General setting:
a) The mother going to france because she was betrayed, getting in an acciden, leaving with an undetected injury and dying later in Japan. I mean, waht are the odds?
b) The complete familiy totally blaming the father for it and kicking him out of the house. What? I mean, if just one of them would be so extremely angry at him, ok...but ALL of them?
Characters:
c) Ume
She is as blank as a piece of paper. Up until now, I don't even see, why she is there, she actually has no purpose in the drama. And though I don't hate the actress, I still think she is one of the biggest misscasts I'Ve ever seen in a drama! In the most cases, the role and the actor have about the same age, which I really like. I think it's stupid, to cast some 22 year old woman to play a High School student like in American movies. But W T F, who did cast Umes actress? Her role is 19, she is 17 but looks like 15...
Why couldn't her character just be a High School student? Her only purpose is to have a crush on a senpai, that would'Ve worked in High School too, actually, I think it would work even better. Why? Because in High School, you are more prone to act like she does, it would be so much more believable.
d) Takemis ex.
Again, a totally wtf character. Why is he marrying his secretary? Just because she's pregnant? He could just say "Oh well, better get an abortion, but if you don't want to, I will pay alimony". *bam* Problem solved. But no, he's like a total p***y though beeing a successfull compony CEO. It's not like it seems, that Takemi would not reconsider getting together with him. So...having him try more would be more realistic I think.
e) Sakurako
What's there to say? She is so clingy, I would even call it "obsessed" with her boyfriend. Even if he were not in love with Takemi, I wouldn't wonder, if he just ran away saying something like "Go to a psychologist, you clingy freak!". She is soooo naive and sooooo stupid. She must have an IQ of 50. I mean, there is the saying "a little stupid can be cute", but this is waaaaaay to stupid and naive. It just HURTS! I'm literally facepalming at nearly everything she does.
d) Shozaburo
He's just an ass. If you just want to be together with a girl/boy just for having some fun, taht's fine with me...but only, if you TELL THE OTHER PARTY! Don't act like you consider marriage, if you don't love Sakurako and even worse, have the hots for her sister. That's just totally cruel. If he had told her much earlier "Sorry, I just wanted to have fun" all this "Be together with me, or I will kill myself" stuff would not have come up. Besides that, he could have been much more honest with Takemi from the beginning.
e) The Father
Well, not so much to say about him, he wasn't in the show formost of the time. I still think he's punished to much for cheating (he's allowed to do so, because "He's got a Jaaaaaag" *hidden TopGear joke* ;)). But, asking Shozaburo to mary his doughter, even if he knows he doesn'T love her? HOW WILL THAT MAKE HER HAPPY? It's just postponing the inevitable. If one marries someone, who doesn'T love one, one will be betrayed and will get a divorce at some point. Period! Why even CONSIDERING doing this to the his own daughter? He must be totally mental, if he thinks, that this would make her happy. And you still have to consider Shozaburo, even if he is an ass. You can't go to someone saying "Marry my daughter, even if you don't want to. If you don'T she'll kill herself, and then I will kill you". Seriously father, use that time and go to a psychiatrist with your daughter...she needs it!
f) Takemi
I won't go into detail with her, because honestly, I've already forgotten so much about her doings, but there is one thing that really bugs me:
What kind of sister is she? She says, that to her family is the most important thing. Why, why does she want HER SISTER to be together with someone who DOESN'T LOVE her? Why? Does she think too, that this makes her happy? Really? What's wrong with this family? If I had a brother and his girlfrind would really try to hit on me, I would be like "Dude, your girlfriend is totally hitting on me, get rid of her, because sooner or later she will hit on another guy and break your heart!". Even if my brother were sad about this and maybe angry at me in the first moment, it still would be the right thing to do in the long run. Especially, if you're considering marriage. -_-'
Why doesn't Takemi doe something like this? Yes, it would be a blow to Sakurako, but this blow will hit her in the future. Maybe not now, but after a year or 5 of marriage, when he's finally fed up.
g) Fujiko
To me, she is the only character that somehow feels real, the only one that seems sort of "normal". But...that's it. She too isn't that important, just like Ume. As the oldest sister, her role should have been bigger.