1 Litre of Tears

Ichi rittoru no namida (1 litre of tears)

This Japanese dorama is about a girl who was diagnosed with a disease called Spinocerebellar Degeneration when she was 15 years old, and was able to continue her life until her death at the age of 25 years old.

The plot is based on the true story of a Japanese girl named Kito Aya, who had the same disease. She kept writing in her diary to remember her experiences until she could no longer hold a pen. Aya simply wished to live until the end of her life, and the purpose of writing in the diary was to remind herself to not give up. She shed tears many times, at the same time encompassed by the rich love and support from her family, friends, and boyfriend. Her diary "1 Litre of Tears" was published after her death, because of its inspiring and courageous message of, "Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing." So far, over 18,000,000 copies of her diary have been sold.

This J-dorama really made me cry at least 2 liters of tears! I have not for a long time seen anything this sad. Erika Sawajiri made a great personification of Aya. Truly touching story, and the music is wonderful. 11 episodes full of true feelings, love, sadness and family values. I strongly recommend this drama series to everyone!