The synopsis and still images for the ninth episode of the Fuji TV Monday Getsuku drama "Saba-can, Going to Space," starring actor Takumi Kitamura , which will air on June 8th, have been released.
A year and a half has passed since the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) selected the candidate for Japanese space food. Shunichi Asano (played by Kitamura), a teacher in the Marine Science Department at Wakasa Obama High School, and four students who have been developing the space food canned mackerel project—Ruka Terao (played by Aoi Ito), Nanaka Komatsuzaki (played by Kokoro Hirasawa), Kanato Takeda (played by Gengo Kimura), and Suzu Kawakami (played by Riko Ishida)—are eagerly awaiting the results of the preservation tests.
Ruka's passion for space is stronger than anyone else's, and her older brother, Sosuke (played by Kodai Kurosaki), a first-generation project participant, has watched over her, saying, "She's always had the strongest passion for space. More than anyone else."
Meanwhile, Nami Sugawara (Natsuki Deguchi), a teacher in the Department of Marine Science, was struggling to guide her students as she wished. She was particularly concerned about the somewhat empty demeanor of Ayaka Fujikura (Anji Ikehata). In middle school, Ayaka was a top-level sprinter in track and field, but an injury cost her a scholarship to university, shattering her dream.
One day, Ayaka reveals her hidden feelings to first-year student Nagisa Fukuhara (played by Touha Natsume). "I think having dreams and goals is just a waste of time. If you don't have any expectations from the start, you won't be disappointed." Nagisa, who once felt the same way, tries to encourage Ayaka to move forward, saying, "I was able to have dreams, and that made high school life so much fun."
Around the same time, at JAXA, Makoto Kijima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who is developing a "draft certification standard for Japanese space food," receives the results of preservation tests on canned mackerel and a taste test questionnaire from astronauts. Kijima himself tastes the canned mackerel and uses his five senses to determine whether it is suitable for space travel. Will Ruka and her friends be able to send canned mackerel into space in their generation?
The drama is an original coming-of-age story based on the true story of students at a fisheries high school in Fukui Prefecture who challenged themselves to achieve their big dream of "developing space food."
