I watched the drama when it was aired, but it took me ages to take a look at the Special. I should have done so earlier! I liked the drama and thought that it was a bit slw in progressing with the story, but since the drama only takes around 90 minutes, I didn't feel like that. The story is more about the parents of Seiji and how they got together as well as Seiji's relationship with Chiba. In the end, both "problems" are solved, so you are not left with an open end. (and the end satisfied me a lot^^). I didn't feel like the time passing while watching which is basically a good sign, right?! Nino's acting is in my eyes outstanding. He is overly cute and lovable and portrays his sometimes quite shy and unsure character very convincing. I also liked the acting of the mother a lot, because she is still acting as someone who is suffering from depression and it's amazing how she portrays it. Also the other characters like the father and sister and Chiba are believable. There are various topics touched in the Special. On one side it's about the relationshiip between a husband and a wife where the wife chose the marriage over her family. This is the main plot line and it shows how it can affect the family life and how it can be solved. Furthermore Seiji and Chiba are just starting their relationship and deepen them in the Special in a very cute way. Seiji is basically the one helping all people around him to be happy what makes him very sympathetic to me. If your are in the mood to watch a movie about family and relationships and you want to watch a good acting from Ninomiya Kazunari, you should give this a try. I think it's not necessary to have watched the drama before...as I said, it took me 2 years to watch it and I forgot a lot about what had happened in the drama, but I could follow the storyline easily. I hope you can enjoy the Special as much as I did!