Aira

Yes! It says so in the official site too! ^^
https://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kietahatsukoi/news/0013/

I think the official track list for the soundtrack is not yet out so we still don't know at this point the title of that specific music. :)
https://store.vap.co.jp/syousai.asp?item=VPCD-86393
^ It still says "to be decided " in the track list

Yes, same!! We'll probably have drama!Ida telling Aoki he likes him during Christmas when they make up. XD

And I agree, I like that part a lot too since it's so cute and funny, so it will be great if they will not rush it!

Hahaha I was also thinking they could've done that! XD Come on, at least 2 passersby??? XD
P.S. They're still living in a ghost town in ep9 haha!

Yeah, I'm guessing it just means the final arc.. and I just realized they will not skip KieKoi next week but will air a "special episode" which will probably be a recap or something like that??

SPOILERS FROM THE MANGA!!!!!
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Gyaaa episode 9 seems so cute but why do I have a feeling that after their date, they will "break-up" (maybe the reason being that chapter in the manga where Aoki thought Ida loves making fun of him instead of the actual chapter where they "broke up" wherein Ida told the volleyball team about them), then by episode 10 they will get back together on Christmas day??? XD

(YES SORRY I've been traumatized by the break-up scene from Ossan's Love which also happened in the penultimate episode lol. Also this is just a guess since I only know limited Japanese so I really didn't understand ep9 preview that much. XD)

P.S. I thought this time in ep8 they will include some extras in the ramen restaurant but no, they are the only customers hahaha! But at least they made an effort to include a chef! XD

Oooooh I guess this is why I saw a post somewhere that says last episode will be on December 18 (I think from a channel guide in a magazine), so others thought there will be 11 episodes all in all. But it's just really 10 episodes after all since they'll be skipping next week. D:

YESSS my feelings exactly!! 😂 Even the school scenes actually feel a bit unnatural for me, but I'm just thinking it might be because it's different from the usual school settings I've been watching, but the outdoor scenes totally look strange with almost no people around them lol. And definitely agree about other dramas not being this noticeable haha!

Right, there are very little outdoor scenes and the few ones barely have people around them (e.g. Hasshi going to the salon) so the atmosphere really feels quite different. 😅

Yeaaaah kind of sad. 😞 Fortunately in some of the dramas I've watched it's not that noticeable. 😅

Yeah, night scenes are totally understandable but the outdoor day scenes without much people around look a bit unnatural (e.g. when Hasshi went to the salon, there was no other people around aside from them 🤣). 😂

I've been obviously enjoying all the episodes so far but I can't help but think there's something strange about the drama that I can't really pinpoint what for so long... But after almost 8 weeks I finally realized what it is... It's the lack of extras/people around them in the outdoor scenes!!! 😂😂 Whenever they're walking outside, we almost never see other people aside from them, it's like they live in a ghost town or something like that. 😂 (Of course I understand this might be due to restrictions because of the pandemic haha! But it really gives off a strange feeling to me lol)

No, just shoujo romcom. :)

While I appreciate all the fansubber's hard work especially the ones who are trying their best to release English subs as soon as the latest episode aired, I strongly suggest to people who didn't read the manga to also watch other English fansubs once released if possible (at least before the official English subs are available from Netflix/Viki) because in some versions, there are translations which are totally off or wrong translations that kind of change the whole context of the conversation and lose the original meaning intended. (I only know VERY limited Japanese but having read the manga, I'm kinda sure whenever a translation is totally off.)
Other than that, thanks to everyone who has been subbing this drama, it makes us overseas fans appreciate this drama more. <3

Actually same! I think that's my second favorite Akkun moment in the manga (first one being the "then what's normal is wrong" which fortunately still made it to the drama despite the changes done in his prior conversation w/ Aoki) since it shows Akkun putting more importance to friendship than relationship so knowing that, it's easier to understand why he'd reject Hashimoto (but tells her he likes her as a friend) at this stage.
(And while I think the additional drama-only classmate characters are cute, I'm lowkey thinking their airtime could have been given to more Akkun/Akkun+Hasshi/Akkun+Aoki moments from the manga which they keep skipping in the drama lol)

Since Akkun couldn't remember his interactions with Hasshi from before, Aoki brought him around the school hoping that he'd be reminded of something but they only ended up remembering how they became friends during their 1st year in HS.
Then later on when Hasshi and Akkun were walking together, Akkun remembered how he met Aoki during the entrance exam day (as @yui-jae mentioned in their reply) and according to Hasshi, that's probably the reason why Akkun can't remember how they met since meeting Aoki overshadowed his memory of meeting Hasshi (that's why now Hasshi aims to be like Aoki 😂).

As an Akkun apologist I'm kinda sad that they skipped all the Akkun+Aoki flashback from the manga (although I expected it already). 😂 Also it seems they'll be skipping a lot more manga arcs moving forward but we'll finally see *that* scene in the next episode so I'm not really complaining. 🔥

I see, thanks for clarifying! It might be because I'm originally a fan of the manga so I never see the drama dragging out the same plot, but rather cramming/combining and rushing a lot of manga arcs in each episode (which I generally have no problem with since I understand the limited airtime and episodes).
In my opinion, ep5 centered around Aoki mustering up the courage to confess and tell the whole truth to Ida but at the same time expecting him to reject him (and that would be the end of it). However, Ida surprisingly asked him if he'd like to try dating, so episode 6 now centers around Aoki being insecure and confused about Ida's real feelings/thoughts about liking/dating him and Ida figuring out (albeit just a little bit lol) what is it really like to like someone, so for me despite cramming a lot of manga chapters in one drama episode, I was contented with how they executed it (while still remaining to be a funny and cute episode) because for me that was needed before they can bring their relationship to another level (especially if they want to remain faithful to the source material).

Personally I don't think episode 6 is about Aoki "being jealous of girls", I think it's more about him being insecure if Ida really likes him (and being confused if they're really dating now) and it just so happened that there's suddenly a girl nearby. 😅

Ida having Mametarou as his LINE icon must be the most wholesome thing ever.