This Drama was WAY outside my usual preference and I watched it for two reasons: Reason Nr 1 - Mitsushima;and Reason Nr 2 - Hikari . Together they spell AWESOME. She just blew me away in this, a stunning display of her acting prowess. She was ably backed up by a phenomenal performance from Suzuki Rio playing her daughter.

There were no bad performances in this Drama but the Hikari-Rio pair OWNED it 100% The core storyline was a bit predictable, especially the 2 key plot points involving Shiori in both the tragedy and the reddemption, and the side story of the doctor and her husband divorcing felt a bit like filler. Despite that, I'm still giving it 10/10 for the sheer rw emotional power exerted by the great acting. The park bench conversation between the 2 sisters early in the final episode had me bawling like a baby, and impressed me with the understated intelligece of the dialogue. As is so often the case with Dramas whose dialogue wows me, I was left wnodering "if the subs were this powerful, what must it be like in Japanese?" As a hardcore died in the wool brony, I urge anyone who wants to see how truly GREAT acting can make the ordinary extraordinary, WATCH THIS.