The fifth episode of the TV drama series "A Little Esper" (TV Asahi, Tuesdays at 9pm), starring Yo Oizumi, aired on November 18th, and the sudden turn of events at the end became a hot topic.
◇The following contains spoilers.
Bunta (Oizumi), who has "slight psychic powers," and the other members of Bit Five are given a special mission by Nonamare's president, Cho (Masaki Okada): "steal an attaché case being handed over by a certain organization and sink it into the sea." Furthermore, Bunta is the only one ordered to stay behind and is told the shocking mission: "Ten years from now, a catastrophe will occur in which 10,000 people will die. Please save those 10,000 people."
On the day of the mission, a mysterious woman, Hisajo (Mukai Yuka), appears before Bit Five accompanied by Ichimatsu (Takumi Kitamura) and Shion (Niihara Taisuke), and they interfere. The three have also become "slightly esper" and a battle over the attaché case unfolds.
Bunta, who can hear people's inner thoughts when he touches Ichimatsu during a scuffle, is shocked to hear "10 million people will die because of you." The attaché case they were fighting over is also empty.
Suddenly, a mysterious man (played by Akaji Maro) appears, points to the sky and says, "I've come to return the Junction," causing something like snow to fall, before disappearing along with Hisajyo, Ichimatsu, and Shion.
Meanwhile, Shiki (Aoi Miyazaki), who is still shocked by the tragic death of her husband, believes Bunta to be her husband, but due to a phenomenon that seems to be the influence of a mysterious man, she experiences flashbacks of the past. In Shiki's memory, for some reason, Cho is lying on the ground... and the episode ends with this.
On social media, viewers made many speculative comments such as, "Does this mean that Shiki's husband is Masaki Okada?", "It's interesting because you can't predict how the story will unfold. I wonder if Shiki's memories are the key", "There must be a memory-altering esper in this...", "Is Cho Shiki's husband, and did he bring Shiki to the present about two years ago from a future where 10,000 people died in order to change that?", and "President Nonamare wants to protect 10,000 lives vs. Akagi Maro (although we don't know yet if he's the boss) who wants to protect 10 million lives."
