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1[[quoteright:120:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tomoyasatsuki_5599.jpg]]
2A 10-episode show aired in Japan during 2009, ''Aishiteru'' is a human drama focusing on two average families after a horrible act of violence changes their lives forever.
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4Typical mother Noguchi Satsuki spends her days trying to balance her life as a wife to her hard-working husband Kazuhiko and mother to their only son, Tomoya, a shy fifth-grader with whom Satsuki struggles to communicate. Ozawa Seiko and Hideaki, living in the same neighborhood, are raising a rebellious junior high school daughter, Mihoko, and their son, Kiyotaka, a second-grader who is showered with much love and affection by his mother.
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6One day, Kiyotaka doesn't come home from school and is later found dead. Three days later, Tomoya is taken into custody by police as the prime murder suspect and confesses. Satsuki, as mother of the perpetrator, comes face to face with her son’s true self while Seiko, as mother of the victim, deals with her sorrow and anger.
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8!! This series provides examples of:
9* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:What happened between Kiyotaka and Tomoya was basically a children's fight gone horribly out of hand.]]
10* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Life isn't easy for Satsuki and Kazuhiko after their son is found guilty. They have to quit their jobs, move from their house and struggle to find new homes and places to work. Worse, people vandalize their door every time they find out Satsuki and Kazuhiko are Tomoya's parents.
11%% * AmbiguousInnocence
12%% * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Kiyotaka to Mihoko.
13%% * ApologisesALot: Satsuki.
14%% * TheAtoner: Satsuki.
15* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: [[spoiler:Sort of: Satsuki and Kazuhiko choose to have another child to make sure Tomoya grasps the enormity of taking a life away. Seeing his baby brother, Tomoya finally cries and says to Kiyotaka he's sorry.]]
16* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Mihoko wished for her brother to disappear, and then he died.
17%% * BeetleManiac: Tomoya.
18%% * BerserkButton: [[spoiler:You just ''don't'' insult Satsuki in front of Tomoya]].
19%% * BewareTheNiceOnes: Tomoya, with tragic consequences.
20%% * BigNo: Seiko when the police tell her about Kiyotaka's death.
21%% * BrattyTeenageDaughter: Mihoko in early episodes. Reality makes her WiseBeyondHerYears.
22%% * BreakTheCutie: Almost every character.
23* CassandraTruth: The day of the tragedy, Satsuki asks Tomoya what he was doing that day, and he tells her he killed someone. She didn't believe him.
24%% * CharacterDevelopment
25%% * CheerfulChild: Kiyotaka.
26%% * ChekhovsGun: the poster "Mommy loves you".
27* ChildrenAreInnocent: Averted: Tomoya isn't an evil boy, but he kills Kiyotaka. And Kiyotaka wasn't the little angel everyone thought.
28* ChildrenRaiseYou: Sort of: Because of their children (and the tragedy) all the parents in the story grow and mature.
29* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: While Tomoya is guilty, his parents did nothing wrong. It doesn't stop people from role them out of society.
30* [[CrazyHomelessPeople Crazy Homeless Lady]]: Averted: The old lady is quite sympathetic, but she's deeply unstable and dangerous for a child.
31%% * CreepyChild: Tomoya at the beginning.
32%% * CreepyMonotone: Tomoya.
33%% * CrimeTimeSoap
34* DeathIsASadThing: part of the plot is having Tomoya to ''really'' understand this.
35* DeathOfAChild: Kiyotaka is found dead in the first episode.
36%% * DeliberatelyCuteChild: Kiyotaka.
37* DespairEventHorizon: OK, one family has a son which got killed, the other a son which killed.
38* {{Determinator}}: Nothing will stop Mrs. Tomita from discovering what happened between Tomoya and Kiyotaka and helping their families. ''Nothing''.
39* DeusAngstMachina: Seriously, ''every time'' things are going slighty better for someone, something happens to put him back to square one.
40%% * DisasterDominoes
41* DisproportionateRetribution: Kiyotaka was really rude, but he was a 7-year-old boy and didn't deserve death.
42%% * DoomedByCanon: Poor, poor Kiyotaka...
43%% * DotingParent: Seiko to Kiyotaka.
44%% * DramaticPause
45* DramaticShattering: The Noguchi family photo. Instead of changing the glass, Satsuki puts duct tape on it.
46%% * DrivenToSuicide: Satsuki clearly thinks about it.
47%% * DrowningMySorrows: Hideaki and Kazuhiko.
48* DysfunctionJunction: Well, Satsuki [[spoiler:fails to notice Tomoya's trauma to the point that the kid has a breakdown where he killed another boy]], while Kazuhiko is an absent husband and father. Seiko and Hideaki spoil Kiyotaka so much that their daughter thinks they don't love her.
49%% * EarnYourHappyEnding: Which isn't really happy as Kiyotaka is still dead.
50%% * EducationMama: Satsuki has shades.
51%% * EmpathicEnvironment: Subverted for Kiyotaka funeral. Played straigh in other scene.
52%% * EnfantTerrible: Played with, then subverted.
53%% * FailureToSaveMurder: Seiko and Hideaki feel they failed to protect Kiyotaka.
54%% * FanSub
55%% * FiveStagesOfGrief
56%% * {{Forgiveness}}: One of the point of the whole series.
57%% * FreakOut: [[spoiler:Tomoya had a freak out so big he killed Kiyotaka.]]
58* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Tomoya had a very traumatic experience that he blamed himself for. Satsuki didn't notice, and Tomoya stopped trusting her (and everyone else), but still thought that it was his fault in the first place and felt guilty for the whole situation. After six months in this circle, Kiyotaka tells him his mother doesn't love him 'cause he's weird, and Tomoya snaps.]]
59* GoodParents: It doesn't help: One single mistake, and their life is destroyed forever.
60%% * GoryDiscretionShot
61%% * HarmfulToMinors: The old homeless lady.
62* HeroicBSOD: Seiko after Kiyotaka's death, until her family snaps her out of it. Satsuki after Mihoko tells her to die. Basically every character has ''at least'' one.
63%% * {{Housewife}}: Seiko is one; Satsuki works part time.
64%% * HappilyMarried
65%% * HowWeGotHere: The first episode.
66%% * HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The Noguchi family.
67%% * IMissMom: Tomoya and Mihoko. Interesting as the mothers are physically with them, but emotionally distant.
68%% * InnocenceLost
69* InnocentInaccurate: Tomoya doesn't understand the gravity of his action, and his narration mirrors that.
70%% * InnocentlyInsensitive: Kiyotaka, and he pays it.
71* InsaneEqualsViolent: Tomoya beats Kiyitaka to death.
72* IntergenerationalFriendship: Mrs. Tomita and Tomoya (even if it's her work, it's clear that she really cares about the boy, and vice versa). Tomoya and the old homeless lady also have one, but it ends badly.
73* IronicEcho: When Satsuki tries to get Tomoya to say he's not the killer, she tells him he has a mouth to speak. Tomoya's response is that she has ears to listen.
74* ItsAllMyFault: Satsuki and Seiko say this.
75%% * JapaneseSeries
76%% * KickTheDog: Mihoko telling Satsuki to die.
77* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: Satsuki's total denial in the first two episodes.
78* ManlyTears: Both Kazuhiko and Hideaki end up crying.
79%% * MyGodWhatHaveIDone
80* ParentalFavoritism: Seiko and Hideaki, but they don't realize it and are genuinely surprised when Mihoko tells them how much she felt neglected.
81%% * ParentalObliviousness: With tragic conseguence.
82* ParentsAsPeople: Seiko and Hideaki are so grieving for Kiyotaka's death that Mihoko starts thinking that it would be better if she was dead instead and that her presence (and life) makes no difference to her parents. They don't notice until the girl's teacher told them Mihoko wants to quit school and she has a breakdown when confronted about it. Satsuki fails to notice the moment Tomoya needs her the most.
83%% * PoorCommunicationKills: Literally.
84%% * PosthumousCharacter: Kiyotaka.
85%% * PuppyDogEyes: Mihoko is good at that. It helps that Kawashima Umika's eyes are so big.
86* PutOnABus: Ayano goes to Africa
87* RedemptionEarnsLife: Sort of: Seiko wants Tomoya to have a long, full life and be happy to see what he took away from Kiyotaka.
88%% * TheReveal
89%% * ShrineToTheFallen: In Kiyotaka's home.
90%% * ShrinkingViolet: Tomoya.
91%% * SiblingRivalry: Mihoko and Kiyotaka; Satsuki and Ayano.
92%% * SympatheticMurderer
93%% * TearfulSmile
94%% * TearsOfRemorse
95* ThereAreNoTherapists: Mrs. Tomita is extremely competent and menage to support Kiyotaka's family, Tomoya's mother and Tomoya... but still her role is to find out what happened, not supporting destroyed people.
96%% * ThisIsUnforgivable: Pretty much Hideaki's attitude.
97* TragicMistake: If only Satsuki has asked to Tomoya what was wrong when he come home soaked instead of scolding him; if only Seiko wasn't 15 minutes late that day; if only Kazuhiko had taught Tomoya to play catchball...
98%% * TroubledChild: Tomoya. Big time.
99%% * TheUnfavorite: Mihoko feels this way.
100%% * UnstoppableRage: Tomoya to Kiyotaka.
101%% * UsedToBeASweetKid: Mihoko and Tomoya.
102%% * ViewersAreGoldfish
103%% * WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue
104%% * WhereDidWeGoWrong: Played for drama.

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