The fifth episode of the Fuji TV drama series "Ramune Monkey" (Wednesdays at 10pm), starring Takashi Sorimachi, Nao Omori, and Kenjiro Tsuda, aired on February 11th. The unsettling developments towards the end of the series caused widespread anxiety among viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers
Yoshii Yuta (Sorimachi), Fujimaki Hajime (Omori), and Kikuhara Kisuke (Tsuda) reunite with Hiruta Tetsuo (Namase Katsuhisa), the owner of the video rental shop "Video Jupiter," which was used as the Film Research Club's clubroom at the time.
Regarding the whereabouts of Matilda, aka Miyashita Misa (played by Kiryu Aso), Hiruta confessed, "Just like in business, you thoroughly investigate the people you partner with. That's why I pulled out. She was a woman I shouldn't get close to. I don't cross any dangerous bridges." He then told them, "You guys should pull out too. There are some things that are better left unknown."
Hajime repeatedly reviews the footage he filmed in middle school and notices something, muttering, "This guy..." Meanwhile, Nishino Hakuba (Fukumoto Riko), a cafe employee, has just finished work and senses someone's presence on the street at night, causing him to turn around timidly. After making sure there is no one around, Hakuba starts walking again, but there is a person in a black coat behind him.
On social media, people were talking about the episode, saying things like, "It's a bit unsettling... I wonder if Hakuba is okay," "It's really unsettling," "It's unpredictable. I can't wait to see what happens next," "There's a suspicious person behind Hakuba just before the end. Who could it be?", "Matilda is just such a dangerous woman," and "What's better if we don't know... what happened then?"
The original story and screenplay for the drama was written by Ryota Furusawa. It is a "youth-recovering human comedy" that depicts the reunion and rebirth of two middle-aged men who were both passionate about making kung fu movies when they were in junior high school in 1988, but now feel like their lives have reached a dead end, thinking "this isn't how it was supposed to be."
