I just finished the show and I do not agree with some of the comments saying that the show is bad. Please watch this show if you come across it. The one thing I can agree is that some parts of the characters personality/how they talk are overly dramatic at times. Which I think affects how people will interpret the show and why maybe some people in the comment section state that the show is therefore bad. However, I assume that may just be part of Japanese culture in comedy/expressing ones-self, esp during serious comedic moments, so I cannot and will not comment on a different culture. But I do not think that took away from the story line or the show portraying how impulsive choices can change the course of your life. The writers were not afraid to tackle really hard conversations. Especially shameful actions made in Japanese society. If you go against the law, you are seen so differently amongst Japanese people. And you see how Masubuchi Tobio is affected by those actions. Towards the end of episode 10 he is let go because of his past, he has no girlfriend, and he has no children of his own. Which he pictured having all of those things prior to the horrific incident. He landed up really with nothing except long term guilt.

I also appreciated how the show didn't for a stereotypical happy ending. Some people in the comments say that Tobio deserved a happy ending. But I felt the ending was very ealistic to how life goes sometimes. Sometimes we do something so fucked up you can't come back from it and it can change your life forever. There were some moments I THOUGHT some characters such as, Ichihashi Tetsuto would never acknowledge their wrong doings too, but the drama later surprised me that the character acknowledged his contributions. I think each character represents someone flawed, immature, impulsive, angry, hurt, etc. Nobody was seen as a perfect person in the story. And 4 friends did not just go about living life and live their happy endings. But boy, was I super surprised, this whole show was super captivating and I appreciated how life just hits you in the face aspect of the show. Like you feel what the characters are feeling, what they are thinking, and what their process in coming to terms with their choices feels like. So when the ending came, I was or I felt hit with reality too. Because I kinda did think in the end that they'd all live happily and stay friends. You see 10 years later how drastically their close bonds ended between each character and how reality finally hit each of them differently. Especially how Aokawa Renko and Masubuchi Tobio did not end up together. That kinda shocked me because Renko tells Tobio she will wait for him. But ironically neither person communicated with one another because, life happens. Each character had a unique perspective on the choices they made and contributed to the horrible incident. It makes you sad because their bond as friends was special, enjoyable in good and in bad times. Which we all experience in real life, we think when we are young we-will be together forever. But how life can change so many relationships so fast.

Good show overall, please watch. I give the acting, story, and music 10/10.