If you want to watch something serious and meaningful, this is the drama for you. This is truly a gem in the world of j-dramas. This drama is very well written. The storyline and the characters were very realistic. I felt like I could really identify with the characters, their feelings, their motives and the decisions they made. So many times when Shuji made an odd decision or did/said something unorthodox, I wanted to understand the reasoning behind it. Other times, I just wanted to slap some sense into him. They way the writers wrote the story, I couldn't tell for a long time who was supposed to be the female lead. Even though my conscience says one thing, I was confused as to which girl I was supposed to be rooting for to end up with Shuji (or if I should be rooting for Shuji's happiness at all). I couldn't tell if Shuji had romantic feelings towards Natsumi/Saeki, or if he was just being a nice guy. The characters are incredibly complex and showed many sides to them. The actors and actresses are so talented and did such an amazing job, especially Miura Haruma, Toda Erika and Takei Emi (this is my first time watching Takei Emi). The music was great. The prelude was so beautiful and touching. I think some of the insert songs have swear words in them though lol (they're english pop songs). But they're properly placed and generates the right mood for the scene. It can be a little predictable, but for the most part it's not. There were twists that were unexpected that weren't over the top, but enough to make it dramatic and make you want to find out what's gonna happen next. I think the drama did lose a little steam at the end, but you become emotionally invested in the characters and want to find out what's going to happen to them. One thing I did not like is how serious the students were and their feelings towards their teachers. Hiraoka and Saeki were serious in wanting an actual relationship with their teachers. It's uncomfortable to think about, but i guess it does happen in real life since we hear of teachers having inappropriate relationships with students.