The seventh episode of the drama series "The Hot Spot" (NTV, Sunday 10:30 pm), starring actress Ichikawa Mikako, was broadcast on February 23rd. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that Murakami Hiroki (Fumiyo Kohinata) works, is actually a "man from the future." The appearance of a man from the future following an alien caused a stir on social media, with many people assimilating the story to a popular light novel that was also made into an anime.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In episode 7, Kiyomi is working at the hotel's front desk while chatting with her colleague Eri (Maki Sakai). As Kiyomi and Eri are having a self-deprecating conversation about how "the people who stay at our hotel are the ones who couldn't get a reservation elsewhere," a student preparing for entrance exams, Takahiro Uemura (Mamoru Hagiwara), who had stayed at the hotel before, comes to stay again with his family. Meanwhile, Kiyomi and Eri are told by Murakami, a long-term guest, that he is staying at the hotel because he used to be a guest here and has fond memories of the hotel... and so the story unfolds.
Later in the story, Murakami reveals to Kiyomi that the hotel will soon be gone. Kiyomi is eager to hear more, and Murakami says, "I'm going to tell you a story that may seem hard to believe, but can you please listen to it until the end?" He then reveals, "The reason I know that the hotel will be gone is because... I'm actually from the future."
On social media, the appearance of Murakami, a man from the future, following Kiyomi's co-worker, the alien Takahashi (played by Akihiro Kakuta), led to many comments that were reminiscent of Nagaru Tanigawa's popular light novel "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," which features characters who claim to be aliens, people from the future, and psychics. Comments such as "It's like Haruhi Suzumiya!", "It's starting to look like Haruhi... I wish there were psychics in this," "It was an older man version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," "Aliens and people from the future are just like Haruhi," "Is The Hot Spot the Reiwa version of Haruhi Suzumiya?" and "The Hot Spot is starting to seem like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Senior version. Next up is a psychic," were posted, creating a buzz.
