Difference between revisions of "The Hot Spot"

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Drama: The Hot Spot
Romaji: Hotspot
Japanese: ホットスポット
Director: Itaru Mizuno, Nobuyoshi Yamada, Kento Matsuda
Writer: Bakarhythm
Network: NTV
Episodes: 10
Release Date: January 12 - March 16, 2025
Runtime: Sunday 22:30
TV Ratings: 5.8%
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Kiyomi Endo (Mikako Ichikawa) is a single mother living in a town at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture. She works at a business hotel. One day, she happens to meet an alien. If she was a pure-hearted girl, she would probably try develop a friendship with the alien and fight against injustice in the world, but she's a little different. As an adult, she has experienced good and bad in the world. She asks the alien to solve minor events at her work or in her personal life without upsetting the alien.

Notes

"Hotspot" takes over NTV's Sunday 22:30 time slot previously occupied by "Colors of Sisterhood" and followed by "I'm a D-list Handler" on April 20, 2025.

Cast



Mikako Ichikawa	Akihiro Kakuta	Kaho	Shunya Shiraishi	Maki Sakai
Kiyomi Endo	Kosuke Takahashi	Yumi Isomura	Mitsuru Onodera	Eri Sawada



Kayo Noro	Naoki Tanaka	Fumiyo Kohinata	Shin Shimizu	Takeo Seto
Kozue Nakamoto	Takahiro Okuda	Fumio Murakami	Shiro Maruyama	Takumi Miyamoto



Anne Suzuki	Kami Hiraiwa	Moeno Sumida
Hazuki Nakamura	Minami Hibino	Wakaba Endo

Additional Cast Members:

Kaori Mizushima - restaurant employee
Kentaro Tamura - Shinichi Okada
Shoichiro Tanigawa - taxi driver
Mamoru Hagiwara - Takahiro Uemura
Oshiro Maeda - Shogo Matsuzaki
Kyoka - Shiori Amamiya
Toru Nomaguchi - hot spring guest → Kyosuke Takahashi (ep.1,8)
Shin Shimizu - Shiro Maruyama (ep.1)
Nozomi Bando - woman (ep.1)
Sumire Ashina - Mitsue Fujita (ep.2)
Kaito Yoshimura - Eito Yasukawa (ep.4)
Hiroko Nakajima - Kanako Kokubo (ep.4)
Zuru Onodera - Nozaki (ep.4)
Kazuma Takeda - supermarket employee (ep.4-5)
Chiaki Kawamo - Shirayama (ep.5,7)
Hidekazu Mashima - Yoshiyuki Niiza (ep.5,7)
Yoshihiro Kasuya - taxi driver (ep.5)
Katsuya - Satoru Morimoto (ep.6)
Man Kato - regular customer (ep.6)
Koji Ookura - Shinpei Tanaka (ep.7,10)
Mayumi Ono - Kamimura (ep.7-8)
Hihio Iwanaga - man (ep.7)
Shigehiro Yamaguchi - Takuya (ep.8)
Tenta Banka - Takuya (elementary school student - ep.8)
Tano Suzuki - Makoto Inoue (ep.8)
Sakura Ando - Hiroko Takahashi (ep.8)
Yoneko Matsukane - Hiroko Takahashi (old - ep.8)
Tomoya Maeno - Minoken / Kenji Minoda (ep.9-10)
Hiroshi Okochi - former mayor (ep.9)
Shohei Abe - Saeki (ep.9)
Sanae Miyata - Shinozaki (ep.9)
Koichiro Tomioka - department manager (ep.9)
Toko Miura - Tominokoji (ep.10)
Kai Inowaki - Nobuteru Terada (ep.10)
Louis Yamada the 53rd - tv show guest (ep.10)
Nuno Uraji - ghost (ep.10)
Koji Yamamoto - Furuta (ep.10)

Episode Ratings

Episode	Date	Ratings (Kanto Region)
01	01/12/2025	5.6%
02	01/19/2025	5.9%
03	01/26/2025	5.3%
04	02/02/2025	5.8%
05	02/09/2025	5.7%
06	02/16/2025	5.6%
07	02/23/2025	5.5%
08	03/02/2025	5.9%
09	03/09/2025	6.7%
10	03/16/2025	5.6%
Average		5.8%

Source: Video Research, Ltd.

Comments

Un modeste admirateur Dec 08 2025 3:30 pm «The Hot Spot» is such a powerful comedy, but that intentionally tries to hide its powers, much like the E.T. in the story. Never abrupt or over-the-top, it presents subtle slices of life, all in finesse, and at the humble pace of life in a provincial town. If you are a viewer from the big city, you have to slow down, and be more humble yourself, before you can enjoy the show. But if you manage to do so, «The Hot Spot» instantly becomes a pure delight, and one of the best dramas of 2025.

Wolfie Jun 25 2025 7:22 am This should be in top ten list! Or is it already?

Niji karasu Apr 25 2025 3:35 am I love this series so much... The jokes are deadpan yet hilarious.. if you like this series i recommend you to watch another japanese drama titled 'Rebooting' it's on netflix. It has very similar vibes and jokes , also lots of actors in hot spot is also in this drama

MirInMiami Apr 11 2025 8:47 pm This show has a certain charm--the lowkey humor, the setting, and the actors do a great job. But the women constantly taking advantage of the alien guy asking for favors without much consideration for HIM comes across as pretty selfish and makes them annoying.

Frith Barbat Apr 02 2025 2:40 pm As a former hotel front desk employee, 40+ year student of Japanese, and lover of UFO phenomenology, I adored this series. The absolutely dead pan deliveries and Showa-era vibe were spot on.

Daren U.S. Apr 01 2025 9:34 pm I absolutely loved this show! The humor and soundtrack were the standout elements for me. However, the serie felt a bit too short—episode 10 seemed to be the conclusion, and the pacing felt somewhat rushed.

Some of the newly introduced characters lacked proper explanations, and a few mysteries surrounding the super powered people, time travelers and the alien community in Fujiyama were left to the imagination. Despite that, this show quickly became one of my favorites! And for sure I will rewatch it again.

Xfiles Mar 27 2025 4:02 am Just watching episode 9 and loving how this best kept secret has developed into a community affair. The writing, directing, acting and editing...all superb. Great job folks.

Jonathan Mar 24 2025 2:58 am What an enjoyable watch. I love the interactions between the characters. What a well written and acted drama.

Bryan Smith Feb 15 2025 7:49 pm I'm here in Sacramento, California, and I am enjoying the show. It's very inventive and very funny. I love the slow vibe that I'm sure will build up to some sort of end point evolving quite a few people. Or, it could result in more "Aliens" using the Hotels spa or hot spring. How ever it turns out, I hope that it continues with at least 24 episodes. It should be interesting and I am looking forward to more skits and trouble along the way, Good job producing this. I am so tired of run and gun shows, or emergence hospital shows, or fire fighting shows, or a mixed special with all three combined. It just shows the lack of American imagination that these "Service" type shows are the only things Americans whatch. Please continue to give us more!

Roberto Pineda Feb 02 2025 4:36 pm When I first saw this in Netflix,I just want ti try fir a few moment to see the content. Then boom it made me laugh because of what i going on. I am from California but watching it with subtitles. Very nice. First Japanese comedy this 2025 that is really fun. More power to this series.

External Links

Official Website

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 * '''Release Date:''' January 12 - March 16, 2025
 * '''Runtime:''' Sunday 22:30
+* '''TV Ratings:''' 5.8%
 * '''Language:''' Japanese
 * '''Country:''' Japan
@@ Line 65: / Line 66: @@
 |13charactername=Wakaba Endo
 }}
+'''Additional Cast Members:'''
+* [[Kaori Mizushima]] - restaurant employee
+* [[Kentaro Tamura]] - Shinichi Okada
+* [[Shoichiro Tanigawa]] - taxi driver
+* [[Mamoru Hagiwara]] - Takahiro Uemura
+* [[Oshiro Maeda]] - Shogo Matsuzaki
+* [[Kyoka (1999)|Kyoka]] - Shiori Amamiya
+* [[Toru Nomaguchi]] - hot spring guest → Kyosuke Takahashi (ep.1,8)
+* [[Shin Shimizu]] - Shiro Maruyama (ep.1)
+* [[Nozomi Bando]] - woman (ep.1)
+* [[Sumire Ashina]] - Mitsue Fujita (ep.2)
+* [[Kaito Yoshimura (1993)|Kaito Yoshimura]] - Eito Yasukawa (ep.4)
+* [[Hiroko Nakajima]] - Kanako Kokubo (ep.4)
+* [[Zuru Onodera]] - Nozaki (ep.4)
+* [[Kazuma Takeda]] - supermarket employee (ep.4-5)
+* [[Chiaki Kawamo]] - Shirayama (ep.5,7)
+* [[Hidekazu Mashima]] - Yoshiyuki Niiza (ep.5,7)
+* [[Yoshihiro Kasuya]] - taxi driver  (ep.5)
+* [[Katsuya]] - Satoru Morimoto (ep.6)
+* [[Man Kato]] - regular customer (ep.6)
+* [[Koji Ookura]] - Shinpei Tanaka (ep.7,10)
+* [[Mayumi Ono]] - Kamimura (ep.7-8)
+* [[Hihio Iwanaga]] - man (ep.7)
+* [[Shigehiro Yamaguchi]] - Takuya (ep.8)
+* [[Tenta Banka]] - Takuya (elementary school student - ep.8)
+* [[Tano Suzuki]] - Makoto Inoue (ep.8)
+* [[Sakura Ando]] - Hiroko Takahashi (ep.8)
+* [[Yoneko Matsukane]] - Hiroko Takahashi (old - ep.8)
+* [[Tomoya Maeno]] - Minoken / Kenji Minoda (ep.9-10)
+* [[Hiroshi Okochi]] -  former mayor (ep.9)
+* [[Shohei Abe (1983)|Shohei Abe]] - Saeki (ep.9)
+* [[Sanae Miyata]] - Shinozaki (ep.9)
+* [[Koichiro Tomioka]] - department manager (ep.9)
+* [[Toko Miura]] - Tominokoji (ep.10)
+* [[Kai Inowaki]] - Nobuteru Terada (ep.10)
+* [[Louis Yamada the 53rd]] - tv show guest (ep.10)
+* [[Nuno Uraji]] - ghost (ep.10)
+* [[Koji Yamamoto]] - Furuta (ep.10)
 ==Episode Ratings==

Difference between revisions of "The Hot Spot"

Latest revision as of 08:01, 5 August 2025

Contents

User Rating

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Episode Ratings

Comments

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External Links