With Hana Kimura dead, will Netflix's 'Terrace House:Tokyo' ever return for Part 4?
Professional wrestler, Hana Kimura died on Saturday, May 23. The cause of death of the 22-year-old is still not revealed, however, per the BBC, Kimura published a series of posts to social media on Friday, May 22 implying that she had been cyber-bullied. She had also recently posted a series of troubling tweets, one of which, according to a fan translation, read that she didn’t “want to be a human anymore.” “Thank you to everyone who supported me,” read another message, which also implied that she had been cyberbullied. “I love it. I’m weak, I’m sorry.” The news of her death was broken by her company, Ring Stardom.
Apart from being a wrestler, Kimura was also a contestant on the reality show 'Terrace House: Tokyo'. The unscripted reality show on Netflix required three attractive women and equally handsome men to stay under one roof and see where their interpersonal relationships go. What's different about the show is that participants can keep their day job, can meet friends, and come and go out as they please. All this while a couple of panelists sit in a lounge and comment on every move of the participants, trying to bring in laughs, at the cost of the participants and their behavior. Kimura was a part of the current cast, after joining in on the season on Episode 20 after a female contestant quit the show. The last season saw Kimura heartbroken over Ryo Tawatari before Kai Kobayashi stepped in to save the day and sweep Kimura off her feet. However, in the current season that still has to hit Netflix globally, Kimura said certain things to a co-contestant that didn't go down well with the fans and she was subjected to a lot of negativity on social media.
While the production of the show was halted like the rest because of the coronavirus pandemic, episodes 39-44 of 'Terrace House: Tokyo' was previously scheduled to debut in Japan starting next Monday, June 1. However, after news of Kimura's death broke, Netflix Japan announced on Twitter, that they are halting the release as well. Will the show ever be able to revive from the loss of Kimura who was subjected to infinite hate on social media because of some things she did and said on the show that the makers decided to put on the episode, only time will tell.