1 Litre No Namida (TV Series)

is a 2005 Japanese television drama for Fuji Television, based on a true story of a 15-year-old girl named Aya Kitō, who suffered from degenerative disease and died at the age of 25.

The script is based on Aya's diary that she kept writing until she could no longer hold a pen. The diary is later entitled, '' One Litre of Tears'', which has sold over 1.1 million copies in Japan.

Plot

Fifteen-year-old Aya Ikeuchi is an ordinary girl, soon to be high school student and the eldest daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop. As time passes, unusual things start happening to Aya. She begins falling down often and walking strangely. Concerned about her health, Aya's mother Shioka takes her to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a rare disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. As cruel as the disease is, it does not affect the mind. The story revolved around the time from when Aya was 14-20 before a big time skip. When she died at 25, her family carried her wishes for her body to be donated for medical research purposes.

Episodes

Special episode

On April 5, 2007, Fuji Television aired a three-hour special of the series set half a year (2014-2015) after Aya's death and focuses on Haruto Asō, who has now become a doctor at the same hospital Aya was treated in, and Ako Ikeuchi, Aya's younger sister who is now a nurse in training, while Rika, Aya's youngest sister, just starts high school. Haruto is caring for a 14-year-old female patient, Mizuki, who was bullied in school because of her disease, the same one that Aya had. Because of the bullying at school, Mizuki decides not to receive therapy of any sort that would make her better, because she has lost her will to live. Haruto remembers how Aya fought her illness and lived her life with her disease; therefore, he offers support to his patient. Aya reappears in the episode using a number of flashbacks from the series and in new scenes.

Casts

Main cast

*Erika Sawajiri - Aya Ikeuchi
* Ryō Nishikido - Haruto Asou

Other cast

*Naohito Fujiki - Hiroshi Mizuno (Doctor)
*Hiroko Yakushimaru - Ikeuchi Shioka
*Takanori Jinnai - Ikeuchi Mizuo
*Riko Narumi - Ikeuchi Ako
* - Ikeuchi Hiroki, also reprised the role in the special episode.
*, Miyoshi Yuuki (sisters) - Ikeuchi Rika, the latter played as Rika in the last two episode as Rika grows up.
* Sarasa Morimoto - Ikeuchi Rika in the special episode, in first year of high school.
* - Mari Sugiura (One of Aya's best friends)
*Kenichi Matsuyama - Yuji Kawamoto (Aya's first love interest, club leader in basketball club, but drifts apart from her when she fell ill)
*Yuya Endo - Takeda Makoto (Yuji's friend in the Basketball club)
* - Saki Matsumura
* - Kohei Onda
* - Keita Nakahara
*Hiroshi Katsuno - Yoshifumi Asōu (Haruto's father)
* - Asumi Oikawa (Aya's roommate when she was in disability school. She has the same disease as Aya)
* - Kikue Oikawa (Asumi's mother)
* Yuuki Sato - Keisuke Asōu (Haruto's brother)
* - Madoka Fujimura
* - Kiichi Takano (One of the volunteers at the disability who later marries the head teacher of the disability school)
* Shigeyuki Satō - Nishino (Home room teacher of Aya when she was still in the normal high school)
* (Japanese actress and fashion model) - Tomita (High School Girl who likes Haruto & is jealous of Aya)
*Anri Okamoto - Nagashima Mizuki a 14-year-old, a protagonist character in special episodes.

Asae Onishi starred in the 2004 movie version of the same title as Aya.

Comparisons to source material

* Aya and family's last name changed to Ikeuchi.
* In reality, Aya also has another younger brother called Kentaro, but he was not in the series.
* According to Shioka's book, "Hurdles of Life", written after Aya's death, her husband is an office worker, and doesn't own a tofu shop.
* All places names are fictional. Aya grew up in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture
* Both Aya's were diagnosed in 9th grade (3rd year of middle school), but Aya Ikeuchi didn't not show first symptoms until she was sitting her entrance exams, and switched schools after official diagnosis. They both moved to a special-needs school whilst in their first years of high school.
*Only Aya Ikeuchi played basketball pre-diagnosis from middle school.
*They were both conductors in school choirs.
* Aya Kito had never been in a relationship. Haruto Asōu and his father are fictional characters created by the family's request.
* Aya Ikeuchi's primary doctor is male instead of female.
* The series is set in the mid-2000s so the public pay phones are in button form instead of rotary form. They use cell phones instead of pagers and letters.
* Aya Ikeuchi was set to be born in 1989, a year after Aya Kito's passing, she was admitted to hospital in 2009, and died in 2014, so her death was set in the future. Both died at 12:55am. The series ended in 2015, a year after Ikeuchi's passing. Photographs of Kito was also shown at the end of the series.
*In the final picture, the Hiragana board is in reverse direction (from left to right), and does contain numbers, but does not in the series.
*Like the original, Ako graduated from the same high school that Aya left, and both her and her mother work in healthcare.
*Both Ikeuchi and Kito were in biology club.
*The base colour for the high school uniforms of Aya Kito is dark-coloured, but is in white for the Ikeuchis.

Aftermath for family members and cast members

According to the final pictures of the drama:

* Ako graduated from the same high school that Aya left, and both her and her mother work in healthcare.
* Hiroki went on to graduate from the same high school, and is now a community policeman.
* Rika went on to graduate from the same high school, and is now a supplementary teacher in early childcare, similar to a teacher aide.
* Their parents became motivational speakers and ambassadors for the disease.

Alternate versions of this drama

Indonesian Production House SinemArt's drama, titled '' Buku Harian Nayla'' (Nayla's Diary), plagiarizes ''1 Litre of Tears''. The series bears some striking resemblances, like the name "Aya" being replaced with "Nayla" (Chelsea Olivia) and Moses (Ralph Glenn Alinskie) in place of Asou. The series aired in RCTI as a special Christmas series. The comparison between the two series have been discussed by the show's audience.Lautan Indonesia – Welcome
The scenario was written by Serena Luna (or sometimes called Chevyra Edenia).

Indonesian fans of ''1 Litre no Namida'' have reported this admitted act of plagiarism to Fuji TV and the Indonesian mass media, but there has yet to be a response. What most upsets the fans is that RCTI failed to credit or acknowledge Fuji TV and ''1 Litre of Tears'', from which the story is presumed to have been adapted, and noted that "This story is fictitious: the similarities of names, characters, places, and times are purely coincidental."

Amrita TV is to dub ''1 Litre no Namida'' and Chinese drama Tears of Happiness is based on this drama.

The Turkish remake of this drama aired on Kanal D, titled '' Bir Litre Gözyaşı'' in 2018.

Episode Ratings

Source
Video Research, Ltd.

Broadcasts

Japan

* Original run: October 11, 2005 – December 20, 2005
* Network and Timeslot: Fuji Television, Tuesdays at 10:00-11:00pm
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen
* OST by Susumu Ueda

Hong Kong

* Original run: October 15, 2006 – December 31, 2006
* Network and Timeslot: TVB Jade, Sundays at 10:30-11:30pm
* Theme song(s): "Stubborn" () by Jason Chan (TV)
* ''Xiang Ai Bu Xiang Ai'' () by Ivana Wong (Movie)

Singapore

* Original run: Nov 28, 2006 – Jan 2, 2007
* Channel and time slot: E-City, Mondays and Tuesdays, 11:00pm – 12:00am
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen

Indonesia

* Original run: May 4, 2007 – May 18, 2007
* Network and Timeslot: Indosiar, Mondays to Fridays at 05:00-06:00 pm
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen

Taiwan

* Original run: July 2, 2007 – July 18, 2007
* Network and Timeslot: Japan Entertainment Television, Mondays to Thursdays at 10:00-11:00pm
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen

Malaysia

* Original run: August 4, 2007 – October 20, 2007
* Channel and time slot: 8TV, Saturdays, 06:00 pm – 07:00 pm
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen by raden

Thailand

* Original run: May 5, 2008 - June 9, 2008
* Channel and time slot: Thai Public Broadcasting Service, Mondays & Tuesdays, 08:30 pm – 09:30 pm
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen

Philippines

* Original run: May 25, 2009 – June 19, 2009
* Channel and time slot: GMA Network, Weekdays, 10:15pm – 10:45pm
* Opening and Ending Theme song(s): "Walang Hanggan" by Wency Cornejo feat. Cookie Chua
* Ending Theme song(s) in some episodes: "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen

Vietnam

* Original run: September 3, 2012
* Channel and time slot: HTV3, Mondays to Thursday, 21h30 - 22h30 GMT+7
* Theme song(s): "Only Human" by K
* and by Remioromen
* OST by Susumu Ueda

Soundtrack

# -Main Theme-
#
# -ai no Theme-
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#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
# -Sub Theme-
# Only Human (Piano version)
# (Piano Version)
# Only Human (Cello version)
# K - Only Human
# Remioromen -
# Remioromen - (9 March)

References

External links

*
1 Litre of Tears at Fuji TV

{{DEFAULTSORT:1 Litre No Namida (Tv Series)
Japanese drama television series
2005 Japanese television series debuts
2005 Japanese television series endings
Fuji TV dramas