Thanks for your kind comments!! ^_^

Do you know where to download without hardsubs? I already have the softsubs from Blitz Fansub but the video files are not available.

Raws are around just on some of the sketchier sites where HD rips are.

http://ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124951

Another little feather for Ayu's cap:

Abema TV has announced their year-end ratings, and "M: Aisubeki Hito ga Ite was their third-most watched program overall, and their most-watched TV dorama!

I am SO late to the party but I finally watched this show and... I have so many things I really need to say about it gah!

First of all - where the f was Yocchan?? :grumpy :P I just watched the actual performance of appears in which she 'cries' (wasn't she sneezing/coughing or was that just a cover up?) and Yocchan is her ROCK. Seems he's been her cheer squad from the beginning. How good would it have been if there had been a Yocchan character in the show?? I heart Yocchan so much (bring back Yocchan!!)

But mainly, how one dimensional is Ayu in this drama?! :dead2:dead2 It's so depressing. I listened to the actual 'All night Japan' recording she did to promote the A Song for xx album release (it's really good, I recommend anyone to listen to it - it's on YouTube!) and she sounded nothing like she does in the drama. Yes she had a baby voice, but it was also a husky voice, and she wasn't just cute and naive, she was also cool. She was a loner who skipped school, got along better with boys than girls, and spent all her time in NY looking for new ways to 'asobu' (play/muck around) rather than going to training. Ayu is a really interesting person - she's not this flannel... The character development of Masa in the show is 10x that of Ayu - I mean even Reika has more character development (don't get me started on that ridiculous character).

I know the show isn't really meant to be non-fiction, but it annoys me a lot because the book was marketed as a 'non-fiction novel' and the show was marketed as based on the book. People will watch it thinking it's loosely based on fact and get an impression of Ayu (and of Max Matsuura) that is totally false. It's like rewriting history. How good would it have been to have a serious biographical show or film about Ayu? Sigh. The production values are so cheap as well. Just why? The wigs! And Kalen's expressionless 'live' performances :dead2 It's mean to say but she doesn't look like Ayu at all - her coloured contacts make her pupils look huge and her face is too round and her body type is very different. I feel like they only picked her for the round shape of her eyes (I mean she seems lovely, don't get me wrong)

Obviously I watched all 7 episodes though - like a trainwreck you just can't look away from haha.

I wonder what the reaction of the Japanese fan base was like...?

I don't know about the japanese fans reactions, but the audience was rather good and the dorama captivated people's attention. I understand your frustration around the over-the-top characterizations, but this is not an biographical film or series, it's a soap opera, with all the inherent tropes of it, made for entertainment. Even the book was marketed as a fictionalized novel based on facts and a lot of things there isn't real, so I'm in peace with the dorama adaptation.

In the other hand, I'm 100% with you about the lack of stage presence of Kalen Anzai while portraying Ayu on stage. I mean, Ayu was kinda immature in that aspect on her early days, but she was magnetic and charismatic during concerts.

Ya I agree ayu is immature during 1998-2003… but she’s have so much charisma and potential when she sings and perform on stage. Nothing like what Kalen Anzai portrayed

Amen!

Would you recommend watching it in the end?

Hmmm, personally, as a drama in and of itself, it was crappy and not particularly worth watching (the 'comedy' was not funny, the character development was not great for most characters, ridiculous bits were just cringe), but as a fan I'm glad I watched it, a) out of curiosity, given the subject matter, and b) because it got me more interested in Ayu's early days, and prompted me to look up more TV performances and things from that time and think about what sort of headspace Ayu was in when she debuted, when she wrote those first lyrics, etc.

For Reika fans:

https://qjweb.jp/column/25133/
https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articl...2/news026.html

I've watched the show and now I want to read the book but can't find it anywhere, is there even English version or translation or everyone here who said they read it had read it in Japanese?

I believe 3 additional episodes were scrapped because of COVID restrictions and the constant delays of the filming, so that’s kind of unfortunate. I feel like it ended up being even worse because they didn’t even have the planned amount of episodes to finish lol.

I actually never ended up watching it until the end. I blame the wigs.

I never got around to finishing this either. But that bit where the music teacher dumps a gigantic bucket of water on Ayu was hilarious. Had fun talking about that scene with my Japanese friends lol

I don't think the additional episodes would have been enough to save the show. I watched the whole thing and enjoyed it as a guilty pleasure, but the writing, the acting, and the CGI were all atrocious. But it's not because the story was bad; it was just executed in the cheapest, most cringe-worthy way possible. :weep

I wish it had helped Kalen's career, though. She has some really good songs, and I was expecting at least a small boost in her popularity.

I haven't been on AHS in forever, so I'm surprised people are still talking about this lol.

But, in retrospect, I don't think Kalen was right for this role. She embodied the sort of innocent demeanor that Ayu had back in the day, but she doesn't really do Ayu's strong and fearless side convincingly well. I wish Kalen the best in her career, of course.

Shohei did a good job as Max, although I doubt the real Max was anywhere near that gorgeous lol. But that's okay -- shows are bound to take that kind of liberty. If they were going to do that, though, I wish they would've given Ayu more autonomy. It felt like all of her decisions were done for Max's sake, often to her own detriment. I was proud of her in the show for dumping him, but again, I wish Kalen had done it more convincingly.

I agree with those who've said that this adaptation is a guilty pleasure more than anything. It's cute if you're an Ayu Stan, but otherwise it really isn't saying anything. What's the message? That it's okay to fall in love with someone who was basically grooming you? Shoutout to the crazy obsessed assistant, though. Her actress really played up that role and I appreciate that lol. Anyway...good to see that the forum is still lively.