# 1 Litre of Tears (2005)

> A bright high school girl fights a degenerative disease that slowly takes her body while she holds on to school, friends, and love.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/6055

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 11
- Episode runtime: 48 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Takao Kinoshita, Shosuke Murakami
- Network: Fuji TV
- Cast: Erika Sawajiri, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Ryo Nishikido, Riko Narumi, Yuma Sanada, Ai Miyoshi, Momosuke Mizutani, Ryô Hashizume
- TMDB rating: 8.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1370332/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: sincere, wistful, cathartic, bittersweet, tender, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim the series for its heartfelt, tearjerking portrayal of a young woman's struggle with a degenerative disease and the strength of its lead performance.

## Synopsis

1 Litre of Tears (2005) is a Japanese television drama miniseries created by Takao Kinoshita and Shosuke Murakami for Fuji Television. Erika Sawajiri plays Aya Ikeuchi, a high school girl diagnosed with an incurable degenerative disease at fifteen, who keeps pursuing school, friendship, and romance as her body gradually weakens. Hiroko Yakushimaru plays her devoted mother Shioka, while Ryo Nishikido plays Haruto Asou, a young man drawn into Aya's world, and Riko Narumi plays her sister Ako. The engine of the story is Aya's stubborn wish to live fully within a shrinking future, with each episode built from classroom moments, hospital visits, and the family's quiet struggle to adapt to each new loss of ability. Its eleven episodes form one continuing story rather than cases of the week, following her life toward its final stage. Set in contemporary Japan, the series is grounded and domestic, a Fuji TV production in the tradition of Japanese family melodrama. The tone is sincere, wistful, and cathartic, foregrounding hope and endurance over spectacle. Fans of Hachi-ko Monogatari, Tsuma e Ai wo Komete, and A Walk to Remember will find resonance in its tearjerker sensibility and young love shadowed by illness.

## Shows like 1 Litre of Tears

- [Stand Up!! (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/2098)
- [Orange Days (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/2150)
- [HANA-KIMI (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/6545)
- [First Love (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/132434)
- [The Journalist (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/113979)
- [Mother (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/31869)
- [Sky of Love: Someone I love is there (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/8155)
- [Just Because! (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/64431)
- [The Red Band Society (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56806)
- [Last Friends (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/7270)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt