· Same director (Koreeda Hirokazu)
· Focus on abandoned people
· Found families
· Child abandonment

· Hyper-focused detectives
· Long-term murder investigation
· Found family
· Poor and/or abusive parenting
· Socioeconomic status
· Exceptional performances
· Songs by Sungwoojunga

- realistic and flawed characters
- slow-paced romance
- angst and heartache
- love rectangles
- bad parents

- “nice” lead characters
- reserved lead characters
- slow-paced romance
- creatives (leads are writers or musicians)