Has it ever happened to you that a friend or a colleague asked you: "How 'bout a beer down at McGinty's (Arnold's, Rollo's, or however you call the joint you get your booze from) after work? We could grab a burger and watch the ball game afterwards!" to which you replied: "Buddy, you had me at 'beer'!"...you know, right? Well, in the case of this "Shindo / Prodigy", they had me at 'Narumi Riko' and 'classical music', LOL! Which is why I didn't take a look at who the writer was - something I usually do when in doubt whether to watch something or not. Had I checked beforehand, I would have known what to expect from the same guy who gave us "Camouflage" and "Ueno Juri to Itsutsu no Kaban" ('nuff said...URGH!). I really loved the music, as well as Narumi Riko (I got the feeling she's the kind of actress you either love or hate; me, I adore her). The rest of the cast did also well. The plot was okay. All in all, I could've given this an 8, a 9 or even a 10. BUT. But...the writer - who I'd bet has watched too many "Nouvelle Vague" flicks and read too little about scriptwriting in his youth - gave us a story with more holes than your regular swiss cheese. Minor characters without the slightest function (Kanjiya Shiori's, for example; but also Narumi Riko's classmate), weird scenes that aren't the least bit explained (like, the "ending"), and basically the viewer is supposed to do the writer's work in his stead and imagine all the untold story - which is, like, half of it! Now, if I were more objective in my reviews (something I'm not, I always point out just the opposite, that my reviews are to be taken as VERY subjective!), then I'd probably give this a 5 or even less (as I think I would if it had been about, say, origami - or anything else I'm not interested in - instead of classical music, and if the FL had been portrayed, say, by Naka Riisa or Fukada Kyoko instead of by Narumi Riko). As it is, I give it a 7.