If you like any sort of illness story (terminal or otherwise) then you're probably going to love Hatsukoi Loss Time, just like me. It's a beautiful little movie, so sweet and charming. It has that gorgeously slow pacing of really good Japanese films that just take their time to tell the story.

Of course, viewers are doubly blessed with Mizuki Itagaki in a male lead role. That happens far too rarely for my taste since he is 100% ML material and his role of Kouji is absolutely precious. He's great as a warm or nice male lead, although I'm sure he can be darn scary if he wants to be. Newcomer Sakura Kiryu as Tokine is fabulous. Considering she was, what 14 at the time? Maybe 15 during filming, she gave such an incredible performance. There's a 3 1/2 year age gap between her and Mizuki but you would never know it. I appreciate that they were clearly aware of her age, though, and were careful with her scenes and how they interacted. You can tell that she was being looked after well.

And for those who want to know, yes, there is a happy ending. Sorry, that might be a little bit of a spoiler, but some viewers won't watch one of these types of dramas unless there's a happy ending, and Hatsukoi Loss Time deserves more viewers. It's precious like One Week Friends, and even gives me some of the same feels, although not the angst and grief, as He Won't Kill, She Won't Die. It's just a beautiful, well-acted film that I could pretty much watch on repeat.