Top 3 Heart-Breaking and Sad Japanese Dramas

When I just got into Japanese dramas, I found them highly entertaining but each series are just so long! Each episode is usually an hour each, consisting of 23 episodes per season. They are so time consuming I wanted to make sure they were good before I got into them. Well the 3 dramas I’ve listed below will sure to make you crying like a baby and maybe call up an Ex and tell you how much he/she means to you. Resist the urge! Instead, grab another box of tissue and continue down the list. The series all contain star-crossed lovers, gorgeous lead actresses and actors and some tragic problem that the cruel world just had to place upon them to test the strength of their love.

1. Sekai no Chshin de, Ai o Sakebu (Crying out Love, In the Center of the World)

Adapted from Kyoichi Katayama’s Novel and later turned into a movie. This drama started off the careers of 2 prominent teen actors: Yamada Takayuki Ayase Haruka

Synopsis: Matsumoto Sakaturo, presently age 34, is unable to move on with his life. He wakes up with tears in his eyes, unable to shake the ghost of his past. For the last 17 years, his heart has been filled with sorrow and guilt from losing his high school love, and perhaps the love of his life – Hirose Aki. Now visiting his old home town and bombarded with the past memories of their relationship as well as being confronted by his current relationship, Sakaturo must find a way to move on from the tragic part of his life. “I thought I might be using a lifetime’s happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful.”

2. 1 Litre no Namida (1 Liter of Tears)

Adapted from Aya Kito’s diary, published shortly after her death.

Synopsis: about a girl who was diagnosed with Spinocerebellar Degeneration an incurable degenerative disease at 15 just as she was coming of age. She discovers love just as she finds out her time is running out, exploring to the question of what happens when you have only a little time left to experience love.

3. Kamisama mou sukoshi dake (Please God, give me more time)

A tragic love story about a girl Kano Masaki played (Fukada Kyoko) who contracted HIV after selling her body to pay for concert tickets to her idol- famous composer Ishikawa Keigo (Kaneshiro Takeshi). After the concert Masaki chased after Keigo in the rain. After seeing her drenched from head to toe, Keigo offers to let her stay the night at his apartment where they developed a unique relationship.

So there you have it, three dramas guaranteed to have your hearts beating and your eyes watering and lumps forming in your throat. I just have one request – please don’t email me afterward yelling at me, asking why I was so mean as to suggest such heart breaking tales. Don’t fret! I plan to give you top 3 Japanese Comedies! Guaranteed to have happy endings, so you can see the lighter side of the world!