At first glance, I had absolutely no idea what this movie is about. I started watching thinking that it was just a normal story about a young girl trying to achieve her dreams of being a pianist.

How mistaken I was. Beneath the surface lies a wonderful tale of the depth of a mother's love for her child.

To be frank it's hard to write this review without giving out spoilers because even going a bit further into the film will pretty much end up spoiling it.

To some, this may be a simple run of the mill sob story but if you actually look at the relationship of the leads, you will understand why the twist towards the end of the film is actually much more touching and memorable than a generic sob story.

I've known of Ishihara satomi's popularity but I've only really watched a single drama of hers. She's really beautiful but her acting here made me understand why she's one of the most popular actresses in Japan.

Nagano Mei is a very talented up-and-coming actress and again, you can see why she's highly regarded thanks to her good acting here.

Kurumi Inagaki who plays little Miitan will be a star actress in the future (I hope). Her acting here is absolutely top-notch for a child actress.

Prepare some tissues. Perhaps at the end of the film you may want to give your Mum a big hug.

PS: my rating of 9 for rewatch value is mainly for those scenes of Miitan and her Mum (both child and adult Miitan).