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Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata ~Ending Planner~ Episode 7 Recap

I love the theme of resolving each Ihara's sibling's conflict with each episode(: And for this one, we have Haruka taking the stage. 

We have a few recollections put together, of the guy being worried that Haruka didn't reply his emails. Masato got up in the morning and told Kento that he had a nightmare that he had disappeared again. They sat down for a family breakfast and Momoko complained about having to eat a Japanese-styled breakfast. Haruka replied she couldn't possibly churn out two styles for one breakfast and Momoko settled for what she had. 

Yay. Everyone's happy. 

It's the day to hold the talk for interested members of the public to learn more about the Ihara funeral house. Kento said that he would go to the venue after he visited their father's grave. In the end, only four people turned up for the talk and Haruka was immensely pleased and surprised to find her ex-principal was present too. He expressed a wish to have a memorial service if he died and after the talk, he chatted with Haruka, telling her that students were just like children to him, and he wished that Haruka would attend his funeral service. Haha, the Ihara funeral house decided to check out their competition, and found that Haruka's principal had attended the other talk as well. 

Kento's memory loss strike again and he couldn't remember his way home. He was brought to the police station where coincidentally, Yuki saw him and greeted him. The Ihara siblings realised that Kento had disappeared again but treated it as one of his usual escapades. A serial burglar had broke into someone's house and killed him….turns out it was Haruka's ex-principal. 

Haruka was heartbroken to see his body lying in the morgue and she and Masato placed their hands together in silent prayers. The other funeral home decided to have a burial service without the memorial part, and Haruka was displeased about it. She felt that the guy was only concerned about making money and shouted that they should dedicate wholeheartedly to this job. That night, she confided in the mysterious guy that it must have sounded like she was just talking nonsense when she was talking about dedication to one's work. The guy replied and told her it's good to put in hard work, and cheered her on, before signing off as "Ichinose". 

The serial burglar was caught and Haruka asked if she could take charge of finding a suitable photo of the principal to be used during the memorial service. They went to his house where they found stacks of new year cards written by his students and that night, Haruka posted an online notice, to gather all of his ex-students. Kento's in the hospital but requested for Yuki not to tell his siblings. Haruka and Masato ran into the rival who offered his help should they need it during the organisation of the service. He gave them his name card and Haruka was shocked to see…Ichinose written on it. 

She got an email from him later on, and he told her about how he found a place that sold good omelettes. Haruka sighed silently as  she remembered that the rival was eating omelette when they saw him. Eisuke came in asking for a burial permit and Haruka handed him one. After he left, Haruka scrunched up Ichinose's card…and realised that she gave the wrong permit to Eisuke. She got up to chase after him, while in the main house, Hayato asked if he could use the laptop. He saw the page of emails that Haruka was on, and got Masato and Momoko to read them. Momoko and Hayato were a little disgusted and taken aback that Haruka had been conversing with a man on the Internet. 

She had even created a whole new different persona for herself — 23year old Office Lady who loved jogging. Masato, on the other hand, saw the name of the guy and realised it was the rival that they had met earlier on. 

Haruka came back and the three siblings barely managed to leave the desk before she appeared. They greeted her unnaturally and Haruka deduced that they had seen the emails. She said that they must have been laughing in their hearts and Masato denied that. 

Haruka burst out saying that she didn't work for the funeral home, did house chores, and cooked because she liked doing them but because she had no choice. "Oh well. I've given up."

Masato was displeased and told her that she shouldn't give up, "Haruka is Haruka." Haruka shouted that he didn't understand anything and he should not make it sound so easy. 

She then stormed upstairs into her room, while the three siblings watched in silence.

Iwata came by as usual, and chatted with Masato. He told Masato that every family had its own lies. 

Haruka took leave the next day and Masato went to the principal's house alone. Yuki turned up to help him and asked about Kento again. Masato asked if he's really her type, and she replied, "Doki," (meaning her heart thumps when she sees Kento) and Masato answered, "Doki your head."

Hahaha. He reminded her to clear things up with her boyfriend first, before going after his brother and she nodded. While clearing the principal's belongings, Masato found a New Year card written by Haruka. On it, she told the principal that from then on, her lucky object would be a four-leaved clover. Haruka sat by the road side and watched as a loving couple walked by. She noticed how everyone was looking at her limping and she became even more depressed. She returned home and went to her room to (for the lack of a better word) mope quietly. 

Masato brought huge boxes of cards back into the house and got Hayato and Momoko to search for something together. They did this through the night, and the next day, Masato finally found what they were looking for. 

They exclaimed over it, and Hayato and Momoko expressed a great sense of achievement. 

They fought so much in the last few episodes that whenever the two of them did something nice and obedient…I'm full of appreciation:P

Momoko and Hayato beamed at Haruka and told her to travel well.

She was taken aback, "What..how disgusting…" hahaha. 

Masato drove to her old school and ran around the field. Haruka didn't know what he was doing at first, but understood when Masato said she used to cheer for him whenever he ran. She sat down…and started confiding in him. When she was still in elementary school, she didn't care about her leg and was normal with everyone else, but one day, before a race, she had overheard someone in her team complained that she was counted as a member of the team even though she couldn't run.

And in that moment, she realised that she's a burden. She couldn't help herself and created a fake persona on the Internet. One day she felt that maybe Ichinose would be the right guy for her, so she brought up the courage to meet him…but he had said that he would wait for her to run to him…and she didn't know how she should face him. "Besides…what difference will it make if I meet him? That person…is not me."

Masato handed her the card that she had written to her principal, and told her that he deduced that the principal must have had written a reply. So he dug up all the cards from the storeroom and Momoko&Hayato helped in finding the card. On the card, the principal thanked her for cheering the red team on because without her cheers, they wouldn't have gotten champions.

Masato murmured that he didn't know she did the cheers during that race, and she admitted that because she didn't want to feel like a burden, because she had felt indignant, she decided to make herself useful by being a 'cheerleader'. Masato told her that it might be a good thing her leg was injured after all. True, if she could run, she wouldn't feel indignant and left out…but precisely because she couldn't run, her warm nature allowed her cheers to spur her team on.

She recalled how the four-leaved clover was given to her by the principal and her team, in thanks of what she had done for them. She shuffled a few feet away and shouted into the air, that she was really happy to have been asked out by Ichinose, but she's unable to run to him.

She smiled as tears flowed, and she turned around to tell Masato, "I'm done." She had gotten over her own emotional hole of feeling inferior. The two of them returned home to a meal cooked by Momoko and Hayato.

Hehe, cute. 

And all was happy. Of course, how could we leave the romance line alone? Masato went to find Ichinose, and told him that his sister was called, "Haruka. Ihara Haruka." and yes Ichinose finally made the link. 

It's the day for the Principal's memorial service and many ex-students came by to pay their last respects. Ichinose came by and left soon after, but Haruka got after him and asked him why he was here. He explained that Masato had told him that if he wanted to continue meeting his sister, then he should get to know how serious and dedicated she was to her work, "And this is why I'm here today." 

Haruka was pleased…because this meant that Ichinose wanted to know more about her, and wished to continue meeting her. She returned to the memorial and smiled as she told Masato that she had thought about it. If it wasn't for her leg, she wouldn't be working for the funeral home, and she wouldn't be able to organise such a memorial for her Principal. There wouldn't be so many people attending the service, "and I probably won't get to notice how kind the Principal was." She shuffled to the coffin and thanked him.

Next to her, Masato placed his hands together and murmured, "Have a safe journey."

Yuki visited Kento at the hospital and recalled how he told her not to tell his siblings. He actually didn't plan on returning home (after his last disappearance) but after going home and seeing his siblings' faces, he couldn't bear to part with them, and that's the reason why he didn't want her to tell his family. Yuki popped by Masato's house later on, and they drank under the night sky. Iwata watched from a side, as Masato told Yuki that she's sitting on a chair that was reserved for a weird old guy (Iwata). Masato shared about his wish to be a good brother towards his younger siblings, and Yuki asked about Kento, to which Masato answered, "The elder brother…is the elder brother."

A wishing star flew across the sky and the both of them closed their eyes to make a wish. Kento saw the same star from the hospital and he closed his eyes. In the letter to his father, Masato said that no matter what, he wished that everyone he loved would love his or her entire life. 

Haruka changed her profile setting from Office Lady who liked jogging, to Worked at the Ihara Funeral Home. Masato called Kento and told him in the voicemail, "Your home is here." 

<3thoughtsramble

Next week, we will finally get to understand more about Yuki's story! I wonder if they are going to follow up with Kento's story immediately after that because if that's the case, then the number of episodes for this series will be lesser than usual, won't it? I'm excited to know more about Yuki though since I'm sure that she doesn't have a boyfriend and something must have happened at the train station where she first met Masato. 

Hehe, Hayato is really cute by the way. I like it that even though Yamapi's the main lead here, he doesn't always take the main stage and is more of a catalyst to each character overcoming his or her own obstacle. First Hayato, then Momoko and now Haruka. 

Learn to love yourself for who you are, because every obstacle you meet, every difficulty you face, will ultimately shape you in who you are, and you can only look back on hindsight, to find out that you have grown so much more. So, to everyone reading this right now, I wish that you guys will smile even when you are facing a hard fight right now. Always have hope that things will be better, and we will survive our battles!(:

<3thoughtsramble

2 Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    great writing! keep it going!

    found ur blog when searching for information regarding a few episodes of strawberry night which i missed. all i can find is information on the actors…until i found your blog!
    i like ur writing style and the way you summarized the stories in a concise yet not missing out on the important details. will certainly refer to your blogs for any future drama episodes that i missed.
    keep it up!

    Like

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