Okay, so. I was a little reluctant when I started this series because I don't like sports doramas/animes/mangas/etc., but, if you're like me, you'll be happy to know that the basketball component makes up for only about the 10% of the whole thing. More often than not, you'll see Naoki (Yamapi) practising in the neighbourhood's field, but the actual matches? You only see them in a couple of episodes. Honest.
There's also a music component/storyline: Riko's (Kitagawa Keiko) dream is to be a violinist, so we often see/hear her play the violin, while her friend Mai (Kanjiya Shihori) plays the flute. I am still confused as to what Mai's ultimate dream is, though; she basically only talked about boys 100% of the time.
The show in general has many themes: friendship, love, dreams, betrayal, future, self-sacrifice. I just felt like it could be so much more, but it disappointed every expectations.
The way the story starts, I fell completely in love. The first half of the series (till about ep 06), is a crescendo. Those first episodes could have been the magnificent premise for a great character development that didn't come for (almost) any of them. Riko, especially, disappointed me so much that I'm still mad if I think about it. Overall, I also felt like the sexism is too unbearable even for a Japanese series.
The music was amazing, because the main theme was a B'z song, so everything was good. I was kinda bummed when they cut off the lyrics at times, though. Apart from that, I liked the way they stopped the (instrumental) music whenever there was a dramatic moment. 100% would advise to listen to the opening (and watch it, now that you're at it, because that shot at the beginning - YOU'LL KNOW WHICH ONE - is just ugh too much to take).
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