The 31st episode of NHK's evening drama "Someday, in Zero Gravity Sky" (General TV, Monday to Thursday 10:45pm), starring actor Kiriyu Aso, was broadcast on October 29th. In the episode, Asuka (Kiryu) and his crew's artificial satellite "HIKARI" was released into space with a "slippery sound," and Kanazawa Sui (Daiken Okudaira) revealed his "new dream," attracting the attention of viewers.
In the drama, four girls from the astronomy club who shared their dream of "going to space together" in high school suddenly reunite with their forgotten dreams as they go their separate ways as adults. "If we had a micro-satellite, maybe even we could aim for space today..." Encouraged by their "older selves," they begin their second youth...
In the 31st episode, October 2025 marks the day when the artificial satellite will finally be released into space. Asuka, along with Amane (Katayama Yuki), Haruko (Ito Marika), and the other university students, watches the departure of "HIKARI." It will take several days to see images of the Earth from the satellite, so Asuka and the others patiently wait for the moment. Meanwhile, Asuka hears about Sui's new dream...
Sui's new dream is to work at JAXA. In front of Asuka, he starts by saying, "Come to think of it... I was thinking about looking for a job after I get my PhD," and Sui, who said that this experience made him think, "It wouldn't be bad to aim for space with someone," says, "I want to join JAXA." He continues, "There are so many things about space that haven't been explained yet, right? So I want to clarify them with something I've created. That's why I want to be involved in developing planetary probes and things like that."
Asuka is moved by Sui's story. Meanwhile, the moment arrives when the photograph of Earth taken from space is complete. Though it is still only at the "reflection level," Asuka says happily, "But... it's still amazing. After all, this is an Earth that only we have been able to see. Our artificial satellite, Hikari, went into space, saw Earth from space with that camera, and now we are seeing it. That's amazing, isn't it?" Amane nods, and Haruko agrees, saying, "If you think of it as our own Earth, it's something to love, isn't it?"... and so on.
On social media, people were saying things like, "Mochizuki's expression is sooooooo wonderful! That's right, the Earth was seen by only those who had worked hard!" and "It's a little out of focus, but it was a great way to summarise our Earth." Other comments included, "Kanazawa-kun is also moving forward. I see, so he wants to join JAXA," "Kanazawa-kun has opened up so much, even talking about his dreams for the future," and "I had no idea Kanazawa-kun was the kind of kid who would talk about his dreams so much... (tears)."
With only one episode left of the drama and the final episode coming up on the 30th, viewers were feeling increasingly sad, saying things like, "Wow, I can't believe it's the final episode tomorrow," "So it's ending tomorrow...," "Ahh, it's finally ending tomorrow," and "I can't imagine it ending tomorrow."
