Aitai Toki ni Anata wa Inai (1991)

The drama’s main plot revolves around a woman whose one defining characteristic is being perpetually sad. Why is she sad? Who knows! The writers certainly didn’t seem to. Maybe because the men in her life are about as reliable as a dial-up internet connection, or maybe it’s because the script was clearly written by someone going through a mid-life crisis and decided, “You know what’s relatable? Pain. Just… constant, nonsensical pain.” Nothing really makes sense, it was unbelievably dull as everything kept going in empty circles through the same events. Every man and woman were interested in the leads for some reason. Breakup was an expected element in such a plot but it was seriously poorly executed. It's the type of breakup you might see in an anime at the first slight misunderstanding, justified by a cheap trope rather than proper character writing. Why would their love be so great? The leads romantic chemistry has all the fire and passion of a wet sponge, it just couldn't sell the viewers on the long distance relationship and love. The drama was just a bloated, meandering, self-indulgent slog that mistakes misery for profundity.