Following your heart may sound like a very simple thing. And yet, why do so many people end up letting others tell them what to do and what their dreams should be? Why do so many people end up choosing the “safer” path which only leads to unhappiness and unfulfillment because that path has nothing to do with their dreams?

Kobe Bryant once said, “If you’re not following your passion and doing what you want to do, then why are you doing it? I love waking up excited because I’m doing what I love.” He’s got a valid point, and it’s a question that most people should be asking themselves.

This is a sweet series about two high school students who fall in love. However, the series traces their lives from the past as well as the present to see how their choices ultimately end up affecting both of their lives. It also allows us to see how making choices that are not in line with their passions and dreams leaves them sidetracked and living a life filled with regrets

Yae Noguchi is a young woman who is bright and is always looking to push the boundaries of her life. She has big dreams of outer space and traveling. She also finds that the love of her life, Namiki Harumichi is a big part of her life. However, after being struck by a car, Yae loses all memories of the past few years, which includes Harumichi. Yae also has a drunk and controlling mother who lives vicariously through her daughter. Feeling that Harumichi is no longer good enough, she tells Harumichi to stay away from Yae. Yae ends up marrying a doctor from a wealthy family. It’s ironic that Yae’s in-laws end up treating her mother the same way her mother treated Harumichi. Yae’s life is soon centered around her son, Tsuzuru, and she drives a taxi cab in Sapporo as way of making money and providing her son with as much as she can. What she may not realize is that Yae’s greatest gifts to her son are support and belief that he can do and be anything he chooses. Something her own mother failed to give her. Most people have no idea how invaluable it is for a parent to simply be there for their children and to let them know that you believe in them. A good parent isn’t about telling your children what to do and what to be. It’s instilling confidence in them to follow their own dreams and passions.

Namiki Harumichi life is centered around Yae from the moment he sees her. Everything he does has her at its center. While he has dreams of becoming a pilot, we see that even those dreams are second to Yae. It is always dangerous to put a person at the center of one’s world. That path is wrought with disappointment. And Harumichi finds his world turned upside down when he discovers that Yae doesn’t remember him, and that Yae’s mother has intercepted every letter that he’s written to her. He’s crushed. Years later, Harumichi is part of a security team at a government building. His dreams of being a pilot seem buried in the past.
Yae and Harumichi end up meeting because Harumichi has been unknowingly helping Yae’s son, Tsuzuru enter the building to watch the girl of his dreams dance. Of course, Harumichi immediately recognizes Yae, but Yae has no idea who Harumichi is.

The series does a masterful job of charting the course of both characters, leaving the viewer to wonder—that after over 20 years, can these two star-crossed lovers find a way to be together? We find ourselves rooting for both of them. Of course, life always throws us curveballs, usually to test our resolve. Will we quit and give up? Or will we push forward no matter how many times we’re knocked down? The series is a testament to the latter. Despite being engaged, Harumichi is spending time with Yae, and it’s clear that—despite not remembering who he is—is infatuated with him.

Harumichi is a character who does the most growing up throughout the course of the series. In the end, he realizes that he can’t sacrifice his own dreams—being a pilot—simply for the love of a woman; a woman who doesn’t even remember him. He wants her back whole, and he’s willing to put her aside. In other words, he doesn’t choose the path of force and manipulation. To do so would be to destroy the memory and love of Yae, both past and present.

While the ending may be a bit predictable, the way it happens isn’t as a few clues—a song and remembering a time capsule—help Yae finally get back the memories she’d lost so long ago. We can see her tearfully realize that the man she’s in love with is the same boy she fell in love with in school long ago.

This is a beautiful story that demonstrates that love is timeless and cannot be held under any conditions or constraints. It also dares the viewer to take a hard look at their own lives. Are you living your passion and dreams? Are you living the life you want to live? If someone is dictating how you should live, don’t blame them for unfulfilled dreams. You gave them that power, and therefore, you are still at fault. Life is about risk. Life is about daring and pushing yourself to do what you may believe to be the unattainable and the unthinkable. Do not believe that such dreams can only be attained by the few. They can be attained by anyone who has the will and the drive to make them happen. Both Yae and Harumichi prove this in this timeless classic!