The whole idea of the "parent story" Todome no Kiss" intrigued me and I thought of writing an article about it, but saw my feelings about the drama were shared among the many reviewers of the drama. Since I was short on time, I gave up writing a review. However, after watching this one, I felt I had more to say, about both Todome no Kiss and Todome No Parallele, together. I think having them together makes the drama whole.

The original story is about a man who discovers that, by kissing a certain woman, he gets to go back in time. He uses that power for his own selfish needs. Along the way, he discovers how each action may cause a series of reactions. It may change the fate of many people, their attitude, their world views, their eventual actions and choices, and finally their lives. Later on, he learns when he goes back in time, it creates a parallel universe, and the original world keeps going. That is where Todome No Parallele comes in and explores those different worlds.

Fro there you can see how the creators were having fun in dealing in "what-if" scenarios. The tone of each episode vastly differs from one another. Some are very serious, some comedic, and some go full-on meta. What's interesting for me is how humans become in each world depending on their actions and their reach for their desires becomes at risk. Some characters stay true to themselves, while others change drastically. It just demonstrates how, when you're comfortable in your skin, your core rarely gets shaken. However, when you lack faith in yourself, the slightest change may have a huge effect on your character. For example, this can be seen through both Takauji and Hasebe. Through Otaro's actions, Takauji changes the most while Hasebe stays true to himself. This I find to be a very interesting point the drama explores. Takauji constantly wants to keep a front while, as we discover throughout the drama, is falling apart inside to the point of self-destruction. His constant living in fear, living while feeling inadequate, gets him easily influenced by his surrounding. Hasebe, on the other hand, has a clear head, knows right from wrong, and is always comfortable with his choices.

For that reason, I disagree with reviewers and commentators saying to just skip to the last episode. Not only you are missing out on the fun, but you are also missing out on what the overall message the drama is trying to deliver.

Another message in this drama is the perception of love. As a Japanese drama, it probably had the most number of kisses, yet none were romantic. Many were acts, and all were to get something out of it. Love, on the other hand, true love that is, was portrayed through sacrifice. Sacrificing what you want to protect the ones you love. Keep going after to desires may have a big cost on your loved ones. And so on and so forth.

It's actually my first time watching Yamazaki Kento. Though not the best, I think he delivered his character fairly. It's an interesting choice of a drama for him. I enjoyed the chemistry he had with Kadowaki Mugi. As far as the characters go, I was not rooting for them as an end couple. Actually I wasn't rooting for Eight to end up with anyone. It was such a poisonous relationship. It was still very interesting to watch. It's my first time watching Mackenyu as well. Though subtle, his character development(s) and deliveries were most entertaining and impressive. He could easily change from light-hearted to dark and scary. And as the drama progress, despite his actions, he felt more like the victim to the evil Eight's scheming (among others).

That is not to say the drama is perfect, nor great. The drama is fun to watch but as its own flaws. Its biggest flaw is the portrayal of the female characters. Most are flat. Saiko, the most interesting among them, is a doormat. There was so much potential for her character, and the lovely actress can definitely deliver on that. Unfortunately, her story lacked depth. Mikoto's character is another one with so much potential. Part of the failure, I find, is the lack of delivery from the actress playing the role. They were trying to portray her as your typical manga female lead, but the character needed to be much more animated than this, to become even remotely interesting.

So overall a fun watch. If you have watched Todome no Kiss, I definitely recommend watching this drama, the whole drama. If you haven't seen it, I recommend checking it out :)