The fourth episode of the Fuji TV Monday Getsuku drama "Canned Mackerel Goes to Space," starring actor Takumi Kitamura , aired on May 4th. The episode featured a development where Shunichi Asano (Kitamura), a teacher at Wakasa Fisheries High School, and Makoto Kijima (Ryunosuke Ryunosuke Kamiki), who is in charge of developing Japanese space food at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), finally connect, generating excitement on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
The development of space food will continue with new members: Miyai Megumi (played by Hayase Tsubasa Nakagawa), Hayakawa Itsuki (played by Nakagawa Tsubasa), and Kuwata Mio (played by Ashikawa Yuzu), all students from Wakasa Fisheries High School. Asano contacted Minagawa Yuki (played by Sonim), a JAXA employee, and asked for her cooperation.
After completing the improved canned mackerel, Asano and the others had the opportunity to talk with Kijima. On the day of the web conference, Kijima listened to Megumi and the others' explanation and, while acknowledging their efforts, emphasized that "safety is the top priority for space food." He stressed that it was important that the food would not scatter or interfere with equipment, and that "taste comes second." However, Megumi refused to budge, saying, "But I don't want to eat anything that tastes bad."
After that, Megumi and the others changed their approach and created a prototype of space caramel for space food, which they sent to Yuki. When Kijima received the caramel from Yuki, he put one in his mouth and felt a sense of accomplishment.
Social media was buzzing with comments like, "Asano-sensei and Kijima-san have finally met," "It's finally getting interesting now that Ryunosuke Kamiki is involved," "It's so exciting to see Kamiki-kun's heart being moved," and "Cool Kijima-san is really cool, but I'm looking forward to seeing how Kijima-san will change a little after meeting the high school student."
The drama is an original coming-of-age story based on the true story of students at a fisheries high school in Fukui Prefecture who challenged themselves to achieve their big dream of "developing space food."
