1 Litre of Tears - Episode 2
10 June 2006
Shioka asks Dr Mizuo for the MRI scans of Aya's brain so she may get a second opinion from a different hospital in the chance that there's been a mistake in the diagnosis. Fully determined not to accept the situation she purchases lots of books on the subject and also does lots of research on the internet at her workplace. At the moment Shioka is the only member of the family who knows the full facts but she's keeping them secret for the time being. It's hard to tell whether it's because she doesn't want to accept it yet or it's because she does want to break this devastating news to Aya. Either way you can really feel her pain and her torture as she tries to put on a cheerful face for everyone. This begins to take it's toll as we can see during one home visit to a family's home when she raises her voice in anger at the mother who doesn't seem to care about her children's diet.
At the basketball meeting the team that will be playing a practice match against another school that coming Sunday is announced. Aya makes it into the team, much to her surprise. Meanwhile in the biology club we find out in a passing comment that Asou once had an older brother who unfortunately died. However, the circumstances of his death are not revealed yet. From a flashback scene to a camping trip during Asou's childhood you can see that the brothers were really close.
Aya visits the hospital once again in order to get the wound on her chin cleaned before the upcoming basketball match and meets a young girl whose father is in a ward there. They play catch with a ball outside and Aya misses an easy catch. Seeing this the girl asks Aya if she has the same disease as her father and mentions that he had the same sort of wound on the chin. This causes Aya to become suspicious about her own illness.
Shioka discovers the name of the doctor who is at the forefront of research concerning Spinocerebellar Degeneration Disease and sets off one night to meet him. She pleads in vain for some sort of medicine or operation that could save Aya but the doctor tells her that she must face facts and begin to prepare for the tough times ahead. Despondent, Shioka heads back home to break the news to Mizuo who cannot seem to accept the news either. They decide to continue to keep the news a secret from Aya. Personally I felt they were wrong to do this but I can understand the painful decisions they were making.
Aya and Asou find a stray puppy in the park. As Asou explains the origins of the relationship between humans and dogs to Aya you can see that she is growing to like him more and more. One night after the basketball match Aya goes to feed the puppy and runs into Asou. It begins to rain and they decide to take the puppy back to Aya's home, even though they probably wouldn't be able to keep it due to the fact her family runs a food business. When they get back Asou gets introduced to the family and as a thank you for helping Aya on the entrance exam day they invite him to stay for dinner. They decide that they can keep the puppy and they name him Ganmo after Asou's suggestion. This is a really funny scene as Mizuo becomes all protective and tries to intimidate Asou. You can tell that Aya's parents only allowed them to keep the puppy because of Aya's illness.
After another visit to the hospital for a check up Aya runs into the little girl again. They go back to the girl's father's room and Aya is shocked to see the condition that he is in. He seems to be in the latter parts of the illness and can no longer speak so must use a board of kana to communicate with his daughter. This is a very tough scene to watch as you can't help but feel sorry for the little girl and her father. She's so young and yet she seems so cheerful despite her father's terrible health. This leads you to feel dread for Aya as you know that she will eventually be in the same position. As Aya walks back home with her mother she asks bluntly what exactly is the illness that she has. Shioka doesn't reply and keeps on walking as the episodes ends.
You can tell from this episode that Aya is getting closer and closer to finding out her disease, even though her parents are keeping it from her. In one hand you want her to find out so she can begin to prepare herself, but on the other hand you really don't want her to face the heartbreak of knowing the truth.
Posted byHocchan at 7:29 pm
