The NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake, " starring Akari Takaishi , aired its final episode on March 27th (NHK General, Monday-Saturday, 8:00 AM, etc.), bringing the six-month story to a close. The final scene showed Toki (Takaishi) telling a story to Heaven ( Tommy Bastow) before the two went for a walk. We asked producer Kuniomi Hashizume about the intention behind this scene.
In the final episode, Toki, watched over by Tsukasanosuke(Takashi Okabe) and Fumi (Chizuru Ikewaki), recounts her memories of Heaven to Jo (Rairin Sugita). The words Toki speaks then become a book called "A Record of Memories"... and that's how the story unfolds.
In the final scene, Toki and Heaven sit facing each other in a darkened room lit by candlelight. Toki says, "This is my story," to which Heaven replies, "It was wonderful, Mama." Toki smiles and asks, "Shall we go for a walk, Papa?" and Heaven nods, "Yes." Toki blows out the candle, and in the darkened screen, the couple engages in a casual conversation, bringing the story to a close.
The first episode (aired September 29, 2025) began with Toki telling Heaven the ghost story "Hoichi the Earless" in a dark room lit by candlelight, so Hashizume explained, "The very first episode started with that scene, and the last episode ended with it landing there as well."
"I'd like to leave it to your imagination as to what kind of world that is, but we didn't use any special effects makeup, and I think it's probably the two of them when they were younger, having fun conversations night after night and going for walks every night. That's where the story started, so I thought it would be nice if they returned to that place in the end. The idea that they should return to that place in the end came naturally to us, the production team, including the scriptwriter, Mitsuhiko Fujiki. I hope everyone will think about how that scene looks to them."
This scene was reportedly the last to be filmed for "Bakebake," and both Takaishi and Bastou finished their shoots together.
"Since it was the last day, everyone was laughing and crying. The staff had all gathered, and more than 10 of the cast members had traveled all the way from Tokyo for a day trip just for this wrap-up. I think it was a wonderful ending."
