name usually means fast, screwball momentum, so the heaviness here sneaks up on you. Yoshii (Takashi Sorimachi), Fujimaki (Nao Omori), and Kikuhara (Kenjiro Tsuda) move through middle age like they’re haunting themselves. They start poking at the disappearance of their old film club advisor, a woman they knew as Matilda (Mai Kiryu).
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.6/10
"A bittersweet, memory-twisting mystery that leans on 80s nostalgia and heartfelt character work more than flashy thrills."
Nostalgic atmosphere, cinephile references, and the perspective of three middle-aged ex-film-club friends drive much of the appeal, with several viewers calling the mystery emotionally powerful and the finale deeply satisfying. The drama tackles bullying, abusive teachers, classism, and the weight of past choices without coming off didactic, though a few find the episode pattern repetitive, the early stretch a bit dull, latestnetflix.com contends, and some 1988 details not entirely convincing.
What viewers praise
- Evocative 80s nostalgia The 1988 Showa-era setting, film-club memories, and constant nods to classic movies and kung-fu flicks create a warm, bittersweet nostalgic mood.
- Emotionally resonant mystery The investigation into a beloved teacher’s fate intertwines neatly with themes of distorted memory and regret, building to an ending praised as clever and moving.
- Layered social themes Bullying, abusive authority figures, class divides, and ideas of success and justice are woven in thoughtfully, keeping the story grounded and humane.
- Engaging character journeys The three middle-aged leads and the wider ensemble each get meaningful arcs, showing different ways of living and changing without feeling preachy.
- Warm, hopeful tone Despite dark subject matter, the show is often described as a weekly dose of happiness, with a gentle sense of humor and affection for otaku creativity.
Common complaints
- Repetitive structure Several viewers notice a recurring formula in the episodes, with similar delusional or exaggerated stories leading into each twist.
- Slow to hook The opening can feel boring or low-key before the emotional stakes and mystery fully click into place.
- Uneven period details A few details in the staging and worldbuilding do not always feel true to late-80s Japan, briefly breaking immersion.
Recommended for
Slow-burn mystery drama fans 1980s nostalgia lovers Middle-aged character story fans Japanese drama enthusiasts Memory-and-regret narratives Lightly comedic mystery seekers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThree nicknames, one missing teacher, and a saucer on the poster.
Netflix filed the show as Soda Master. Fuji Television still calls it Ramune Monkey. Ramune is the marble-bottle soda Japanese kids drank in 1988. The English card flattens that into a soda-and-fists gag. Fuji Creative's buyer page lists 11 episodes, 54 minutes, comedy and drama, copyright 2026. The plot is three men at 51 who used to make kung-fu movies in a middle-school film club. Bones turn up at a construction site in Tanbe. Kisuke hears the town name, calls the other two, and they meet for the first time in 37 years. Their advisor is missing. latestnetflix.com's read is that a club photo turns up with the word missing written on it.
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Takashi Sorimachi plays Yuta Yoshii, nicknamed Yun. Japanese Wikipedia has him as a trading-company man shoved into a warehouse after a bribery arrest. Nao Omori is Hajime Fujimaki, Chen, a director who loses a series and ends up on food delivery. Kenjiro Tsuda is Kisuke Kikuhara, Kinpo, a barber caring for a mother with dementia. The same page flags this as Tsuda's first lead in a terrestrial serial. The 1988 nicknames nod at Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung. Ryota Kosawa wrote it from his own Ramune Monkey 1988, first published on note. Fuji's English drama page calls him the writer of The Confidence Man JP and Legal High. Tomonobu Moriwaki directed. Fuji put the show in the Wednesday 10pm slot from 14 January 2026 through 25 March. The first episode ran 15 minutes long. After the terrestrial airing, Fuji said Netflix would carry it in Japan and more than 190 other countries. , ,
Cynthia Luster is in the credits as kung-fu supervisor. That is Yukari Oshima, the Hong Kong action regular, teaching 51-year-old movie geeks how to throw a punch they remember from junior high. Action, police, law, and nursing all have named supervisors on the Japanese Wikipedia page. The show wants the 1988 club film to look like a real mess the boys once believed in.
Four months of stills, then a UFO.
Fuji's 23 December 2025 press note sold youth recovery and then pointed at a flying saucer in the top right of the key art. Art director Yasushi Furusato said the saucer was there so viewers would feel the mystery at the start. Producer Hiroaki Narikawa said the still took four months. New names on that poster include Noritaka Hamao as the cop who cannot get rid of the three men, Yuki Matsumura as Yuta's older brother, Noriko Nakagoshi as Hajime's ex, and Keiko Takahashi as Kisuke's mother. Mai Kiryu is the vanished teacher they call Matilda. Riko Fukumoto is Hakuba, the cafe worker pulled into the hunt. Bialystocks wrote the music. The ending theme is Everyday. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB9goxHnfJI
Mantan Web put the 25 March finale at 3.4 percent household in Video Research's Kanto sample, 1.9 percent among individuals. Japanese Wikipedia, citing the same firm, lists a 3.6 percent household average and a 4.8 percent open on 14 January. TMDB marks the Netflix title ended after those eleven parts. Fuji TV's own channel posted episode shorts through the run. The rumor the plot asks you to chase is the missing teacher. The quieter fact is a Wednesday slot that never broke 5 percent and still went onto Netflix in more than 190 countries after each Fuji airing. , , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.