Jun to Ai - Episode Summaries
Jun to Ai
Episode Summaries
Episodes: 151 [fifteen minutes each]
Plot Summary [spoilers for the first six episodes!]:Kano Jun is the middle child of a family who runs a small hotel on Miwakojima, Okinawa. She looooves the hotel business and goes to Osaka to work at a fancy chain hotel and prove she is a way more deserving business successor than her older brother. However she gets into a lot of scrapes and everyone sort of hates her because she’s brash and uncompromising about making customers happy. There she meets Machida written-as-"Ai"-but-read-as-"Itoshi", a shy, social recluse due largely to his ability to see people’s true natures if he looks them directly in the face. But Jun’s face is different for him because she’s so straightforward that she doesn’t have a hidden face. :) And so starts their strange-but-sweet relationship. ♥
[dramawiki]
[Index Post on kazama_shunsuke] (must join to see)
Notes: I originally took these just as notes to jog my memory if I wanted to find something later so it's vaguely embarrassing to post them. :) However dreamalley on tumblr expressed interest in skipping around and watching the good parts of the series (understandably, asadoras are long!♥) and well, more information out on the internet is always a good thing! You never know what could come in handy for someone. :) I've never done anything like this, both watching a drama unsubbed and summarizing what I see so please keep that in mind if you read. My understanding of Japanese is... decent? Existent?? XD However I'm not fluent or anything so I'm sure there's mistakes about specifics in here. As you can see, I went into far too much detail for the first eight episodes before realizing the ground between brevity and full on translation was kind of pointless. :D
001: Our heroine, Kano Jun, returns to her hometown of Miwako and to her grandfather hotel. The hotel is the family business: her father runs it, her mom and older brother help out and her younger brother does nothing. XD Believing in the choices you make being more important than destiny, she's completed her schooling in hotel management and wants to be the next in line to run the hotel. However, when she hands her dad such a proposal, he declares that her brother, the first born son, will be the one to inherit. She objects on the basis he doesn't really have an interest in hotels, just like her father only chose the hotel because his previous career failed. When she goes on to say the hotel has lost its former glory, that under her grandfather it was a "country of magic" that always left people with a smile, her father kicks her out of the house.
Back in Osaka, she goes to interview for a fancy hotel chain and on the way is accidentally bumped over by a shuffling boy.
002: The boy that knocked her over takes one look at her face and starts staring. He says this is "the first time it's happened" but when pressed about what "it" is, says it was nothing. As Jun goes in for her interview, she turns back and sees him still staring. At her interview, Jun starts off okay by talking about her beloved hotel in Miwako and the "country of magic" her grandfather created with his heartfelt love but things quickly go off track. Jun 1) declares she wants to be the boss of a hotel (attracting the positive attention of a man seated in back), 2) tells off one of the interviewers for letting his phone ring and 3) tells off another guy for sneezing super loud (insuring she also just made several enemies of her potential future employers).
When she leaves the hotel, the boy from earlier is not-so-steathily following her. Getting creeped out, she starts to run and falls down the steps. The boy following her asks if she's okay and when she asks what his deal is, he says he wanted to confirm something one more time. He says that his explanation of why her is following her is too long and also probably she won't get it. (?) She blows up at him, saying she's really depressed from just failing an interview and he apologizes. As she leaves, he asks to say one thing: that she always should stay the way she is. He bows politely and leaves.
003: Jun waits in depression for the results of her job interview. Her mom calls instead and immediately sees through her assertion it went well, the conversation ends with Jun yelling at her dad and throwing down her phone in a very public restaurant. XD She decides to treat herself and stay the night in the Ozaki Plaza Hotel (that she interviewed for). She mentally notes down a few flaws in the service and arrangement of the place. Going back to her room, she meets the boy from earlier in the hallway and he says he's been staying here, hoping to meet her again. She thinks to herself he's a total stalker and books. He follows her saying he wants to properly explain.
While running through the hotel, she comes across an old woman in a kimono looking tired who says she's looking for a wedding ceremony but got lost. Jun piggybacks her up the stairs and gets her to where she's going. As the old woman thanks her and turns to leave, the boy from earlier grabs the woman's arm and asks her to return Jun's wallet, which Jun discovers is in fact missing. The old woman runs off, Jun gives chase. Upon discovering she has no cash on her anyway, the woman throws the wallet and leaves.
The boy puts a wrap on Jun's injured ankle, which reminds her of her grandfather. She asks him how he knew the woman was stealing. He tells her can see people's true faces and when the old woman got the piggyback ride from Jun, he could see her smirking on her hidden face. Before Jun can really figure out what to think, she gets a call saying that she did in fact make the cut and will be working here.
004: Jun gets on her knees in thanks for the job and when she turns back to him, he's staring. She asks him to stop staring at people's faces but he seems more struck by the fact her overheard that her name is "Jun". He congratulates her on the job, asks once again for her to stay the same (now calling her Jun-san) and awkwardly shuffles off, leaving her thinking he really is strange.
Jun calls her mom in triumph about the job. which ends with her dad yelling into the phone and hanging it up. At home, her father and two brothers freak out over a spider which her mom gently and calmly ushers out. XD
At the first orientation for her new job, she meets the girl from her interview group who introduces herself as Tanabe Chika and Jun takes to calling Chika-chan. The guy that was so kind to her at her interview turns out to be the company shachou… who introduces her to the whole group as the person aiming to be a shachou herself, to the dubious looks of all. In her rounds of first day training, her reputation proceeds her as the rumored "shachou" and everyone sarcastically calls her by the title. The one exception is the concierge, who says of course he's aiming for the top too and she mentally nicknames "Ikemen-kun". Her first day ends with censure from her direct superior, for giving a customer a should massage in the dining hall and a reprimand that she represents the hotel, not herself.
005: At the hotel, she has conversation with the friendly shachou who treats her super informally (and whom she thinks is meeting a woman and having an affair here). Today she's getting training at the front desk, which doesn't go very well as she can't work the computers and can't resist answering a ringing phone when it's busy, even though she's just supposed to observe. On top of that, she promises a customer a cup of coffee even though it is few minutes past when room service closes. Jun runs down to the kitchen to secure the coffee and takes responsibility for it being past room service. Her customer is super thankful for the coffee, knowing he was really cutting it close and Jun is thrilled he's happy.
However the next day at work, she gets called down to the kitchens and cut down for violating the rules of the hotel and making trouble for everyone. She explains how much it meant to the customer and when told the customer doesn't matter, gets incensed herself. The sneezing and cellphone bosses tell her she's pain and she asserts that if the customer isn't happy, it's the hotel's loss. She gets emotional about the subject and ends up tearily saying she might not be cut out for this and maybe she should quit. At that, someone behind he drops a plate and she turns to discover her stalker boy working in the kitchens.
006: Her direct superior apologizes for her and drags her away. She tells her that when someone thinks they always know the right thing, it's the same thing as saying they've stopped growing and improving. The next day she asks Chika-chan what she thinks, remembering she also talked about customer service at the interview and Chika-chan's demure exterior slips for a minute, as she asks her to give them a break and stop causing trouble in Kansai-ben.
Jun thinks that from birth she's pulled the wrong card, remembering her bad luck in games and when she was asked to be goalkeeper in her high school handball club. Her mom calls from home to tell her her younger brother is in the process of running away from home and Jun tells her she's always been too soft on him… and once again gets hung up on. Jun fondly remembers her grandfather and how as a kid he asked her to always stay the way she is… just like the stalker boy did. She goes to the kitchens to see him and brings him to a conference hall to talk.
She tells him that thanks to him dropping that plate, she didn't immediately quit and asks for his name. He comes closer and from his nametag she reads "Machida Ai", a rare name for a boy. He corrects her that it's read "Itoshi" …though he's still often called "Ai-chan" so either is fine by him. She scolds him for not just saying he worked at the hotel earlier and he corrects her there too, saying he only started to work there after she did in hopes of meeting her again. When she understandably is weirded out by that answer, he says he's not doing this to stalk her though. She asks him to clarify what he said earlier, about see people's true faces. He explains that when he looks at someone, he can see them as they really are. A strong person might actually be frightened, a kind person might actually have a cold face. He says she's free to believe him or not but that's why he doesn't look at people's faces as much as it possible ("できるだけ人の顔は見ないよしって"). She puts together that's why he shuffles and bumps into people when he walks around. He goes on to say that when he looks at her though, he doesn't see any of the extra things that usually attack him ("あなただけおそうようよけいのものいっさいみえないです"). Looking at her now, he just sees her as she is ("今みてるそのままのあなた何です"). This is the first time that's happened and it really surprised him so that's why he told her he hopes she'll remain as she is. She tells him she's sorry but she thinks that fate is something people chose for themselves ("うんめいわ自分で選ぶものだって思うてから") and runs from the room thinking she just can't believe any of this.
007: Jun sleeps through her first two alarms, once again having a dream where Itoshi tells her she should stay as she is, just like her grandfather did. She goes to inquire after him in the kitchens, but apparently he got fired for looking too intently at people's faces. She tries to explain for him but in the end, decides to forget him.
At work, she is assigned her first job after shadowing: bellgirl. Chika-chan stops her to apologize for before, but Jun just easily says it's forgotten. She overexcitedly serves her first customer, gets pissed at a gross customer that touches her butt, and discovers her little brother, who has run away from home, sleeping in the entrance way to the hotel. (She informs him that since absolutely no one can depend on him, he'll never be able to support himself. XD)
Chika-chan asks for her help shushing loud customers, coincidentally for the sake of first guy she showed to his room. He says he'll count on her to do it. However when she goes to confront them, it's the ero-oji from before who says he'll only pipe down if she drinks a glass of wine. She refuses and is thrown out but Itoshi (now a maintenence guy) overhears.
008: Jun confronts her section head about the noisy salaryman guys and is told since they are regular customers with important business, the other guy needs to switch rooms. She feels super bad, to have let down someone who believed in her. Her nice shachou listens to her problem… and says "ganbatte". XD Ikemen-kun compares her to Nike, the Goddess of Justice. When Ikemen-kun casually asks her out for food, Chika-chan is seen tch-ing.
When Jun decides she just can't leave things as they are and goes back to the loud room, things get scary fast as the ero-oji breaks a wine bottle on the floor. However, Itoshi swoops in the nick of time, using the lights going out as an excuse. Jun is shocked that he would be her prince. :D He quickly ruins that image by saying his "trick" was to pull the keycard out so the lights went off and he only knew to save her because he was always watching her today. LOL STALKING MONTAGE. :D He apologizes sincerely, noting its hard not to watch when she's always doing something reckless, and says he'll stop today. She stops him as he leaves, saying she has a favor to ask him.
009: Jun uses Itoshi's "powers" to learn about her first client and the hotel records to learn he stayed here with his first on his honeymoon 30 years ago. Jun consults her father for the first time and Itoshi laughs for the first time. Itoshi can't be of use in a fight but is good at encouraging Jun to do what she would do if she were the boss. :D
010: Jun hides in a bathroom, loses customers for the hotel and doubts her worth and dreams. She plans to resign, Itoshi asks her if that's okay and her first and maybe last customer is glad he believed in her.
011: Everyone at work hates Jun, she thinks to herself that she doesn't fit in just like during high-school (we flashback again to her being made goalkeeper when no one else wanted to do it... but they are still disappointed when she sucks and loses the matches for them, her older brother is the high school heartbreaker which doesn't engender goodwill either and back in elementary school, her younger brother pooping his pants got them both known as the "poop siblings" XD). She uses Itoshi's powers on her co-workers (Curly-perm cellphone guy was picked on and had to leave his job at 36, Chika-chan is like a baby fussing and making noise, bosslady is old-fashioned like a "bushi" and resembles Jun, etc). Ikemen-kun turns out to be a classmate of Itoshi, asks Jun out again and Itoshi tags along. He tells Jun that Itoshi is from a rich family of lawyers and has a dead twin brother, who we then see still haunts him. While walking her home, Ikemen-kun leans in for the kiss!!
012: At work, Jun has a terrible day as Ero-oji comes back and punches her in the face! Itoshi warns Jun that Ikemen-kun is only thinking of ecchi things, at this Jun sputters protest and tells him to stop this stalker-like thing. Ikemen-kun takes her out for drinks and leans in for kiss again… and she shoves him down the stairs. He says she'll never get married unless she's more girlish. On top of everything, it starts to rain when she doesn't have an umbrella and she gets a phonecall from home saying her older brother seems to have gotten the girl he was dating pregnant. She sits on the side of a bridge to contemplate life.. but her thoughts are interrupted by her hunger. Jun discovers Itoshi following her again. He explains he was worried she was thinking of suicide and turns to leave but she grabs onto him and tells him not to go, asking herself why he calms her down.
013: As soon as her sees in her face that she's thinking she just might like him, Itoshi shoves her over and takes off running. Ikemen-kun and Jun fail to get a cake and present for a customer but he asks again if she'll go out with him. Jun seeks out Itoshi at work and he escapes once again, finally saying it might be better if she's not involved with him, only for both of them to bump into a girl that knows him, Makoto.
014: The girl looking for him turns out to be Machida Makoto, his younger sister with a super nose and a grudge that now she has to become a lawyer in his place. She gives Jun Itoshi's number but he promptly hangs up on her, reminding her she's had terrible luck with men ever since grade school. Her mom calls to remind her about coming home to help with her older brother/his pregnant girlfriend… which she completely forgot about and made her other plans for the hotel customer.
015: Leaving Itoshi in charge of picking up the cake, Jun goes to Miwako to talk to her brother's girlfriend Mariya and is once again punched in the face. She discovered her older brother has been an ass and her younger brother is back on Miwako working part-time.
016: Jun's father comes to offer Mariya money as an apology and an implicit "don't have the baby". Jun encourages her to do what she wants and she leaves heartbroken, without the money. Jun's flight to Kansai is cancelled and Mizuno-kun is pissed that Itoshi knew she was in Okinawa and he didn't and that she broke a promise to a customer.
017: Jun dreams everyone hates her but in reality, at least Mizuno-kun takes it strangely well. He is persistent in asking her out but when she asks what he would do in her older brother's position, he says she should just turn him down already. Shachou tells her that pure-hearted people need "ai" to support them and her brain connects that to another "ai". Jun sees Makoto checking out, she tells Jun that he's not the only one that's suffered, she has to wear a mask now because everyone smells so strongly (though Jun strangely doesn't). Just when she thinks we wants to see him, he shows to explain that something happened to the cake (?) and then he caught a cold from standing in the rain and was sick. She confronts him about why he won't look at her anymore.
018: Itoshi explains that he sees all the faces of her emotions around her when he looks at her and that he's pulling away for her sake, to not subject her to misfortune. Jun takes him to the fancy restaurant where Mizuno took her. Chika-chan calls from Mizuno's house and asks Jun not to look at him with "ero-mei" anymore. Itoshi tells her he wants to support her because she loves people more than anyone ("あなたは誰よりも人がことわすきで") and tries harder than anyone. At her place, Itoshi explains that his twin named Jun always had a weak body because of undernourishment in the womb and so he felt like his family blamed him. Jun tells him she's going to believe in him more than anyone.
019: Jun confesses to Itoshi… but he says they should go out only on a trial period. XD They have their first date, which alternates between being surprisingly normal (!! his reactions to normal date things!) and weird, as he avoids everyone. Unfortunately, the ghost of his dead brother chu-blocks everyone at the end and no one is happy about that. :/
020: Itoshi cheers Jun up by listening to her on the phone. Mizuno proposes a double date, where he competitively tries to show up Itoshi at every turn. Itoshi asks for a revenge chance (at kissing) but this time his father calls during it and for the first time ever, he raises his voice to Jun when saying he'll never see his family again. (I'm so into the fact that Jun is so into chu-ing! :D :D)
021: Jun gets roped into babysitting for a customer's kid and framed for stealing a ring from her! She calls Itoshi to hear his voice, he is currently looking for a job, and they go to look at the kid's face. He confirms the kid as the ring… but then walks over and slaps the kid when his younger brother starts to cry, saying he knows he's bullying him and to never tell your younger brother to die. :(
022: Itoshi covers up for Jun and takes all responsibility on his shoulders and goes off to the police. Jun tries to consult with her mom, on if she ever regretted marrying her dad, and her boss, who astutely sees this boy is who was supporting her. His lawyer parents get him out of trouble and Itoshi declares that they shouldn't date but Jun will have none of it, saying the trial period isn't over and he's being selfish by always running away and they are going to his parent's house, period.
023: His parent's house is huge and fancy, his father turning out to be rather meek and afflicted with not being able to listen to people's voices (heh). Itoshi's room is filled with trophies and difficult books but the only thing he is attached to his a storybook his mom used to read them as kids. His mother is the fearsome lawyer of the house, calling Jun a cockroach-like person and saying she thinks of Itoshi as someone dead too. Itoshi reveals that his mother's face also said she was glad he was the one that lived, since he could go on to be a successful lawyer. As they leave though, his father asks Jun to please take care of Itoshi and she wonders if she can.
024: Itoshi breaks up with Jun that night and although she puts up a fight, he can run much faster than her. At work, she asks Mizuno what's his reason for living. Meanwhile, we see Itoshi ask his sister to take care of their mom and settle his bill at the net cafe. He goes to a bridge but just when he's on the railing, Jun appears, having borrowed his stalker tendencies to find him. She takes him to his brother's grave, to try and settle his guilt. She also declares them officially dating and finally gets her first 'chu'. <3
025: This episode hits new highs of adorable and cuddling! Jun quickly discovers Itoshi is also excellent at domesticity: at his organization, fresh sheets and cooking she declares she wants him as a bride ("愛くんお嫁にほしいね"). She's serious about keeping him though, but he is too realistic and thinks he needs to find a job if they were going to have the money to share an apartment. Meanwhile at work, Jun discovers Itoshi's dad there with another woman and then his mom shows up to look for him.
026: Jun's older brother is going to marry the omiai partner to get them out of debt. Itoshi's mother shows up at the hotel, both seeing his father there with another woman and telling Jun to bring Itoshi to a doctor. Itoshi gets fired from his job for being too efficient and not paying attention to people. Their snuggly home life is interrupted by Itoshi seeing the things Jun is hiding to protect him on her face.
027: Otherwise known as "it's hard not to be normal" and "when you date someone with psychic abilities, they become even more attuned to you". Poor babies, life is not going smoothly for them! Their date day is a disaster and neither is looking good on the work front. <3
028: Wahhhh! Jun is filled with doubts over her speech at work. Itoshi goes back to electrical work at the hotel… but once again finds himself in trouble when he confronts Chika-chan for being the one writing claims about Jun and putting them in the comment box. Jun starts having doubts about Itoshi's powers and suggests he tries going to a doctor.
029: Itoshi relates that he once before went to see a doctor. His mother comes to visit once again to say he should go and this time reveals how much she really does care about his welfare. Itoshi turns to gambling for money and Jun doesn't let him run away this time when talking about her worries. He agrees to try a doctor again.
030: The doctor says this is all an illness and prescribes drugs but when he calls Itoshi on his skill, Itoshi goes ahead and uses it to dig up all sorts of hidden things on the doctor. Jun and Itoshi finally get to the point where she admits to not being able to entirely believe and thinks he's sick too. Itoshi describes Jun's true face, what she's been hiding and leaves her apartment for good. :(
031: One month has gone past! Everyone is amazed that Jun hasn't caused trouble for a month. Her parents want her to attend her brother's wedding ceremony on Thursday. Mizuno-san once again brings her on a date and tries to kiss her… but is interrupted by Makoto, dropping by about a "wedding".
032: Makoto says Itoshi must be talking about her going to a wedding of someone she knows. At work, Jun asks Mizuno to go out with her for a day but when the time comes for kissing, she just can't do it. While hiding in the bathroom, she gets a text from Itoshi that is just an address back home. She flies out the day before the wedding, only to find Mariya-san at that address, still pregnant.
033: After getting into a fight Mariya-san, Jun goes and gets into a fight with her whole family. Promising to stop the wedding she storms out but by the time she's on the beach, she's desolate. She calls Itoshi by his answering machine cuts her off so she rants to the ocean about how she can't do anything right and feels lost and wants to see him. However when she asks where he is, he replies that he's here. It turns out Itoshi both wanted to see the ocean she spoke about and has been doing some truly high-level stalking. :D Oh and also he wishes they never broke up too. <3
034: Itoshi absolutely wants Jun to go to the wedding… due to his intuition. XD Jun has the bright idea for Itoshi to come meet her family. Unfortunately introductions don't go so well when you don't have a job and are estranged from your family and the only skills he can think of when he's nervous are some line of succession he has memorized and that he can pop-and-lock. XD The wedding comes and just when Jun is ready to object, Mariya comes and does! They run off into the sunset and Tsuyoshi now has an amazing video to put on YouTube. XD
035: The family goes looking for the eloped couple but they have wisely chosen a boat to escape. When Jun and her father start arguing about the wedding, Jun reveals that she never felt loved by him and when Itoshi gets in the middle, his prescription for medication gets revealed. Jun explains his power and he demonstrates on the family: Jun's father wants to be loved, Tsuyoshi wants to be praised, and Jun's mother is going through tough times and wonders whether she should have ever married Jun's father.
036: Itoshi admits he went to see a doctor again, thinking it would be best if he could fix this. Jun tries to dramatically throw the medicine into the ocean… but it runs to trash because that's bad for the environment. XD They go to her old school and he hits her in the face with a handball and they decide to have a crying day and call his mom. On the beach, Jun finds an "I" and a "J" of coral and proposes to Itoshi. :DDD He failingly proposes back and they are adorable except there should be more kissing, they are getting married. gosh! :DD
037: They excitedly go to get the marriage paperwork but Itoshi points out they still need consent (one of them is under 20?? I'm confused). They go through the list they have to work out to get married and just as Itoshi is ready to assure her they can "fully enjoy" newlywed life (heh), Makoto arrives to stay with them. At work, her cellphone boss is excitedly congratulating her about marriage… because she's moving to the bridal department and he's rid of her. Mizuno and then his parents find out they plan to marry.
038: Jun tries to get Itoshi to leave off the "-san", to hilaridisasterous results. XD At work, Jun' client plans to marry someone she doesn't care about. Jun's boss signs her paperwork but since they don't have any money, they plan to not have a ceremony. At home, her father is still brooding over what Itoshi said and now Tsuyoshi is supposed to inherit the hotel. Jun finally can't stand it and tells her client to cancel her ceremony. XD
039: Jun continues to be a warrior for love and justice, continuing to press her client to reconsider even though she said she didn't want to see her again. Itoshi and Jun meet her ex-boyfriend, who didn't have the confidence to maker her happy, and encourage him (with Mizuno-san's words lol). In the end, Itoshi explains to them that Jun is so determined because of their similarities to this couple.
040: The new couple has just one remaining problem: her father still doesn't approve and he's not coming to the ceremony. Jun backs up the groom in meeting with him again but he loses his confidence quickly. She tries to explain to him that she does understand but thinks marriage is less about making someone happy than thinking if you have this person, it's okay to be unhappy. At home, Tsuyoshi comes to crash again and meets Makoto.
041: Itoshi manages to help the groom and keep the wedding on and with her father's approval. After her success, her boss insists they can have a free ceremony at the hotel. They invite their siblings (+ Mariya) to the wedding but to her surprise, Shachou arrives with both sets of parents too.
042: Their families make a huge scene, having been tricked into this obviously. XD Tadashi and Mariya arrive to participate. Itoshi's mother makes her objections to Jun, who declares while she doesn't know if she will succeed as a hotel shachou, she knows she won't ever break up with Itoshi. Jun's father has his turn and Itoshi can't promise for his future employment but does promise to cook delicious food and sing and dance to whatever she wants and be her sun when it's cold and aircon when it hot. Their families still aren't resolved at al but they go ahead and submit the forms: she'll be Machida Jun and Itoshi makes their coral into necklaces as the rings. <3
043: Jun finally gets her cuddle on in a double bed and discovers the joy of taking Itoshi as her (stereotypical housewife-ly) "bride". :D However Itoshi cuts down her thoughts that this is a happy ending and says they'll be sure to have troubles from here. ("Are you going to cheat?? Which one of us is going to get sick or into an accident??" Jun replies. LOL.) At work, Jun tries to fix her habit of butting into her customer's business but in the end is too curious and learns the bride-to-be is worried about an ex crashing the ceremony. Mizuno lists the ways he's better than Itoshi to Jun and wonders what happened. The ex arrives at the hotel!
[Post to be edited as I continue watching!]
Episode Summaries
Episodes: 151 [fifteen minutes each]
Plot Summary [spoilers for the first six episodes!]:Kano Jun is the middle child of a family who runs a small hotel on Miwakojima, Okinawa. She looooves the hotel business and goes to Osaka to work at a fancy chain hotel and prove she is a way more deserving business successor than her older brother. However she gets into a lot of scrapes and everyone sort of hates her because she’s brash and uncompromising about making customers happy. There she meets Machida written-as-"Ai"-but-read-as-"Itoshi", a shy, social recluse due largely to his ability to see people’s true natures if he looks them directly in the face. But Jun’s face is different for him because she’s so straightforward that she doesn’t have a hidden face. :) And so starts their strange-but-sweet relationship. ♥
[dramawiki]
[Index Post on kazama_shunsuke] (must join to see)
Notes: I originally took these just as notes to jog my memory if I wanted to find something later so it's vaguely embarrassing to post them. :) However dreamalley on tumblr expressed interest in skipping around and watching the good parts of the series (understandably, asadoras are long!♥) and well, more information out on the internet is always a good thing! You never know what could come in handy for someone. :) I've never done anything like this, both watching a drama unsubbed and summarizing what I see so please keep that in mind if you read. My understanding of Japanese is... decent? Existent?? XD However I'm not fluent or anything so I'm sure there's mistakes about specifics in here. As you can see, I went into far too much detail for the first eight episodes before realizing the ground between brevity and full on translation was kind of pointless. :D
001: Our heroine, Kano Jun, returns to her hometown of Miwako and to her grandfather hotel. The hotel is the family business: her father runs it, her mom and older brother help out and her younger brother does nothing. XD Believing in the choices you make being more important than destiny, she's completed her schooling in hotel management and wants to be the next in line to run the hotel. However, when she hands her dad such a proposal, he declares that her brother, the first born son, will be the one to inherit. She objects on the basis he doesn't really have an interest in hotels, just like her father only chose the hotel because his previous career failed. When she goes on to say the hotel has lost its former glory, that under her grandfather it was a "country of magic" that always left people with a smile, her father kicks her out of the house.
Back in Osaka, she goes to interview for a fancy hotel chain and on the way is accidentally bumped over by a shuffling boy.
002: The boy that knocked her over takes one look at her face and starts staring. He says this is "the first time it's happened" but when pressed about what "it" is, says it was nothing. As Jun goes in for her interview, she turns back and sees him still staring. At her interview, Jun starts off okay by talking about her beloved hotel in Miwako and the "country of magic" her grandfather created with his heartfelt love but things quickly go off track. Jun 1) declares she wants to be the boss of a hotel (attracting the positive attention of a man seated in back), 2) tells off one of the interviewers for letting his phone ring and 3) tells off another guy for sneezing super loud (insuring she also just made several enemies of her potential future employers).
When she leaves the hotel, the boy from earlier is not-so-steathily following her. Getting creeped out, she starts to run and falls down the steps. The boy following her asks if she's okay and when she asks what his deal is, he says he wanted to confirm something one more time. He says that his explanation of why her is following her is too long and also probably she won't get it. (?) She blows up at him, saying she's really depressed from just failing an interview and he apologizes. As she leaves, he asks to say one thing: that she always should stay the way she is. He bows politely and leaves.
003: Jun waits in depression for the results of her job interview. Her mom calls instead and immediately sees through her assertion it went well, the conversation ends with Jun yelling at her dad and throwing down her phone in a very public restaurant. XD She decides to treat herself and stay the night in the Ozaki Plaza Hotel (that she interviewed for). She mentally notes down a few flaws in the service and arrangement of the place. Going back to her room, she meets the boy from earlier in the hallway and he says he's been staying here, hoping to meet her again. She thinks to herself he's a total stalker and books. He follows her saying he wants to properly explain.
While running through the hotel, she comes across an old woman in a kimono looking tired who says she's looking for a wedding ceremony but got lost. Jun piggybacks her up the stairs and gets her to where she's going. As the old woman thanks her and turns to leave, the boy from earlier grabs the woman's arm and asks her to return Jun's wallet, which Jun discovers is in fact missing. The old woman runs off, Jun gives chase. Upon discovering she has no cash on her anyway, the woman throws the wallet and leaves.
The boy puts a wrap on Jun's injured ankle, which reminds her of her grandfather. She asks him how he knew the woman was stealing. He tells her can see people's true faces and when the old woman got the piggyback ride from Jun, he could see her smirking on her hidden face. Before Jun can really figure out what to think, she gets a call saying that she did in fact make the cut and will be working here.
004: Jun gets on her knees in thanks for the job and when she turns back to him, he's staring. She asks him to stop staring at people's faces but he seems more struck by the fact her overheard that her name is "Jun". He congratulates her on the job, asks once again for her to stay the same (now calling her Jun-san) and awkwardly shuffles off, leaving her thinking he really is strange.
Jun calls her mom in triumph about the job. which ends with her dad yelling into the phone and hanging it up. At home, her father and two brothers freak out over a spider which her mom gently and calmly ushers out. XD
At the first orientation for her new job, she meets the girl from her interview group who introduces herself as Tanabe Chika and Jun takes to calling Chika-chan. The guy that was so kind to her at her interview turns out to be the company shachou… who introduces her to the whole group as the person aiming to be a shachou herself, to the dubious looks of all. In her rounds of first day training, her reputation proceeds her as the rumored "shachou" and everyone sarcastically calls her by the title. The one exception is the concierge, who says of course he's aiming for the top too and she mentally nicknames "Ikemen-kun". Her first day ends with censure from her direct superior, for giving a customer a should massage in the dining hall and a reprimand that she represents the hotel, not herself.
005: At the hotel, she has conversation with the friendly shachou who treats her super informally (and whom she thinks is meeting a woman and having an affair here). Today she's getting training at the front desk, which doesn't go very well as she can't work the computers and can't resist answering a ringing phone when it's busy, even though she's just supposed to observe. On top of that, she promises a customer a cup of coffee even though it is few minutes past when room service closes. Jun runs down to the kitchen to secure the coffee and takes responsibility for it being past room service. Her customer is super thankful for the coffee, knowing he was really cutting it close and Jun is thrilled he's happy.
However the next day at work, she gets called down to the kitchens and cut down for violating the rules of the hotel and making trouble for everyone. She explains how much it meant to the customer and when told the customer doesn't matter, gets incensed herself. The sneezing and cellphone bosses tell her she's pain and she asserts that if the customer isn't happy, it's the hotel's loss. She gets emotional about the subject and ends up tearily saying she might not be cut out for this and maybe she should quit. At that, someone behind he drops a plate and she turns to discover her stalker boy working in the kitchens.
006: Her direct superior apologizes for her and drags her away. She tells her that when someone thinks they always know the right thing, it's the same thing as saying they've stopped growing and improving. The next day she asks Chika-chan what she thinks, remembering she also talked about customer service at the interview and Chika-chan's demure exterior slips for a minute, as she asks her to give them a break and stop causing trouble in Kansai-ben.
Jun thinks that from birth she's pulled the wrong card, remembering her bad luck in games and when she was asked to be goalkeeper in her high school handball club. Her mom calls from home to tell her her younger brother is in the process of running away from home and Jun tells her she's always been too soft on him… and once again gets hung up on. Jun fondly remembers her grandfather and how as a kid he asked her to always stay the way she is… just like the stalker boy did. She goes to the kitchens to see him and brings him to a conference hall to talk.
She tells him that thanks to him dropping that plate, she didn't immediately quit and asks for his name. He comes closer and from his nametag she reads "Machida Ai", a rare name for a boy. He corrects her that it's read "Itoshi" …though he's still often called "Ai-chan" so either is fine by him. She scolds him for not just saying he worked at the hotel earlier and he corrects her there too, saying he only started to work there after she did in hopes of meeting her again. When she understandably is weirded out by that answer, he says he's not doing this to stalk her though. She asks him to clarify what he said earlier, about see people's true faces. He explains that when he looks at someone, he can see them as they really are. A strong person might actually be frightened, a kind person might actually have a cold face. He says she's free to believe him or not but that's why he doesn't look at people's faces as much as it possible ("できるだけ人の顔は見ないよしって"). She puts together that's why he shuffles and bumps into people when he walks around. He goes on to say that when he looks at her though, he doesn't see any of the extra things that usually attack him ("あなただけおそうようよけいのものいっさいみえないです"). Looking at her now, he just sees her as she is ("今みてるそのままのあなた何です"). This is the first time that's happened and it really surprised him so that's why he told her he hopes she'll remain as she is. She tells him she's sorry but she thinks that fate is something people chose for themselves ("うんめいわ自分で選ぶものだって思うてから") and runs from the room thinking she just can't believe any of this.
007: Jun sleeps through her first two alarms, once again having a dream where Itoshi tells her she should stay as she is, just like her grandfather did. She goes to inquire after him in the kitchens, but apparently he got fired for looking too intently at people's faces. She tries to explain for him but in the end, decides to forget him.
At work, she is assigned her first job after shadowing: bellgirl. Chika-chan stops her to apologize for before, but Jun just easily says it's forgotten. She overexcitedly serves her first customer, gets pissed at a gross customer that touches her butt, and discovers her little brother, who has run away from home, sleeping in the entrance way to the hotel. (She informs him that since absolutely no one can depend on him, he'll never be able to support himself. XD)
Chika-chan asks for her help shushing loud customers, coincidentally for the sake of first guy she showed to his room. He says he'll count on her to do it. However when she goes to confront them, it's the ero-oji from before who says he'll only pipe down if she drinks a glass of wine. She refuses and is thrown out but Itoshi (now a maintenence guy) overhears.
008: Jun confronts her section head about the noisy salaryman guys and is told since they are regular customers with important business, the other guy needs to switch rooms. She feels super bad, to have let down someone who believed in her. Her nice shachou listens to her problem… and says "ganbatte". XD Ikemen-kun compares her to Nike, the Goddess of Justice. When Ikemen-kun casually asks her out for food, Chika-chan is seen tch-ing.
When Jun decides she just can't leave things as they are and goes back to the loud room, things get scary fast as the ero-oji breaks a wine bottle on the floor. However, Itoshi swoops in the nick of time, using the lights going out as an excuse. Jun is shocked that he would be her prince. :D He quickly ruins that image by saying his "trick" was to pull the keycard out so the lights went off and he only knew to save her because he was always watching her today. LOL STALKING MONTAGE. :D He apologizes sincerely, noting its hard not to watch when she's always doing something reckless, and says he'll stop today. She stops him as he leaves, saying she has a favor to ask him.
009: Jun uses Itoshi's "powers" to learn about her first client and the hotel records to learn he stayed here with his first on his honeymoon 30 years ago. Jun consults her father for the first time and Itoshi laughs for the first time. Itoshi can't be of use in a fight but is good at encouraging Jun to do what she would do if she were the boss. :D
010: Jun hides in a bathroom, loses customers for the hotel and doubts her worth and dreams. She plans to resign, Itoshi asks her if that's okay and her first and maybe last customer is glad he believed in her.
011: Everyone at work hates Jun, she thinks to herself that she doesn't fit in just like during high-school (we flashback again to her being made goalkeeper when no one else wanted to do it... but they are still disappointed when she sucks and loses the matches for them, her older brother is the high school heartbreaker which doesn't engender goodwill either and back in elementary school, her younger brother pooping his pants got them both known as the "poop siblings" XD). She uses Itoshi's powers on her co-workers (Curly-perm cellphone guy was picked on and had to leave his job at 36, Chika-chan is like a baby fussing and making noise, bosslady is old-fashioned like a "bushi" and resembles Jun, etc). Ikemen-kun turns out to be a classmate of Itoshi, asks Jun out again and Itoshi tags along. He tells Jun that Itoshi is from a rich family of lawyers and has a dead twin brother, who we then see still haunts him. While walking her home, Ikemen-kun leans in for the kiss!!
012: At work, Jun has a terrible day as Ero-oji comes back and punches her in the face! Itoshi warns Jun that Ikemen-kun is only thinking of ecchi things, at this Jun sputters protest and tells him to stop this stalker-like thing. Ikemen-kun takes her out for drinks and leans in for kiss again… and she shoves him down the stairs. He says she'll never get married unless she's more girlish. On top of everything, it starts to rain when she doesn't have an umbrella and she gets a phonecall from home saying her older brother seems to have gotten the girl he was dating pregnant. She sits on the side of a bridge to contemplate life.. but her thoughts are interrupted by her hunger. Jun discovers Itoshi following her again. He explains he was worried she was thinking of suicide and turns to leave but she grabs onto him and tells him not to go, asking herself why he calms her down.
013: As soon as her sees in her face that she's thinking she just might like him, Itoshi shoves her over and takes off running. Ikemen-kun and Jun fail to get a cake and present for a customer but he asks again if she'll go out with him. Jun seeks out Itoshi at work and he escapes once again, finally saying it might be better if she's not involved with him, only for both of them to bump into a girl that knows him, Makoto.
014: The girl looking for him turns out to be Machida Makoto, his younger sister with a super nose and a grudge that now she has to become a lawyer in his place. She gives Jun Itoshi's number but he promptly hangs up on her, reminding her she's had terrible luck with men ever since grade school. Her mom calls to remind her about coming home to help with her older brother/his pregnant girlfriend… which she completely forgot about and made her other plans for the hotel customer.
015: Leaving Itoshi in charge of picking up the cake, Jun goes to Miwako to talk to her brother's girlfriend Mariya and is once again punched in the face. She discovered her older brother has been an ass and her younger brother is back on Miwako working part-time.
016: Jun's father comes to offer Mariya money as an apology and an implicit "don't have the baby". Jun encourages her to do what she wants and she leaves heartbroken, without the money. Jun's flight to Kansai is cancelled and Mizuno-kun is pissed that Itoshi knew she was in Okinawa and he didn't and that she broke a promise to a customer.
017: Jun dreams everyone hates her but in reality, at least Mizuno-kun takes it strangely well. He is persistent in asking her out but when she asks what he would do in her older brother's position, he says she should just turn him down already. Shachou tells her that pure-hearted people need "ai" to support them and her brain connects that to another "ai". Jun sees Makoto checking out, she tells Jun that he's not the only one that's suffered, she has to wear a mask now because everyone smells so strongly (though Jun strangely doesn't). Just when she thinks we wants to see him, he shows to explain that something happened to the cake (?) and then he caught a cold from standing in the rain and was sick. She confronts him about why he won't look at her anymore.
018: Itoshi explains that he sees all the faces of her emotions around her when he looks at her and that he's pulling away for her sake, to not subject her to misfortune. Jun takes him to the fancy restaurant where Mizuno took her. Chika-chan calls from Mizuno's house and asks Jun not to look at him with "ero-mei" anymore. Itoshi tells her he wants to support her because she loves people more than anyone ("あなたは誰よりも人がことわすきで") and tries harder than anyone. At her place, Itoshi explains that his twin named Jun always had a weak body because of undernourishment in the womb and so he felt like his family blamed him. Jun tells him she's going to believe in him more than anyone.
019: Jun confesses to Itoshi… but he says they should go out only on a trial period. XD They have their first date, which alternates between being surprisingly normal (!! his reactions to normal date things!) and weird, as he avoids everyone. Unfortunately, the ghost of his dead brother chu-blocks everyone at the end and no one is happy about that. :/
020: Itoshi cheers Jun up by listening to her on the phone. Mizuno proposes a double date, where he competitively tries to show up Itoshi at every turn. Itoshi asks for a revenge chance (at kissing) but this time his father calls during it and for the first time ever, he raises his voice to Jun when saying he'll never see his family again. (I'm so into the fact that Jun is so into chu-ing! :D :D)
021: Jun gets roped into babysitting for a customer's kid and framed for stealing a ring from her! She calls Itoshi to hear his voice, he is currently looking for a job, and they go to look at the kid's face. He confirms the kid as the ring… but then walks over and slaps the kid when his younger brother starts to cry, saying he knows he's bullying him and to never tell your younger brother to die. :(
022: Itoshi covers up for Jun and takes all responsibility on his shoulders and goes off to the police. Jun tries to consult with her mom, on if she ever regretted marrying her dad, and her boss, who astutely sees this boy is who was supporting her. His lawyer parents get him out of trouble and Itoshi declares that they shouldn't date but Jun will have none of it, saying the trial period isn't over and he's being selfish by always running away and they are going to his parent's house, period.
023: His parent's house is huge and fancy, his father turning out to be rather meek and afflicted with not being able to listen to people's voices (heh). Itoshi's room is filled with trophies and difficult books but the only thing he is attached to his a storybook his mom used to read them as kids. His mother is the fearsome lawyer of the house, calling Jun a cockroach-like person and saying she thinks of Itoshi as someone dead too. Itoshi reveals that his mother's face also said she was glad he was the one that lived, since he could go on to be a successful lawyer. As they leave though, his father asks Jun to please take care of Itoshi and she wonders if she can.
024: Itoshi breaks up with Jun that night and although she puts up a fight, he can run much faster than her. At work, she asks Mizuno what's his reason for living. Meanwhile, we see Itoshi ask his sister to take care of their mom and settle his bill at the net cafe. He goes to a bridge but just when he's on the railing, Jun appears, having borrowed his stalker tendencies to find him. She takes him to his brother's grave, to try and settle his guilt. She also declares them officially dating and finally gets her first 'chu'. <3
025: This episode hits new highs of adorable and cuddling! Jun quickly discovers Itoshi is also excellent at domesticity: at his organization, fresh sheets and cooking she declares she wants him as a bride ("愛くんお嫁にほしいね"). She's serious about keeping him though, but he is too realistic and thinks he needs to find a job if they were going to have the money to share an apartment. Meanwhile at work, Jun discovers Itoshi's dad there with another woman and then his mom shows up to look for him.
026: Jun's older brother is going to marry the omiai partner to get them out of debt. Itoshi's mother shows up at the hotel, both seeing his father there with another woman and telling Jun to bring Itoshi to a doctor. Itoshi gets fired from his job for being too efficient and not paying attention to people. Their snuggly home life is interrupted by Itoshi seeing the things Jun is hiding to protect him on her face.
027: Otherwise known as "it's hard not to be normal" and "when you date someone with psychic abilities, they become even more attuned to you". Poor babies, life is not going smoothly for them! Their date day is a disaster and neither is looking good on the work front. <3
028: Wahhhh! Jun is filled with doubts over her speech at work. Itoshi goes back to electrical work at the hotel… but once again finds himself in trouble when he confronts Chika-chan for being the one writing claims about Jun and putting them in the comment box. Jun starts having doubts about Itoshi's powers and suggests he tries going to a doctor.
029: Itoshi relates that he once before went to see a doctor. His mother comes to visit once again to say he should go and this time reveals how much she really does care about his welfare. Itoshi turns to gambling for money and Jun doesn't let him run away this time when talking about her worries. He agrees to try a doctor again.
030: The doctor says this is all an illness and prescribes drugs but when he calls Itoshi on his skill, Itoshi goes ahead and uses it to dig up all sorts of hidden things on the doctor. Jun and Itoshi finally get to the point where she admits to not being able to entirely believe and thinks he's sick too. Itoshi describes Jun's true face, what she's been hiding and leaves her apartment for good. :(
031: One month has gone past! Everyone is amazed that Jun hasn't caused trouble for a month. Her parents want her to attend her brother's wedding ceremony on Thursday. Mizuno-san once again brings her on a date and tries to kiss her… but is interrupted by Makoto, dropping by about a "wedding".
032: Makoto says Itoshi must be talking about her going to a wedding of someone she knows. At work, Jun asks Mizuno to go out with her for a day but when the time comes for kissing, she just can't do it. While hiding in the bathroom, she gets a text from Itoshi that is just an address back home. She flies out the day before the wedding, only to find Mariya-san at that address, still pregnant.
033: After getting into a fight Mariya-san, Jun goes and gets into a fight with her whole family. Promising to stop the wedding she storms out but by the time she's on the beach, she's desolate. She calls Itoshi by his answering machine cuts her off so she rants to the ocean about how she can't do anything right and feels lost and wants to see him. However when she asks where he is, he replies that he's here. It turns out Itoshi both wanted to see the ocean she spoke about and has been doing some truly high-level stalking. :D Oh and also he wishes they never broke up too. <3
034: Itoshi absolutely wants Jun to go to the wedding… due to his intuition. XD Jun has the bright idea for Itoshi to come meet her family. Unfortunately introductions don't go so well when you don't have a job and are estranged from your family and the only skills he can think of when he's nervous are some line of succession he has memorized and that he can pop-and-lock. XD The wedding comes and just when Jun is ready to object, Mariya comes and does! They run off into the sunset and Tsuyoshi now has an amazing video to put on YouTube. XD
035: The family goes looking for the eloped couple but they have wisely chosen a boat to escape. When Jun and her father start arguing about the wedding, Jun reveals that she never felt loved by him and when Itoshi gets in the middle, his prescription for medication gets revealed. Jun explains his power and he demonstrates on the family: Jun's father wants to be loved, Tsuyoshi wants to be praised, and Jun's mother is going through tough times and wonders whether she should have ever married Jun's father.
036: Itoshi admits he went to see a doctor again, thinking it would be best if he could fix this. Jun tries to dramatically throw the medicine into the ocean… but it runs to trash because that's bad for the environment. XD They go to her old school and he hits her in the face with a handball and they decide to have a crying day and call his mom. On the beach, Jun finds an "I" and a "J" of coral and proposes to Itoshi. :DDD He failingly proposes back and they are adorable except there should be more kissing, they are getting married. gosh! :DD
037: They excitedly go to get the marriage paperwork but Itoshi points out they still need consent (one of them is under 20?? I'm confused). They go through the list they have to work out to get married and just as Itoshi is ready to assure her they can "fully enjoy" newlywed life (heh), Makoto arrives to stay with them. At work, her cellphone boss is excitedly congratulating her about marriage… because she's moving to the bridal department and he's rid of her. Mizuno and then his parents find out they plan to marry.
038: Jun tries to get Itoshi to leave off the "-san", to hilaridisasterous results. XD At work, Jun' client plans to marry someone she doesn't care about. Jun's boss signs her paperwork but since they don't have any money, they plan to not have a ceremony. At home, her father is still brooding over what Itoshi said and now Tsuyoshi is supposed to inherit the hotel. Jun finally can't stand it and tells her client to cancel her ceremony. XD
039: Jun continues to be a warrior for love and justice, continuing to press her client to reconsider even though she said she didn't want to see her again. Itoshi and Jun meet her ex-boyfriend, who didn't have the confidence to maker her happy, and encourage him (with Mizuno-san's words lol). In the end, Itoshi explains to them that Jun is so determined because of their similarities to this couple.
040: The new couple has just one remaining problem: her father still doesn't approve and he's not coming to the ceremony. Jun backs up the groom in meeting with him again but he loses his confidence quickly. She tries to explain to him that she does understand but thinks marriage is less about making someone happy than thinking if you have this person, it's okay to be unhappy. At home, Tsuyoshi comes to crash again and meets Makoto.
041: Itoshi manages to help the groom and keep the wedding on and with her father's approval. After her success, her boss insists they can have a free ceremony at the hotel. They invite their siblings (+ Mariya) to the wedding but to her surprise, Shachou arrives with both sets of parents too.
042: Their families make a huge scene, having been tricked into this obviously. XD Tadashi and Mariya arrive to participate. Itoshi's mother makes her objections to Jun, who declares while she doesn't know if she will succeed as a hotel shachou, she knows she won't ever break up with Itoshi. Jun's father has his turn and Itoshi can't promise for his future employment but does promise to cook delicious food and sing and dance to whatever she wants and be her sun when it's cold and aircon when it hot. Their families still aren't resolved at al but they go ahead and submit the forms: she'll be Machida Jun and Itoshi makes their coral into necklaces as the rings. <3
043: Jun finally gets her cuddle on in a double bed and discovers the joy of taking Itoshi as her (stereotypical housewife-ly) "bride". :D However Itoshi cuts down her thoughts that this is a happy ending and says they'll be sure to have troubles from here. ("Are you going to cheat?? Which one of us is going to get sick or into an accident??" Jun replies. LOL.) At work, Jun tries to fix her habit of butting into her customer's business but in the end is too curious and learns the bride-to-be is worried about an ex crashing the ceremony. Mizuno lists the ways he's better than Itoshi to Jun and wonders what happened. The ex arrives at the hotel!
[Post to be edited as I continue watching!]