With Love (1998)

I really enjoyed this show. And it is still one of my favorites.
So why did I like this? It just sounds so cliché...
Like, you know: Meeting someone through e-mails and loving him while hating the real life person yaddayadda...

Still this drama leaves a very warm feeling. It's nothing you have never seen before, that is for sure. But it provides a lot of memorable scenes and you gradually get to know and love all the characters (well, all except one... which is the "boku"guy.... He's too weird to like. Too weird... Believe me.)
And at least one character will totally surprise you at the end of the show.

Also there are some e-mail messages that I'll never forget in my whole life. Haven't forgotten them for 5 years, so I guess, I'll remember them in another 5 years too~ Some very very wonderful lines written by both of them that make you start to think about life itself and about love.

The music is not that great. But there is that once piano piece that keeps returning nearly every episode and that I loved so much.
And it actually has an important role~ But that you have to find out yourself.

The whole show is really slow paced. 12 episodes, a few e-mails and a lot of meeting-people in between. Still you don't get bored with it. Rather you want to see more of the two main characters spending some time together.

It's a wonderful romantic drama. If you want to watch something for the heart, it's a good choice. But you have to deal with the slow pace...
Enjoy it~~

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I've said it once but I will say it again: I really love these pre-2000 Japanese dramas! The stories are concise, to the point and if you don't feel happy at the end, they've totally missed their mark. You definitely got the US Movie, "You've Got Mail" feeling but other than communicating with someone over email, that is where the stories differ.

I loved all of the main characters. I especially love Takenouchi Yutaka as Hata/Takashi. He was definitely a man who totally wanted to deny himself love. I've seen him in many dramas now and I must say, I've never NOT enjoyed his performance. This was my first time seeing Tanaka Misato as Amane. Her character was so damn sweet, I felt like I was having a sugar rush! There were sometimes I wished she had more of a backbone. But surprisingly, whenever she had dealings with Takashi, that was the only time you really saw the little tigeress come out. Oikawa Mitsuhiro as Yoshika will remain in my mind one of the worse stalkers I've seen in a drama. Despite his intentions, it drove me crazy! Watch it and see if you get the same vibe. Fujiwara Norika as Kaori; you wanted to hate her but I understood her the most but at least her character was acceptable.

Romance was stilted, only because you have to watch it but the romance in another sense was great and you definitely went away feeling their emotions. As this is an earlier work, this is not for everyone but I must say, it really, really was good!

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