Hana Yori Dango Drama - 09 (END) December 16
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Summary:
Tsukasa was actually kidnapped by Nishida and taken to his mother’s office. At the Teen of Japan competition, the first round consists of a talent competition. While Kurimaki Ayano shows that she can play the violin, Tsukushi demonstrates a defensive maneuver used against molesters. To everyone’s surprise, she makes it into round two which judges their fashion sense. Tsukushi takes the longest to choose an outfit, but it ends up getting shredded by the three bitchy girls. But when Tsukushi goes onstage with the torn outfit on, the French judge absolutely loves it. She advances to round three, a test of their English skills. Sakurako, who got eliminated in the fashion round, decides to help Tsukushi write her speech about the importance of family, and Tsukushi delivers it without a hitch.
The judges choose Ayano as one of the finalists, and let the other four contestants rock-paper-scissors for the last spot. Tsukushi wins and advances to the final round, but the audience starts to jeer her. Tsukasa comes back - having made a deal with his mother - and silences the crowd. The last challenge involves spending time with a group of young children. Ayano gathers the kids around the piano and starts to sings songs to them. Tsukushi is left with four brats who resemble a mini-F4. She ends up winning them over by pretending to be one of them and challenging them to games. When the other children see how much fun Tsukushi and the mini-F4 are having, they leave Ayano to join Tsukushi. At the end of the round, the children can’t decide who was better, so the final decision is left with the real judges.
The judges award Ayano with the grand prize, but also decide to give Tsukushi a special prize of one million yen. By now, the entire crowd is on Tsukushi’s side after having seen how well she performed with the kids, and they start chanting her name. However, the person Tsukushi most wants to see, Tsukasa, leaves after she loses and doesn’t go to the victory party. He eventually does calls and sets up a date with her, promising the other 4 million yen she still needs. When Tsukushi goes home, she’s overjoyed to find out that her father isn’t fired after all, and is getting a special two rank promotion to section chief. Makino prepares her clothes for the date, and even decides to make a little something in the kitchen.
But the next day, Rui shows up in Tsukasa’s place and gives Tsukushi the gift that Tsukasa wanted to give her. The deal that Tsukasa had made with his mother was that if Tsukushi didn’t win, then Tsukasa would go to New York to study in business school for three years. Tsukushi tries to shrug this news off, but Rui urges her to chase after him. He sends her to the airport in one of his cars, and starts walking off alone. However, he’s astonished to see a familiar someone walking towards him - Shizuka. She tells him that she’s here to spend Christmas with the person she likes.
In the car, Tsukushi opens Tsukasa’s Christmas gift: a necklace with a Saturn pendant. Tsukushi rushes onto the runway where Tsukasa’s plane is taking off. Tsukasa and his mother eventually catch sight of her running alongside the airplane. In a moment of kindness, his mother stops the plane, saying that she forgot her sunglasses. Tsukasa tells Tsukushi how important she is to him, and how they should be together. After Tsukushi admits that she’s in love with him, the two embrace and kiss. In the conclusion, everyone seems to be having a happy Christmas. On the plane, Tsukasa opens the present that Tsukushi gave him: a cookie made in the shape of his face. Back in Japan, Tsukushi stands alone outside alone, but she’s happy to have the necklace to remind her of their love.
Everything about this episode screams cheesy! Heart-wrenching speech about family? Check. Five million in debt resolved and father gets his job back AND a promotion on top of that? Check. Every member of F4 paired up in some way, including the unlikely return of Shizuka for Rui? Check. Kiss scene during the sunset? Check. Merry Christmases all around? Check. My major pet peeves are actually bratty kids and bad engrish (not that there’s necessarily good engrish), both of which also made it into this final episode.
But you know what? Despite all of that, I still overall enjoyed the episode. I came into the final episode expecting this type of conclusion and that’s pretty much what I got. All of the major plot lines get resolved without the pacing feeling rushed, and I do give them credit for having Tsukasa continue on to New York, instead of staying in Japan for the happiest of endings. This way, the two can work towards their own futures while remembering their love. Or something like that anyway…
Final Thoughts: For me, the Hana Yori Dango drama starts with a lot of momentum, falters a bit in the middle, but comes together again at the end to deliver a happy ending. The F4 cast bothered me a little at the beginning, but I’ve grown to enjoy their roles, especially Sojiro and Akira. I admit that I never liked the Tsukasa and Tsukushi pairing from the manga, but after having watched this drama, I feel a bit more favorable towards them. All in all, it’s a great Japanese adaptation of the manga, comparable to the Taiwanese drama.
Fury at 6:00 pm on December 16th, 2005
happy ending, but whats with the see you soon?
kassytakuya at 6:29 pm on December 16th, 2005
Can’t wait to watch. I hope if there’s a sequel, won’t be anything like meteor garden2 XP
Rasmiel at 7:05 pm on December 16th, 2005
After watching it, I only have one word to say…BEAUTIFUL!!!
This episode was SO WELL DONE that tears were running down my cheeks! It totally bypassed my expectations. The confession scene complete with the sunset and kiss. So corny, yet so beautiful! Love was truly in the air, and right on the Christmas season too! I could go on about thousand other good things about this episode, but I just have one question left; Who was that present from that Tsubaki received? O_O
Ah, I remember it like yesterday that Tsukushi punched Tsukasa across his ugly face. The series was just that short T_T
fsskf at 10:26 pm on December 16th, 2005
wth……………………he left? ……………….what is with every fricken series..where the guy leaves to study abroad…and such? it’s so played out…man..-_-’…………………………..esp the christmas thing too..reminds me of Devil Beside you..-_-’……….*sighs* …….
ru7h at 10:52 pm on December 16th, 2005
Hmm…. almost like the ending of the manga
Luciel at 11:16 pm on December 16th, 2005
I don’t like this episode neither. It was so corny. The ending wasn’t really heartfelt but just rather boring.
peeetah - kun at 11:25 pm on December 16th, 2005
ending already ? this was getting so good i was starting to get into it .. =.=” hope there is season 2 =)
SakuraG at 11:27 pm on December 16th, 2005
Still waiting for the download to finish (SIGH!), but from Omni’s description of the episode, it’s more or less what I expected. There was no way they were going to end it badly just before Christmas.
I know a lot of people liked the manga, the anime series or Meteor Garden, but in my opinion, this was better written than all of those. I have read, watched all of those while the series was being aired, so my impressions are still fresh. I think the manga author’s strength was her ability to create interesting personalities, but she never seemed to know what to do with them once she’d created them. The J series author inherited a lot of very soapy plotlines and did a decent job of paring them down. I especially liked that the 4 guys’ roles were better balanced. For once they WERE the F4, not the F2.5!
I liked the actor choices for most roles, unlike a lot of people. Overall, if the last episode is as described, I think it was a very good dorama. If they do a sequel, I hope they depart from the manga storyline altogether and start with Tsukushi’s graduation from Eitoku. New York isn’t Antarctica, after all. Why couldn’t they stay in contact? Okay, I AM a happily-ever-after addict, but unlike Omni, I think they were a good match, and I’ve known real couples to survive much bigger obstacles.
I’m glad this site exists and I think Omni did a good job of distracting me while I waited for the traffic jam to subside when each episode was posted. Arigatou!!
Mi-Tsuki at 2:00 am on December 17th, 2005
Ya I’m wondering what is that “see you soon” too …may there’ll a 2nd saison ^^ who know, just like meteor garden !!! So, Thank you for all of these wonderfull images of HYD ^^
^_^ at 2:16 am on December 17th, 2005
i love it!!^-^ but a little confused with the ending @.@ does Tsukasa and Tsukushi end up together or wat??
PT at 5:57 am on December 17th, 2005
I didn’t understand Tsukushi’s speech.
HANA at 7:12 am on December 17th, 2005
“See you soon” probably/mostly means TBS is going to have a special HANA episode[1hr] or several mini ones [around 5 min] , but I don’t think it’s going to have another season….Well, the ending is pretty much as same as the manga ending, so yeah…dun think Yoko Kamio sensei is going to spend another 10 years drawing another set….
Rasmiel at 8:00 am on December 17th, 2005
I think you guys are over analyzing the “see you soon!” line. Lines like those are not meant to be practical, as they are in western shows. But who knows, it could be different for HYD.
Aki.gawa at 1:42 pm on December 17th, 2005
I was a little dissapointed with this episode, but in the end it was okay. I wish Tsukushi and Doumyouji shared a little more lip lock, though its understandble since Inoue Mao is still very young. Hey, it did look like they had a nice kiss though. Haha, I hope to at least see a little special, after this series. I want a marriage scene!! Hehe, though it will probably never happen.
ayyo at 5:16 pm on December 17th, 2005
‘See you soon’ doesn’t automatically mean a second season, its like saying Cya or ’see ya’ or ’see ya later’ aka an informal polite way of saying goodbye.
Carly at 3:27 pm on December 18th, 2005
I thought it was an awesome episode. I was crying my eyes out even though I couldn’t understand a word.
Sushi at 1:45 am on December 19th, 2005
I liked this ending episode a lot! I agree with Omni that they did a good job tidying everything up and basically followed the main story line. Looking back now, I do think they did a good job shortening the long story into a 9-episode dorama — a lot of thought went into selecting the sub-characters to combine or get rid of, and the story lines to elaborate or move to other places. For example, Sakurako basically got the job of 4-5 sub-characters in the manga, which was a very hard thing to do, but they pulled it off reasonably well. And moving the TOJ competition to the climax, at first boggled me, but in the last episode, I can see that it is a very good way to end the story and tidy up all the loose ends. The Saturn necklace and Tsukasa cookie scenes are also taken from the earlier part of the original story and used in the ending, I believe it is also done pretty well as a symbolism of the T & T relationship entering a new stage. In conclusion, although the J Drama did a lot of shuffling of the manga story line, and I’ve had some problem with the F4’s appearance, they did maintain the overall spirit of the story to make it an enjoyable show. In fact, at the beginning I thought Matsumoto Jun was completely unsuitable to play Tsukasa, in terms of appearance, of course, but at the end, I believe he grew on me! ^^” I still have to say that I love the manga much much more, because it goes in depth and there are so many poignant feelings and scenes between T&T that makes the relationship much more heart-wrenching and memorable… @@~
-cindy* at 2:20 am on December 19th, 2005
i really liked this episode!!! the only part that bothered me was the engrish. =9 but i hafta i say, they wrapped up everything so beautifully!!! i was so afraid the ending will feel rushed, but none of that happened. im so happy with the ending! i love the cheesy moments!! and really, i love how they always had tsukasa stay in character (ex. in the end, when he saw the cookie was said it looked bad xDDD)
axel at 2:58 am on December 20th, 2005
didn’t really like this adaptation, meteor garden was much better.
bellatora at 5:38 am on December 20th, 2005
Wait, business school? Maybe I’m wrong, but don’t most American business schools require that you’ve gone to college? Does Tsukasa even have a high school diploma?
But maybe I’m just being nit-picky because I don’t want the series to be over. So what if the last episode was cheesy? The series could be very cheesy but was still incredibly enjoyable, and one of my favorite things to watch for the past several weeks.
Thanks so much for blogging this! It really helped me not go completely mad waiting for the subs.