One day high-schooler Naho Takamiya receives a letter purporting to be from her future self; it details her day and tells her that a new boy, Kakeru Naruse will be joining her class
it also instructs her not to invite him to join her and her friends when they go out after school. She ignores this advice and doesn't see him for a fortnight. It turns out that on that night his mother had committed suicide; something he now feels guilty about. Naho gets further letters and learns that sometime soon Kakeru will also take his own life; she decides that from now on she will follow the advice given in the letters in an attempt to save him. It later emerges that each member of her group of friends has been receiving letters; they work together but as the fateful day approaches Kakeru seems as depressed as ever; will they be able to save him or is the future already written?
I rather enjoyed this series; the story was interesting and well-handled and the central cast of characters was likable. From the start it was never certain that Kakeru could be saved so there was a sense of foreboding as the end approached; even when things looked up we were shown cut-aways to the characters who send the letters discussing the possibility that it would be impossible to save him and even if they did it would be in a parallel universe that they would never know about. Of course to enjoy this you have to suspend disbelief enough to accept that it might be possible to send letters to the past! The characters are interesting and Kakeru's depression is believable. The character designs are good and the animation and backgrounds are of a high standard. I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting an emotional series with a twist.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
I rather enjoyed this series; the story was interesting and well-handled and the central cast of characters was likable. From the start it was never certain that Kakeru could be saved so there was a sense of foreboding as the end approached; even when things looked up we were shown cut-aways to the characters who send the letters discussing the possibility that it would be impossible to save him and even if they did it would be in a parallel universe that they would never know about. Of course to enjoy this you have to suspend disbelief enough to accept that it might be possible to send letters to the past! The characters are interesting and Kakeru's depression is believable. The character designs are good and the animation and backgrounds are of a high standard. I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting an emotional series with a twist.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.