I love stories with Sign Language. I think it is a beautiful form of communication. I tried to find books to learn it, but there are so many (American, British, Spanish, Mexican) so I am not sure which one to get. Anyway, I strongly recommend this dorama to people who watched/read "Koe no Katachi" and loved it. The big difference is that this story is not in school, but the adult life of a deaf girl. How she starts to be part of the society (by working), how she meets her future husband, how other people who meet her starts to learn Sign Language. How hard for her is to become a mother, to be married, etc. The story is simple, yet beautiful. I shed many tears while watching it, and it is not because it is a sad story. No, it is simply because there are certain scenes that were too emotional. Like when her future-mother-in-law comes to Mieko's house to ask her to please not marry her son. Like the speech Mieko's daughter gives at school, both out loud and with signs. And all the times someone talks to her (thru signs) for the first time: Hirofumi, his mother, the doctor, etc. It was so poignant every time someone tried their best to talk to her.Kanno Miho is the sweetest girl and best fit for this role. She cries many times throughout the 5 episodes, but they all were understandable. Since she is deaf, she has little confidence in herself, and for every mistake or hardship that brings her deafness to the people she loves, she blames herself. Thank Godness she marries the most patient and sweetest guy on Earth. Besides her, I loved, LOVED the mothers: her mother and her mother-in-law. Strong women who loved Mieko, and some time later, their granddaughter. My favorite episodes were 1, 2 and 3. I have watched Episode 1 twice (I finished this a couple of days ago, and rewatched Ep. 1 yesterday). There are only 5 episodes, 1 hour and 30 minutes long. First episode is from 1997, 2nd from 1998, 3rd from 1999, 4th from 2000 and the last one from 2001. Like most people, I prefer to watch recent dorama, but it is for the quality of the video only. In regards to story, oldies are better: they are simpler, they are sweeter. Romance is much better without cellphones and other technologies. For example, in this dorama, there are no cellphones, so Mieko and Hirofumi send each other faxes to talk at night. Isn't that cute? The song "I just called to say I love you" fit the dorama perfectly. Beautiful story, totally recommended!
