A really outstanding adaptation, so far. The direction was to die for, I thought: deft and creative, moving quickly, but with just the right pauses to give the show a special style. Ishizuka Atsuko is directing her first full series as director, and directed and storyboarded this first ep herself. She did several eps of
NANA, and eps of
Aoi Bungaku,
Supernatural,
Mouryou no Hako, Chihayafuru, etc. Maybe I should also give credit to Okada Mari, who is adapting the original novel.
Kayano Ai was just as good as she was in the PV, where she captivated me with a few words. She's also outstanding as the quite different Tachibana Mei in
Sukitte Ii na yo. I also liked relative newcomer
Nakatsu Mariko as hard-working classmate Aoyama-san, who seems to like our hero.
And young Suzuki Konomi, who was 15 when she sang the OP to
Tasogare Otome Amnesia last spring, returns with another terrific performance singing the ED here.