The 48th episode of the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday at 8:00 AM and other times), starring Akari Takaishi , was broadcast on December 3rd, and viewers erupted in laughter at the words and actions of Nishikori, played by Ryo Yoshizawa.
Heaven (Tommy Bastow) has caught a cold in the cold weather of Matsue. Toki (Takaishi) is desperately nursing Heaven and praying for her recovery, when Kotani (Shimokawa Kyohei) rushes to visit her. Kotani tells Heaven that Nishikori is substituting for her class, saying, "But... Professor Heaven's class is so much more interesting! So... We all hope you'll come back as soon as possible."
Heaven, who was in bed, thanked him and said, "Thank you," and told him, "It's Nishikori-san." When Kotani turned around, he saw Nishikori. Kotani exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!", and Nishikori muttered, "Sorry, it was a boring lesson." When Kotani was confused and asked, "Since when?" Nishikori replied, "I've been here all this time." Toki, who had been watching them, explained, "When Kotani-san came, I was in the bathroom."
Kotani tried to follow up by saying, "But, um... it wasn't bad, it's been a while since I've had Professor Nishikori's class..." but Nishikori responded with a dissatisfied "'Not bad'?" Heaven seemed to sense the mood and laughed out loud along with Toki.
This was the second time Nishikori had said, "I was here the whole time." In episode 18 (broadcast October 22), there was a scene where Toki and Ginjiro (played by Kanichiro) were preparing breakfast at their Tokyo boarding house without noticing Nishikori's presence. Nishikori interrupted them, asking, "Shall we eat just the two of us today?" Toki responded, "Excuse me, you're here," to which Nishikori replied, "I was here, the whole time."
On social media, people were saying things like, "Ryo Yoshizawa is so funny it's scary," "He's a national treasure with that face, but he's so serious yet funny, it's amazing," "He's a national treasure but he has no aura," "It's so sad lol," "This is his second time since Tokyo," "I'm happy to hear him again," and "I hope they make a series out of Nishikori's '...I've been there forever'."
