Similar to Nankyoku Monogatari and Eight Below (Disney), this drama is based on the true story of the Japanese expedition to Antarctica back in 1950s.

The main story is about the survival of the dogs in extreme weather and harsh conditions in Antarctica. So just an alert to animal lovers and dog-parents, your heart will be wrenched out and you will cry buckets. I remember watching this in a burst of 2 to 4 episodes per night over a few days and my eyes became quite swollen, my colleagues thought I broke-up with my partner. I didn't have any, so it was quite awkward having to explain that I cried over watching a Japanese drama about dogs.

Having famous casts helped to increase the drama's rating when it was aired. But in any case, the drama's production itself is good; I always wonder how they manage to get the dogs to act out the scenes. The pace is quite slow as you follow the day-to-day survival of these pack of dogs and their humans. But you also don't want it to go too fast, each dog needs their own air time <3