1 Litre of Tears

Main Cast :

Erika Sawajiri - Aya Ikeuchi
Ryo Nishikido - Haruto Aso (Aya's friend and later lover)
Hiroko Yakushimaru - Shioka Ikeuchi(Aya's mother)
Takanori Jinnai - Mizuo Ikeuchi (Aya's father)
Naohito Fujiki - Hiroshi Mizuno (Aya's Doctor)
Riko Narumi - Ako Ikeuchi (Aya's first younger sister)
Yuma Sanada - Hiroki Ikeuchi (Aya's little brother)
Ai Miyoshi - Rika Ikeuchi (Aya's youngest sister)

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The drama is based on the memoir of Aya Kito, a woman who was infected with spinocerebellar ataxia when she was 15. The disease damages your nervous system. It is progressive and uncurable. You will sooner or later, you will not be able to walk, talk, and eat without help, leading slowly to death. Aya Kito lived the rest of her short life with hope. Her diary was published after her death when she was 25, and has become a sensational record of her hardships and how she never lost hope.

The drama uses her diary as a background story and makes a few changes. The timeline is set to present day (Aya Kito died originally in the 1980s) and changes the name to Aya Ikeuchi. Aya Kito's mother requested for a fictional character, Aso Haruto, who becomes Aya's lover later on. Aya's mother wished to see her daughter love somebody as she would have if she wasn't sick.

Erika Sawajiri was called, 'Japan's Angel' soon after the drama. Her role as Aya Ikeuchi brought her up to instant popularity. She is facing image problems lately, but back then in 2005, she was truly angelic in the drama.

The drama was fairly popular in Japan, with a average rating of 15.3, which is quite good for a drama based on a more serious topic. The singers of the insert songs and ending songs received quite some popularity. It is evident that the series was loved much by Japan.

"Why did the disease choose me? I can not understand it with just the word, 'fate'." That was the one line that I think describes the drama so well. The whole drama is based on the hardships and love surrounding Aya. It teaches you to live your life everyday to the max. Aya never gave up, why shouldn't we? Aya lived everyday of her life to the fullest, why shouldn't we?

Fate is unpredictable, and you never know what will happen in the future. Live your life right now to the best of your ability. It taught me how blessed it is to be healthy, and how wonderful that is. The drama also focuses on the love of people surrounding Aya. Her parents, siblings, friends, teachers,doctors, and boyfriend... They loved her dearly and there are people out there in the world who will do the same for you. It just makes you realize how warm the world is.

The drama is surely worth a try.
Even the most coldest person will melt down to tears with this drama!