Notes
Everything I had already seen in
1 Litre of Tears, but since this drama was first, I have to give it its due. Towards the end, all the talk about her final wish and final moments is really powerful.
Starts out like a melodrama, becomes a school comedy, changes into puppy love, and ends like a melodrama again. It’s not the safest way to craft a terminal illness plot, but overall... it’s okay. The story is told in flashback, so just as you get wrapped up in the present, they throw you back to the past, and vice versa.
Sakutaro is an okay hero. It’s obvious that he loves Aki to no end, but he also has serious letting go issues. It makes him annoyingly weak for much of the end.
The romance is the primary theme, which doesn’t go any deeper than your typical first love stories, but it’s the second love that makes it worthy. Saku’s relationship with Kobayashi Aki is the real one for me. Not to say Hirose Aki was worthless, but I prefer the idea of moving on and discovering love again rather than perpetual grief. Come on, who wouldn’t?
Nope.
Closure for our hero. Finally.
Standard with a few good helicopter inserts. The country setting really sets the mood.
EX-QUIS-ITE! Pianos and strings in all their glory, with a melody that will have you sobbing. The ending theme by Shibasaki Kou goes through all the right highs and lows.
I had high expectations for Takayuki and Haruka because I’d seen them heat up the screen in
Byakuyakou, but here, I was a little disappointed. It’s a much more innocent love story, so Takayuki's a very wide-eyed innocent, and Haruka is rather clingy. Goes to show that different writing can bring out really different performances. I prefer them angsty and dark, I suppose.
Apple's Tier Ranking: 2nd
