Ezaki Yuuichi, a 17-year-old senior high school student is going back to Wakaba Hospital before dawn as he had sneaked out in the night without permission. Just as he thinks that he can get off scott-free, he is caught red-handed by a nurse, Tanizaki Akiko who uses a slipper to hit Yuuichi on his head. Akiko lectures Yuuichi for not obeying instructions to stay in his ward but he tries to get off the hook by saying that he was only out for a stroll. However, Akiko exposes Yuuichi's lies as he had been out once the lights were off last night instead of a short while as what he claimed. Akiko reminds Yuuichi that he should not sneak out just because his condition has improved recently since he might have to extend his stay in the hospital in the event of any changes to his health. As such, Akiko threatens to make Yuuichi do a striptease dance if he dares to sneak out again. Just then, an elderly patient, Tada touches Akiko's bum deliberately and pretends that it was accidental. As Akiko is scolding Tada, Yuuichi seizes the opportunity to return to his room.
Later, Yuuichi's friends Sekoguchi Tsukasa and Yamanishi Tamotsu come to visit him and have a good laugh after hearing what happened. Tsukasa comments that there's nothing to be afraid of but Yuuichi says that Akiko will do as what she threatens. As Tamotsu munches on the snacks they brought for Yuuichi, he jokes that there's no harm doing a striptease in this cold weather since the latter's condition can be cured if he rests well which leads Yuuichi to grumble at Tamotsu for finishing his food. Actually, Yuuichi is suffering from acute hepatitis which can be cured after a few months of rest. As he has been feeling better after one month of hospitalisation, that is why he gets so bored that he has to sneak out to do something.As Yuuichi is walking along the corridor, he spots a girl in a ward located at the eastern wing. When Akiko comes to give Yuuichi an injection, she tells him that the girl is Akiba Rika who is of the same age as him and she was transferred here from another hospital. Yuuichi asks if Rika's condition is not optimistic (the eastern wing is meant for terminally-ill patients)but Akiko says that it's not serious and does not go into details.
That night, Yuuichi tries to sneak out again but sees Akiko outside his ward with a long bench put at his door. Yuuichi realises that Akiko is serious about thwarting his attempts to go out and gives up in resignation.In the day, Yuuichi goes to Rika's ward and wants to make friends with her but turns back at the last minute. As he is staring into blank space at the rooftop, Akiko goes there to take a puff and remarks that Ise is such a small town. She asks Yuuichi what he intends to do after senior high school graduation. Yuuichi has plans to go to an university in Tokyo or Nagoya as he can't wait to leave here. Akiko says that she would love to do the same but in reality, it is hard for her to do so. Akiko suddenly asks Yuuichi if he is willing to be Rika's friend in exchange for removing the bench outside his ward and passes a book of Akutagawa Ryuunosuke to him because Rika likes his works.
Yuuichi decides to back out of his deal with Akiko since he's not a fan of Akutagawa as what she told Rika and he's not sure of how to make friends with Rika. However, he accidentally slips and bangs against the door whereby Rika comes to know that someone is outside her ward. As such, Yuuichi summons his courage to enter the room and meets Rika who asks him about Akutagawa's works. Yuuichi cannot answer Rika's question which leads her to find out that he has lied to her. He tries to liven up the atmosphere by talking about the town. When he talks about the cannon base mountain, this finally gets Rika's attention. She then tells him that she's willing to forgive him if he agrees to do something for her.Rika orders Yuuichi to borrow a book of Akutagawa for her at the town library but he brings back the wrong book. She flares up and tells Yuuichi to get the correct book even though he is coughing badly due to the cold weather. Even though Rika has noticed this, she still forces Yuuichi to do her bidding. Yuuichi has no choice and goes back to get the book she wants. As Yuuichi goes back to his ward, he meets Tada who offers to share his collection of pornographic books with him. Yuuichi declines his kind gesture upon seeing the huge amount of books in Tada's ward.
Since then, Rika would play pranks on Yuuichi and make him do what she orders. She forces Yuuichi to go with him to the operating theatre and they are almost caught by Akiko. When they go to the rooftop to chat, Rika asks Yuuichi why he has never tried to find out what illness she is suffering from. Yuuichi comments that those staying in the east wing are seriously ill so he assumes that Rika is like them. She reveals that the valve in her heart is faulty and the only way to recover is through a heart transplant. However, her body is weak thus increasing the possibility of failure during the operation. Rika's father had also suffered from the illness and died in the midst of surgery.Rika says that her father brought her to the cannon base mountain before his operation which could be the reason why he made up his mind to have the transplant. As such, Yuuichi realises that Rika keeps looking out of the window because she wants to see the mountain. Rika wishes to go there again before she could make up her mind on the surgery.
Yuuichi sneaks out to play TV games at Tsukasa's house and returns to the hospital before dawn to find that Tada had passed away suddenly. Before he died, he told Akiko to give his collection of pornographic books to Yuuichi. As Yuuichi lies on his bed while looking at the collection, he makes up his mind to do something and calls Tsukasa for help.
Yuuichi goes to Rika's room and offers to bring her to the mountain. They are spotted by Akiko but Tsukasa appears in time to stop her from chasing after them. Yuuichi and Rika take the scooter which Tsukasa prepared but they fall on the mountain trail and have to walk to the peak. They finally make it to the top as Rika tells Yuuichi that she's prepared to die if the operation fails. Upon hearing this, Yuuichi gets a shock as Rika hugs him while she sobs. She asks Yuuichi why he wants to help her and he tells her about his drunkard father who died long ago. This makes Rika misunderstand that Yuuichi is doing this out of sympathy but he tries to deny it. As he gets too agitated while trying to explain himself, he suddenly collapses and mutters something which makes Rika blush...
Although character-design and graphics are not that good, the reason why I'm watching this is because of the storyline. At the end of the ED, there is a shot of Yuuichi and Rika getting married so I'm quite interested to know how their relationship will develop over the course of 6 episodes only. I guess the emphasis will be very much on them while the rest of the characters could have mysteries to be unresolved or vaguely explained by the end of the run due to the limited timeframe.
The OP is a mid-tempo number while the ED is a sentimental song. As I've only listened to them for a few times, it may take a while before I can say how I feel about the songs but the vocals by nobuko were OK in my opinion.
The only familiar voice to me would be Takahashi Mikako who played Yamada Ayumi in Hachikuro and Ryuuzaki Sakuno in Tenipuri. Well, I loved her potrayal of Yamada but I don't feel as strongly for Rika in this anime though. Maybe it's because I have an issue with characters with hair too long and eyes so big that they take up half of the face. On the other hand, I like the voice of Yuuichi whose seiyuu is Suzumura Kenichi. I find his voice familiar so I might have to do a search to see where I've heard him before.
On the whole, I'm quite satisfied with this anime and will probably continue to watch this barring unforseen circumstances.
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