The Meaning Behind Yu Sakai's 'But It's Ok!': the Nhk Drama Theme Song That Inspired Viewers
By David Miller
The emotional weight of "But It's OK !" lies in its refusal to offer platitudes. Exam preparation narratives in Japanese media frequently rely on aggressive perseverance slogans (ganbare). Sakai bypassed that convention entirely, anchoring the chorus around a casual, almost exhausted admission of imperfection:
"Everything doesn't have to go right today, but it's okay. We pick up the pieces tomorrow."
The verses trace the psychological toll of chronic self-doubt. Sakai writes from the vantage point of someone standing on a train platform at dusk, cataloging the small indignities of modern life. For Haruna Kawaguchi’s character Maki, who spent her nights balancing convenience store shifts with vocabulary drills, the lyrics validated the embarrassment of falling short.
For Kotaro Koizumi’s Toru Igarashi, the track assumed a mortality-driven dimension. Facing an aggressive medical prognosis, Igarashi was not fighting for his own future; he was pouring his remaining energy into a student discarded by the standard educational ladder. When Sakai belts the titular phrase over brass stabs and gospel-inflected chord substitutions, the line sounds less like casual resignation and more like an active decision to survive another twenty-four hours.
David Miller brings 15 years of experience in global economics, personal finance strategy, and market dynamics. He specializes in turning complex economic trends into actionable insights for everyday readers.
