Viewership ratings (Average) : 17.3% (Kanto), 17.2% (Kansai)
Viewership ratings (for the SP) : 18.4%
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Notes:
~ These reviews for every episode were done on my friendster profile in 2007 during the airing of "Proposal Daisakusen".
~ Please pardon any grammatical errors found because some were done in a rush (and I'm lazy to edit any now).
~ Any quotes are from subs by Love Song.
~ Click on the [~~] title [~~] for each episode to reveal the review.
~ Oh, yeah. Some of the title were loosely translated with online translator so it might not be the same as the one on wiki d-addicts (at that time no one updated the titles on wiki and I have to fill in sth as the title.)
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Episode 1 [Rating: 4/5]
~~ You can get married if you can go to the baseball championship!? ~~
Been looking forward to this latest YamaP drama(!) *Thumbs up* *Yay!*
It's about Iwase Ken who actually likes his long-time friend, Yoshida Rei but never had the chance to tell her his feelings. Till the day she gets married to someone else, then only he realise that he loves her very much. As a slide show of Rei's past photos are shown during the wedding party, Ken started reminiscing the events behind the photos. A yousei (fairy) appeared as he wished hardly to go back to that particular event to change the ending.
I think every eps will be about changing the events behind the photos to see if Ken would have gotten Rei if he did sth in the past.
As this is a jdrama (unique endingS), I doubt that I'll get to see Ken with Rei in the end. It might be that all what is happening is only in his mind bcos he was drinking when the yousei came to him. Maybe he's drunk. Or maybe he's just dreaming. The moral of the story might be: "You can't change the past, but you can change the future. So get on your feet, & do STH rather than slacking off!"
I've always wanted to see how YamaPi & Nagasawa Masami will be if they act as lovers in a drama since I watched them in Dragon Zakura. They had chemistry there although they were not together.
The photo altered in this eps is a photo taken after a baseball competition where Ken's team lost the game. Rei was their team manager & it was the first time Ken saw her crying. Ken who went back in time managed to make her happy (resign without regrets) before the photo was taken.
Ah.. his character here is a mix of his past characters, most notably his Akira-ness, which I love so much. The only thing I hate to see here is the scene Ken smoking. (I HATE SMOKERS)
Episode 2 [Rating: 4/5]
~~ You can get married through coffee milk!? ~~
In this episode, Ken was clueless of what he did in the past that caused Rei to be angry with him. But in the end, he managed to change the picture to a smiling Rei.
From the review of Eps 2 in the previous episode, I doubted that 'coffee milk' will make any difference to their relationship. Then after watching the whole story, actually it's not really about the drink - it's about Ken's birthday present!
Ken who went back to the past became fussy over the coffee milk he promised her & he forgot to look inside the CD Rei gave her back. He realised the clue to his present at the end of the day & went to the library toretreiveretrieve it. Rei was happy to see he has found it.
There's more running in this eps for Ken. He can't seem to get hold on any bottles of the drink.
I love the friendship between Ken, Rei, Mikio, Eri & Tsuru. (they reminds me of a friendship that I wish I have. haha.)
Episode 3 [Rating: 4/5]
~~ You can get married if you switch seats? ~~
Tada Tetsuya (the one Rei's getting married to) actually became Ken's "love rival" since Ken's school days... This Tada-san worked as their temp. teacher & he sure is a boring teacher - they don't like him (until sth Ken did)..
As Ken is back to the past, he resisted doing that "sth". [Ken found a paper (Tada's) with drawings about them (funny ones which could make them like him)] But in the end, he did still reveal that paper & they gave Tada-san a proper goodbye on his last day in school.
Although I like Maths, I don't like how they relate Maths with Tada-san.. I found Tada's character almost boring in this eps.. (but he'll be back in the next eps)
I like that "Ken-zou" story. Apparently, only Rei alone called Ken, Ken-zou (zou is not a part of his name.) Tada asked Ken why & Ken remembered that he gave Rei half of his eraser before (Rei thought his name was Ken-zou cos the eraser originally was written his name & his class). They had a fight before but made up later on after Ken give half of his eraser once again. Rei realised her mistake & laughed embarrassingly...
Unfortunately, the photo Ken changed this time seem to brought Rei & Tada-san more closer. (At least he's not crying in the new photo...)
Episode 4 [Rating: 5/5]
~~ You can get married by giving the second button? ~~
Oh, I love this episode! It's their high school graduation day! Made me cry in the end!
Do you know why it has to be the second button?
Rei said: "It's the second one because it's the nearest to the heart... The uniform is sth you wear all the time in high school, right? That's why the second button is chocked full of that person's feelings." [Love Song's subs]
Surprisingly, I found Eri to be less annoying in this eps, which made me like her for a while.
The opening scene reminds me a bit of Kurosagi. Yamapi's reactions were Kurosaki-like & added with this scene--- [Love Song's subs]
Yousei(fairy): Do you know of this movie 'The Graduate' by Dustin Hoffman?
Ken: The one where he ran off with the bride in the middle of the wedding?
Yousei: I actually lived in that church for a while.
Ken: You're serious?!
Yousei: Of course I'm kidding! You should be careful not to get involved in any scams.
Ken: *pointing at the yousei* Shirosagi?!
...it's hard not to say,"Hey, that's from Kurosagi!"
So did Rei manage to get Ken's second button? Yes & no. She didn't get the school uniform ones - instead Ken let her have the second button from his baseball uniform (or whatever you call it).. that meant much too cos she was their baseball team manager..
p/s: 5 stars for this one for making me cry
Episode 5 [Rating: 4/5]
~~ He who waits until tomorrow to do things is an idiot? ~~
I like Rei's grandpa! He was just so full of energy & doesn't like to procrastinate! He came all the way from Hiroshima to visit his granddaughter without bringing anything with him.
Well, to sum it up, Eps 5 is more on making Ken realise that you can't wait until to tomorrow to do things - or you'll have regrets later. And besides that, another issue in this eps is who stole Rei's first kiss... which actually was Ken himself (during elementary school, I think). It was an accidental kiss & Ken didn't even remember it. Nevertheless, he stole her first kiss once again before they took photo. He got slapped twice this time but Rei was smiling in the photo. So you can say it ended quite perfectly...
But in the next eps, the slideshow will show more Tada & Rei's couple photos... I wonder how could Ken get back in time to change things with such photos? (hm...Maybe the picture will not be there anymore..)
So far, I still can't see any changes on the present.. Tada & Rei are still sitting together as newly-weds... I hate to think that they'll end this dorama with Rei still marrying that Tada-san..
Episode 6 [Rating: 3/5]
~~ What do you "graduate from" on the last day you become a teenager? ~~
Funny how the yousei relate Ken with the photos of the couple. Just because the photo they took during the world cup (in the previous eps) was on the wall behind Tada & Rei, it's counted as "Ken is in the photo."
The fact that Tada & Rei are getting closer makes me down. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating... but I hate that something hasn't happen between Rei & Ken yet - & now, Tada is here to ruin their chance to be together (if there's any...)
This eps seem to lack Ken's involvement, it focused more on Rei's story.. Rei did, once, had the courage to confess her feelings (through a letter) to Ken, yet coincidentally, he was absent that day! (Stupid Ken!)
& I started wondering WHAT WAS KEN THINKING IN THE PAST? Mikio said sth about sometimes he saw Ken treating Rei nicely (I guess that was when he went back in time to 'improve' the photos ba..) That means he didn't seem to care much about Rei in the past. He must be thinking that Rei will always be around him, that she'll wait for him to confess tohimher (which he never did). And only when Rei's getting married, he realised that she is important to him. What the heck is wrong with him?
This is something everyone should always keep in mind: Express yourself honestly, let others know your feelings before it's too late.
Okay *calms down*. I'm not really that angry with Ken. But this kind of thing is what people in this world always do. You don't always (or never will) get opportunity to travel back to the past to repair the mess you left behind.
Rating: It's 3.5 stars this time, but I'm gonna put it as 3 stars.
Episode 7 [Rating: 4/5]
~~ Since when did love & fireworks scatter together? ~~
This is, in my opinion, another 'weak' episode for Ken. There's not much changes done by him except letting Tsuru & Eri become closer (they are a couple in the future!)..
At first, he went back to the past hoping to confess to Rei before Tada did. But he failed.. & it ended with Ken not wanting to do any time-slipping anymore. It was sad to see him give up like that.. until Mikio said sth to Ken in the end. Mikio, in the past, seem to accept the fact that Ken did came from the future - if he had realised it earlier, he would have help him. But Ken from the future never return since Tada's confession. (Which means he'll be back to do his 'Hallelujah Chance' in the next eps)
There were some funny bits such as in the beginning where Ken started doing his 'Hallelujah Chance!' & quickly jumped into saying 'nooooo' yet nothing happened (He was too excited at that time, I guess).
I still dislike Tada.
I really love the friendship between Ken, Mikio, Tsuru, Rei, & Eri. To me, their story shines the most in every episode.
Episode 8 [Rating: 5/5]
~~ Shedding Tears on New Year's Eve ~~
Good Episode! I like it!
Another good friendship story!
Those 5 always celebrate New Year's Day together. But this year, something is different... Tada & Rei are together now & he joined them... Ken, knowing that it was his worst new year day in the future, decided not to go this time.. & spent his new year day alone...
Mikio didn't help much actually this time, but it was funny to see his reaction in the beginning. His cellphone was ringing & Ken told him Mikio's girlfriend will propose to him on the phone. Then he picked up, "Ne~ Will you marry me?" she said. Mikio answered,"I'll call you later," in a cool way & burst out, "KEN, you have supernatural powers??" Baka Mikio.
Anyway. New Year celebration was never the same without Ken with them. So they returned to Ken's house & waited for him there.
Ken was playing hard to win a "Don't Knock New York" handbag for Rei... He came to a conclusion that it was not easy for him to forget Rei & his feelings toward her just like that. *I cried seeing his tears~~*
Episode 9 [Rating: 4/5]
~~ What's there to gamble in the last moment? ~~
Last photo? No, not really. Thanks to Mikio, Ken has another 'Hallelujah Chance'!
The (supposed to be) last photo was after Rei accepted Tada's proposal. The changes Ken made to the past was not much except that he finally told Rei about his feelings (somewhat-lah). He asked Rei not to marry Tada but he ended up saying the same thing before where Rei replied,"Even though we've always been so close to each other, Ken-zou really doesn't understand a thing."
It's a quite good episode and the funny elements are still there. There's a lot of motivational phrases mentioned:
"There's no harm in trying."
"Look around you. Things that you think won't work, if all of them really end up failing, your life can't go on. It's not like that, right? The occasional success when you try is what's interesting in life."
"It's expected if you fail, but you're a real man if you succeed."
The best scene will be the scene Tsuru finally gets to date Eri.
"Please marry me!"
"No."
"Then, please be my bride!"
"I said no."
"You don't want to be my bride?"
"No."
"Then.... please make miso soup for me everyday."
"No."
"Even if I'm reborn, I want to marry you!"
"No."
"Then, would you go out with me?"
"Yep."
"Eh? Please go out with me."
"Okay!"
[Love Song's sub]
Episode 10 and 11 *FINAL* [Rating: 5/5]
~~ Last Hallelujah Chance! What miracle will a teary confession make? ~~
Episode 10 & 11 can't be separated - both made up a "final episode" for this dorama.
Ah~ I cried a lot watching these two...
What happened in the last episode? Ken realized that the changes he made in the past didn't change the future much. He can't stop the wedding. Rei's wedding is a reality. Ken has to do something in the present if he want visible changes. (He did gain some extra hours ahead before the speech)
So he confessed to her when he gave his speech as her childhood friend at her wedding party. It was inapproriate - but for those who has been watching this from the beginning - it's perfect. He shedded tears again this time... He walked out from that place and the slideshow started again.
Watching the photos on the slideshow (which Ken had went back in time when the photo was taken & changed the events) brought back memories of their relationship to Rei. She was crying and Tada had a talk with her. He *indirectly* let her go.
She ran, ran and ran. But she can't catch up with the taxi which Ken is in. She went back to the church, crying. The yousei appeared & said something that made her run again.
And it ended.
Actually, this dorama ended like Hero and The Files of Kindaichi 3. After the ending theme finished playing, you get to see a little more story.
Ken had to push the taxi (no more fuel) all the way. Suddenly, Ken hears a familiar voice from behind, "Ken-zou!"
Well, you can assume that they would live happily ever after.
Nice.
SPECIAL DRAMA [Rating: 5/5]
Oh... It's Ken-zou again. Watching the SP was like seeing an old friend once again. Hah. For those who had watched the drama, you wouldn't want to miss this because it's really a sequel. It started from the "Ken pushing the taxi" scene. He heard some familiar voice calling "Ken-zou!" and turned... and there's Rei who just ran away from her wedding! They got on the taxi and stopped by the beach. *Oh! Love that scene!* Ken was going to kiss her but the wave stopped them and even worse, Rei lost one of her shoes. Predictably, Ken carried (piggy-back) Rei all the way on the beach.
Ken's character seems had matured much in this. He was less clumsy. Tada-sensei was more human. It's really nice to know that he has a childhood friend (female) who still cares for him.
The story this time is about Tsuru and Eri's wedding. They were to get married in Hawaii but on that day, Eri disappeared from the wedding and returned to Japan. It was really upsetting. Eri told Rei that he saw Tsuru with a lady on his off-day. She felt cheated and don't know if she can get married ignoring what she saw.
As Ken and Mikio watched the slide show Mikio had prepared, the yousei appeared again. Ken was surprised to see him there. Ken was wishing that he could warn Tsuru not to neglect Eri's feeling a week before the wedding. The yousei granted his wish. And it's "Hallelujah Chance!" again.
Ken and Mikio followed Tsuru. They saw that he went to meet many females and finally confront him at a night club.
Tsuru did something VERY touching. I won't say it because that will spoil the fun. But Ken indirectly (I said indirectly) told Eri about it and she cried... Ken was assuring her that it's nothing big, that Tsuru really care and love her just like before.
As Ken traveled back in time, he also did something he should have done earlier. He brought Rei to her parent's house and meet them. He appologized properly and told them he will definitely make Rei happy. It was a pretty tense scene but I know from Rei's dad expression that he approved of Ken.
And... In the end, after Tsuru's wedding, Ken proposed to Rei. He firstly gave her the pair of shoes she lost on the beach in Japan. He wore it for her and it seems he had picked the wrong size. Rei just laughed and said he always give her bigger things. And she showed him the ring he has long thrown away. He was surprised that she had it and Rei explained that Eri found it and gave her.
It's a perfect ending.
On the "bigger things" Rei mentioned... I think we can include his 'bigger' love to Rei too.
Very heartwarming story. Love it.
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