VCD Box
VCD Box
DVD Box
Soundtrack
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Synopsis |
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"Ace", an all time favorite comic book that sold 15 million copies is finally dramatized! A positive success story of an ordinary high school girl who gradually discovers her hidden talent of tennis through severe trainings designed by her strict coach. Can she every become an "Ace" tennis player?
Story
Hiromi Oka (Aya Ueto) decides to join the high school tennis club from the moment she saw the star player Reika's(Rio Matsumoto) excellent and smashing play. However, once the tennis lesson began, Hiromi finds herself bored in the succession of simple practice swings. One day, Munakata (Masaaki Uchino) becomes appointed as the new head coach of the tennis team. His special training was nothing but original, extreme, and severe. In addition, he suddenly chose Hiromi, a tennis beginner, to be the member of the up coming tennis tournament Not only Hiromi, but also her teammates become confused and take the odd situation unfair. Jealousy of her friends and teammates mounted, and they started to talk behind her back. Finally, Hiromi decides to leave the team and run away from the uncomfortable reality, but the coach strongly refused. Instead, he gave her an even more severe and personalized training. | TV Asahi |
Soundtrack and Theme Songs (2) |
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1. | Ace wo Nerae! エースをねらえ! [Hiromi] | | 2. | Ai no tame ni 愛のために [Ueto Aya 上戸彩] | |
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Drama Reviews (13) |
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!!WARNING!! The review section may contain spoilers! Please understand that you may find out about this drama's endings and plots!
| 1. | unrealistic but good [Rating: 7/10] perhaps if i werent a tennis player, i could suspend my disbelief for this drama but i could not. it is very unrealistic how aya ueto's character could even hope to beat her school's ace much less anybody in the prefectural and then national "aim for the grand slam" tournament.
most pros start tennis before the age of 7. aya started when she was 15-16 and was able to beat the school pro who started at the age of 3. tennis is a sport where the age you start at can predict your skill in the game.
an obvious aim for the dorama is to promote tennis in japan by inspiring young girls with this fairy tale. but i couldnt help but think of all the girls on the tennis team who were BYPASSED by the self-absorbed coach. these girls had every right to despise and resent aya. they spent many more years than aya at the game only to be throw by the wayside by the coach. since japan is not a very strong tennis nation, it would have behooved the writer to inspire instead of alientating the core tennis playing crowd who have to work for years on end for their skills instead of ignoring their efforts in exchange for "one in a million talent."
reality check: if the coach really wanted to guide a tennis player to a grand slam, he would have chosen ochoufujin. think of how
much better she could have gotten since she was already at the same level it took aya the entire series to reach.
okay, so all those complaints aside, i did enjoy the series. i was tennis-starved since i dont have the tennis channel and there wasnt any on tv though i studiously followed the livescoreboard at tennis.com of the tnc open and dubai. but i thought that aya was very likable. whenever the story got a little mushy and incredulous, it was easy to just admire aya instead. i found the acting by the coach to be great since i had just seen him a week before in an older drama, love generation. (funny how small the drama world is that i could watch two dramas back to back, 9 years apart and itd have the same actor.) while the story fell into too simple of categorizations of bad and good - and then switching it midway (otowa teaching tennis to kids, anyone?) - and numerous other flaws, its a fun diversion and the cg tennis aint bad either. | Reviewed by lordmanji on 9 March 2006 | 2. | Such a Blah Drama... [Rating: 6/10] After getting through the first episode I realized that it would take me a while to get into this drama. I was wrong. I didn�ft get into this drama AT ALL. I�fm not exactly sure why. It wasn�ft completely terrible, but it was completely void of any �gwow�h factor. I found myself forcing my eyes and mind to focus when watching, and if it weren�ft for my inability to quit a drama once I�fve started it, I would have stopped watching Ace no Nerae after the first episode.
I did, however, make it to the end and yes I survived. I don�ft regret wasting my time on it, and yes, by about the 6th episode I did feel like playing tennis and I did feel for some of the characters. The character development was satisfactory but the plot was really bland and, at times, boring. I found the story predictable and some scenes were a little too overdramatic. The last game with Reika and Hiromi really was exciting to watch, but it didn�ft make up for the drama�fs faults. I was disappointed in the fact that Ueto Aya�fs character failed to convince me. At the tournament it seems she only got ahead because all her opponents suffered mentally, physically, or emotionally at some point and therefore either dropped out of the tournament or performed out of par with their usual skill.
Even Aya�fs natural charm could not save this drama in my eyes. I did enjoy Sakai Ayana�fs character and I think I was rooting for Matsumoto Rio�fs character moreso than Ueto�fs. Ishigaki Yuma�fs hair entertained me to no end, but again, overall, this drama was just blah. | Reviewed by Wynter on 15 January 2007 | 3. | I've registered to review this title, and all I ha [Rating: 1/10] ...absolutely pathetic drama series. Acting = P*SS POOR. The lead girl may be popular, but because of her extremely whiny nature displayed in this drama + her unattractive looks(like a mouse) make this series very unenjoyable. The script, though imported from the Manga, is unintriguing and mundane. I cringe as I watched every episode, because each Episode can be summarized as this: Main actress gets in a struggle about tennis; (INSERT WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH WHINING HERE); End. No climax, pathetic story buildup, and nothing but some stupid, spineless, weak natured girl complaining about her situation. Oh, but somehow she manages to conquer all her problems one by one! Yet, in the subsequent episode, she finds more things to whine about!
Also, on a technical aspect, the camera work is un-intuitive and boring, the shots are boring, and the actors are obviously un-motivated in their roles. Unless of course, they naturally suck, which I am leaning towards to believe.
VERY POOR / PATHETIC / BORING / FRUSTRATING / FULL OF WHINING series. Avoid at all cost, unless you want to cringe and wished that you could stick your hand into the screen and slap the heck out of the actor/actresses (especially the main lead, she's so pathetic I didn't even bother to look at her name).
This is crap compared to "Orange Days" and "Koi ni Ochitara", etc. | Reviewed by Toshi83 on 19 January 2006 | 4. | I loved it! [Rating: 9/10] I think it is a great drama! Any improbability things (if so), like some others are saying, didn't bother me AT ALL. Just look at the episodes and enjoy it... Don't think about it too much. If you NEED high probability, there might be few drama's for you to watch anyway. If you WANT high probability, this drama MIGHT not give you enough satisfaction. But as i said, it's not in a way that it bothers me. Not in the very least.
After starting to watch, i wanted to see all episodes ASAP. Never did i think i was wasting time or so. No, quite the opposite. I enjoyed the whole thing. Totally unlike some other reviewer said, i think the lead character (Aya Ueto = Oka Hiromi) is awesome. If it were for she alone, the drama is worth seeing. I have to be fair, i'm a little biased; i'm an Aya fan. But i think the rest is ok too. (Some details might have been better.)
Somebody wrote: "these girls had every right to despise and resent [Oka.]". I think that's a terrible thing to say. Such behaviour is in every respect despicable - it doesn't matter under what circumstances.
Somebody wrote: "...lesbianic undertones between Oka Hiromi and Ryuuzaki Reika". Lol... What?? I think i have to see the drama again! But i think you're mistaken. | Reviewed by mpm on 29 December 2007 | 5. | A great sports drama [Rating: 8/10] I believe it has always been difficult to make a good drama or movie about sports, and tennis is one of the harder ones to make, so I was skeptical about this drama. However, to my surprise, they did a great job! I liked the pace of the drama, and I liked the action scenes during the tennis matches. Instead of focusing on just the point by point plays as one would usually do while watching a tennis match, the focus instead was turned to the player's emotions and the tension during the match. I was impressed that the drama took this direction and really succeeded as well. There were plenty of groundstroke, serve, and volley scenes to keep even tennis enthusiasts(like me) satisfied, and coupled with scenes where the focus was on the player's emotions during the match to make the drama well rounded and fun to watch. Then the off court story is of course, typical, but then this is a teenie bopper drama, so what did you expect? | Reviewed by Hiro Toyo on 25 January 2005 | 6. | A little dramatic perhaps [Rating: 7/10] I wish that the relationship between Aya Ueto and Yoshizawa Yuu had been developed more. It was such ambiguous love triangle, she, him and the coach. Granted that maybe the focus was on tennis (yeah, the tennis shots got better as the drama progressed), but still the pure helplessness of Aya at the beginning really got to me. She fell down so many times that I think that they spent more time shooting her falling down and getting abused than actually making some progress, which kind of made her later progress a bit unbelievable, considering that she did not know tennis at all. In any case, my guess is that this show is being used to promote tennis, since Japan's best tennis player, Ai Sugiyama's best singles showing is in the quarter finals of the Australian open and current Japanese players have yet to achieve what she has. | Reviewed by mysticalgal84 on 28 October 2004 | 7. | Not what I expected.. [Rating: 6/10] I felt that it was being a bit over dramatic, and I felt that Ueto Aya isn't entirely perfect for this part....She and Yoshizawa seemed like a perfect pair to play together in such roles, but for this dorama it didn't seem to fit....
The story was a little plain, not much on the imagination...not a very interesting concept for a dorama based on a manga.... | Reviewed by Kirari Ililah on 3 November 2004 | 8. | Incredible [Rating: 9/10] Watching Ace Wo Nerae was an experience. How somebody is not good at playing tennis but then after so much training becomes a professional tennis player within 1 year. I've watched all of the episodes and I found the ending was good as it catches the viewer�fs eyes. I give this a 9/10 as I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. | Reviewed by sesil on 5 November 2006 | 9. | Good diferent plot [Rating: 8/10] I like this drama because is something diferent of the normal plot. Aya Ueto is soo good actress. Is one of my favourite and she plays his role soo well. For this and for the good efects in the drama I think that is a good drama for be seeing. Anyway, I think that there are some things that can better. | Reviewed by carla-chan on 12 September 2005 | 10. | boring [Rating: 2/10] i was just bored from the start. I cant explain why I went on watching. Acting of Ueto was so poor that in some moments (she literally crawled sometimes and faked falling TT TT) I thought I may start crying...
Only reason why I didnt give it 1/10 is that ueto really is a cutie ^^; | Reviewed by akitsu on 6 February 2006 | 11. | easy to predict [Rating: 7/10] a quite fun but cliche sport dorama, after dealing major obstacles she succeeds.
the outcome was predictable. Though i have to say this dorama looks a lot more realistic then the Prince of Tennis live action.
fun, makes you wanna play tennis | Reviewed by monta on 17 November 2006 | 12. | Could be better [Rating: 7/10] Another drama that relied on Aya Ueto to carry it. She did well but the story was just not rich. It is a good drama to kill time and follows a typical script. Nothing revolutionary here. | Reviewed by MonsterZero65 on 15 August 2010 | 13. | If u like sports u will love it [Rating: 10/10] If you really like sports you must watch it, it's one of the best dorama I've ever seen with a hooking plot and a nice ending | Reviewed by Jhvx on 22 April 2007 |
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Comments From Users (148) |
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!!WARNING!! This section may contain spoilers! Do not proceed if you do not want to read about this drama's endings and plots!
| 1. | Comments by ABINTRA [Rating: 7/10] Overall a good, entertaining drama. I thought the subject matter of tennis was interesting and translated really well into a drama, especially with the stylish cinematography and so forth. There were also some interesting characters like Midorikawa and Reika, and complex, non-typical relationships between the characters (not just fluffy romance or pure friendship or absolute hatred, but rather subtler shades that blurred boundaries). At the same time, a lot of things in this drama rubbed me the wrong way. My main problem was that I never bought the main character as being a tennis prodigy, so she just came off as a lucky upstart who really was getting a lot of unfair special treatment. It was obnoxious and boring how the golden girl (and her love interest, the golden boy) seemed to win every single match and overcome all obstacles without so much as a hiccup, even when they didn't deserve it. I would've liked to see more character development and credit go to Reika, Midorikawa, and Ozaki for instance, who all seemed to have just as much or more talent than the main boy/girl but got pushed to the wayside. | 2. | Comments by Nobita-kun [Rating: 2/10] Unwatchable (except for Ueto Aya). The plot is dull, shallow, predictable, and cheesy. The tennis scenes were so horribly fake that I nearly gouged out my eyes from embarrassment. The girls clearly can't play so they had to use computer graphics to simulate the ball trajectories. Oka must be a hundred times more talented than Steffi Graf because nobody goes from being barely able to return a serve to winning tournaments at competitive varsity levels with only a couple weeks of harsh drilling. Tennis requires years of practice and coaching for one to be truly proficient. The only redeeming quality of this drama is Aya in a cute tennis outfit. | 3. | Comments by loveaomori [Rating: 5/10] This dorama is simply shit! Ueto Aya is ok for a high school student bt Toudou no yarou is 10 years older! Who can believe this?? Another stupid thing: The big big big.... final game between Oka and Ochofujin (what the fuck is this stupid name) was broadcast on TV. When a game is broadcast on TV with people to comment it you expect some audience in the stadium......there was nobody!! nobody! And why do Oka and everybody in this dorama have to get injured every 23 seconds? or lose their relatives? So stupid! So stupid. Becky's acting is shit compare to anna san no omame. A big disappointment! But cute and I like the coach! | 4. | Comments by Chrn0 [Rating: 8/10] Way underrated IMO
This drama is on par and better than a lot of other dramas I've seen, including a few from the top 50 list. Ueto's performance was wonderful as always. It's true the plot is old and over used, but which drama these days arn't? it's not what the story is about, but how the story is excecuted, at least IMO.
Althought I am a huge fan of Ueto Aya and a small tennis player, so my opinion might be a little biased, but I found Ace wo nerae! very entertaining. | 5. | Comments by Angry Machines [Rating: 9/10] God, why do I keep cheerinf fir Aya Ueto all the time? because she does her best in being the heroine of this manga-adaptation of the sport of tennis. I never really liked tennis before, but gradually I started admiring its sportsmen and women, and as I watched ace o nerae, I understood what kind of hell they go through. BTW, Aya really worked hard physically for this show, just watch and u'll know what I'm talking about. | 6. | Comments by nishishi [Rating: 3/10] OMG! This dorama is really boring... Altough i LOVE tennis... and even play it... This dorama couldn't make me feel a lil' bit excited. The characters are annoying!!! The casting really sux (speacially BECKY, even her appearences on TV makes me feel sick!!!)
Damn... sry Ueto Aya... but this one was bounded to fail!!! The r just a couple of thins that r good 'bou this dorama... Ueto Aya and her song...!! | 7. | Comments by Terryb [Rating: 6/10] Mixed feelings about this one, the tennispart is rubbish - the countless smackdowns on her face is just too annoying. What must all these youngsters think in Japan? All clumsy/shitty players like her can become top players? ;) The characters and plot are more interesting though. Why wasn't this show 11 episodes instead of 9? with more airtime the show could have been improved greatly. | 8. | Comments by Ralbol [Rating: 6/10] Le debut du drama fait treeees treees peur. Ca sent le navet a plein nez. En fait c'est effectivement un navet mais bon, comme Attack no.1 ca se laisse regarder. Et ca commence a ressembler vite fait a du tennis a la fin de la serie (mais faut pas trop en demander de ce point de vue).
A part ca mes felicititations a ueto aya, continuez comme ca jeune fille. | 9. | Comments by SayaOtonashi [Rating: 7/10] That was a good entertaining dorama but not the best of all sports doramas. It was quite unrealistic but somehow the story just caught my attention until the very end, maybe because it was one of my first doramas. Only to watch if you are an Ueto Aya fan (I am not :D) and if you want to see a quite simple dorama (sometimes I need them! :D). | 10. | Comments by MakiharaR [Rating: 7/10] In short: a underdog story. It was difficult getting into this drama because nothing interesting really happens until Aya Ueto's character actually showed some progress. I really wondered if most of the scenes of the tennis matches were actually played out or cgi's. The ending theme by Aya Ueto (Ai no Tame ni) was also a great song. | 11. | Comments by williu [Rating: 7/10] A part of me wants to dislike this drama - because it's unrealistically unrealistic and has some really lame acting (I don't blame the actors here - I blame the scriptwriters for the lame lines). However, there's still something in it that keeps you hooked until the last episode - I don't know what or why, but it's there. | 12. | Comments by carla-chan [Rating: 8/10] I like this drama because is something diferent of the normal plot. Aya Ueto is soo good actress. Is one of my favourite and she plays his role soo well. For this and for the good efects in the drama I think that is a good drama for be seeing. Anyway, I think that there are some things that can better. | 13. | Comments by tinyamaki [Rating: 9/10] well I love this drama despite of those people saying that it's a BLAH or not good and worthless... I enjoyed it a lot although atakku is still better.... it has it's own charm.... LOVE HIROMI and TODO!!! the ending is a bit sad... I feel sorry for munagata-san... definitely WORTH WATCHING!!!! | 14. | Comments by maemo [Rating: 8/10] Toudou is so CUTE! And Ueto Aya's character's really cute too. Except for the fact that she keeps giving up. Honey, you're never gonna make it in the real world if that's your attitude. LOL. Oh, also it was over dramatic in alot of parts and serifu ga monosugoku kusakatta! | 15. | Comments by arashilove [Rating: 6/10] The OST is not very likeable, and the drama seems to be overly dramatic at times. Even if there is the lovely Ueto Aya, my idol, it is a little difficult to get into a drama that revolves around a sport. Still, this was okay...makes me want to play tennis like Hiromi! | 16. | Comments by bubblieri [Rating: 8/10] i haven't finished the series yet....but sometimes ueto aya's acting bothers me. one thing that bothers me is how it always shows her falling....but i don't really see how she improves until she has a match.
it's not bad.....i guess i would recommend it :) | 17. | Comments by oldasianguy [Rating: 5/10] Ueto Aya is one of the cuteist faces in the Japanese entertainment industry...& I love her...but a tennis player she is not.....so this show loses some creditablity because of that...plus the coach was really somewhat of a psycho head case.....! | 18. | Comments by Padme [Rating: 7/10] Very entertaining.. Aya Ueto was both funny and charming in this series. I haven't finished it yet (although i know the ending since there's the anime series), but I'm looking forward to a some good live-action tennis drama. | 19. | Comments by Andro [Rating: 9/10] The story was nice, although I don't really like tennis. The charakters were great, but Aya had better dramas before. I don't want to say, that I didn't like her in this drama, but this wasn't her best acting. | 20. | Comments by shozen [Rating: 10/10] i read the manga after i saw this show. im surprised they did a special for this too. actually it was good they did. the drama seemed to have jumped to conclusions. its hard to relate the manga to the drama. | 21. | Comments by N*A*Z*U*N*A [Rating: 9/10] Too much of playing tennis and not enough of plot. I wish there was more chemistry between Hiromi (ueto) and Todou-san. However, it was my first drama of Ueto, and it made me love her. So this rocks! | 22. | Comments by K.T.Tran [Rating: 9/10] A good drama that shows hardship and struggles in become the best tennis player. If the drama had less special effects during the tennis matches, this drama would've been more entertaining to watch. | 23. | Comments by zenith777 [Rating: 9/10] This drama was basically just a copied from "Attack No.1" dorama and some of the characters were the same, but this one have specials but I admit the story is not bad... watch in spare time.... | 24. | Comments by uchi23 [Rating: 8/10] has a lot of young talented actors.. especially ueto aya who has great future.. has a pretty good plot even though i think the one in Attack 1 was better.. still very enjoyable sports drama | 25. | Comments by thereisnomail [Rating: 8/10] Pretty good.... though towards the end its pretty far fetched with all the love stuff.
Also Ueto san constantly saying peoples names in a breathy voice really wrecked my head by the end. | 26. | Comments by bcgurl [Rating: 7/10] Another Ueto Aya jdorama. :)) It's about the same as Attack No.1 but not as good becuase I don't think there was a really good plot. Maybe I just didn't watch the show properly. XP | 27. | Comments by PureYuki [Rating: 10/10] Very good drama, it reflects alot of character development for the main character. Story was good and well made and had some important philosopy. Give it a try! you might like it. | 28. | Comments by japochoboi [Rating: 1/10] just horrible, i dont even know how i finished the series. the whole thing pissed me off and even at the end the chick sucked at tennis. for a true sports fan this was pathetic. | 29. | Comments by Phi [Rating: 7/10] Never saw people fall down that much when I played Tennis but maybe that's the way they learn it in Japan? ;-P Not very realistic or serious but I still enjoyed watching it. | 30. | Comments by hina-sama [Rating: 7/10] Watched it because of Aya Ueto.
But the drama was great in itself. I thought it would be boring 'cuz it reminded me Prince of Tennis but not at all . It's a nice drama. |
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Read all 148 comments from users
Users who voted for this drama (77) |
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1. | flororig I love this drama very much, the story is very good and so as the cast who've done a great job...while watching this I'm so moved, very realistic...Ive never seen a drama like this in a world of sports was very touching...specially in the scene which her coach died...I love to watch it again and again...i don't feel bored at all... | 2. | danxp Aunque solo he visto hasta el capitulo 5 este drama me da a entender muchas cosas la maravillosa actuacion de Aya me hace verlo con mas interes y bueno la historia me gusta mucho y todo el sacrificio que hace aya para ser una gran tenista .... Ojala termine de verlo(n_n)' | 3. | AyaAya Aya as the cast, needless to say, good show. LoL~ this tennis drama has nice computers graphic, it makes the tennis ball look so real and I like the way they emphasis on how the cast hit the ball as it makes the show looks "REAL" with CG. | 4. | venusling This drama shows the passion of playing tennis and teach us don't give up our dream no matter what obstacles. Aya ueto doing a pretty good job here. Very good drama indeed. Wondering why this series not getting what it deserve. | 5. | cutie_aya85 I don't like watching tennis games but when Aya's acting this drama about tennis, I suddenly interesting to watch tennis drama till the end..it means, aya 's acting was perfect well.. | 6. | pandan_girlz83 Aya's acting really impressed me although i dont like tennis at the beginning of the drama..Such a pitty to Aya when she can't falling in love in order to achieve her dreams | 7. | PureYuki Very good drama, very much reflects the anime image. Well made for the time period that it had, and each minute of the drama wasn't a waste. | 8. | lov_aya85 started watching this drama after Attack No.1..i thought i dont like tennis drama but Aya's acting change my mind to watch it until th end | 9. | cutie_girlz83 A sports drama on tennis..but have to forget her love just 2 aim her goals.Anyway, i agree with her coach coz i don like the hero..hehe.. | 10. | crazy_of_u oka hiromi..Such a cute face..but, i think they should replace the hero much younger than the current...Aya's always cute in her smile!! | 11. | suki83 so pitty to aya that she can't love a person she loves bcoz of tennis..oka hiromi..nice ending for ace wo nerae dorama special | 12. | japanese_girlz87 ace! Ace! To be a well-known and greatest tennis player, Ueto Aya has to keep far her lov..I started to like aya.. | 13. | UetoAyaFanboy The last episodes moved me to tears and Ueto Aya is just amazing as usual. The OST is good. Don't miss the SP. | 14. | irish_robz I picked up tennis again (dropped it 8 yrs ago!) after this drama! It's all Aya's fault! LOL | 15. | ayachan369 with aya inside, its got to be a gd show.. lol. but its gd seeing girls get down to sports. | 16. | angel_azumi another of my aya-dorama fave. i like watching the last part of the special repeatedly. | 17. | cheese Because of this drama.... it makes me interested more in other aya ueto's show. | 18. | aya83 Aya plays her character as Oka Hiromi.. such a good drama n she's so kawaii | 19. | i_lov_aya Aim for the ace!Aya cute in acting as tennis player n she deserves for it. | 20. | aya_fans85 adopt from manga sports if i'm not mistaken.. Aya acting is wonderful | 21. | jovi_cute1986 adapt from manga..started to know u is Ueto Aya..such a good actress | 22. | lov_ayachan ace!ace! pitty Aya..can't falling lov in order to obtain her goal | 23. | chipsmore_cube enjoy the song and the story too..when aya was pain, i felt too! | 24. | crazy_girlz83 i'm start 2 like her by watching this drama..Aya's the best!! | 25. | sebmiller love aya in this soooo much she looks so cute playing tennis | 26. | suki_1305 such a wonderful drama 2 be watch.Aya's look cool n kawaaiii | 27. | Sesshoumaru A piece of jewerly, nothing can be so emotive like this!!!!! | 28. | dr.psycho_30 i dont know why, but then actress speaks for it, aya ueto | 29. | Chrn0 way too underrated!
needs to make it to top 50 imo | 30. | polabear_85 adopted from shōjo manga..watch it bocz Aya |
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Read all 77 votes from users
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