It seriously is that good, like plotbunny_tiff said it's not the usual 'sort of plain but not really girl puts on some makeup and pulls back her hair and is suddenly glamorous and belle of the ball', there are a lot of really interesting plot and character developments you would never see in the typical makeover story. It's sort of ironic you mention your friend being a Kame fan actually, as this drama turned me in to a fan of him because of how impressed I was by his acting XD. I believe Yuuto plays his younger brother, and their relationship is adorable ♥.

And I included a link in the post to a place where you can watch it online if you don't want to download gigs of episodes.