This review may contain spoilers
Probably the most fitting title for a drama ever
Brace yourselves this is going to be personal, it may be long, it may not and I will start off with the main points before I get personal, and have the one potential spoiler...This drama is one of the dramas that made me cry the most tears, making me understand why so many still mention it whenever people ask for tear-jerkers. The drama i s touching, most of the characters are lovable and if not always lovable they are most definitely relatable or just realistic showing a whole spectrum of ways to act around people with disabilities. It is touching it is sweet, it is frustrating and it is the type of drama that will make you both cry and get pissed off at the world.
There where several things that did bother me, among them where how little most of the grown ups believed in their children as well as how many parents acted. I hope this was embellished, and that people are not like that in real life but well you never know, however I will just say that it bothered me and leave it at that, was one thing that bothered me that I want to write about before I move over to the even more personal thoughts I want to just put it out there that I honestly wish people would stop feeling inspired by others handle their misfortunes or use that as an excuse or whatever to think over their lives choices. I am not saying not to get inspiration from others, but the reason should not be despite (insert whatever word) it should be wow that is great writing... I wish people who watch this type of dramas would just skip the inspiration and find the relation instead. Asking you to focus on finding common ground and something that you can relate too. From focusing on the inspiration to focusing on being able to relate or try to understand what people are going thru... when I got a recycled heart I got a (matching )necklace with the words "Not your inspiration" from one of my BFFs who also had her share of time in hospitals. Being able to relate is not the same as finding inspiration, relate we are equal, inspiration may have a positive tone to it but it creates distance between us.
But anyway if you are looking for something painful that you most probably can relate to, this drama is definitely worth a try.
Here to the more personal stuff
The drama shows clearly many of the struggles and honest thoughts a person may have when being diagnosed with an incurable disease at an early age. This brought back allot of memories, I more or less buried with my old heart. I got my first diagnosis for an incurable disease when I was 7, and had a cardiac arrest when I was 12. Not att all the same disease and in all fairness other than having to get revived (meds, restrictions, nose bleeds, and a bunch of scars) my disease was just there, nothing I was ashamed of, if someone asked id tell them but not much more.
However when I got older, my heart started to fail and even though I was in my 20s and was already a mom (to a 6 month old), and aware of having a heart disease I thought it was under control and that I would be fine… as a teen I never thought I'd live past 40 but in my 20s I had a job I loved, a family, I was very active and remodeling an old house etc. Life was far from perfect but It was pretty average. Until I started to witness how my body starting to fail me, just like her, in the beginning it was not that serious (I am not going to go in to every detail) but about allot of medical exams, and a year later the word “ heart failure” showed up for the first time on my sick leave note… the words you will probably never be able to work with your job and we can only slow down the progression that is going faster than we planned… to be honest it was just my heart and the heart is just a pump, a pretty important one that effects every single part of the body but essentially it is just a pump.
I got a twitter account while I was at the hospital and much like her I wrote my thoughts, I went to physical therapy 1 hour away from home in a cab because it was the only place i felt safe enough to exercise having my doctor in the same hospital in case my condition got worse (which It did, several times), until I got so ill I couldn't continue. I thought similar thoughts as her, that my loved ones would live better lives if I was not there,I felt like I was useless, but I also kept writing for some reason, nothing inspirational but more uninspirational. I could relate to the lack of understanding when the disability was not visible yet. I could relate to the showing a positive attitude while feeling that it sucked, the looks after I got my wheelchair… There was so much relatable content that i just could not help but cry a lot. I also got so sick that I could hardly eat or speak but I kept writing.. .And did my best, I really did but my heart just kept getting worse...
A part of me was so fed up that I honestly wanted to die, but I kept on living. It was not because I was strong, or possessed some super power… Even if I used a lot of humor and would say I was a fun patient. But it was not like I would have died if I handled it otherwise. As a sick person you are in need of help, active or not the illness does not give a **** about how much you want to live or die. I honestly wanted to toss all my meds in trash at one point. But I got put on the waiting list instead. To be honest towards the end I was just passing the time waiting to die or get a heart, bored (I had not discovered dramas yet) and just waiting for a change… Any change (and at times it felt pretty near).
Yes I could really relate to her but at the same time the ending pissed the hell out of me. Here we had had a portrayal of a human with hopes, dreams and loved the way she is. A person struggling, allowed to cry, allowed to laugh, shown to have a whole range of emotions. And they end it with look how many people you inspired. So it pissed me off. Many people probably cried here, I just got mad and felt like it ruined it for me. She inspired so many to love their lives, I am gonna live for her bla bla bla.. Just no people. Live your own lives you only have one (okay I got a bunch, but still it is your life). Being kind and trying your best should not depend on if you got inspired by a pooor, poor person who did not get to live the life they wanted…. you are you, that person is that person etc… able bodied or not you are a person worthy of an average life, with material needs, relationships, hopes, interests etc. You able bodied person I am sure you too can find strength within to live your life I believe in you!
Okay that is enough for now… Just remember that people with illness are people too...
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Gem shines so bright
This is a gem.One of the most memorable drama I watch growing up. Almost true to its source, we are brought into Aya's world where she experience growing up in a most challenging and hardest trial of her life.
Brace yourself for the most beautiful tear-jerker story of family, friendship, love, sacrifice, gratitude and letting go.
Story
It's a pretty straightdforward story about a girl struggling with her incurable illness. What separates it from others is how her sudden struggle affected her surrounding and how she regain strength from her family and friends. It also show the family and her friends struggle and hardship to support Aya to continue to live her life. How the pressure from society can be discouraging. How can you change your perception/ reaction from receiving help from others; Being grateful and say "Thank you" rather than being apologetic and say "I'm sorry" all the time. It teaches you to be grateful for what we have without saying the obvious.
Aya's journey is maybe short, but it was meaningful and full of love. The journey she shared with us was neverending and it continued beyond time. It's a timeless journey.
Cast
I love them all. The overall cast are amazing in their own characters.
Aya is amazingly portrayed as this positive, cheerful and strong yet vulnerable soul. She is relateable as a normal teenager who has dreams and goal in life. We can feel her pain as she bravely accepted her illness and strongly powered herself to keep on her struggle to live her life as best as she could.
Nishikido Ryo as Asou really breaks my heart. He is indifferent at the beginning, but his growth in the end speaks volume. How Aya really affect him as a human, friend and lover.
Aya's mom really amazing in this drama. She is the pillar that hold Aya to be as strong as she can. Her portrayal really touches your heart. She is my idol.
Music
I love the soundtrack of this drama. Konayuki is one of my most favourite japanese song of all time. Whenever I hear the song, I will be reminded of the story of Aya as well. It's beautiful.
As always; Would I watch it again in the future? YES.
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This review may contain spoilers
That 1 Litre of Tears...it'll be yours when you watch this
My rating of this drama is entirely objective; based on the story's overwhelming impact on me. It was all the more heartbreaking to think that this is drama is based on a real story and is really the story of millions of persons who live boldly with disabilities, I say boldly because how else can you describe a person gripped with fear and pain and who nonetheless chooses to face an uncertain future head-on.This drama really made me reflect on my own life and ask a couple of difficult questions: I couldn't imagine living the life that Ikeuchi Aya lived for 10 years as a victim of spinocerebellar degeneration disease...knowing that she would lose her ability to walk, move, speak and eventually die. But does this mean, I live life only to walk, talk, write, move, etc. I think it didn't matter that she never got the answer to the question: "why did this disease choose me?" None of us chose our life. I think this was a groundshaking reminder that strength, purpose, faith, courage...these things are far more precious than we imagine and they look so different from what we have been taught to believe. They probably lie dormant in all of us and could probably take form in the face of our deepest and greatest suffering.
If you have the courage to watch this, you'll probably be crying (ugly face...get a box of tissues crying btw) throughout but there's a gem of an inspiring story to learn from. It will be worth it.
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In the field of acting, all of actors really dive In their roles very well. The musics of this show is so good.
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A life changing story everyone should watch at least once in their life time
I’m a very emotional person I tend to avoid even open endings, let alone sad endings, but I knew I just had to watch this drama somehow. So after months of putting it on hold one day I decided to pick it up.For starters, yes you will most likely be crying in every single episode from the second episode onwards, but we should be aware of the difficulties such people go through everyday to live and do most things we do easily,and this drama will teach us to be grateful for the basic things we’re given.
I remember crying to myself saying my life is worthless take me instead of her, I can suffer instead of her let her live,
It’s a valid feeling, since aya, the main character isn’t a fictional character but based of a true story. Which makes it more heart wrenching and painful.
This drama will teach you very important life lessons, so I ask you to at least watch it once, you might not be able to rewatch it if your an emotional person like me, but at least once you should watch it.
It’s worth all your tears.
I watch dramas very fast, I binge watch them until I finish it, so a 11 episode drama would barely take me two days to finish, but this one took me three weeks, I had to get ready for each episode, I’m glad I finally completed it. This is a drama I won’t be forgetting for a long time.
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This review may contain spoilers
Emotional Damage!!
I saw a lot of sad dramas or sad scenes that impacted me a lot.But this drama, all episodes i was crying uncontrollable( maybe the name of the drama came from here '-' )
Since the ep 1 i'm think how ingrate i am about life, i can walk, speak, run and i have the time that she most wanted. I can go towards my dreams and live how i want to.
She is so cute and lovely , her can make a friendship with everyone, When i saw her friends helping her every time, my eyes was covered by water.
Seeing the difficult of her parents to make a decision about her illness, and if she needs to go to another school broke me a lot!
IT'S A MUST WATCH J-DRAMA!
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This review may contain spoilers
One of the best dramas to watch if you want to learn how to appreciate life more.
This drama is indeed heartbreaking because it does not only make you cry but also, it can make your heart broken in pieces because of how hard Aya's life is. The story of this drama is well executed and it felt realistic to the extent that it went over to the top when it comes to audience impact. Aside from that, the acting of each characters will make you connect with them even if you are just watching them do their respective roles/parts.In fact, I liked some of the songs featured in this drama such as "Konayuki", "Sangatsu Kokonoka", and "Only Human". Erika Sawajiri did a great job in acting the most and that commendation is also applicable to Ryo Nishikido. Their love story is actually inspiring because Haruto was always there for his love, Aya most especially, when she needs him the most deep inside.
This drama taught me a lot of life lessons and that includes learning to live my life to the fullest according to what I want without regrets. I also learned to accept who I am now and there is no point for me to dwell myself in the past and learn to appreciate life even more now.
Before watching this drama, please prepare a lot of tissues or a handkerchief because this drama will really make you cry.
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The story was based on a true story of Aya Kito. It showed how much harder it got when Aya's disease become unmanageable. The story was overall really great, and it successfully showed Aya's story from the beginning through the end. I also love how they include Aya Kito's own words into the movie! Also, I felt a little refreshed because of the love story weaved into this whole commotion. I won't spoil anything, but I'm just saying it's not cheesy. It's more like natural love.
All the acting and cast were wonderful! The characters were really easy to empathize with, and cry with. I love the emotions they displayed!
Oh my gosh, THE MUSIC! I really got into the song "March 9" because of it! March 9 is so sad to listen to, and all the music overall really matched the situation!
I would definitely rewatch this when I have nothing else to watch even if it means crying again!
Overall, the whole drama was excellent! Everything was well directed and it was beautifully made!
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This review may contain spoilers
TBH I don't usually watch dramas or anything related bcoz I have been an anime addict as far as I can remember n hence this series is one of my first watch. It was strongly encouraged by a number of ppl so I decided to check it out n what waited was a stream of overflowing emotions. I cried like hell which I tell u is amazing for someone like me to actually cry.STORY 10/10 :The drama is based on a real- life story which makes the emotions of the drama even more appealing to the audience. The plot was well executed with the addition of ASOU-KUN (FYI fictional), he adds a great deal to the overall story. Even the very small n simple scenes like the family having dinner together over the table were well thought to immerse the viewers. My fav scence is where Aya gives a speech in front of her class. I loved the line where she says "to be able to smile n tell everyone like this, I atleast needed 1 litre of tears".
ACTING/CAST 9/10 : The acting of the cast was amazing. The only reason I gave it a 9 is bcoz i felt it could have been better for some support roles tho I won't be mentioning them. Sawajiri did a great job depicting AYA tho her role was complicated it was played mind blowingly. I don't know how many of u will actually appreciate but I felt the role of AYA'S FATHER was damn amusing. He's fussing nature made the drama fun n whenever his scene pops up the sudden transition from tears to laughter happens its simply magical. Other supporting roles like AYA'S MOTHER , ASOU n AYA'S SIBLINGS were well acted.
MUSIC 8/10: The drama was glistened by good music. TBH I liked the music but its simply not my FAV genre n hence an 8. But tho I'm not a big fan of the specific genre I was mesmerized by the high quality music n its relevance in every scene especially the lyrics of the songs were well thought. I cried ever time KONAYUKI played.
REWATCH VALUE 3/10 : Why such a very low reaction value? For me its be coz I simply can't rewatch this series again for years or even decades maybe. It tore my heart n had me crying my heart out ever ep n I don't think I can bear another emotional roller coaster like that # my heart won't last. N I seriously dont wanna die of heart ache XD.
OVERALL 10/10 : For me the series was an absolute masterpiece it made me cry like never before n i don't think i'll cry this much ever again.I seriously recommed this series to anyone who likes to have their hearts broken n reshaped. This series made me ponder on life n for better encouraged me to continue LIVING. It made me cherish the love of FAMILY n the current HEALTHY LIFE I have. If u r not a big fan of the genre n prefer comedy with light hearted elements its best u avoid this series bcoz of its heavy n deep content.
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I cried 1 liter of tears
I think its a story that makes you question a lot how you have been living your life until now, many times we take things for granted because we think that everything will always be the same. Its a drama from years ago based on a true story and I think they managed to express the feelings very well, I became really familiar with the characters so I could feel their pain. I think it is a drama that young, adults and old people can enjoy and understand. Fully recommended. I cried so much because I put myself in the place of the family and how I would feel if I were in their situation. The ost are beautiful, even though I can't understand Japanese, I listen to the songs a lot because they touched my soul.Was this review helpful to you?
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This review may contain spoilers
This is certainly a drama that I will never ever forget for my entire life.It was aired in 2005 on a local TV channel in the Philippines, I watched every single day without missing a part of it. I re-watched the series when I had my very first computer. And this drama never cease to amazed me especially Erika Sawajiri's role of Ikeuchi, Aya. She's really good on bring the emotions to life and you will really feel her words deep in your bones. The struggle is real in here, and you will truly struggle not to cry in every scene.
This drama really inspires me, I won't give you spoilers but what I can say is that, before you watch this one, be sure that you will have acartons/boxes of tissues ready. I love the OST & I love the song Ryo Nishikido as Asou Haruto sang with the class in front of the hospital, I even memorized it and still know the lyrics to this day.
I wish you're true Asou. I really wished you for Aya.
OST: Only Human by K ft. Kim Dong Wan
Special Songs: 3 gatsu 9 ka (Sangatsu Kokonoka) & Konayuki by Remioromen
DRAMA BASED ON A TRUE STORY OF A GIRL WITH AN INCURABLE DISEASE.
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