If I Could Have Said It a Million Times

If I Could Have Said It a Million Times (Japanese: 100万回言えばよかった, Hepburn: 100 mankai Ieba Yokatta) is a Japanese television drama series that aired on TBS from January 13 to March 17, 2023. The series was broadcast in the Friday 22:00–22:54 time slot.

Promotional image for the drama — Promotional visual for the series.

Plot

The story follows Yui Soma (Mao Inoue) and Naoki Torino (Takeru Satoh), childhood friends who reconnect as adults and fall in love. Their relationship is cut short when Naoki dies unexpectedly following a mysterious incident. Unaware of his death, Yui searches for him after his sudden disappearance. Meanwhile, Naoki's spirit remains, unable to communicate with Yui. He eventually encounters detective Yuzuru Uozumi (Kenichi Matsuyama), the only person capable of perceiving his presence, and enlists his help to convey a final message to Yui.

Cast

The series features an ensemble cast, including:

Mao Inoue as Yui Soma
Takeru Satoh as Naoki Torino
Kenichi Matsuyama as Yuzuru Uozumi
Shim Eun-Kyung as Song Ha-Young
Toshiyuki Itakura as Masamichi Higuchi

Production

The drama was written by Naoko Adachi and directed by Fuminori Kaneko, Daisuke Yamamuro, and Juntaro Furubayashi. It replaced The Black Swindler in the TBS Friday night schedule and was followed by Pending Train in April 2023.

Reception

The series recorded an average viewership rating of 7.7% in the Kanto region during its 10-episode run.