What really got to me in this drama was the realism of it. There are people that go through these types of issues in real life, and they don't always have someone by their side to help them get back on their feet. In the drama you find out more about each person as the story progresses, it made me think a lot about the people in my own life, everyone struggles with something, some people have deep dark secrets their embarrassed to talk about or afraid to talk about.
The acting was done really well! Exceptional! I haven't seen any of the other actors act in anything else, except for Nishikido Ryo, I've seen him in 1 Litre Of Tears. Needless to say, seeing him go from his character there to this one proves how much of a good actor he is. Sosuke was dark, his character was scary in ways because of the things he did. Nagasawa Masami as Michiru did a really good job, you saw her character getting stronger as the drama progressed. Ueno Juri as Ruka did an excellent job, her character had a lot of internal suffering going on as you find out more as each episode ends. I loved Eita's character, Takeru, even with all the things he's gone through he's an upbeat guy, admirable. The rest of the cast was really good, as well.
The music was good, the theme song, "Prisoner Of Love" by Utada Hikaru was perfect for the drama. The lyrics really matched with what the characters felt. The instrumental to it was really nice as well. The rest of the instrumentals fit the drama as well.
Will I rewatch this again? Someday. Serious dramas like this I love and enjoy for their realism, but I'm not sure when I'll rewatch this, if I do it won't be for a while.
Overall: It's a really good drama, I'd recommend it to everyone. It deals with a lot of issues. I found myself needing to watch each episode, like I mentioned above - I wasn't bored with any of this drama. There was always something going on to keep me intrigued and wanting to see what happens next.
The impact of their friendship, how each of them were willing to do anything to protect each other, that's the most important part of this drama I feel.
I wished they'd of gone a little more into detail about a few things, but overall it was done really well, I can't say it enough!
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I loved how all the characters had their own screen time, everyone was important and there were absolutely no stereotypes.
The acting was amazing, everything seemed real and honest. The actors were perfectly chosen.
The story was unique and well written. The character and story development had the right pace, even though I was sometimes frustrated with the characters - Looking back at it, everything else wouldn't have fit.
Finally, the ending was the only fitting end they could have given this drama. I didn't expect it (this drama managed to surprise me until the last episode, I couldn't foresee anything!) and I loved it.
Definitely recommending this, watch it. It deserves the good ratings and reviews.
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The acting in this drama is SUPERB, each actor portrayed their character perfectly. I have to give Nishikido
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It is a very interesting & well thought out human drama with a very solid story. The acting on all parts is really good with each one suiting their role perfectly. I especially enjoyed what Eita brought to the drama as well as Nishidiko Ryo. The later did an amazing job considering the complexity of Sousuke's character.
I also think the insert song "Prisoner of Love" by Utada Hikaru & the opening credits suit Last Friends perfectly. Tying everything together from start to finish.
The only downside is the special as most of it was re-caps except for the start & end. I would have personally preferred a proper special. There's only really about 10 minutes of new footage.
Overall though I feel this is definitely not one to pass up if you enjoy slice-of-life stories!
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This review may contain spoilers
'Last Friends' is such a misleading title for this drama. I would like to rename it as 'We Were all Victims of a Psychopath'. While the synopsis does include all the good and redeeming points of the plot, most of it falls flat and ends up being a disappointment. But yet, it is not a total failure because there are some high points in its course as well.I get it. It's a fictional set-up but when things go overboard it is hard to gulp down, much less digest. Weird characters, likable characters, annoying characters and a psychotic villain of the highest degree. This drama has them all. It keeps you on the edge of your seat with dramatic moments but when the ending you anticipated instead blew up in your face, it leaves you dumbfounded.
I love dark stories even if they have a tragic ending. While this does have a dark story, its ending was horrifying and the worst part is that the writer tried to sugarcoat stuff. There is stuff I absolutely can't stand and that includes women being victimized and the culprit that gets to get away. The villain spent most of the time doing what he pleased and it is hard to believe that nobody reported him. Seriously?! Five people who know about his demonic deeds (three of them having brutally suffered at his hands) and still none of them dared to call the police? All they were doing were hand out threats but never actually do anything about him. It's unrealistic to even think that one man could wreck so many lives while they sat naively thinking he would give up. I mean- aren't we talking about independent, educated, working youth living in Tokyo? Isn't there a call thing called as 'awareness'?
When the story focused on Michiru, I went along fine because I understand the psychology of victims of such men. But I can't forgive the rest. Ruka kept talking about wanting to protect her best friend but when he assaults her she does nothing?! I can't say more because it will be a spoiler. I liked Eri far better than Ruka and Michiru because she was like a breath of fresh air who smiled and seemed cheerful.
The best parts of the drama were the background score and great acting. It is studded with big names and none of them disappointed me. I want to commend Ueno Juri's acting. She's versatile and very convincing. Even Eita was likable as Takeru.
It's weird that I seem to be criticizing so much and yet I was able to finish drama by marathoning it. It has been shot well and the suspenseful music wherever there was Sousuke around kept bringing back the excitement in me. Nishikido Ryo could be so scary and creepy- I never imagined. His character was almost laughable by the end because he did such hard to believe stuff. But I will acknowledge that psychopaths like him do exist and there are worse people out there in this world too.
As for the ending- I am trying to deny what happened. I was thrown into a fit of rage and disgusted with Michiru by then. Let's pretend it never happened. And their friendship was good but not great because none of them dared to risk going against the monster aka Sousuke in the way I expected. I feel cheated with the ending and it was cheap to sugarcoat the outrageous thing that Michiru went through.
I am never going to watch this drama again. It will be like living the nightmare over again.
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Good Weights
I enjoyed watching Last Friends because…
…it captured the true essence of friendship. Yes, Ruka has ‘other feelings’ for Michiru but she still stands for her as a friend whenever Michiru needs her. Same for Takeru. Takeru likes Ruka because of her boyish mannerism and accepts Michiru as his friend mainly because he knows what Michiru means to Ruka. But his friendship is not superficial and on several occasions, he goes out of his way to help Michiru. These three may be in a complicated relationship where they have feelings for one another but they all know the boundaries of their friendship and never cross it.
…every character feels real. Ruka suffers from gender confusion and has always thought of herself as a man instead of a girl. Actress Juri portrayed the character with such conviction that her struggle and frustration felt palpable. She clearly has given a lot of thought to her body language as she does not look like a regular tom-boy trying hard to walk like a man. I will have to see another drama of hers just to know how she acts as a regular girl. Masami too does well with her submissive character. She is pretty and clearly fragile. Innocence drips from every ounce of her and she best suited this character. The fact that she keeps returning to her abusive boyfriend, again and again, may frustrate you as a viewer but she has a valid reason for doing so. Give her time and you will understand and probably even feel what she feels for Sosuke. By this I don’t mean what she does is correct. It’s not. No woman deserves to be treated the way Sosuke treats Michiru but she shares a strong connection with him which even she cannot sever easily. Eita may not have been very emotive as Takeru but he did a fairly decent job at playing the trustworthy and helpful Takeru. But Sosuke was the one who sent a chill down my spine. Sosuke is an obsessive, possessive and abusive character and actor Nishikido Ryo’s subtle acting managed to evoke fear in me. He spoke so politely that I would quiver like a rat. I liked him so much that I am watching another drama of his just to be rest assured that he is not really a crazy boyfriend.
…I loved the theme song ‘Prisoner of Love’ by Utada Hikaru. It suited the drama so well. It was played at the aptest moments in the drama and added to the general feeling of pain and anguish of the drama.
Bad Weights
I did NOT LIKE Last Friends because…
…err.. I can’t think of any shortcoming in this drama. It wasn’t perfect for sure but there was nothing bad enough to count as a bad weight.
Last Friends should be your pick when you are bored of watching fluffy romances and want to indulge in a realistic dorama.
Originally posted on AlphaGirlReviews.com
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This review may contain spoilers
Last Friends (2008): 'Failed' Friendship, To Some Degree!
When I first watched Last Friends, I didn't feel great at the end. I wasn't sure why, but now after rewatching, I know why!It's all about friendship, friends who are ready to do everything for their friends. As a 'friendship guy', I was supposed to enjoy it, however, I ended up with a bitter feeling. The reason is that despite all efforts and sacrifices, they can't really come closer emotionally to each other, so in the end, they still live their own distinct lives. And this is more obvious in the relationship between Michiru (Nagasawa Masami) & Ruka (Ueno Juri). They're supposed to be best friends, even more than that, but from the beginning to the end, they are clueless about each other feelings.
So, a very good drama in depicting that friendship can fail big time sometimes, even if friends do their best. And this is not what we can often see in J-dorama, tending to show the magical side of friendship.
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LGBTQ+ with no real romance
I LOVED everything about this drama. It is not the type of drama I would typically watch and the main romance storyline is EXTREMELY toxic. It wasn't even romance, it was OBSESSION on the ML's part.I loved the ML, in the sense that I loved HATING him. Nishikido Ryo acting was amazing, he played the role of such a hateful character in a way that mad me feel sad for Sosuke. He somehow made me, as an audience understand and empathise with Michiru's love for Sosuke, and he had the supporting characters fooled as well. Usually when it comes to toxic couples, I would be annoyed at the FL for staying with such a toxic ML, but the script and acting for this drama was so well done, that not once was I annoyed at the FL for believing the ML and staying with him whilst he abused her.
This was my first LGBTQ drama, one where the main characters were LGBTQ, though there wasn't't really any romance between them, the love triangle was perfect: Ruka was in love with Michiru who later fell in love with Takeru who was in love with Ruka.
(Sort of a SPOILER)
I had a very ominous felling about the end of this drama after the opening it had. But I loved the ending. By "no real romance" I mean that none of the leads officially end up together romantically, though I can see them thriving as throuple after the end, as everyone was in love with everyone but not each other. It doesn't really go in depth with this part of the storyline but focuses more on the amazing friendship that develops between the leads who are only trying to protect each other from people like Sosuke and as well as homophobia and transphobia against Ruka.
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This review may contain spoilers
Ｉ’ｍ ａ ｐｒｉｓｏｎｅｒ ｏｆ ｌｏｖｅ
Very melodramatic, but absurd to the point of being entertaining. The intermittent clips of motocross in between very serious scenes, and scenes of domestic violence was fun. That there were like five songs in constant rotation got to be really funny too. Overall, it was nice to see topics that otherwise seem to be a bit taboo in Japan. At least from my media-based impressions of the country.Also, Takeru is such a good guy; I don't think I could've finished the show without him. He is an angel and an agent of justice, and anyone who has a friend like that in their life should consider themselves blessed. Sousuke was a great villain and comic relief :'(
If you just want to watch a show to pass the time (or study Japanese), it's a fine choice. Easy to follow, kind of heartwarming, and strange enough to hold interest. If you want something thoughtfully put together, nicely shot, scored, etc. though, I'd say to look elsewhere.
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I started to watch as a fan of Nishikido Ryo. i love dark story and I thought that a drama about DV could be really interesting so I starting watching it. However, I can't stand the main charcter. I understand why people go back to abusive boyfriend but I don't knoz, something in Michiru annoyed me. I have seen other fiction about DV where the victim was believable but Michiru is not for me, as is Ruka. I hop that if you really love someone, you will do everything to protect her or him. Though Ruka never really protect Michiru for me, she just stand idle. She says to SOusuku that she doesn't believe that his love is true love but I don't believe her is better. I know people would deisagree with me, but I don't think her love is better than is. Not in the same way of course, but passivity is still a crime for me and according to the law. Contrary to another bad review, I don't think Sousuke is purely evil. Is he right? Certainly not but I don't think he is either purely bad which is why I both hated and liked the ending. I liked it because I do think that pureli evil people doesn't really exist and that in his crazy way, he did like her so the ending makes sense but at the same time I felt bad because I felt sorrier for the abuser than the victim at the end. This is the reason of the bad grade I gave, which is the story.
As for the music, I agree with everybody, the main theme fit the story completly. Evey character is prisoner of his/her for of love, bad or good so this song is perfect.
I also agree about the cast performances. I do not really like the charcaters but it's more a proplem of writing than acting. And as a lot of people said before me, Nishikido's acting was incredible. I wouldn't say he was scarry but the double perosnality and the faces he puts on are quite incredible. I think it was one of his greatest performances, even if it was one for a crazy character. The others actors too were quite good.
Overall, I didn't like the drama even if both the music and the acting was good. All of that is due for what is for me a really bad writing of the character's personality. If you have the oppurtunity, whatch the drama and make your own opinion because this drama has been both really liked and disliked. Watch it and see for yourself, if not because of the story, at least for the music and the performances of the cast
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