A serious undertaking - for at least 75% of the time, before it turns into a soapy melodrama in the last fifteen minutes; or rather, more like a fairy tale. Japan is great with dramas in general - as Thailand is playful with LB series... and this production is no cotton candy... even when the end is sheer nonsense and unadulterated fantasy.

The acting is good - on occasion, it becomes extraordinary; and, although there is no electric chemistry between the two main characters, there performances are very convincing.

Music and rewatch values are high... though the latter category remains meanigless and obscure to me (but being a request from the administrators, I never fail to mention it - sigh).

The plot is flawed, however: it starts out strong, with a sweetness typical of adolescence. Then, it grows into something quite dramatic and poignant towards the middle, injecting a dose of reality one associates with Japanese productions: punget, real, sometimes painful.

The problem, as I see it, is the Disneyland ending: too happy, too much of a fairy tale... as if they had changed writers and hired Mrs. Heart to write a happy ending and adorn it with curls. A truly disconnected ending which to me ruined the production - though it must have made ga-ga watchers twirl!

Had the producers stuck to the expected heart-broken, life teaching lesson... this would have been an excellent real life drama. It is still worth while watching it - specially if you are all about happy endings, no matter how fake.