As expected, this is a bittersweet drama which swings between the two extremes of happiness and sadness repeatedly. Nonetheless, I feel that the first episode was more inclined towards the happy side of things although it is apparent that the sadness factor will become more prominent in time to come.
I was sort of expecting the drama to start off with Torino Naoki (Sato Takeru) still being alive but too bad that he started off in "spirit form" from the get-go. His childhood friend (cum-girlfriend?) Souma Yui (Inoue Mao) doesn't know what happened to him as he suddenly went off the radar. Throw in a police officer who is able to see spirits i.e. Yuzuru (Matsuyama Kenichi) to "facilitate" the connection between the living and dead (or is it to complicate?) and that's essentially what the first episode is all about in a nutshell.
Before the drama began, the only description about Naoki and Yui's prior relationship which I read about was childhood friends. There is actually more than that because they didn't really meet as kids but rather as 14-year-old teenagers who had to leave their original homes for unknown reasons and stay together with their foster parents for a specific period of time. After they went back to their families, they gradually lost contact and only got reunited 20 years later at the restaurant where Naoki worked at. As such, I expect that the reasons why they had to leave their parents and what happened to them in the past 20 years (especially for Naoki) would be an important part of the story which should be explained in future.
The thing is, there is something really unusual about the nature of Naoki and Yui's relationship in the present day. No doubt you can see from their interactions and behaviour that they do have obvious feelings for each other, it doesn't look like they sought affirmation from each other or had the same understanding about the nature of their relationship. That is why when Yui went to the police to file a missing person's report, she was hesitating when asked about her relation to Naoki and wondered whether she was "qualified" to do so.
Apparently in Japan, you need to be related to the missing person in a certain way e.g. family members, spouses or lovers before you can file such a report at the police station. Given that she wasn't even sure if she is indeed Naoki's girlfriend, that could be why she couldn't rebut Yuzuru's deduction and suggestion that Naoki made a conscious choice to break off contact with Yui i.e. meaning he had the intention to dump her.
What set me thinking was, was Naoki having an issue with committing to a steady relationship with Yui for what happened to him in the past? Or did he have any current concerns or reasons preventing him from "confirming" their relationship as lovers? That is in stark contrast with Yui's open expression of affection although she never spelled out her feelings to Naoki. Regardless of what it was that caused this state of things, Naoki looked like he probably made up his mind to bring their relationship up to the next level because he actually planned to propose to Yui. Just that this was a case of bad timing. My guess is that there was something in the past that made Naoki stop contacting Yui and he was indeed apprehensive about something which prevented him from going steady with Yui. That's despite the fact that they already behaved like lovers.
Like what I mentioned above, this episode had a fair amount of sweet lovey-dovey scenes which I'll let you go and explore them for yourself instead of describing what happened. What's for sure is, the acting of Inoue and Sato was really on-point and you can see the affection their characters had for each other through their mannerisms and words spoken. In particular, whenever Naoki looked lovingly at Yui or did really romantic or touching things for her, this will probably send Sato's fans into a frenzy and squealing in excitement because that expression is definitely from a man in love. And Inoue's fans will probably marvel at how cute she looked whenever there were scenes of Yui and Naoki together - that looked so convincing for a woman in love.
As to why I wrote that Yuzuru's presence might become a complication, that stems from the scene when Naoki's spirit possessed Yuzuru's body so that he could make the Japanese Hamburg steak for Yui which was a memorable dish for both of them. The thing is, before watching this episode, I assumed that Yuzuru was just a communicator or connection between Yui and Naoki. If Naoki is going to keep taking over Yuzuru's body and doing the things which he used to do for Yui, I have a hunch that this may develop into a love triangle by the end as Yui gets more confused as to whether the man before her is Naoki or Yuzuru. And Yuzuru himself may also develop feelings for Yui especially after he helps Naoki to take care of her or do things for her.
Honestly speaking, Matsuyama looked so charming while he was cooking...OK, I may be a bit biased here since I must admit that he is the first reason and probably the main motivation for me to watch this drama. However, even if Yui cannot switch sides to Yuzuru immediately just because Naoki died, I think her feelings for Naoki may cause some ripples in her heart and sway her a little bit towards Yuzuru as another guy is doing the exact same things which used to move her. Much as I don't wish to see a messy and even more heartbreaking love triangle to complicate the current situation, it does seem logical to a certain extent that Yuzuru and Yui might develop something later if Naoki is indeed dead and can never be with Yui.
I actually have my doubts over whether Naoki is indeed dead though because of 2 reasons:
* Yuzuru's power to see spirits is supposedly weaker than the rest of his family who has been managing a temple for generations. Traditionally, everyone in their family should be able to see spirits but from the conversation between him and his sister, Yuzuru has never sighted one before until Naoki. Since there doesn't seem to be any trigger which "boosted" Yuzuru's ability to see spirits now, my guess is that Naoki could be a relatively weak spirit - perhaps he just died? - so someone at Yuzuru's level could see him. And that could also explain why the guy in the yellow coat was able to see Naoki's spirit so easily and repeatedly (meaning it wasn't a fluke or accidental) even before Yuzuru sighted Naoki.
* Naoki's body hasn't been found yet. From what it appears at the end of Ep 1 and Ep 2's trailer, Naoki appeared at the same apartment block as the woman found dead in the case which Yuzuru was investigating. As such, Naoki's whereabouts on that day before he was due to meet Yui will be a big question to be answered. Did he perhaps get embroiled in the case e.g. he saw the murderer in action? And since Naoki hadn't been found dead yet, he could have been in a state between life and death so his spirit might not be that strong or stable i.e. that's why Yuzuru could see him.
If Naoki is indeed not dead, this opens up the possibility that he may be able to have a happy ending with Yui. However, if it's not meant to be after all, Yui will probably end up on her own or may get to develop a budding relationship with Yuzuru. I personally hope that Yui will get her happiness (no matter what form it would take) since she seemed to have a difficult life back then with her own family and the situation with Naoki was really unfortunate. I actually think that Yuzuru would also benefit from having someone as positive and cute like Yui in his life. This poor chap doesn't even know why he was dumped by his last girlfriend in just one month and seemed quite awkward socially that he probably doesn't have many friends to begin with.
Of course, given the situation which Yui and Naoki find themselves in now, there would be scenes that bring out the helplessness and sadness they feel. You may want to keep some tissue handy especially towards the end when Yui finally realises and accepts that Naoki might just be dead and she won't be able to see nor hear him.
Just based on the first episode alone, the quality of the story and acting was pretty good and I'm quite impressed with what the three leads had to offer. I also liked the suspense element in the background where Yuzuru not only has to investigate the murder case but also Naoki's disappearance and possible murder. As such, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it looks likely that I will watch this to the end.
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