Cool Even When He’s Clumsy! Hokuto Matsumura’s Scene-Stealing Performance Has Fans Hooked

〈A little unsettling, yet somehow refreshingly summery〉

“Ow, ow, ow.”

The man walking with a pained expression, clutching his shoulder, is Hokuto Matsumura (31) of SixTONES. In mid-July, filming for the currently airing drama “Confession: The Secret of the 25th Year” (Nippon TV) was taking place in a plaza in front of a station somewhere in Yokohama.

“Confession is an original romantic suspense drama written by Mako Watanabe (39), the screenwriter behind last April’s drama ‘Love Is Darkness’ (Nippon TV). Matsumura plays the protagonist, Sota Yukimura, a man who has continued to love one woman for many years while secretly watching over her.

“Sota appears to be a harmless, almost invisible type of man who can’t make eye contact when speaking to people. But driven entirely by his desire to protect the heroine, Mariko Nose (played by Sae Okazaki, 30), his obsessive, almost stalker-like behavior toward her gradually escalates.” — TV magazine writer

On social media, the drama has received considerable praise, with comments such as “It has this really good creepy vibe, and it reminds me once again how good his acting is” and “The role is a perfect match for Matsumura’s image as a cool but introverted guy.”

“Is Sota’s love and his actions genuine devotion, or are they madness? And when those feelings finally reach the person they’re intended for, will pure love arrive as pure love, or will it arrive transformed into madness? Or will it be perceived as madness from the very beginning? It’s a drama that feels slightly unsettling, yet somehow carries the refreshing atmosphere of summer, creating a fascinating balance.” — Matsumura, introducing the drama’s appeal on July 11, 2026

Matsumura describes the drama this way on Nippon TV’s official website, and true to his words, there is something distinctly unsettling about the actions of Sota, his character.

During the opening shoot described above, Matsumura filmed a scene in which he stood motionless in a park at night with a deeply troubled expression. He had the aura of the kind of handsome man who looks good no matter what he does, but in the next scene, he clutched his waist and shoulder, contorted his face in agony, spread his legs awkwardly, and suddenly took off running with all his might. Even that appearance somehow had an endearing quality to it—and was almost charmingly cool.

In the “ViVi National Treasure Handsome Ranking: First Half of 2026,” announced on July 15, Matsumura was inducted into the Hall of Fame in all three major categories: NOW, NEXT, and ADULT. The appeal of this drama lies precisely in having such an exceptionally handsome star play a slightly strange protagonist. Even those who aren’t fans will be curious to see where the story goes.

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