Words of a MavericK

求めよ、さらば与えられん。
motomeyo, saraba ataeraren
(Ask, and it shall be given.)
尋ねよ、さらば見い出さん。
tazuneyo, saraba miidasan
(Seek, and you shall find.)
扉を叩け、さらば開かれん。
tobira o tatake, saraba hirakaren
(Knock on the door, and it shall be opened to you.)

The 3 lines spoken by the yousei to Ken, before their parting. Make a whole lot of sense to me, and, I believe, to many fans of Proposal Daisakusen. The main points of the drama in the 10 episodes seemed to be ‘Do not leave any regrets’ and ‘You will never know unless you try’, but turns out in the last episode that the main theme the drama is trying to point out is that ‘What is important is not how you could have changed the past, but how you can change the present for the future’.

Nice twist.

Well, the ending of the drama is rather…unsatisfying, but hey, Rei did choose Ken, so I can’t complain much, can I? As for Tada, well, guess I was too skeptical about him…turns out to be a super duper nice guy…even willing to give up his own marriage for the happiness of the one he loves. Feeling rather sorry for him now (my vote still goes to Ken).

I wish the yousei can make appearances in other dramas, playing the same ‘mentor’ role to the respective protagonists. He doesn’t have a background story in this drama, so technically it is possible for him to appear in other dramas as well, dun you agree?

Change yourself, and you will change your future.

NOTE: CHANGES TO BE EXPECTED AFTER I’VE WATCHED THE SP…AND PROBABLY AFTER A POST ON THE SP AS WELL.

“You may be able to change your past, present, and future, but you can never change the essence of them all: Yourself“

From the last episode, Ken runs off, pulling Rei with him. He brings her to their primary school, the place where they first met and eventually became childhood friends. Many memories come to Rei as she walks around the school behind Ken, and eventually into their old classroom, where they find many things still around even after they have graduated. Rei asks Ken why he brought her there, but he replies he doesn’t know either, for he just felt like going to the school before he knew it. They reminiscence about their past, Rei saying that if she hadn’t transfer to the school, she wouldn’t have met Ken; if she hadn’t chosen the seat beside Ken, they wouldn’t have become friends; and if Ken hadn’t lent half his eraser to her, they wouldn’t have ended up as childhood friends. Summarizing it, if Rei hadn’t choose her seat beside Ken, the today they know of would have been a different one.

Back at the ceremony, Tsuru finds Mikio ‘disposing’ the leftover caviar…by eating them, that is. Mikio ‘bribes’ Tsuru from telling and to get champagne by sharing the caviar. Breaking the bliss Mikio and Tsuru are in, Tada appears from behind, asking Mikio if he can help take a group photo later, and asks them if they have seen Rei. Both reply negative (Mikio is lying, not wanting to interrupt Ken), and after Tada walks away, Tsuru comments that Ken isn’t around either. Mikio tells him that Ken is at the greatest game in his life at the moment, which Tsuru thinks that Ken is actually gambling. Both of them are having doubts as to whether Ken can win at this game of his.

Still in the school, Ken and Rei head to the playground, which reminds Rei of Ken’s hate-to-lose attitude. It is also revealed that Ken can’t swim. Moving over to the horizontal bar, Rei plays on the bar like she did when she was still in school, which Ken comments that she must be the only one in the whole of Japan to do that. Rei taunts Ken into doing the ‘forward upward roll’ on the bar. Mentioning about the ‘glider’ stunt, the two of them remember the time when Rei was injured and caused the scar on her left elbow. Rei reminds Ken that it was actually her fault that she got injured, but Ken got reprimanded instead, and that she had done the stunt because she would want to do something more when told otherwise, especially when it’s from Ken. Rei asks Ken to do the ‘glider’, but he declines. She says it’s time to leave, but before they left, Ken asks her if she has got any regrets so far. At the same time, Tada is starting to become uneasy over Rei’s disappearance.

Rei replies to Ken that even though she has had many disappointments and felt like a failure in the past, they all contributed to make her what she is today. She also thanks Ken, telling him that she is glad to have met Ken, for if it wasn’t for Ken staying by her side all the time, she wouldn’t be what she is now. Ken realizes that unlike him, who has been living in the past, trying to redo what he has regretted, Rei has accepted her past, and lives firmly in the present. Ken succeeds on his attempt of the ‘glider’, which he says to himself ‘made him feel he could still fly’.

In Burger Shogun, Eri is all prepared and is about to head for the ceremony when she sees the ring on the ‘Don’t Knock New York’. She is apparently shocked by the sight of whatever that is on the ring. Ken walks behind Rei while on their way back to the ceremony. He understands that the feeling of regret is far more painful than the feeling of failure, and looking at Rei from the back, he decides to try trusting himself, and work on a different plan. Eri arrives at the ceremony and asks Tsuru where Rei is, but the usual Tsuru replies cheekily that that shouldn’t be the first thing she says when she sees him. Eri finds Rei herself, and calls her out for a minute. Mikio is surprised to find Ken walking up behind him, and then asks about his ‘game’, which Ken replies that he has decided on a change of plans. Tsuru appears and makes an annoyance out of himself again, but eventually he and Mikio leaves, leaving Ken and Mikio’s camera behind, with Ken setting his sights upon it.

Outside, Eri tells Rei that she is her best friend, and she wants her to be happy, and that because Rei is important to her, she wants Rei to make a decision that she herself can accept. She hands Rei the ring, saying that it must more than just a coincidence that the ring is found by her, and then returns to the ceremony. Rei looks at the ring, which she is also equally shocked by what she sees on the ring, like Eri, while Ken sets the camera to countdown. With Rei holding on tightly to the ring in her hands outside, Ken takes a photo of himself inside, returning to the present……

However, instead of returning to the time of the end of the slide-show, he returns instead to the time when he was smoking with Mikio outside the church. Everything happens just like before, with Tsuru and Mikio leaving Ken behind. The yousei appears, telling Ken that although he has managed to travel back in time, he could only change a few hours of his past, and that he has finally decided to change the present instead of the past. Ken goes on to thank the yousei, for he can think like this only after he goes back to the past. The yousei goes on to tell Ken that he looks different from the first time he saw him, and after a heart-to-heart chat with each other, the yousei reveals that letting Ken return to this time of the present is a parting gift from him, to allow a suitable place for Ken to present the answer he finally arrives at from all his adventures in the past. After a sad farewell, Ken makes his way into the church, while the yousei dons his hat one more time, and disappears from Ken’s life forever……

Inside the church and at the wedding reception, the host calls out to Ken to make his speech, just like before. Ken finally appears after a short absence. He goes on with his speech, just like before, but after the pause (where he originally thought to himself about the sight of Rei in a wedding gown), he changes his speech. He apologizes to Tada, and goes on to say it would be great if Rei had given up on getting married, and that he had thought of taking Rei away, to the shock of Tada and Rei. Tsuru shouts that Ken must be drunk, but Ken ignores him and goes on tearfully with his speech, speaking of the times he and Rei had spent together for the 14 years, and yet he was unable to let his feelings be known until now. He confesses his love to Rei, who is also in tears, but still congratulates her on her marriage. The guests applauses for Ken, and he leaves, crying. He makes his way to the chapel where the wedding ceremony was held, while the slide-show at the reception starts all over again.

Tears come to Rei’s eyes as she looks at the slide-show with the changed photos, thinking to herself that the one who has been running away from her feelings was actually her. Meanwhile, Ken is sobbing away in the chapel. He finally leaves right when the slide-show ends, which Tada is surprised to see Rei’s face wet from crying. He brings her to the preparation room, and tells her expression now is just like the one she showed on her 20th birthday. Removing a button his cuff, he makes a bet with her. If she chooses the hand without the button, she will give up completely on the problem she is troubled about. If she chooses the one with the button, she will go settle her problem.

She chooses the hand with the button.

Rei hesitates at first, but after further urging from Tada, she runs off. It is then revealed that Tada actually has a button in each of his hand. Rei runs around the church, searching for Ken, but is too late when she sees Ken in a taxi, driving off. Rei gives chase, to no avail. We see her back in the chapel, thinking if things would have been different if she had let her feelings be known to Ken, just like what Ken did himself. The secret of the ring is also revealed in her flashback. She hears a (all-so-familiar) voice, and turns to see the yousei (not known to her), who is telling her the same things he told Ken when they first met. The yousei knows that Rei wishes to go back and change the past, but instead of doing so, he tells her of the story of Ken, but not really revealing the name and the details (so she still remains oblivious to Ken’s time-slips). He asks Rei whether it is still not too late to start changing the present, and upon realizing, Rei opens the door of the chapel, and her door to miracles……

Back in their classroom in their primary school

Pigging out on caviar

Tada notices Rei is missing

Mikio’s view on Ken’s greatest game

The only woman in Japan to play the horizontal bar in a dress…?

The forward upward roll

Rei’s answer to Ken’s question

Ken performs the ‘glider’ one more time

Eri finds the ring Ken abandoned

A change of plan for Ken

Eri handing over the ring to Rei

Preparing to go back to the present

Wrong time of the present

The yousei commenting on Ken being a changed man

A firm handshake between the men…

…and it’s finally farewell

Changing the present with his speech…

…and touching Rei’s heart at the same time

Having the load off his heart, Ken cries his heart out

Tada proposes a bet to help Rei decide

Rei’s decision…?

Not quite…

Tada, regretting his action…?

The secret within the ring

Rei chases after Ken

Opening her door to miracles

And no, it hasn’t ended. The taxi Ken is in breaks down halfway, and Ken ends up helping the same taxi driver to push the vehicle. While pushing, he hears someone calling out a name he’s too familiar with: Kenzou……

And that is the end of Iwase Ken’s プロポーズ大作戦.

Eikura Nana（榮倉 奈々）as Oku Eri（奥 エリ）

Hiraoka Yuuta（平岡 裕太）as Enokido Mikio（榎戸 幹雄）

Hamada Gaku（濱田 岳）as Tsurumi Hisashi（鶴見 尚）

Matsushige Yutaka（松重 豊）as Itou Matsunori（伊藤 松憲）

Kikuchi Kenichirou（菊地 健一郎）as Nishio Tamotsu（西尾 保）

Mikami Hiroshi（三上 博史）as Yousei（妖精）

Fujiki Naohito（藤木 直人）as Tada Tetsuya（多田 哲也）

Nagasawa Masami（長澤 まさみ）as Yoshida Rei（吉田 礼）

Yamashita Tomohisa（山下 智久）as Iwase Ken（岩瀬 健）

Ken has lost his name of ‘Kenzou’ from Rei.

From the last episode, Ken receives a miracle from Mikio: one more last chance to go back to the past. The miracle photo was taken before the wedding ceremony, and during Tada’s award-receiving ceremony. Ken remembers what happened that time, where he was drunk and spouted nonsense to both Tada and Rei.

The yousei describes his experiences during these time-slips to be like a baseball game, and reminds Ken that he is lucky to get extra time this time. Ken comments that he has somewhat given up since back from his last travel, but the yousei tells him that for miracles to happen, he has to find the door to miracles, and the key to the door has always been in his heart. For their parting and the last of Ken’s ‘Hallelujah Chance’, the yousei decides on Tamotsu’s specially-made burger, which is green (bad colour). Ken tries to warn the yousei, but he still takes a bite anyway, and then comments that it tastes bad. Leaving the yousei disgusted, Ken goes for his final ‘last’ trip back, his last ‘Hallelujah Chance’. (Yup, there’s even a twinkling sound when he travels back)

He returns, only to see Rei walking towards him in a wedding gown, telling him that she has decided, and she will not be indecisive anymore. Ken thinks the door to miracles has finally opened to him, but is disappointed to realize that Rei was only talking about the wedding gowns. Eri, who strangely is wearing a wedding gown too, comments on Ken’s suit to be weird, which Ken only realizes now, but Mikio and Tsuru appears subsequently, each in a weirder costume (really, can’t be called suits) than Ken’s suit.

They go on to shop for appliances for Rei and Tada’s new home after marriage. Rei ‘reports’ on their shopping to Tada through text messages, who isn’t with them, but with Ito, asking him if it is possible for him to make a speech at their wedding. Ito comments on the marriage of Rei and Tada while seemingly doing pottery, but holds up a completed Rubik’s cube instead, which Tada amusingly asks him when he will decide to really start pottery.

The gang of five takes a break from their shopping, and shares a plate of 6 takoyaki among themselves, and the last one was won by Mikio in a interesting game similar to rock-paper-scissors, which left them being stared at by a pair of kids. They go to the game arcade next, where Tsuru+Eri face off with Ken+Rei in a game of air hockey, Mikio as usual being the cameraman. The victory goes to Ken and Rei, and are treated to fruit juice by the losers of the game. It is revealed by Ken that Rei has stopped calling him ‘Kenzou’ after the embracing incident.

Ken, Rei, and Eri, who have parted ways with Tsuru and Mikio, are walking around the mall, when they hear an announcement over the PA about a lost Tsuru looking for Eri, with him shouting ‘Eri, I love you!’ at the background. Eri is urged by Ken and Rei to go find him before he does anything embarrassing again. Tsuru pops out to Eri at the counter and hands her an ice-cream (something sweet). As usual, Tsuru is at her side chanting about how great his love to Eri is and that she should declare her love for him as well, but this time, Eri really expresses her love for Tsuru by kissing him!!! Eri walks off, and Tsuru happily walks by her side.

Outside the mall, Ken fails to throw his can into the trash bin, which Rei makes fun of. Ken, who never gives up at this kind of matter, succeeds at his third try, and gives a proud look at Eri. Eri goes on to talk about how Ken hasn’t changed since primary school, always trying to learn things like cycling, rope-skipping etc. until he succeeds. She states that she does not know if Ken is a bad loser, but his never-give-up attitude is what she (had?) likes/liked about Ken. Hearing this, Ken tries to tell Rei something, but is again interrupted by the other three who turns up ‘just in time’. During their conversation, they realized that they know less and less of one another over the years, compared to back when they were in high school, and Eri comments that in the future, times where they got together will slowly disappear as well.

The girls, who went on their separate ways from the guys, goes to Shogun Burger, where Tamotsu reveals to Eri, to her shock, that Rei had requested for him to prepare burgers at the wedding.  Tamotsu goes on to talk about Rei’s marriage, and comments that girls will really change for guys, for Rei has always argued with Ken all the time in Burger Shogun, but has never argued once with Tada. Tada appears just when they are talking about him, and bluntly says that Tamotsu is helping him by not preparing food for him, to the amusement of the girls.

The guys pays a visit to Rei’s parents, requesting their help in a surprise video to be shown during the wedding ceremony. After a few seconds of what seemed like a frozen screen, Rei’s father goes on commenting on how he disapproves of Tada and Rei’s marriage, and wishes for them to break up now during the videotaping. On the second take, after Tsuru’s instructions of being less frank in the video, he congratulates the couple and gives a speech so touching, tears swell in the guys’ eyes.

Tada and Rei arrives at the church where they will be holding their wedding ceremony. Tada jokingly ask Rei whether she is having marriage blues when she comments she cannot believe they are there. Just when they are about to leave, Rei asks Tada why he never asked about her crying on her 20th birthday, which Tada replies (a great one) that even though there’s a ‘Rei’ he doesn’t know of, he still likes her, and what is important will be the time they spend together in the future, not the past.

Tamotsu returns to Burger Shogun with many things he decides to use in his redecorating of the interior of his shop, one of it being a strange afro toy which, when pressed, ’summons’ customers with afro into the shop after shouting ‘Bombaye!’ Mikio and Tsuru, after their job is done, leaves the house, but Ken stays behind to pray to Rei’s grandpa, who has passed away at this time of the past. Rei’s mother tells Ken that her grandpa had been mentioning about Ken ever since he returned from his visit to Rei, even saying that Rei’s husband will be Ken before he passed away. Mikio, while waiting outside, chats on the phone with Yuko’s mother. Tsuru, surprised to see Mikio on such good terms with Yuko’s mother even before marriage, calls him master again and asks him to teach him how.

Ken, still in the house, is flipping through photos of a young Rei, with her mother commenting on how Ken used to come over to their house and play, and how Rei would never stop mentioning about ‘Ken-zou’, to the extent that as a mother, she knows that Ken holds a very special place in Rei’s heart, or else Rei wouldn’t have requested to go to the same high school as Ken, to Ken’s surprise. Rei’s mother shows Ken a picture of young Rei and Ken taken at her house, and Ken recalls how Rei got injured at her left elbow due to Ken showing off to her a stunt, and her, not wanting to lose to him, does the same stunt but got injured instead. After getting scolded by their teacher, Ken took responsibility for the incident and waited for Rei at the hospital/clinic until she came out from the doctor’s room, to the surprise of both Rei and her mother.

Finally leaving in Mikio’s car, Tsuru comments that although it is the first time he’s seen Rei’s father, his speech has left him very touched and made him realize the importance of a marriage. Next, the guys are at Tada’s award-receiving ceremony as waiters, helping out as there isn’t enough manpower. After Tada’s speech, Rei walks up to Ken in exactly the same way she does in the wedding ceremony (in the 1st episode) and they have a short chat, before Tada asks her over to his side. It is then Ken realizes that the one who is going to be at Rei’s side will no longer be him, as the one woman he loves most is going to marry another man. Ken sees the scar on her left elbow, and a continuation of Ken’s recollection is seen, where a young Ken promises to be responsible for Rei and to take care of her for the rest of his life. Thinking of how this promise is going to disappear, and Rei saying that it was Ken’s never-give-up attitude that made her like him, Ken runs after Rei and holding her arm (no, not hand), they run off together to wherever Ken brings Rei to……

Meanwhile, Tamotsu unwraps the last item he brings back, which turned out to the ‘Don’t Knock New York’ sign which Ken had left the ring he bought on, and the ring is still on it……

The miracle photo Mikio has brought forth

Bad choice of the yousei: Tamotsu’s burger

Last…Hallelujah Chance!

Fitting of the wedding gowns

All dressed up for…a wedding ceremony? Cosplay event?

Shopping for appliances for Tada and Rei’s new home

Ito’s skills are THAT good! To make a Rubik’s cube out of clay…?

The kids watch on as the adults acts like them

Facing off in a game of air hockey

Holy crap! Tsuru’s efforts finally pay off

The gang sighing over the years that had gone past

Rei’s father’s opinion on Tada and Rei’s marriage (kudos)

Taking a look at the church their wedding’s going to be held at

A really great reply from Tada to Rei’s question

Young Rei and Ken

Rei’s mother’s impression of Ken

Deja vu? Looks similar to a previous since…or future?

A really sweet scene

Ken…running off with the bride…?!

Ken’s ring on ‘Don’t Knock New York’ sign

Whoa, Tada in this episode impressed me again, with his great reply to Rei. Tamotsu also appears in more scenes in this episode, though still for comedic effects. I know I’ve been writing longer and longer (this time it’s like an essay), still trying to learn how to control… This time I wrote on the entire episode, ’cause this episode is technically a ‘part 1′ of Ken’s last travel to the past, so it doesn’t really spoils anything.

Anyway, for the last episode, I still be writing the summary for the entire episode…haha…and I’ll most probably continue on the summaries for the previous episodes, making them full instead.

Hallelujah Chance!

Ken relives his most painful memories in this trip back.

As usual, Ken looks at the last photo (again, at this point of time) in the slide, which was taken when Rei had accepted Tada’s marriage proposal, and tells himself that all he has done so far were useless, since nothing has changed after all those times he had been back. Hearing his thoughts, the yousei appears, telling what the only thing that is certain to him now is that the photo this time is the last photo! The yousei seriously wishes for Ken’s success, for he tells him not to make him regret for the many chances he had given Ken. And so, with the yousei presenting the food for this trip to be a lavish…turkey, or chicken (a bird, that’s for sure), Ken goes on his last journey back…

But sad enough, he returns and finds himself at work, together with his chief, selling black and white boards. Having more important things to do, Ken leaves immediately after the client expresses indifference in their products. He calls Rei, who is at Tada’s office, and tells her to stay put and wait for him, but before he can go meet her, his detestable chief manages to stop Ken from going using his family having to starve as a ‘threat’.

Back in Risshu University, Rei and Eri reminiscences about the past. As they are moving off, they meet Itou, who now sports a beard/goatee and carries his favorite potter’s wheel with him. He tells them that he still lacks the one thing before he can start pottery: a wife, to the surprise of the girls.

While having lunch with his chief, Ken tells from him that if he is able to meet the weekly quota of 2 sales, he doesn’t really care if Ken leaves early from work or not, and Ken quickly sets off to find clients, though it seems rather unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Mikio is now working as an assistant in a studio, and he invited Tsuru, who gets scolded by the director for being too short, to help out along with his work. As for Eri, she helps out part-time at Burger Shogun, though she doesn’t seem to like the idea, as she comments that she is like Tsuru, who’s working part-time too. Tamotsu tells her that she seems really happy when talking about Tsuru, to her disbelief. Shifting to Rei, who is at Tada’s office, she is requested by a grim-faced Tada to follow him somewhere.

Ken has little luck in trying to get clients to meet his weekly quota. He and his chief take a break, where his chief shares some of his life experiences with him, and Ken is reminded of the phrase ‘There’s no harm in trying’.

Tada brings Rei to his favorite haunt, supposedly the first building to be based on Tada’s architectural blueprints. The two eventually end up chatting in a hall, where Tada surprised Rei by proposing to her. At the studio, Ken tries to sell his products to Mikio and Tsuru, who obviously have no intention of buying. Mikio reveals that Yuko is pregnant, according to her words, but Ken assures him that she is lying, to prove that he is from the future. True enough, when Tsuru goes off to find Mikio who is missing from the studio, he finds him and Yuko in the ‘deadly merry-go-round’ again, after the couple had a short squabble and patched up when Mikio promises Yuko that he will marry her.

Ken rushes to Tada’s office, but finds Tada instead of Rei. Tada informs Ken of his proposal to Rei, and there is an outburst from Ken, who is clearly unhappy about how things are going for him. He leaves again and breaks into a run, receiving a phone call along the way from Tsuru saying that he, Rei and Eri will be waiting for his treat he had promised. Ken knocks into a ‘DKNY’ sign along the way, and next we see Ken withdrawing cash, leaving only a mere 23-en in his bank account.

Tsuru arrives at the restaurant, but only sees Eri, who tells him that Rei has gone ahead to meet Tada, to give her reply. Tsuru, amazed at the idea of proposal, tries proposing to Eri, but with obvious results. However, Eri readily agrees to go out with Tsuru, which is really something new for him.

Ken finally meets Rei, just like in his painful memory. Rei and him started to talk about Tada’s proposal to Rei, which Ken finally speaks his mind about the matter……

Taken during Rei’s acceptance of Tada’s marriage proposal

Painful memories coming back to Ken

The yousei sincerely wishes for Ken’s success

What a way to start one’s journey: work

Ken’s detestable chief

Thinking back about the good ol’ days

The 3 important of a potter: Bear, Wife, Potter’s wheel (to Itou, that is)

Ken working hard at work…

…and Mikio too, working in a studio

Tsuru is invited to help out in the studio

Eri having affections for Tsuru…? (Finally?)

The first step to Tada’s own ‘Proposal Daisakusen’

A seriously good advice from his chief

Tada finally speaks of the magic words

The ‘deadly merry-go-round’ again

The unexpected outburst from Ken

Eri readily agrees to go out with Tsuru…!!!

Ken speaks his mind to Rei

Has Ken finally break out of his shell? (The embrace of hope!)

Nothing’s changed again…? Even Ken’s still at the back

This episode is where the true/full characters of many characters (no pun intended) are shown, and the repercussions that result from their actions.

• Iwase Ken’s indecisiveness and habit of giving up at the last minute has broken Rei’s resolve to forget her affections towards Ken.
• Rei’s strong will allowed her to change her focus of her affections from Ken to Tada, but at the same time, she’s always troubled and confused about the decisions she make later, as seen after Ken embraces her.
• Tada’s upfront and innocent attitude in life, with a little absent/simple-mindedness added in the mix, proves to be his greatest asset, winning the damsel’s heart in the end, and beating Ken as a result, though he doesn’t mean to.
• Tsuru, after facing countless disappointments in the past, finally sees the ‘fruits of his labour’, indeed proving (one of the) main point(s) the drama has been bringing out: You will never know unless you try.
• Mikio may appear cold and unfeeling to Yuko, but his cool appearance hides a warm and loving heart within.
• Eri, after so many failed relationships, finally sees the one who has always been by her side and supporting her, and comes to understand what her heart really wants, though it is Tamotsu who ‘enlightens’ her, just like the ditzy girl she is.

Next stop: 最後のプロポーズ大作戦！！！THE FINAL PROPOSAL DAISAKUSEN!!!