The final episode of the drama series "The Hot Spot" (NTV, Sunday 10:30 pm), starring actress Ichikawa Mikako, was broadcast on March 16th. In the episode, the true identity of the new character Naomi, played by Yamada Maho, who first appeared in episode 9 and attracted much attention, was revealed, causing a stir on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In the final episode, it turns out that Haraguchi (Mariko Tsutsui), the owner of the hotel where Kiyomi (Ichikawa) works, and Mayor Umemoto (Rinko Kikuchi) are secretly connected. Kiyomi, Hatchi (Anne Suzuki), and Minapu (Kami Hiraiwa) uncover the fraud of the two men who are trying to make a huge profit by selling the hotel, and try to save the alien Takahashi (Akihiro Kakuta).
Kiyomi, Takahashi and others have a strategy meeting at their usual snack bar. In the middle of their conversation, Naomi (Yamada), who was there, says, "Well, I'm going to work soon, so I'll go," and leaves the bar. After Naomi leaves, Takahashi asks Kiyomi and the others, "Umm, can I ask you one thing?" and then asks, "Who is that person?"... and so on.
In the story, Kiyomi and the others said, "They are our classmates," and Kiyomi, who thought she had introduced them to Takahashi, was surprised and said, "Huh, I didn't introduce them?" Then, when Takahashi pointed out that Naomi was also there when he went to Haraguchi's office, Minapu explained how Naomi ended up participating, saying, "I was having lunch with Naomi this afternoon, and when I told her we were all going to get together later, she said, 'I want to go,' so I brought her."
In episode 9, Naomi was among the familiar members on the way to Haraguchi's office, but this was her first appearance, and she attracted attention on social media with people asking, "Who is that person?" With her true identity now revealed, viewers commented, "I laughed that she was just a normal friend," "Yamada Maho is the best, even though she ended up doing almost nothing," and "I laughed that Yamada Maho, who was suspected of being a ghost, was just a friend that the main characters thought they had introduced."
Yamada is also currently appearing in the Sunday Theatre Drama "Mikami Sensei" (TBS) in the role of Jigen Tamayo, the mother of Jigen Kenta (played by Airu Kubozuka), which has caused a stir on social media with comments such as "She appears out of nowhere lol," "After watching The Hot Spot I watched a recording of Mikami Sensei and Yamada Maho drove me crazy," "She's the face of Sundays this season," and "She's such a chameleon that it makes my brain spin."
