'1 Litre of Tears' Dorama Review & Picspam (not dial-up friendly)
"What's wrong with falling down?" wrote Ikeuchi Aya. "You can always stand up again."
"If you look up at the sky after falling down, the blue sky is also today stretching limitlessly and smiles at me...I'm alive. I'm alive." ~Ikeuchi Aya
I Litre of Tears, based on the true story of Kito Aya (木藤亜也), follows a fifteen year old girl who develops Spinocerebellar Degeneration, a disease which causes a deterioration of motor coordination throughout the body. Throughout her illness Kito Aya kept detailed diaries of her life and the progress of her illness; these were later published as a best-selling book entitled 1 Litre of Tears, upon which this drama is based.
When we first meet the protagonist of this drama, Ikeuchi Aya (Sawajiri Erika), she is a bright girl on her way to take the entrance exam for a renowned high school. We can see that she's a very conscientious young lady who is diligent in her school work, helpful with her family and with her family's tofu business, she works hard, is lively with her friends and very good at basketball. Everyone likes her because what's there not to like? The only conflict it seems she has in the beginning is with her younger sister who seems to resent her older sister's seeming perfection and the difference in the way that her parents treat the two girls (one is often praised while the other is often scolded, but not always undeservedly. It's true, Ako has a resentful attitude and this makes her very grumpy and mouthy, hence the scoldings).
As first Aya's parents, and then later Aya herself come to learn of her illness and are forced to come to terms with it, we see the gifts of this bright young girl being put to the test. All of her positive attitude and optimism for life are necessary in order for her to cope and to live with her disease which is unrelenting in its progress. Aya has her bad moments, and this is a drama filled with tears (after all, look at the title), but it never made me feel horribly depressed or anything like that. Instead, I found it incredibly inspiring that Aya was able to live on despite her illness and she was able to think of others and inspire others through her courage and her attitude. At first it was just her thoughtfulness towards her siblings and her friends, but later, as her daily journal was published, her words that she wrote to encourage herself proved to be the hugely inspirational to so many readers who were also undergoing difficult times in their own ways, whether through illness or not.
Through the drama we see how Aya's illness affect her and her family primarily and the family unit is really something wonderful to behold. They're such a loyal and tender bunch, and sure it's probably not entirely realistic, but it sure is heartwarming to see. I adore the whole cast of this dorama, but especially the actors who played Aya's family.
We also see how Aya's illness affects her friends and classmates, and quite realistically, too. It's clear that Japanese schools are not really equipped to handle people in wheelchairs, and so Aya's friends help her up and down stairs daily, which often makes them late to class and this then affects the overall class which always begins late to accomodate Aya. How Aya affects her classmates becomes an issue as the drama progresses until eventually she must leave her high school and her friends to attend a special school for disabled students with facilities to help her physical rehabilitation as well as help her maintain as high a level of self-sufficiency as she can sustain at her stage of the illness.
It's both sad and uplifting to watch Aya's mobility decrease over the course of the drama - for such a bright and active young teenager to first walk unsteadily, and then depend on a wheelchair, until she can longer even move from her bed without assistance is really sad, but the way Aya faces her difficulties is beautiful, because for every setback, she picks herself back up and soldiers on with whatever resources she has to left to her. When she can no longer write with a pen, she scrawls with a marker until she can't do even that anymore. When she loses even her ability to speak, she persists by pointing to kanji characters on a large board until her thought is expressed. She keeps going in whatever way she can until her body gives out, and she never gives up.
Other than Aya's wonderful family, Aya also has Haruto (Nishikido Ryo). Haruto begins as a sullen kid in Aya's class who is still grieving the loss of his beloved elder brother who died in a tragic accident. Through his friendship with Aya he slowly opens up and begins to truly appreciate life. He is one of the few people in Aya's life who never cares about her disease and who never ever lets it affect the way he sees her and how he treats her. One of my favorite scenes with Haruto is when he stands up for her when her classmates begin to complain about how she's making their lives more difficult. He calls them on their hypocrisy and it is a truly winning moment. The scene that comes next is one of my favorites in the dorama and I'll point it out below. The relationship between Haruto and Aya is just beautiful - so strong and true, despite the enormous obstacles that stand between them. I love how he always, always treats her with so much respect and gives her peace and that he is the one to whom she can confess things she can't tell anyone else.
Aya as she conducts her class during the music competition.
On her wrist is the watch that her father made for her which is sometimes shown throughout the dorama to indicate how precious each moment of time is for Aya in her shortened life.
Aya runs off to school.
Dr. Mizuno, Aya's gorgeous neurologist, sensitively acted by Fujiki Naohito. I definitely want to see more of his acting, because he was lovely.
Aya's wonderful, hard-working, over-the-top, expressive and hilarious tofu-making father. I love his story: he resisted taking over his father's tofu shop for a very long time and worked at many, many jobs (which is a running gag throughout the dorama, as he keeps demonstrating skills he picked up while working those jobs) until he finally came back to the tofu shop and discovered that the thing he'd run away from was really the perfect job for him. His story is important for others, as Haruto runs away from being a doctor the same way, until finally, because of Aya, her illness and her courage in facing it, he decides to pursue a medical path.
Aya and her beautiful, wonderful mother who sacrificed so much to help her daughter through her illness. She was really well-played as a conscientious, caring mother who worked as a health consultant as well as raised four children. It was great to see a working mom in a jdorama.
Aya's family.
Dr. Mizuno talks about Aya's disease with both her parents for the first time. I always felt so sorry for Aya's mother that she had to go through all the shock and horror of coming to terms with Aya's illness by herself because she didn't want to unnecessarily worry her husband and Aya's father until there was no hope of the diagnosis being wrong.
Aya's parents walking after the visit to the doctor...this location looked really familiar to me (was it used in Anego? Gokusen 2?)
Aya, the athlete - she had played basketball in middle school with her best friend, and together they joined the basketball club in high school where she quickly became a starter.
The first time Aya meets Haruto, it is the day of the entrance exam to the exclusive high school they both end up attending. Aya falls and Haruto cycles her back to the school and to the nurse who patches her up.
Aya and Haruto later bond over a stray puppy.
Pretty OTP + pretty puppy = teh CUTE. *grin*
Aya's family welcomes Haruto. Haruto is surprised by how boisterous and affectionate they all are with each other, which is very different from what he is used to at home with his much more formal parents.
Haruto often prefers the company of animals to humans. He's a member of the biology club and takes his responsibilities very seriously, even coming in on weekends and holidays to care for their animals.
And occasionally, as time passes, he visits the puppy at Aya's house.
The following scene, which is one of my absolute favorites, takes place after Aya overhears her classmates talking about her and how difficult she has made their lives. Haruto defends her and shames her class for being hypocrites - they are always nice to her face, but secretly they want her to leave the school. It's a terrible thing for Aya to hear, and when she leaves again, Haruto goes after her, and generously carries her down the stairs on his back and then goes out with her in her wheelchair. Aya breaks down then.
[Haruto offers her his handkerchief]
Aya:[in tears] Say something! Talk about penguins! Or fish! Or dogs or whatever! Those animals also won't be able to wake up either! Telling a story is fine too! Or even a lie. I won't get mad.
Haruto: I can't do anything. Those people talking so shamelessly. I'm just like them, too. Knowing about your disease, always watching you from the side. But, in the end, I still can't do anything.
Haruto: I can only say what I think, like an idiot, just like what my dad said. I'm still a kid.
Aya: That's not it at all.
Aya: You are always encouraging me.
Aya: You listen to me when I say the things that I can't say to others.
Aya: On the path to move forward, you make me happy.
Aya: You're by my side.
Aya: When I'm feeling depressed, you always keep me company.
Aya: Thank you. Asou-kun.
Aya is so luminously beautiful as she tells her parents of her decision to leave her high school and attend the school for disabled persons.
Aya's final speech leaves almost her entire class in tears, and after she leaves with her parents, Haruto runs after her, followed by the rest of the class.
Led by Haruto, they sing their class song, the song that the performed and that Aya conducted during the class competition in the very beginning. It's a beautiful moment and one that touches Aya and her parents deeply. (And we get to hear Ryo sing!) Seriously, I get chills when I watch this scene. Gorgeous.
Aya at her new school.
Haruto goes on a date with Aya, their first real date, and they go to the aquarium.
At the aquarium, Haruto gives her a keita strap with a dolphin charm to remind her that like dolphins, even if they are far away from each other, they can always communicate.
Later, after some time has passed, Haruto comes to visit her at her school.
Haruto: Is it okay if I say what I'm feeling right now? I don't know what's going to happen in the future. But right now, what I'm feeling is 100% not a lie. I can say that with confidence. For me, as long as it's you saying it, it doesn't matter how slowly you say it, I'll still listen. If you can't talk over the phone, then I'll come to see you, just like this. I'm not a dolphin. You, you're also not a dolphin. If you want to walk, no matter how slow it'll be, I'll walk with you. Right now, I might not be that reliable. One day, maybe I'll be able to help. Things can't be the same as they were before, but there's this kind of feeling linking us together. I don't think that we're living in different worlds.
Haruto: I...with regards to you...I like you. Maybe. I like you, maybe. Probably.
To which Aya, in tears, thanks him. What a confession!
Aya, her family and Haruto are invited to the wedding of two of Aya's instructors from her school for the disabled. Aya and Haruto look so gorgeous!
Aya catches the bridal bouquet.
Unfortunately, after the wedding, Aya gives Haruto a letter in which she breaks up with him, because she feels like she is holding him back from his life. Haruto's face in this cap is so heartbreaking!
The final episode begins with Aya's entire family hanging her laundry on the hospital rooftop. It's a beautiful cheerful scene.
When Haruto happens to be a the hospital, he overhears interns talking to Aya, and he later scolds them for talking down to her as though she were a child just because she cannot speak normally anymore. I wanted to hug him for that!
Haruto finally comes back to meet her again at the hospital and reads to her a very moving letter from someone who was inspired by Aya's writings. Haruto and Aya's reunion is very touching. Ryo cries so prettily!
When Haruto talks to his father near the end.
Aya and Haruto's last scene in the drama together is so beautiful. She asks him to read some of her journals to her, and after he reads some, she tells him "Live on. Life on forever." It's gorgeous and heartbreaking. He reads the final words she wrote in her journal: "Thank you."
After Aya's death, Aya's parents meet Mizuno, her doctor at Aya's grave.
After they talk, Mizuno points out to her parents the huge numbers of people walking up the hill to visit Aya's grave, because she touched so many people's lives.
How we feel about things has a lot to do with what we bring to it, and where we happen to be in our lives when we absorb it. I'm in a place right now where this story really meant something powerful to me and I found it very inspiring, despite any of its flaws. Aya's story is truly a beautiful one, and I'm glad that it was made.
"If you look up at the sky after falling down, the blue sky is also today stretching limitlessly and smiles at me...I'm alive. I'm alive." ~Ikeuchi Aya
I Litre of Tears, based on the true story of Kito Aya (木藤亜也), follows a fifteen year old girl who develops Spinocerebellar Degeneration, a disease which causes a deterioration of motor coordination throughout the body. Throughout her illness Kito Aya kept detailed diaries of her life and the progress of her illness; these were later published as a best-selling book entitled 1 Litre of Tears, upon which this drama is based.
When we first meet the protagonist of this drama, Ikeuchi Aya (Sawajiri Erika), she is a bright girl on her way to take the entrance exam for a renowned high school. We can see that she's a very conscientious young lady who is diligent in her school work, helpful with her family and with her family's tofu business, she works hard, is lively with her friends and very good at basketball. Everyone likes her because what's there not to like? The only conflict it seems she has in the beginning is with her younger sister who seems to resent her older sister's seeming perfection and the difference in the way that her parents treat the two girls (one is often praised while the other is often scolded, but not always undeservedly. It's true, Ako has a resentful attitude and this makes her very grumpy and mouthy, hence the scoldings).
As first Aya's parents, and then later Aya herself come to learn of her illness and are forced to come to terms with it, we see the gifts of this bright young girl being put to the test. All of her positive attitude and optimism for life are necessary in order for her to cope and to live with her disease which is unrelenting in its progress. Aya has her bad moments, and this is a drama filled with tears (after all, look at the title), but it never made me feel horribly depressed or anything like that. Instead, I found it incredibly inspiring that Aya was able to live on despite her illness and she was able to think of others and inspire others through her courage and her attitude. At first it was just her thoughtfulness towards her siblings and her friends, but later, as her daily journal was published, her words that she wrote to encourage herself proved to be the hugely inspirational to so many readers who were also undergoing difficult times in their own ways, whether through illness or not.
Through the drama we see how Aya's illness affect her and her family primarily and the family unit is really something wonderful to behold. They're such a loyal and tender bunch, and sure it's probably not entirely realistic, but it sure is heartwarming to see. I adore the whole cast of this dorama, but especially the actors who played Aya's family.
We also see how Aya's illness affects her friends and classmates, and quite realistically, too. It's clear that Japanese schools are not really equipped to handle people in wheelchairs, and so Aya's friends help her up and down stairs daily, which often makes them late to class and this then affects the overall class which always begins late to accomodate Aya. How Aya affects her classmates becomes an issue as the drama progresses until eventually she must leave her high school and her friends to attend a special school for disabled students with facilities to help her physical rehabilitation as well as help her maintain as high a level of self-sufficiency as she can sustain at her stage of the illness.
It's both sad and uplifting to watch Aya's mobility decrease over the course of the drama - for such a bright and active young teenager to first walk unsteadily, and then depend on a wheelchair, until she can longer even move from her bed without assistance is really sad, but the way Aya faces her difficulties is beautiful, because for every setback, she picks herself back up and soldiers on with whatever resources she has to left to her. When she can no longer write with a pen, she scrawls with a marker until she can't do even that anymore. When she loses even her ability to speak, she persists by pointing to kanji characters on a large board until her thought is expressed. She keeps going in whatever way she can until her body gives out, and she never gives up.
Other than Aya's wonderful family, Aya also has Haruto (Nishikido Ryo). Haruto begins as a sullen kid in Aya's class who is still grieving the loss of his beloved elder brother who died in a tragic accident. Through his friendship with Aya he slowly opens up and begins to truly appreciate life. He is one of the few people in Aya's life who never cares about her disease and who never ever lets it affect the way he sees her and how he treats her. One of my favorite scenes with Haruto is when he stands up for her when her classmates begin to complain about how she's making their lives more difficult. He calls them on their hypocrisy and it is a truly winning moment. The scene that comes next is one of my favorites in the dorama and I'll point it out below. The relationship between Haruto and Aya is just beautiful - so strong and true, despite the enormous obstacles that stand between them. I love how he always, always treats her with so much respect and gives her peace and that he is the one to whom she can confess things she can't tell anyone else.
Aya as she conducts her class during the music competition.
On her wrist is the watch that her father made for her which is sometimes shown throughout the dorama to indicate how precious each moment of time is for Aya in her shortened life.
Aya runs off to school.
Dr. Mizuno, Aya's gorgeous neurologist, sensitively acted by Fujiki Naohito. I definitely want to see more of his acting, because he was lovely.
Aya's wonderful, hard-working, over-the-top, expressive and hilarious tofu-making father. I love his story: he resisted taking over his father's tofu shop for a very long time and worked at many, many jobs (which is a running gag throughout the dorama, as he keeps demonstrating skills he picked up while working those jobs) until he finally came back to the tofu shop and discovered that the thing he'd run away from was really the perfect job for him. His story is important for others, as Haruto runs away from being a doctor the same way, until finally, because of Aya, her illness and her courage in facing it, he decides to pursue a medical path.
Aya and her beautiful, wonderful mother who sacrificed so much to help her daughter through her illness. She was really well-played as a conscientious, caring mother who worked as a health consultant as well as raised four children. It was great to see a working mom in a jdorama.
Aya's family.
Dr. Mizuno talks about Aya's disease with both her parents for the first time. I always felt so sorry for Aya's mother that she had to go through all the shock and horror of coming to terms with Aya's illness by herself because she didn't want to unnecessarily worry her husband and Aya's father until there was no hope of the diagnosis being wrong.
Aya's parents walking after the visit to the doctor...this location looked really familiar to me (was it used in Anego? Gokusen 2?)
Aya, the athlete - she had played basketball in middle school with her best friend, and together they joined the basketball club in high school where she quickly became a starter.
The first time Aya meets Haruto, it is the day of the entrance exam to the exclusive high school they both end up attending. Aya falls and Haruto cycles her back to the school and to the nurse who patches her up.
Aya and Haruto later bond over a stray puppy.
Pretty OTP + pretty puppy = teh CUTE. *grin*
Aya's family welcomes Haruto. Haruto is surprised by how boisterous and affectionate they all are with each other, which is very different from what he is used to at home with his much more formal parents.
Haruto often prefers the company of animals to humans. He's a member of the biology club and takes his responsibilities very seriously, even coming in on weekends and holidays to care for their animals.
And occasionally, as time passes, he visits the puppy at Aya's house.
The following scene, which is one of my absolute favorites, takes place after Aya overhears her classmates talking about her and how difficult she has made their lives. Haruto defends her and shames her class for being hypocrites - they are always nice to her face, but secretly they want her to leave the school. It's a terrible thing for Aya to hear, and when she leaves again, Haruto goes after her, and generously carries her down the stairs on his back and then goes out with her in her wheelchair. Aya breaks down then.
[Haruto offers her his handkerchief]
Aya:[in tears] Say something! Talk about penguins! Or fish! Or dogs or whatever! Those animals also won't be able to wake up either! Telling a story is fine too! Or even a lie. I won't get mad.
Haruto: I can't do anything. Those people talking so shamelessly. I'm just like them, too. Knowing about your disease, always watching you from the side. But, in the end, I still can't do anything.
Haruto: I can only say what I think, like an idiot, just like what my dad said. I'm still a kid.
Aya: That's not it at all.
Aya: You are always encouraging me.
Aya: You listen to me when I say the things that I can't say to others.
Aya: On the path to move forward, you make me happy.
Aya: You're by my side.
Aya: When I'm feeling depressed, you always keep me company.
Aya: Thank you. Asou-kun.
Aya is so luminously beautiful as she tells her parents of her decision to leave her high school and attend the school for disabled persons.
Aya's final speech leaves almost her entire class in tears, and after she leaves with her parents, Haruto runs after her, followed by the rest of the class.
Led by Haruto, they sing their class song, the song that the performed and that Aya conducted during the class competition in the very beginning. It's a beautiful moment and one that touches Aya and her parents deeply. (And we get to hear Ryo sing!) Seriously, I get chills when I watch this scene. Gorgeous.
Aya at her new school.
Haruto goes on a date with Aya, their first real date, and they go to the aquarium.
At the aquarium, Haruto gives her a keita strap with a dolphin charm to remind her that like dolphins, even if they are far away from each other, they can always communicate.
Later, after some time has passed, Haruto comes to visit her at her school.
Haruto: Is it okay if I say what I'm feeling right now? I don't know what's going to happen in the future. But right now, what I'm feeling is 100% not a lie. I can say that with confidence. For me, as long as it's you saying it, it doesn't matter how slowly you say it, I'll still listen. If you can't talk over the phone, then I'll come to see you, just like this. I'm not a dolphin. You, you're also not a dolphin. If you want to walk, no matter how slow it'll be, I'll walk with you. Right now, I might not be that reliable. One day, maybe I'll be able to help. Things can't be the same as they were before, but there's this kind of feeling linking us together. I don't think that we're living in different worlds.
Haruto: I...with regards to you...I like you. Maybe. I like you, maybe. Probably.
To which Aya, in tears, thanks him. What a confession!
Aya, her family and Haruto are invited to the wedding of two of Aya's instructors from her school for the disabled. Aya and Haruto look so gorgeous!
Aya catches the bridal bouquet.
Unfortunately, after the wedding, Aya gives Haruto a letter in which she breaks up with him, because she feels like she is holding him back from his life. Haruto's face in this cap is so heartbreaking!
The final episode begins with Aya's entire family hanging her laundry on the hospital rooftop. It's a beautiful cheerful scene.
When Haruto happens to be a the hospital, he overhears interns talking to Aya, and he later scolds them for talking down to her as though she were a child just because she cannot speak normally anymore. I wanted to hug him for that!
Haruto finally comes back to meet her again at the hospital and reads to her a very moving letter from someone who was inspired by Aya's writings. Haruto and Aya's reunion is very touching. Ryo cries so prettily!
When Haruto talks to his father near the end.
Aya and Haruto's last scene in the drama together is so beautiful. She asks him to read some of her journals to her, and after he reads some, she tells him "Live on. Life on forever." It's gorgeous and heartbreaking. He reads the final words she wrote in her journal: "Thank you."
After Aya's death, Aya's parents meet Mizuno, her doctor at Aya's grave.
After they talk, Mizuno points out to her parents the huge numbers of people walking up the hill to visit Aya's grave, because she touched so many people's lives.
How we feel about things has a lot to do with what we bring to it, and where we happen to be in our lives when we absorb it. I'm in a place right now where this story really meant something powerful to me and I found it very inspiring, despite any of its flaws. Aya's story is truly a beautiful one, and I'm glad that it was made.