The final episode of the Fuji TV Monday Getsuku drama "Canned Mackerel Goes to Space," starring actor Takumi Kitamura , aired on June 22nd. A scene in which Shunichi Asano (Kitamura), who has watched over the "Canned Mackerel Space Food Project" for 15 years, expresses his gratitude to Nami Sugawara ( Natsuki Deguchi), one of the project's first participants, became a hot topic on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
It has been decided that canned mackerel will be loaded onto a resupply ship launched from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture towards the International Space Station (ISS). Asano and four other fifth-year students head to Tanegashima to witness the launch, but it is postponed due to unforeseen problems.
Nami conveyed her heartfelt feelings as a first-generation student to Asano, saying, "I think the reason I'm able to enjoy being a teacher here is all thanks to you, Sensei. It's because I met you."
Asano responded with gratitude, saying, "If anything, I should be the one thanking you." He recalled seeing Nami dancing happily when he first started as a new teacher, saying, "Her smile was really wonderful, and I wanted to see more of it. Those joyful moments of the students. It's been 15 years since then... I've really seen so many."
He then added, "But I think that's all thanks to meeting Sugawara-san back then. So thank you." Taken aback by Asano's sudden "confession," Nami tried to cover it up by saying, "What? Are you trying to make me cry? Seriously, stop it, I'm trying to get rid of your tears. Until I send a can of mackerel into space."
After that, the canned mackerel finally made it into space. Astronaut Manaka (played by Yoshio Inoue) was shown eating the canned mackerel in a live broadcast, watched by Asano and the students who were involved in its development.
Social media was buzzing with comments like, "At that time, Nami's dance and smile really saved me," "It was a great drama. I almost cried during the scene where they flew into space," "Seeing Astronaut Manaka happily eating the canned mackerel filled me with a sense of accomplishment, as if I were a part of the production process," and "Manaka's live broadcast was so moving. I'm glad everyone's feelings connected and they were able to send the canned mackerel into space."
Inoue was in charge of the narration for this film. Comments such as "From narration to astronaut," "I was surprised to see Yoshio Inoue narrating about the canned mackerel," and "I'm going to cry seeing him go from watchful narration to live food tasting" spread.
