TSKR Episode 7 (TV Drama)
Template:Movie infobox Hot Summer Martha (ホットサマー・マーサ, Hotto Samā Māsa) is the seventh episode of the TV Drama series Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. It adapts the one-shot Hot Summer Martha.
In this episode, Rohan Kishibe discovers a strange shine while walking his dog Bakin. After a strange event, Rohan returns home, only to meet a woman named Eve in his own bed.
Summary
The episode opens on a school of fish swimming in the sea, which is quickly revealed to be a scene from a virtual reality set. Rohan Kishibe is recalled out of the scene by two agents who have come to his house to advertise their VR set. One of the agents praises the sense of realism brought by the device and explains to him that his company have good hopes for the sales of their product. Furthermore, they expect that Rohan's full endorsement will boost the sales, given that he is a popular manga artist whose works reach across several generations. Rohan concedes that the video was indeed very realistic, which pleases the agent, but also criticizes that it doesn't offer the full experience. He notes that he was able to breathe and wouldn't be able to die even while looking at an underwater world. The agents candidly dismiss Rohan's criticism, and even suggest that he would be able to gather material from all over the world for his stories with the VR headset. This vexes Rohan, who angrily explains that he always seeks the real thing to bring realism into his stories, even the most bizarre ones, otherwise his readers would stop reading his works. Rohan then laments that even he cannot make proper research on death as it would prevent him from continuing his manga. The agents try to quickly leave, and the senior whispers that they will simply write a fake review and apologize to Rohan later for the "mistake". Rohan stops them, asking if they plan on deceiving his readership. Though the agents deny it, Rohan turns them into books with his ability, Heaven's Door. Rohan explains that his gift allows him to turn people into books, read their bios on the pages, and write on them if he wishes to imprint commands into their souls. Rohan reads the bio of the senior agent, seeing that he planned on exploiting Rohan and use a fake review, and thus commands him to use Rohan's review of the VR headset as is. Rohan looks at the junior agent and notes that he is a fan, and thus humourously writes an autograph on his forehead with a marker.
Six months later in July, Rohan himself confined in his house in the middle of summer. Talking on the phone with his editor Kyoka Izumi, Rohan laments his inability to gather material outside for his stories and dismisses a suggestion to have online interviews because it would be hard for him to get a real feeling of the other person. At the same time, Rohan brings water to his little dog Bakin and accidentally spills some water which he quickly wipes away. Izumi misremembers the dog's name is "Dokin", prompting Rohan to angrily correct her. Izumi happily says that she didn't expect Rohan to get a dog and asks if he's received the box of treats for Bakin. Rohan quips that Bakin didn't like them, to which Izumi compliments the dog on his gourmet palate.
Izumi asks Rohan to switch to video calling and shows him a sketch of "Hot Summer Martha", a new character Rohan plans on putting in his manga "Pink Dark Boy". Izumi suggests that Rohan's design is problematic from a copyright standpoint and that he could be accused of plagiarism and thus suggests to change the design of the character. Rohan angrily answers that a design involving three circles is something that even the ancient Celts used. Still, Izumi insists because Hot Summer Martha black color and round ears make it too similar to a certain character. Rohan retorts that the big balls are its eyes.
Rohan is interrupted by a woman calling him from his frontyard. Coming to his window, Rohan salutes the woman, a fan smitten with him and who is elated to see him again. She shows him her pet snake and bearded dragon, to whom Rohan apparently gave autographs already. Trying to be polite as he can, Rohan tells her not to trespass on his property and she leaves. Izumi asks what is going and Rohan explains that she followed him from the veterinarian's office. Izumi wants to have a word with the fan, suggesting to Rohan that he changes the locks and adds security cameras to his house. Rohan tries to refuse but he accidentally bumps on his desk and spills ink on one of his pages. Rohan loses it, exasperated by the mask he has to wear whenever he talks to somebody. Rohan regrets not being able to go outside and experience the world, and decides to stop his online meeting with Kyoka to take Bakin for a walk. In her office, Kyoka notes that Rohan has been acting strangely because of the stress, and remains determined to change Hot Summer Martha's design to avoid the cancellation of "Pink Dark Boy". She also orders new security devices for Rohan.
This section requires expansion.
Cast
Manga/Drama Differences
- Added a scene in the beginning with agents having Rohan try out a VR headset and attempting to get him to endorse their product. Rohan refuses since the experience has no reality to it.
- Removed the scene of Rohan looking out the window with Bakin and seeing the rain only falling on Mutsu-kabe Hill.
- Changed Rohan dropping Bakin's jar of food and the glass breaking to him spilling some water and changing the bowls instead.
- Added extra dialogue during Kyoka's conversation with Rohan on the phone, where she calls his dog "Dokin" and says she never expected him to get a dog. She sent Rohan a treat box but Bakin didn't like it.
- Changed Rohan saying he would call Kyoka back in his workroom to Kyoka asking if they can switch to doing a video call.
- Added Rohan saying that Eve found his house by following him from the vet's office.
- Added Kyoka telling Rohan to change the locks and add security cameras.
- Changed Rohan knocking over his ink with his elbow to bumping into the table and having it spill instead.
- Removed Rohan explicitly mentioning COVID-19.
- Added a scene of Kyoka saying that Rohan must be stressed lately and her being motivated to do something about Hot Summer Martha's design, as well as ordering new keys for Rohan's house.
- Added a scene of Bakin whimpering at the crossroads that leads to the shrine, which causes Rohan to go investigate there.
- Removed Rohan mentioning the fact about the vessels in giant tree trunks being hollowed out when they're more than a few hundred years old.
- Changed the stones sealing off the sacred tree to a bamboo fence.
- Added Bakin whimpering when Rohan got near the mirror.
- Removed the priests sweeping nearby after Rohan looks at the mirror.
- Changed Rohan looking at his phone to check the time before heading back home to seeing it after he receives all the text messages from Kyoka.
- Removed Rohan drinking water from his fridge.
- Changed Rohan hearing Eve's footsteps behind him to hearing her laugh and talk to Mu instead.
- Changed Mu to a bearded dragon instead of a crocodile, and Eve has a snake with her as well.
- Eve doesn't carry Mu to show Rohan when she tells him that she borrowed his shirt.
- Rearranged the scene of Rohan looking at the security camera and seeing Yabubako-Hoshi with Eve to happen later after the second time skip.
- Removed Rohan saying he doesn't hear any cicadas outside.
- Removed Rohan's monologue about wondering whether he's crazy and how it doesn't make sense that time jumped from July to October.
- Added the girls walking behind Rohan mentioning that they wish they could take their masks off since they're getting mask acne.
- Rearranged some dialogue in Rohan's conversation with the priests.
- Added the priests mentioning that crossroads have long been considered dangerous after Rohan says he got to the shrine from the crossroads, due to legends of the Tsujigami yokai.
- Changed the condition of turning the mirror one turn to the left to being three turns instead, since 3 is an auspicious number.
- Changed Rohan using Heaven's Door to turn the mirror to having him enter through the back entrance of the shrine instead, so that Yabubako-Hoshi wouldn't see him.
- Added a scene of Kyoka trying to call Rohan but him not answering. She goes to his house to bring him a sample of the Hot Summer Martha figure.
- Added scene of Kyoka sitting in Rohan's chair and admiring the Hot Summer Martha figure with Eve watching her, whereas Eve only mentioned Kyoka doing so in the manga.
- Added Rohan noticing the security camera at his house and wondering when Kyoka installed it there.
- Changed Mu's guts ripped out by Bakin into being Eve's snake ripped apart instead.
- The second time skip happens because Rohan's image reflected on a pot which then reflected on the mirror, instead of Yabubako-Hoshi seeing Heaven's Door.
- Eve tosses Rohan's phone away instead of kicking it.
- Added Eve seeing the Yabubako-Hoshi version of Rohan use Heaven's Door on a deliveryman.
- Added Eve sitting on top of Rohan and asking if he wants to read her mind, before deciding it's not fair that he does while she doesn't get to read his.
- Removed Rohan thinking to himself about Yabubako-Hoshi and nothing being able to control people dying and being born.
- Added Rohan writing an order on Eve's book that she will not commit any crimes.
- Removed the Yabubako-Hoshi version of Eve visiting Rohan and Rohan returning Mu to her.
- Added Kyoka telling Bakin that she'll take him and Maron to a dog run next time.
- Added kids reading Pink Dark Boy and thinking Hot Summer Martha is a cool villain.
Gallery
Rohan and Bakin
References
