charm points:
- if you're watching fns to complete sato takeru's filmography, you won't be disappointed. he's adorable in this, and his girlfriend (#1 best character in the show) is perfect. their interactions and b-plot are sooo cute and satisfying! legit, anna-san is my 2nd favourite love interest sttkr has had across every work i've seen him in. if you are ONLY here for sttkr, you could easily skip any scene that doesn't have them and simply benefit from an earnestly-studying-to-be-a-good-doctor hajime + an earnestly-trying-to-make-him-happy-through-her-food anna. my beloveds!!!
- every main character is their own person with their own motivations and their own arcs (arcs vary in intensity/length but are all present). i was particularly impressed with how much secondary characters were explored, especially because the show had unexpected pairs interacting with each other - and very naturally too! supposed 'ensemble' shows/movies don't even go to this extent, typically. by contrasting certain characters against each other, we get a very complete picture of the kind of people they are beyond the roles they serve in the main narrative. their personalities and stories colour this otherwise dull show.
- i didn't think anything of the theme song at first, but after i finished the show, i did find myself humming it while i was completing chores, so i guess the song was actually pretty good haha.

detriments:
- in trying to create nuanced characters, fns has some messy plot elements due to the show-not-tell strategy, specifically where the antagonists are concerned. i appreciate the writers' efforts, but sometimes a trope is a trope, and evil deeds are not redeemable.
- the editing team used this weird zoom effect when cutting between scenes. it was annoying during regular shifts then downright inappropriate for the really sentimental parts.
- the dialogue is Bad. like, written by someone who has clearly never shared real-time conversations with real people in real life kind of bad. it's weird since the writing - overall - is decent. the pacing is appropriate, most emotional beats are hit, necessary conversations are had... but the dialogue wasn't living up to the story fns was telling.
- the main characters and their love story are the weakest part of the show, unfortunately. i found it hard to believe in their love because it felt very superficial to me. tasuku (his name is spelled wrong everyone online for some reason, but it's tasuku) doesn't have a personality beyond living for another person, and monami's stated motivations contradict her actions in later episodes. considering they're the leads, i think they both would have been more bearable if they were more three dimensional. as a recent fan of kusanagi tsuyoshi who is trying to get into his acting, this was a bad place to start ^-^;;; luckily i am dedicated to him enough to give his works another try ?
- contrary to the opinions of those who wholeheartedly enjoy fns, i do not think the two leads or their love are selfless. i think they are deeply selfish, and the show is weakest when trying to portray them as selfless instead. in fact, most of the infuriating plot points are when they are actually trying to be selfless, but it doesn't work due to the simple fact that they are acting contrary to their character. this is why it trips up the other people around them when they make those selfless decisions. i'm not saying that tasuku or monami should be rewritten to be truly selfless -- i am not a person who needs my characters/media to have high moral standing in order to enjoy them (if you are, you may enjoy fns!) -- just that the show would have benefitted from leaning into the inherent selfishness of their decisions more. i do think fns could maintain its gentle, understated vibe even with an 'i'd turn my back on the world just to face you' kind of attitude as opposed to the 'let's face the world together' one it has, but choices were made.

other things to mention:
- if you decide to watch this, give it until episode 2. episode 1 is the hardest one to get through; it's purposefully slow to set up the specific kind of love shared between the two leads and therefore functions like an hour-long prologue. you sorta /need/ to watch it if you have any hope at all of enjoying fns for what it is, though. (might i suggest watching it on a platform that lets you play it at 1.5x the speed? you won't lose anything, promise.) emotions and activity definitely pick up in episode 2. i found myself invested in other characters enough that i wanted to know how things ended up for them, but of course most of the screentime is taken up by the two leads. if you don't like them and can't ignore them, just drop the show.
- fns was supposed to have 10 episodes and a different (unknown) ending, but it only has 9 with the finale airing as a two-hour special. that's because the day episode 9 should have aired was only a few days after the touhoku earthquake, so the original episode 9 was never aired in favour of the earthquake coverage. in deference to the tragedy, the script of the finale was rewritten to provide a greater sense of hope and comfort to those who lost loved ones [very topical, considering the show we're talking about], and the shooting schedule was also rearranged to accommodate the new script. filming continued until two days before the finale broadcast, and the episode was still being edited until right before airtime. for all of these reasons, the finale was the most watched episode of the entire show. without this context, it may be hard to appreciate how sentimental and saccharine the finale is or to understand just why fns is so beloved in its home country. i would never claim that media being 'culturally significant' automatically makes it 'good', but i do believe both cast and crew did good, admirable work here.