One of my favorite dramas, and very nostalgic

I consider this to be one of my all time favorite asian dramas I've watched because it merely doesn't just focus on romance. It emphasizes on friendship, questions on future goals, many high school related topics I'm sure weall went through after our high school graduation. However, I first was here to just watch the romance behind this, but the story on graduating and discovering their purpose in life after high school allured me. It was also because I was familiar with Tomaya Nagase, that starred in My Boss, My Hero, another drama that is in one of my all time lists, and Takashi Kashiwabara I was familiar with him too in the classic Itzura Na Kiss. As I kept watching this, I realized this is a very calm, heartwarming and humbling type of drama that I havent' really seen before out of all the Jdramas I've watched. Barely any comedy in it. What made me love about this is the classic nostalgic drama of how the 90s were. That editing, the music, the acting, and even the type of story really was like how the 90s were like, compared to how asian romance dramas are like now. Especially the reason I kept watching was I really fell for the female lead's character. I began to admire her so much of the actress Miki Sakai, and fell for her character, Sonoko. She was very pure, innocent, and even though she lived well off in a nice stable family, she felt shes not enough as a person because she's not as smart and undecisive about her future. But she doesn't act spoiled at all. I admire that so much of her and that was the kind of girl I dreamed of being with. Her character is always selfless and always looks out for those she cares for, regardless of her own personal wants. And another reason why I love this is because I really do like the character behind the main male lead, Wataru, played by Nagase. He's a poor boy who lives on his own due to difficult circumstances, that he believes he can't reach his dream. And he is always isolating from everyone, even from Sonoko. You don't find many dramas nowadays that have a poor male lead and a rich female lead. Lately for years now, its always been the rich man and poor female type of romance, and that is getting tiring so I wanted to see something different. This drama was one of those rare type of stories. And the great thing is that the story focuses on the other characters as well, like they are just as important as the main characters. I really value dramas that really puts attention to that. I would say that this show has been really great, with many 90s nostalgic moments you remember, but at times there would be sudden plot twists that would throw me off, probably because of the pacing of the series, since its 11 episodes. But that is my only downfall of this show. I LOVE the music that plays in the opening, and the classical romantic type of music that plays in the background. It calms me down so much and really gives me vibes of traveling back to the 90s. I get emotional thinking about it. ESPECIALLY the very last song played by SPLITZ at the last scene of Sonoko and Wataru. That killed me hahaha. Anyways, to conclude this, I love this drama and it placed a huge impact in my heart just for me personally. One more that I love is that there are SPECIALS taking place through a span of ten years since the first drama aired, that really tells the story of their journey throughout life, especially that it focuses on the story between Sonoko and Wataru. Unfortunately, I cant' find ANY of them that have english subtitles!! Anyways, I love this drama and I keep rewatching it. I hope you feel the same way I feel too when you try.

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"You really change in college"

It has been a year since the memorable moment when Sonoko and the rest of her friends performed hakusen nagashi on the river that lead to a nostalgic moment. As she finally gives herself a year off due to a circumstance and finally starts college at the age of 19, she starts her new life that I'm sure many of us have gone through which is starting our first year in college. And the great thing about it is that not everyone has followed the traditional college route and chose to live off their own paths such as Fuyumi trying to pursue acting. As you already get to know who each of their characters are from the first show, you can tell Sonoko has alot to overcome, knowing she's always been the reserved type where she fits in her comfort zone. She goes through phases that many go through in college, especially if you are the type who is shy and isnt comfortable coming out of their shell. She realizes that being in a new environment all alone and independent is challenging and tends to isolate herself in her first couple months. Throughout the movie, it seems everyone is going through a difficult phase in their first year after high school graduation. Fuyumi has difficulty in trying to perform a role, Madoka has been yelled at for performing poorly as a nursing student in a college hospital, and Hasebe is depressed, using gambling and not attending school to cope with his thoughts, yet he's the studious one out of all of them, ironically. The others, in the other hand ,such as Wataru, Shinji, and Kayano, are actually not living their lives poorly, especially Kayano. She really has grown mature and lead herself to the right path ever since the crime she almost committed from the first show. There is no romance involved in this which is expected, but there are moments between Hasebe and Kayano I actually admired. Unfortunately, Hasebe hasn't been living himself right which lead to Kayano to break up with him. But in my personal opinion, they really do look better as a couple than with who they used to like which was Wataru and Sonoko back in high school. But with Sonoko, she is a very shy first year student but eventually she gets to have confidence in herself with her new friends ever since she joined a club. That is very relatable as to how college is. But we also know that you get to explore new things which may either make or break you. At the end, Sonoko feels like she has not accomplished anything and feels out of place since the rest of her friends have progressed, including Wataru. He has not been contacting consistently back to Sonoko, and the more she feels scared and lonely in her new life, the more she feels she needs him. I must say Shinji has been the most rational and well behaved character out of all of them. He is the best friend everyone deserves, since he encourages Sonoko to talk to Wataru because he knows she needs it. Even with Hasebe, he is very mature on keeping his feelings and moving on from the past of liking Sonoko. What I really adore about this entire story is that even though Wataru and Sonoko may have dated but then broken up, they still remain friends to be out there for each other. It may seem unrealistic and you might end up not even reuniting your ex again in real life, but I think Sonoko and Wataru's friendship is stronger and more important than being in a relationship. So if I were to give my opinion on how the movie is, I would say it was great because I personally like stories that we can really relate to. Nothing intense happens throughout this movie, although there is a slight scene that involves being physical (let's just say, it involved someone without her consent....) so there are slightly dark moments that happens in college too. Other than that, I truly enjoyed this film especially I want to see how each of their character's overcome their obstacles throughout their life until the last film.

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