Reflection: One Litre of Tears
Carl Angelo Mateo Caluag
|
The television series “One Litre of Tears” is an exceptionally heartwarming and eye tearing production in almost every scene that it shows. It definitely brings out the tender person in anyone watching the series. It is a perfect and impressive icon for the drama genre. Virtually, every scene in the series, whether happy or tragic, carries an aura that touches the watcher’s heart. The excellent choice of actors and actresses, the remarkable musical score, and the series’ outstanding plot makes the series an exceptional piece of inspirational record.
“Why did this illness choose me?” are the first words the main character uttered at the beginning of the first episode. Upon watching the whole series, the watcher is introduced to fifteen-year-old Aya Ikeuchi, a simple girl who has a normal life; she has a loving and supportive family, a nice set of friends, and a high quality education at a prominent high school. Aya has lived a happy life until, out of thousands of people who could have had the rare spinocerebellar degeneration, she was chosen to carry the burden. Most of the series tells about her story as she was fighting against the disease and trying to live a normal life amidst her suffering.
The watcher is shown how Aya is not just physically tormented, but also emotionally and socially distressed. Most of the times, she was shown crying in depression, yet she continually goes on notwithstanding her neighbors and friends’ silent aversion upon her. Even though she was burdened by her disease, she never let it hinder her to help her father in the family’s tofu business, to hang out with her friends, and even to write her own diary.
The fact that the series is based on a true story made it more realistic and imaginable. The watcher would be unintentionally required to put himself in the main character’s place. The story branches out into the different aspects of Aya’s life: her family, her friends, her high school life in general, her hobbies, her relationship, and her problems. A simple high schooler would easily relate to such. These things are what makes the watchers excitingly wait for the latter episodes.
Aya’s family is a very ideal family. Although not perfect, the members are in close contact with each other. At every dinner time scene, the family is seen chatting about each one’s conditions together. Such family is bound together by unity and love that is reflected by their continuous communication. They know each one’s activities and experiences because they talk with each other openly. In effect, they would know how to handle each one’s situations.
Aya’s parents, Mizuo and Shioka, are very crucial to her development. They serve as a beautiful example to other parents. Aya’s father, although a strict one most of the times, shows how caring and protective he is to his children. He zealously supports his three daughters and one son financially and emotionally. He would sacrifice himself, even working a part-time job, to give his family a life of comfort as much as possible. Aya’s mother, on the other hand, is a typical yet majestic paradigm to every mother. Her attitude towards motherhood is excellent and laudable. Aya’s mother showed a loving, supportive, self-sacrificing, and duty-fulfilling mother a child could have. In her continuous and indubitably tiring quest in searching for a cure for her daughter’s currently incurable disease, she showed how a mother, being the most crucial significant person to her child, should never give up.
Dr. Mizuno, Aya’s doctor, is worth mentioning, as he also was influenced by Aya’s life. Being his second patient to suffer from spinocerebellar ataxia, he worked well in order to find a cure for Aya. This showed how a doctor should effort for his patient, not just treating his profession as a job but as a duty to bear fruit from his knowledge of medicine.
Aya spent most of her times in school socializing with her compassionate friends. Aya’s friends, especially her best one Mari, are the ones that taught her not to be afraid asking for help. They told Aya that friends never quit. Being served by Aya as their choir conductor before she got disabled, they served him back by sacrificing a part of their time to give her special assistance. And even though they came to a point where they confessed being exhausted in helping Aya, in the end, they realized how Aya mutually inspired them to achieve their goals in life.
One of the most prominent persons in Aya’s life is Asou Haruto, her special friend whom she’s having a mutual interest for each other. Although they didn’t enter formally into a romantic relationship because of health and family-related issues, they spent a lot of time being together, with each one helping the other in various ways. Aya helped Asou mature into a person who cares about other people’s conditions. Aya encouraged Asou to follow his dreams and make the best decisions. Conversely, Asou helped Aya by being her personal aide and emotional support. Asou made it possible for Aya to live a normal and satisfactory life despite her gruelling illness. Aya and Asou both grew into much better persons as they were being for each other for very long.
Life would be nearly perfect for Aya if it weren’t for her disastrous disease. Her illness made it difficult for her to walk, to talk, to eat, to read and write, and to do other regular activities a common person could do. Her illness is what made some of the people around her despise her. Her illness brought gloom and horror upon Aya’s life. She lost her chance to graduate with flying colors, to pursue her dreams, and to have a usual romantic relationship. Her only consolation is her ability to think. But surely it is a torment for her not to comfortably express her thoughts in the latter part of her life.
In spite of all these, Aya lived a life of optimism. She realized nothing will happen if she would continuously mourn her misfortune. In a society where disabled persons are treated differently than normal ones, she strived to keep a level eye towards everyone she meets. With a cheerful mindset, she continued forward in being a good daughter, a nice student, and a kind neighbor. She made it a habit to write down her feelings on her notebook, which she kept as a diary. Her life story written in this diary became an inspiration to millions of people around the world.
One Liter of Tears is a story about the importance of being an inspiration to others around us. It is a story that persuades us to find our purpose in life. Each one of us has someone that we can serve, in one way or another. Upon our choice, we can be a source of motivation for the person we have influenced. Aya fulfilled her dream by being an inspiration to many people despite her disease. Having a cruel disease like that of Aya is unnecessary for us to realize that life, in itself, is important. It should be our desire to use our abilities to lend a hand and encourage others when they need our optimism.
“What’s wrong with falling down? You can always stand up again. If you look up at the sky after falling down, the blue sky is also today stretching limitlessly and smiles at me… I’m alive.” – Ikeuchi Aya
No comments:
Post a Comment