Cast:
J Dorama link
Wikidrama link

Synopsis (from jdorama.com):
"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for the last time before it is demolished, Saku confronts anew the loss of the love of his life, Aki, to leukaemia 17 years ago. Now a medical researcher at graduate school, he has been living as if half of him died with her since then. Based on the bestselling novel that sold over 3 million copies, the past and present come together in this love story that is both pure and sad.

Review (contain spoiler):
I think the synopsis above doesn’t give a good justice for the drama, but I’m too lazy to make my own. I actually did try make a synopsis but I found everything is need to be included thus make the synopsis too long more like an episode guides in the end . That’s why I decide to use the synopsis that already available.

On Story
Anyway, for some reason, I drawn to the story even after already knows the ending and how sad will it be. The drama was neatly packed between two eras. One is 2004, the current Saku and 1987 the teenager Saku. I kind of don’t like the look on the adult Saku, too depressing and his face sort of swollen because of too much crying. But as the story goes, I start to feel sympathy to him and understand why he’s face swollen he,he,he,he.. although maybe that’s just the way his face looks like

I like the way the drama unfold. There’s a constant flow and transition in between the scenes goes smoothly, it helps me to understand even feel for the character. I asked my self over and over if I were in the same situation what would I do? I know it’s just a story, and the dramatic events what makes it different with every day lives. But up to certain degree we can go thru the same situation. Perhaps we would not wasted half of the lifetime grieving over people we lost because of the cruelty of death, or perhaps we doesn’t have to face a difficult situation that force us to take decision that can alter our life. But people react differently in different situation. What other people decide might seems selfish for us, but can we really judge them base on it? Even as I putting down this review I still feel the emotion I felt from watching the story.

This series is tearjerker, not from the beginning, but toward the end it’s just getting sad. Although I like the ending, it’s so sweet IMO.

On Acting
Maybe I’m a bit prejudice, because I like Yamada Takayuki who plays young Saku, but I reckon I can totally feel his feeling. At first I don’t really the girl that play young Aki play by Ayase Haruka, but I grow on her. She’s can portray Aki’s feeling very well and don’t forget that she’s merely a teenager with those feelings and questions.

The older Saku play by Ogata Naoto, has a sad face and seems swollen from constant crying. But he also portrays the older Saku well, although probably because of the portion of the story, I feel more intense feeling coming from younger Saku. (I can’t help comparing this with Glass Mask manga, where Maya Kitajima play in the Wuthering Heights as the younger Catherine, in the manga, she deliver more passion than the older actress, almost raw and wild like an animal)

On Setting
They’re great! Their attention to details is just marvellous. Back in the 1987, mobile phones is an expensive gadget and walkman is the latest thing. Even the radio they using is old. Seeing the setting of the series, makes me want to visit the villages in Japan (when I got my budget ) and see it myself the surrounding. They’re awesome! A sleepy quiet town but they selling the best takoyaki (octopus ball), at least it look delicious in the series

Rating: