[Discussion] Last Friends - Nagasawa Masami/Ueno Juri/Eita

Discuss Japanese drama series here.
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Ohnono
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Post by Ohnono » May 5th, '08, 04:42

QNSpider wrote:When
Sousuke said he was going to kill himself in Episode 5 preview I was like "Yes. Please do so. Kthxbye. :lol
good job. hehe :thumleft:

gmak
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Post by gmak » May 5th, '08, 05:40

forgive me for asking, but where is the SUBBED Ep 4 by kioku??????????????????????????

costie86
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Post by costie86 » May 5th, '08, 05:58

gmak wrote:forgive me for asking, but where is the SUBBED Ep 4 by kioku??????????????????????????
They mentioned that it'll be late for this episode.. check out their website..

sleepyzzz
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Post by sleepyzzz » May 5th, '08, 06:32

bmwracer: I agree that the previews do tend to give away too much - that's what I think when I first see them - but then when you actually watch the episode, it's like "WOAH...." ahaha Can't wait for ep 5...

Btw, this is a bit random and there's no "deep" meaning - but given all the cup obsessed people out there, I thought I'd just flag it - in episode 4, on the first day after Michiru arrives, she and Takeru are sitting in the kitchen, Michiru is actually using Ruka's mug! hahaha I think this is before Takeru goes off to buy her the pink one. Sorry - just a bit random... :lol

Nomanymore
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Post by Nomanymore » May 5th, '08, 09:40

QNSpider wrote:When
Sousuke said he was going to kill himself in Episode 5 preview I was like "Yes. Please do so. Kthxbye. :lol
lol "OH YES! Please" :roll


Btw, about the preview giving away too many details, I agree also. It kinda ruined the 'surprise' to me :'( oh well, I guess it's to attract viewer -> boost the rating :whistling:

GoddessCarlie
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Post by GoddessCarlie » May 5th, '08, 12:32

As tempting as it is to watch, I am going to try to avoid the previews at the end, because I agree it does give too much away. As much as I can't resist reading spoilers, I don't want to have any expectations when I watch this show, I want everything to be a surprise.

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 5th, '08, 12:55

Ah, Sousuke can't die now, I need more scruffy looking Ryo Nishikido too look (and laugh) at. :P And more psycho -- I want to see how far and extreme Ryo can take this character.

I love the previews, it makes me want to watch the next episode like a crack head needing a hit. For realssssss.

Also, in the last episode (to add on to what sleepyzzz said), all three had the same cup design. Ruka, Takeru, and Michiru. I thought that was interesting especially when Takeru gave Eri and the other guy their cups they were different (and smaller) lololol.

Tomi
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Post by Tomi » May 5th, '08, 22:02

Finally got the oppurtunity to watch episode four...it was a painfully long wait, haha. Everyone has very thoughtful comments so far. Like many of you have commented, sometimes I feel like I'm reading deep literature when reading the reviews.

Anyway, I feel like I need to rewatch the episode and come back to make a more interesting comment.
However, I want to mention that maybe the writers have decided to not reveal too much of Takeru's past because in a way, they are revealing it through Ruka. If you notice in the episode after Ruka is kissed and during the preview when Eri kisses Takeru, they have the same reaction - washing their mouths, spitting. Also, when Ruka confesses to Takeru about what had happened to her, he also feels her pain and cries with her. So maybe Takeru is actually gay and he kept being harrassed by an older co-worker (the lady on the phone) and therefore he also feels the need to protect Ruka in that way. Haha, I'm probably way off.

About the opening sequence, a poster (sorry, I can't remember who! but it was good analysis) mentioned that Eri and Sousuke might have something going on in the future to fill the "solitude"...I think Ogurin is filling the solitude for Eri...as much as she doesn't want to get close to him, she needs him there. I think if Ogurin wasn't a character on the show, Eri's loneliness wouldn't have been made so apparent.

As for the kiss between Eri and Takeru, I think Eri just gets drunk. I don't think she really has feelings for him in any sort of way.

Oh yeah! I just feel more and more angered by Michiru. Her actions are so selfish and she is so blind to how many people actually love her. The fact that there are four people allowing her to stay at their house...she doesn't even appreciate so much. She hasn't grown as a person and she's willing to lose everything for a psychotic loser! At the same time, if Takeru really does have love-like feelings for Ruka, I guess it's torturous to him as well to see Ruka so into protecting Michiru. I think Ruka is forgivable though because she is trying to save someone savable.

kandysakura
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Post by kandysakura » May 6th, '08, 00:46

just finished watching epi 4 and i gotta say,
im getting really disappointed in michiru.
but on the other hand, im starting to think shes got some major stockholm syndrome issues...

for those who dont know what stockholm syndrome is....
its basically when a victim in a desperate situation begins to "understand" and "bond" with the abuser
(this syndrome occurs in both relationships, and life/death hostage situations)

in a way, i can tell why michiru is so stubborn with sosuke,
but still, what takeru said during the rainy scene at the end was dead on.

on another note, i hope what sosuke said in epi 5 previews was just another threat...
if it wasnt... then i feel incredibly sad that 2 seconds of the clip ruined the suspense of the drama for me...

counterfeitdreamer
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Post by counterfeitdreamer » May 6th, '08, 01:41

I saw ep4. It was sooo good. As always!
But I can't believe Ruka let Michiru take out the garbage xD. Did she forget that psychotic Sosuke had been gawking at the house for so long. Tsk tsk.

Psychotic, Stalkerish Sosuke. Is soo hot in a bad way. Um... In all honesty, I can only hope I would do the right thing if I were in Michiru's position.... Putting that aside I actually feel really bad for Sosuke. He has serious mental problems, and I think is deep down going through more than Michiru. He really needs help. Which is why I actually feel sorry for both.
Omigod previews for the next ep -shakes with excitement- is going to put me in stalker mode for subs. I can't wait! Oh yeah and I agree Nomanymore they spoil alot of the surprise xD. They got me way to excited lol.

royuki
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Post by royuki » May 6th, '08, 02:19

Hello!
For those who are being so hard on Michiru, maybe you guys should think about what she is trying to do. In a way she's like Ruka and Takeru, she's trying to save Sosuke because she loves him. That doesn't necessarily means that she is weak. And of course she doesn't know that Ruka loves her, since I think Ruka is trying hard to hide it or is confused and sort of in denial about it herself. Of course I think her way is a good way of saving Sosuke but Michiru is just a twenty year old kind of isolated girl, she doesn't know what to do about Sosuke and remember that she pities him and sympathize with him too. So she is really confused about what course of action to take with him and she can't ignore him since she's so softhearted. Also, since she doesn't know that Ruka loves her (in that way), she doesn't know that she's hurting Ruka. So maybe Michiru should be given some slack, after all Ruka loves her and is devoted to her so she must be giving Ruka something that makes Ruka happy.
Not that I think Michiru is really smart about what she is doing, but she admits it herself in her flashbacks that she hates that she was so ignorant.

royuki
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Post by royuki » May 6th, '08, 02:33

^Oops, I meant that I DON'T think her way is a good way of saving Sosuke.

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Post by Vanilla-Rain » May 6th, '08, 02:49

Okay WHOA. Previews for epi 5...last bit, scared the pants off of me. It reminded me of a weird horror movie.

Good ep~ Although I'm impatiently waiting for hardsubs...I'm a sucker for consistentcy. -laughs- I was just so wound up for it, I had to go with softsubs (and be a dummy for a while on how to get them work)

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Post by bmwracer » May 6th, '08, 04:01

Vanilla-Rain wrote:It reminded me of a weird horror movie.
Since Episode 2, I've been referring to Sosuke as "Jason in a suit." :lol

Okay, I re-watched Episode 4 with subs this time and I thought it was the best episode so far.... Not surprisingly, it was less about that loon and more about everyone else, even Ruka's motocross coach/boss... :thumright:

At this point in the drama, Ruka's character is the most developed and also the most conflicted... It's clearly evident in episode 4.

sleepyzzz
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Post by sleepyzzz » May 6th, '08, 04:43

Like most people here, when I first watched episode 4, I was soooo angry at Michiru! How could she go back to Sousuke?!? But then I found out this (ep 5) - small spoiler:
She takes the sick (I mean physically) Sousuke back home but does not actually stay! I think she says something like the same thing (abuse) will just happen again. So that made me feel a bit better.
The more I thought about it - the less angry I get with Michiru - mainly because:
a) Raining scene - it's kind of hard to ignore Sousuke after all that he said in the rain - he seemed quite genuine and almost worth forgiving (but we know better!!) - I felt a little sorry for him there.
b) We can tell from the "after the fact" thoughts that Michiru does suffer in the end because of her ignorance to Ruka's feelings and she punishes herself by not seeing Ruka
c) We complain about Michiru not sensing Ruka's feelings but isn't Ruka in the same boat to Takeru?

Also, I think Michiru is starting to the see the light - In episode 4, when she talks about the world being so large (after going to Takeru's workplace) and others say that Sousuke has been tying her down to this narrow world of his, she answers quite positively and promptly - "I guess that's right" (something like that).

So, I think if you actually re-watch it, you would find that Michiru is not as weak/hopeless as she seems. But then who knows what's going to happen in Ep 5?!

Yigytugd
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Post by Yigytugd » May 6th, '08, 05:50

I love this show so much!! It reminds me of LIFE and Gokusen (don't ask why). Can't wait till episode 4 is subbed.

QNSpider
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Post by QNSpider » May 6th, '08, 06:00

That room that she's being attacked looks like a hospital room. So she might not really be getting raped. It's too early in the series and it's in the preview so you gotta remember...dramas like to trick us

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 06:13

QNSpider wrote:
That room that she's being attacked looks like a hospital room. So she might not really be getting raped. It's too early in the series and it's in the preview so you gotta remember...dramas like to trick us

Hospital?
Image

Opps, sorry, wrong picture. 8D

Image

No, that's most definitely his apartment.

son2
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Post by son2 » May 6th, '08, 09:46

yes, you're right.
that happens in Sousuke's place
here's my thought based on preview for Epi. 5
Michiru will be back to Sousuke's place and takes care of him.
She calls Ruka and explain that she can't leave Sousuke, because he is sick. She will back to share house after taking care of Sousuke.

Ruka, Michiru and the others keep doing their daily life and finally come a day when Ruka has another tournament nearby her parents' place. She asks Michiru since the others can't come to the tournament. Both of them stays at her parents' place. After the tournament both of them having a drink at Takeru place and and Michiru got a call from Sousuke and says that he wants to suicide. Michiru wants to come to Sousuke but Ruka stop her.

Next morning Ruka decide to meet with Sousuke and talk to him to stay away from Michiru. Michiru works like usual and decide to visit Sousuke because worried about him. That night Sousuke ask her again to stay with him a whole night, but Michiru refuses, Sousuke got mad and rape her. Meanwhile, Ruka tries to call Michiru because it's late , and Michiru hasn't came home yet. No answer from Michiru's cell phone, Ruka got more worried and ride his bike to Sousuke's place....

Iatheia
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Post by Iatheia » May 6th, '08, 12:05

*twitch* Sousuke _doesn't_ _have te_ _proceed_ _with the whole thing_!! We know for a fact only that he will attempt to rape Michiru, but thankfully, there is no indicaiton that he is to succeed. Mattaku.

costie86
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Post by costie86 » May 6th, '08, 13:26

Ladymercury wrote:

Hospital?
Image

Opps, sorry, wrong picture. 8D

Image

No, that's most definitely his apartment.
LOL... :mrgreen:

maybe he didn't succeed in raping Michiru and decided to go for transvestite.. :P

bmwracer
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Post by bmwracer » May 6th, '08, 13:31

costie86 wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:

Hospital?
Image

Opps, sorry, wrong picture. 8D

Image

No, that's most definitely his apartment.
LOL... :mrgreen:

maybe he didn't succeed in raping Michiru and decided to go for transvestite.. :P
LOL.

If you can beat 'em (literally), join 'em. :lol

^Yuuki
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Post by ^Yuuki » May 6th, '08, 16:27

bmwracer wrote:
costie86 wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:

Hospital?
Image

Opps, sorry, wrong picture. 8D

Image

No, that's most definitely his apartment.
LOL... :mrgreen:

maybe he didn't succeed in raping Michiru and decided to go for transvestite.. :P
LOL.

If you can beat 'em (literally), join 'em. :lol
LOL. You guys are awesome. :mrgreen:

I'm pretty sure it WILL happen. Not the transvestite part, that maybe in later after Ruka kicks his ass and gets the girl... ^__^
I love this show so much!! It reminds me of LIFE and Gokusen (don't ask why). Can't wait till episode 4 is subbed.
LIFE, yeah, me too. Probably because of the DV scenes. Same feeling and same background music.
So, I think if you actually re-watch it, you would find that Michiru is not as weak/hopeless as she seems. But then who knows what's going to happen in Ep 5?!
I don't think she's weak too. She's definitely making her own choices regarding Sosuke as wrong as they may be currently. About whether she knows about Ruka's feelings, if you look at her expressions during scenes like "Don't touch my Michiru!" and the 'Ruka treats Michiru like a guy' in episode 3, she seems to kinda know that something is going on but is in denial or scared to confront Ruka about it. OR, she felt that it's always been normal behaviour for Ruka and is thinking 'why is everyone saying weird things like that?'. From what I've glimpse from the manga 9 page prologue, there's a scene when they were in high school and a few guys tried to pick them up, Ruka says, "Sawaru na!"(Don't touch!) when they tried to grab Michiru. So, it could have been always like that. Ruka taking care of and protecting Michiru.

Speaking of Ruka and Michiru, a very interesting post. I kinda felt the connection after seeing the character's names and the promo vid but these kinda confirms it... Someone on the show is a fan, heh...
Last Friends Vs. Sailormoon aka Ruka/Michiru Vs. Haruka/Michiru

P/S: Totally awesome that they're adding another episode. They've probably seen the viewers' reaction by now and got the idea of the direction they need to head. Hopefully it's something like seeing how much support people have for Ruka, they've decided to modify/add some scenes that are more favourable for her. Eheh, with all the heartbreak(us and Ruka's), god knows she(and we) deserves it~

bmwracer
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Post by bmwracer » May 6th, '08, 16:39

^Yuuki wrote:Ruka kicks his ass and gets the girl... ^__^
I'd pay money to see that. :thumleft: :lol

Getting kicked by those motocross boots can hurt. :lol :lol :lol

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 16:40

bmwracer wrote:
costie86 wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:

Hospital?
Image

Opps, sorry, wrong picture. 8D

Image

No, that's most definitely his apartment.
LOL... :mrgreen:

maybe he didn't succeed in raping Michiru and decided to go for transvestite.. :P
LOL.

If you can beat 'em (literally), join 'em. :lol
I laughed so hard at you guys comments. LOL XD
Iatheia wrote:*twitch* Sousuke _doesn't_ _have te_ _proceed_ _with the whole thing_!! We know for a fact only that he will attempt to rape Michiru, but thankfully, there is no indicaiton that he is to succeed. Mattaku.

Then, uh, what's this?
Image

It's been proven fact that when a woman is sexually abused in such a manner, its very hard for her to simply recover. Due to the short amount of time between the prologue of episode one and the current events -- It only makes sense. I doubt Michiru would have sexual contact with Sousuke after this incident or sexual contact with anyone else. Takeru is very stern about anyone coming within sexual contact with him and obviously Ruka can't get her pregnant.

It only makes sense. Also, why would she move away from Tokyo, as big as it is, and live alone in a fisherman's town? Because it is his child. Because left it all behind and that's her burden for her mistakes.

Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.

^Yuuki
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Post by ^Yuuki » May 6th, '08, 17:02

Ladymercury wrote: Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.
Hate to agree with you but yeah, it's true. He's been great so far in acting out the bad guy that we all hate Sosuke so much. Increases our appreciation for other characters like Takeru and Ruka too. But then again, if it weren't Ryo acting and just some random guy, the impact probably wouldn't be as big yeah? With all the good guy characters he had in the past, this one provides the double shock factor whether you're a fan or not. I think he drives in the point that even people who looks good and normal can also be broken and twisted inside. So, let's try not be swayed by our emotion towards the actor/actress in judging the characters that they play. Rather, let's not do too much judging...we'll enjoy the show more this way and won't get a heart attack as easily... :mrgreen:

son2
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Post by son2 » May 6th, '08, 17:14

I don't think she's weak too. She's definitely making her own choices regarding Sosuke as wrong as they may be currently. About whether she knows about Ruka's feelings, if you look at her expressions during scenes like "Don't touch my Michiru!" and the 'Ruka treats Michiru like a guy' in episode 3, she seems to kinda know that something is going on but is in denial or scared to confront Ruka about it. OR, she felt that it's always been normal behaviour for Ruka and is thinking 'why is everyone saying weird things like that?'. From what I've glimpse from the manga 9 page prologue, there's a scene when they were in high school and a few guys tried to pick them up, Ruka says, "Sawaru na!"(Don't touch!) when they tried to grab Michiru. So, it could have been always like that. Ruka taking care of and protecting Michiru.
where did you find the manga prologue?

^Yuuki
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Post by ^Yuuki » May 6th, '08, 17:43

son2: Not exactly the scans, but better than nothing.

Btw, check this out:
http://www.fujitv.co.jp/lastfriends/another/index.html
Hmm...Interesting art...Is that Michiru? Heh...Someone care to explain what the movie thing is about? Seems to be just added.

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Post by bmwracer » May 6th, '08, 17:55

Ladymercury wrote:Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.
Agreed.

Ryo's fanbase needs to take off their rose-colored glasses and see his character, not him.

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 18:17

bmwracer wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.
Agreed.

Ryo's fanbase needs to take off their rose-colored glasses and see his character, not him.
Thank you! It's really annoying and it kinda is splitting the fandom in half because people won't take the glasses off. :/
^Yuuki wrote:
Ladymercury wrote: Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.
Hate to agree with you but yeah, it's true. He's been great so far in acting out the bad guy that we all hate Sosuke so much. Increases our appreciation for other characters like Takeru and Ruka too. But then again, if it weren't Ryo acting and just some random guy, the impact probably wouldn't be as big yeah? With all the good guy characters he had in the past, this one provides the double shock factor whether you're a fan or not. I think he drives in the point that even people who looks good and normal can also be broken and twisted inside. So, let's try not be swayed by our emotion towards the actor/actress in judging the characters that they play. Rather, let's not do too much judging...we'll enjoy the show more this way and won't get a heart attack as easily... :mrgreen:
I think the impact would give Michiru's character more support, honestly. Everyone seems to hate Michiru and cheer Sousuke on; which is really sad when you look at the picture.

" It's not his fault "
" She keeps running back to him, it's her fault "
" He has issues, we need to understand "

Bollocks. It's never alright, I hope episode 5 gives a rude awakening to half the fanbase.

I agree, I wish the fandom would just look at Sousuke as Oikawa Sousuke rather than Nishikido Ryo.

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Post by sleepyzzz » May 6th, '08, 18:20

^Yuuki: wow! how did you find that page/link? I had a look at Fuji TV's website and there's no reference to that page!

Nway, I think the character sitting on the bench is Michiru - looks like the scene where she's sitting in the rain - she had her bag beside her. The drawing also has a broken heart. On the Movie bit, I think they're just going to upload video clips from the press conference and it looks like there's some interview with the script writer/directors of the drama.

Wow...is it just me but it seems like this drama is attracting a LOT of attention!!!

2 days to go...

QNSpider
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Post by QNSpider » May 6th, '08, 18:20

lol @ that picture

Ryo is a good actor (in this show...on other shows however... :crazy:). He fits this role. He really convinces me that he is a crazy psycho f***. He has that monotonous, crazy man look. :lol

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 18:44

sleepyzzz wrote:^YuukiOn the Movie bit, I think they're just going to upload video clips from the press conference and it looks like there's some interview with the script writer/directors of the drama.
When you highlight over the videos, it says that they're over though. I think the movie section is done but there's something else to be added...? I checked the page history, it was uploaded on April 18th.
2 days to go...
Please don't remind me ;_; makes the wait longer
Ryo is a good actor (in this show...on other shows however... Crazy). He fits this role. He really convinces me that he is a crazy psycho f***. He has that monotonous, crazy man look.
Haha, he does have a creepy smile IMO

Image

I need to find a better creepy smile picture.

^Yuuki
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Post by ^Yuuki » May 6th, '08, 18:49

sleepyzzz wrote:^Yuuki: wow! how did you find that page/link? I had a look at Fuji TV's website and there's no reference to that page!

Nway, I think the character sitting on the bench is Michiru - looks like the scene where she's sitting in the rain - she had her bag beside her. The drawing also has a broken heart. On the Movie bit, I think they're just going to upload video clips from the press conference and it looks like there's some interview with the script writer/directors of the drama.

Wow...is it just me but it seems like this drama is attracting a LOT of attention!!!

2 days to go...
Oh, it's not? Just something someone posted in another forum. My first thought was a spin-off or movie. Last Friends: Another. Lol. Reminds me of Death Note or something...Anyway, they're probably still updating the page. If it's interview clips, I thought in the video/special section already have? (Is it me or they're mostly centered on Ueno Juri? Not that I'm complaining). But yeah, I agree that there seems to be a lot of buzz with the series which is great. ^^
Ladymercury wrote:
sleepyzzz wrote:^YuukiOn the Movie bit, I think they're just going to upload video clips from the press conference and it looks like there's some interview with the script writer/directors of the drama.
When you highlight over the videos, it says that they're over though. I think the movie section is done but there's something else to be added...? I checked the page history, it was uploaded on April 18th.
2 days to go...
Please don't remind me ;_; makes the wait longer
April 18th? It's weird that it's not linked in the main page then...Still seems to be under construction to me. =/
Only 2 days? Time flies. Haha, Thursdays are the climax of the week for me. Can't imagine what I'll do once the drama ends... Nooo~ T_T

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 19:03

I thought it'd be hard when Watakyou ended but then there was Hana Kimi... now that was hard cause I had no drama to watch after that XD

The relationship chart has been updated, slightly. That really bad photoshopped pic of Ryo is hard to look at XD But apparently, between Takeru and Eri it says " ゲイかも...(Probably gay....) " With the arrow pointing from Eri to Takeru. I think Eri develops this opinion about him after the ordeal in ep. 5, agreed?

Also, the boy that was once there is gone but there's a line between him and Sousuke that says " Key Person. " I don't know what that's about.

Yay! Took me like three years but I reached 200 posts!

Edit: I read the bio on the boy, apparently when a call is made about child abuse in that kid's house, Sousuke goes to inspect and meets him.

There's a lot more into this show, so I doubt Sousuke is dying anytime soon.

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Post by bmwracer » May 6th, '08, 19:11

Ladymercury wrote:
bmwracer wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.
Agreed.

Ryo's fanbase needs to take off their rose-colored glasses and see his character, not him.
Thank you! It's really annoying and it kinda is splitting the fandom in half because people won't take the glasses off. :/
To be fair, I suppose you could say the same for Ruka: Pretty much everyone is sympathizing with her, mostly because her confused/conflicted character is sympathetic, but also because it's Juri-chan...

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :)

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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 19:13

bmwracer wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:
bmwracer wrote: Agreed.

Ryo's fanbase needs to take off their rose-colored glasses and see his character, not him.
Thank you! It's really annoying and it kinda is splitting the fandom in half because people won't take the glasses off. :/
To be fair, I suppose you could say the same for Ruka: Pretty much everyone is sympathizing with her, mostly because her confused/conflicted character is sympathetic, but also because it's Juri-chan...

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :)
lol

I never looked at it like that, but it could be looked at it that way -- because it is Juri-chan. But hey, her character us legitimate. XD I honestly relate to Juri because I've been in situations where I have told friends to stop feeding into the BS but they won't listen.

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Post by ^Yuuki » May 6th, '08, 19:13

Ladymercury wrote:I thought it'd be hard when Watakyou ended but then there was Hana Kimi... now that was hard cause I had no drama to watch after that XD

The relationship chart has been updated, slightly. That really bad photoshopped pic of Ryo is hard to look at XD But apparently, between Takeru and Eri it says " ゲイかも...(Probably gay....) " With the arrow pointing from Eri to Takeru. I think Eri develops this opinion about him after the ordeal in ep. 5, agreed?

Also, the boy that was once there is gone but there's a line between him and Ryo that says " Keeper's Son... " I don't know what that's about.

Yay! Took me like three years but I reached 200 posts!
The one between Eri and Takeru has been there from the start. Plus in episode 1, she already had that opinion about him. The obvious difference is the single direction arrows becoming bi-direction ones and the question marks replacing the 'hearts'. Hope this doesn't turn into Takeru's harem instead. Lol.
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Post by Iatheia » May 6th, '08, 19:15

Ladymercury wrote: It's been proven fact that when a woman is sexually abused in such a manner, its very hard for her to simply recover. Due to the short amount of time between the prologue of episode one and the current events -- It only makes sense. I doubt Michiru would have sexual contact with Sousuke after this incident or sexual contact with anyone else. Takeru is very stern about anyone coming within sexual contact with him and obviously Ruka can't get her pregnant.

It only makes sense. Also, why would she move away from Tokyo, as big as it is, and live alone in a fisherman's town? Because it is his child. Because left it all behind and that's her burden for her mistakes.

Hate to say it, but had this been another actor, I really would think people would not always second guess or defend Sousuke's actions. Seriously. I think because it is Ryo people are always defending Sousuke and always try to pain the better picture when there isn't any pretty picture.
I'm not defending anyone. In fact, I don't even like this guy. Neither the actor nor the character. I don't like any guys, period. (Well, Takeru is fine because of his gentle blue-ish color). All I'm saying is that the father of Michiru's child might be someone else. It doesn't _have_ to be him specifically. It just... feels... wong. Like a betrayal of the most canonical yuri couple...

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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 19:44

.... Who said that Michiru and Ruka were a canon yuri couple? Be realistic, Michiru is not a lesbian and is totally oblivious of Ruka's feelings for her.

I don't understand what you're trying to say there.
The one between Eri and Takeru has been there from the start. Plus in episode 1, she already had that opinion about him. The obvious difference is the single direction arrows becoming bi-direction ones and the question marks replacing the 'hearts'. Hope this doesn't turn into Takeru's harem instead. Lol.
Opps! My bad! I rarely keep up with the site XD

LOL, That'd be hilarious!

Takeru: I am a pimp, yes I am
Sousuke: D: MY GIRLFRIEND WIFE PERSON THAT I LOVE SO MUCH I'LL KILL FOR D:<
Takeru: Yes?
Sousuke: GYASE;LKASE;LKDJ;ASKDS;KADG I KEEL J00
Takeru: I don't need to fear you, I got my harem *claps hands*
Eri, Michiru, and Ruka appear
Sousuke: D: ._____________.
Screams of pain can be heard throughout Tokyo~~
Takeru: Damn, it's good to be a pimp. *holds pimp chalice* Yes it is.


That'd be the most epic ending evaaaaaaaaaaaaar. No one dies, Sousuke gets beat up, and everyone leaves happy. Cept Sousuke.

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Post by josean06 » May 6th, '08, 20:02

Wow, who knew this forum would turn into a debate and arguments forum.

Truthfully, I do like Ryo, but I hate Sousuke. The reason why we look on the optimistic side of him is because we don't know much about him. He's really the most mysterious out of all of them. We don't have many clues to why he's so possessive and abusive to Michiru.For many of the background characters as of now on the show have some basis to who they are. We're not defending him, we're just making predictions. It's all good conversation.

About the next episode, if Sousuke dies, he dies. if he lives, let's hope that his reasons for being who he is all in order for him to find help.
[/spoiler]

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Post by QNSpider » May 6th, '08, 20:05

Ladymercury wrote:.... Who said that Michiru and Ruka were a canon yuri couple? Be realistic, Michiru is not a lesbian and is totally oblivious of Ruka's feelings for her.
Promotions make people think that they are canon! lol But according to where the drama is going right now... nuh-uh, don't think so (right now). She's so very straight.

...But actually...I wouldn't just label anyone as straight or gay. Ruka did say in whichever episode that, I'm paraphrasing here, she'd give any guy her heart if they just appreciate her for who she was on the inside or something like that. I think she's just following her heart. And it happens to lead to Michiru. And Michiru's, right now, is leading to Sousuke, but that can change.

I hope that made sense. *me= :alcoholic:*

I don't think Sosuke should die by suicide now. Michiru will end up blaming herself for the rest of her life. This is gonna sound bad but the best way is if she gets hurt by him again except much more seriously (rape) and then her eyes will finally be open...then Sosuke can die. Kthxbye. xD
Last edited by QNSpider on May 6th, '08, 20:08, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Iatheia » May 6th, '08, 20:06

Ladymercury wrote:.... Who said that Michiru and Ruka were a canon yuri couple? Be realistic, Michiru is not a lesbian and is totally oblivious of Ruka's feelings for her.

I don't understand what you're trying to say there..
Not them. The original. Haruka and Michiru, Uranus and Neptune. They were the reason why I started watching this series, because before that I didn't even know what JDrama is. Just... after reading somewhere something along the lines "And Ruka exclaimed 'don't touch my Michiru!'" at first I double checked that I'm not reading something about SM.
But, while Ruka is a fair representation of Haruka, Michiru is... well... As I said that this whole situation seems like a betrayal of their relationships.

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Post by QNSpider » May 6th, '08, 20:11

^ Oh look another HxM fan *high fives you* xD

That's what...brought me to this series too. Although I've been dorama fan for sometime now. lol However AU, I swear the writers are inspired by those two characters....

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Post by ruka_michiru » May 6th, '08, 22:29

I know I'm kinda behind about the topic of adding another episode, but I just wanna post what I thought...
Ladymercury wrote: Last Friends " (A total of 12 episodes)

It was originally 11 episodes, they added an extra episode to the line up. Wonder why...
and
bmwracer wrote: I wonder if people were dissatisfied with the ending of the show at 11 episodes that they had to add another to appease people...
I found this weird too. Financially speaking, as what it mentioned before, it would really cost the producers a hell lotta money to add and to "revised" (perhaps) the ending. Unless of coarse they're all filthy rich, and they want this drama to make a BIG impact to everybody. Maybe the producers "changed" their minds and decided to do what "most of us" like. Because let's face it, this is Japan, Michiru ending up and living happily ever after with Ruka (the "ending" that I wished) would surely be a big question mark. But since Ruka is a very interesting character and is “gaining” viewers’ sympathy, maybe, just MAYBE they (the producers) could take a very bold and radical step of ending this drama by way of, Michiru, “realizing and acknowledging” her feelings for Ruka. I know, that it would take a lot of courage for a tv network/producer to make that move. But I hope the producers of Last Friends would break "that barrier".
lzydata wrote: But I'll take this as an encouraging sign that the story's rich enough to sustain another episode. Unless, of course, they simply pack it with flashbacks
I hope there won’t be any flashbacks anymore.

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Post by Ladymercury » May 6th, '08, 22:47

Or maybe they did this way before people figured out the twelve episode deal, because looking at the topic backlog, the 12 episode announcement is one of the first things mentioned.

There's more to this story than these characters, like that little boy that's going to come in to Sousuke's life. Maybe it'll be a recap special. Who knows? I don't think the producers would rewrite the ending or that would have been in the news. I mean, if a children's show change of writers and ending can get into the news than a prime time drama change with a big name cast would as well.

I think I'm thinking this way because I want Michiru to be alone. No relationships. Nothing for quite sometime. I want the drama, I don't want happy endings. Meh. I've watched one too many dramas where happy endings don't really exist. Except for 14sai no Haha, that one had a relatively happy ending.

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Post by bmwracer » May 6th, '08, 23:29

Ladymercury wrote:Or maybe they did this way before people figured out the twelve episode deal, because looking at the topic backlog, the 12 episode announcement is one of the first things mentioned.

There's more to this story than these characters, like that little boy that's going to come in to Sousuke's life. Maybe it'll be a recap special. Who knows? I don't think the producers would rewrite the ending or that would have been in the news. I mean, if a children's show change of writers and ending can get into the news than a prime time drama change with a big name cast would as well.

I think I'm thinking this way because I want Michiru to be alone. No relationships. Nothing for quite sometime. I want the drama, I don't want happy endings. Meh. I've watched one too many dramas where happy endings don't really exist. Except for 14sai no Haha, that one had a relatively happy ending.
I think episode 12 is gonna be like that episode of Dallas: everything that occured before was all a dream... Everyone's friends with everyone else and everyone's happy... :lol :lol :lol

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Post by royuki » May 6th, '08, 23:43

Me too! I was attracted to this dorama because I heard there were characters that were similar to Haruka and Michiru and I got curious too, but really it was the theme song that got me really hooked.

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Post by Ladymercury » May 7th, '08, 00:25

bmwracer wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:Or maybe they did this way before people figured out the twelve episode deal, because looking at the topic backlog, the 12 episode announcement is one of the first things mentioned.

There's more to this story than these characters, like that little boy that's going to come in to Sousuke's life. Maybe it'll be a recap special. Who knows? I don't think the producers would rewrite the ending or that would have been in the news. I mean, if a children's show change of writers and ending can get into the news than a prime time drama change with a big name cast would as well.

I think I'm thinking this way because I want Michiru to be alone. No relationships. Nothing for quite sometime. I want the drama, I don't want happy endings. Meh. I've watched one too many dramas where happy endings don't really exist. Except for 14sai no Haha, that one had a relatively happy ending.
I think episode 12 is gonna be like that episode of Dallas: everything that occured before was all a dream... Everyone's friends with everyone else and everyone's happy... :lol :lol :lol
LOL, That'd be so hilarious if that really happened :w00t:

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Post by bmwracer » May 7th, '08, 03:12

Ladymercury wrote:
bmwracer wrote:
Ladymercury wrote:Or maybe they did this way before people figured out the twelve episode deal, because looking at the topic backlog, the 12 episode announcement is one of the first things mentioned.

There's more to this story than these characters, like that little boy that's going to come in to Sousuke's life. Maybe it'll be a recap special. Who knows? I don't think the producers would rewrite the ending or that would have been in the news. I mean, if a children's show change of writers and ending can get into the news than a prime time drama change with a big name cast would as well.

I think I'm thinking this way because I want Michiru to be alone. No relationships. Nothing for quite sometime. I want the drama, I don't want happy endings. Meh. I've watched one too many dramas where happy endings don't really exist. Except for 14sai no Haha, that one had a relatively happy ending.
I think episode 12 is gonna be like that episode of Dallas: everything that occured before was all a dream... Everyone's friends with everyone else and everyone's happy... :lol :lol :lol
LOL, That'd be so hilarious if that really happened :w00t:
That would definitely catch everyone off guard... :lol

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Post by QNSpider » May 7th, '08, 03:13

^ That would be a very lame ending, omg. o_O I would laugh out so loud.

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Post by sleepyzzz » May 7th, '08, 03:49

^Yuuki: About whether she knows about Ruka's feelings, if you look at her expressions during scenes like "Don't touch my Michiru!" and the 'Ruka treats Michiru like a guy' in episode 3, she seems to kinda know that something is going on but is in denial or scared to confront Ruka about it. OR, she felt that it's always been normal behaviour for Ruka and is thinking 'why is everyone saying weird things like that?'.
I agree on this! I thought it was just my eyes but I definitely sensed something from Michiru's expression after the 'Ruka acts like a guy to Michiru' scene - i rewatched it like 3 times! haha I don't think it is straight denial - more like her mind is just full of Sousuke at the moment and Ruka's behaviour is just 'normal'. There was some "sweetness" in that scene that I can't explain. They seemed so right for each other!

I also agree on QNSpider's comment:
But actually...I wouldn't just label anyone as straight or gay. Ruka did say in whichever episode that, I'm paraphrasing here, she'd give any guy her heart if they just appreciate her for who she was on the inside or something like that. I think she's just following her heart. And it happens to lead to Michiru. And Michiru's, right now, is leading to Sousuke, but that can change.
I actually don't see this all as lesbian/forbiddenlove etc kind of story. It just comes down to who you're comfortable with and who you care about. That's it.

Btw, was it just me, but at the end of episode 4, when Michiru wakes up in the morning to see Ruka in the living room - did she have an odd look on her face? Almost like she was trying to go and see Sousuke behind her back? Or call Sousuke? She seemed to act a bit awkward...

1 day left - sorry I just can't help it!!

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Post by Ladymercury » May 7th, '08, 06:09

sleepyzzz wrote:
did she have an odd look on her face? Almost like she was trying to go and see Sousuke behind her back? Or call Sousuke? She seemed to act a bit awkward...

1 day left - sorry I just can't help it!!
Michiru checked her cellphone and only two other people know that number -- Sousuke and her useless mother, so I assume she was so adamant on putting out the trash so she can actually have time to check her cellphone without Ruka over her shoulder making sure she didn't call him.

Also, I don't know why people think Last Friends is a forbidden lesbian love story... Just because there's some similarities between Michiru and Ruka to Sailormoon doesn't mean the writers wrote this story to strictly be a relationship. The show is about issues that are predominant in Japan, no the world, and how much they affect people.

Ruka's issue isn't just only her feelings for Michiru, but the fact that she can't come out the closet. She has to hide who she is because if she came out she could lose everything and everyone around her. Ruka knows that if she declared her love for Michiru, Michiru may not take it in the same way as she does. Ruka knows this and she suffers because she can't stop loving her -- So the only thing she can do is protect her and watch her from afar.

This is a realistic story, not l ike a BL movie where characters magically become gay. I really don't see the romantic relationship between them. Already, the chart (before the edited it again) clearly stated that Michiru was to have feelings for Takeru.

Ruka is liberation. Ruka's story is not solitude, agony, love, or contradiction. It's liberation -- and giving Ruka a love story JUST because she's in love with Michiru defeats that purpose and would kill the show for me to be quite frank. Too fairy tale in a too real story about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and loveless relationships. A perfect ending for Ruka is for her to finally come out the closet and deal with her horrors as a lesbian hiding from the world rather than try and shack up with a woman who already is emotionally and mentally scarred.

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Post by ^Yuuki » May 7th, '08, 17:26

Ladymercury wrote:Also, I don't know why people think Last Friends is a forbidden lesbian love story... Just because there's some similarities between Michiru and Ruka to Sailormoon doesn't mean the writers wrote this story to strictly be a relationship. The show is about issues that are predominant in Japan, no the world, and how much they affect people.

Ruka's issue isn't just only her feelings for Michiru, but the fact that she can't come out the closet. She has to hide who she is because if she came out she could lose everything and everyone around her. Ruka knows that if she declared her love for Michiru, Michiru may not take it in the same way as she does. Ruka knows this and she suffers because she can't stop loving her -- So the only thing she can do is protect her and watch her from afar.

This is a realistic story, not l ike a BL movie where characters magically become gay. I really don't see the romantic relationship between them. Already, the chart (before the edited it again) clearly stated that Michiru was to have feelings for Takeru.

Ruka is liberation. Ruka's story is not solitude, agony, love, or contradiction. It's liberation -- and giving Ruka a love story JUST because she's in love with Michiru defeats that purpose and would kill the show for me to be quite frank. Too fairy tale in a too real story about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and loveless relationships. A perfect ending for Ruka is for her to finally come out the closet and deal with her horrors as a lesbian hiding from the world rather than try and shack up with a woman who already is emotionally and mentally scarred.
They mentioned before that the show would deal with sexless-ness. I was wondering what that means but I think I get it a little now after seeing Ruka and Takeru. I'm not sure that Ruka's issue is just that she can't come out of the closet. There seems to be something deeper than that...they haven't revisit that 'urology' issue yet but I'm sure they would sooner or later. Then there's her reaction with the incident with the coach, I thought it was a bit odd. "I'm no good when those things are done to me" or "More than the other person, it's having such things done to me that makes me shiver"...hmm, it seemed like something she already knows about herself even before what just happened. The question is why? She's similar to Takeru in many ways but I doubt they share the same past. Ruka comes from a great, warm and supportive family(from what they've shown us).

And yeah, the story isn't just about forbidden relationship. I admit that I'd like to see more Ruka/Michiru but I'm glad that they didn't give 'special treatment' or make it such a big issue(Juri Ueno kissing Masami Nagasawa?? If it's in the west, it'll probably be made a big deal even before the show starts...). Each character has their own issues but they are still 'tied' together with other characters and their issues. They need to first confront their own inner demons before they can move forward with the relationship with other people. Else, things would just crash and burn~
I agree on this! I thought it was just my eyes but I definitely sensed something from Michiru's expression after the 'Ruka acts like a guy to Michiru' scene - i rewatched it like 3 times! haha I don't think it is straight denial - more like her mind is just full of Sousuke at the moment and Ruka's behaviour is just 'normal'. There was some "sweetness" in that scene that I can't explain. They seemed so right for each other!
Yeah, *looks at own siggy*. =3 Takeru kinda 'knows' too. With the way he has been acting and supporting from the background, he can't not know already. And the way Michiru softly smilled at Ruka from the back was a nice touch too(after Ruka suggested they play Old Maid).

About the additional episode thing, since they are still filming the series as it's broadcasted, the future episodes are still entitled for changes any time. Shouldn't be too drastic a change since they should have an ending planned when they started(the drama starts at the 'end'...). But who knows, I think they've seen people's reaction and now only get the clear direction they should head.

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Post by Tomi » May 7th, '08, 19:45

Ladymercury wrote:
sleepyzzz wrote:
did she have an odd look on her face? Almost like she was trying to go and see Sousuke behind her back? Or call Sousuke? She seemed to act a bit awkward...

1 day left - sorry I just can't help it!!
Michiru checked her cellphone and only two other people know that number -- Sousuke and her useless mother, so I assume she was so adamant on putting out the trash so she can actually have time to check her cellphone without Ruka over her shoulder making sure she didn't call him.

Also, I don't know why people think Last Friends is a forbidden lesbian love story... Just because there's some similarities between Michiru and Ruka to Sailormoon doesn't mean the writers wrote this story to strictly be a relationship. The show is about issues that are predominant in Japan, no the world, and how much they affect people.

Ruka's issue isn't just only her feelings for Michiru, but the fact that she can't come out the closet. She has to hide who she is because if she came out she could lose everything and everyone around her. Ruka knows that if she declared her love for Michiru, Michiru may not take it in the same way as she does. Ruka knows this and she suffers because she can't stop loving her -- So the only thing she can do is protect her and watch her from afar.

This is a realistic story, not l ike a BL movie where characters magically become gay. I really don't see the romantic relationship between them. Already, the chart (before the edited it again) clearly stated that Michiru was to have feelings for Takeru.

Ruka is liberation. Ruka's story is not solitude, agony, love, or contradiction. It's liberation -- and giving Ruka a love story JUST because she's in love with Michiru defeats that purpose and would kill the show for me to be quite frank. Too fairy tale in a too real story about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and loveless relationships. A perfect ending for Ruka is for her to finally come out the closet and deal with her horrors as a lesbian hiding from the world rather than try and shack up with a woman who already is emotionally and mentally scarred.
I agree with this. If they were to put Michiru and Ruka or Michiru and Takeru or any other sort of combination of those together, it would completely ruin the whole purpose of this dorama turning something that could/is possibly barrier-breaking and eye-opening into another typical love-story. The writers, I think at this point, have proven how much they want to get the message out to people about the Real life problems of Japan. So far, I think that Last Friends is very inspirational in that personally, it reassures me that my investment in majoring in social work in college will not go to waste and really that people can always help others...it's sort of priceless.

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Post by ^Yuuki » May 7th, '08, 19:53

I think it's still possible to get the message out and still have some sort of a happy ending right? I wouldn't want the fairytale kind where all the problems are forgotten and they just live happily ever after. But something bittersweet with a closure that could give the viewers strength instead of a bleak look of the future would be good. Hard to do though. About the typical love-story thing, episode 1 already started with the opposite of typical so, heheh, I hope it ends that way too.

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Post by Smilebigokaise » May 7th, '08, 20:34

where can i watch this...

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Post by son2 » May 7th, '08, 23:51

^ try veoh.

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Post by haruko17 » May 8th, '08, 01:02

i joined this forum just to talk about last friends XD

with regards to the spin-off movie, this is what wiki says:
ドラマとの連動企画として、滝川エリ役の水川あさみを主演としたスピンオフムービー『エリー my Love』が各話放送終了直後にフジテレビ On Demandで配信。通常は有料であるが、各話放送終了後1時間程度は無料で配信される。

rough translation:
Planned along with the drama, a spin-off movie starring Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri called "Eri- my Love" will air on Fuji Television On Demand immediately following the broadcast ending(of the drama). Normally there is a charge(for On Demand), but for one hour immediately following the broadcast ending it will air with no charge.

So im guess the girl on the movie website who was sitting on the bench was Eri.

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Post by josean06 » May 8th, '08, 01:02


Ruka is liberation. Ruka's story is not solitude, agony, love, or contradiction. It's liberation -- and giving Ruka a love story JUST because she's in love with Michiru defeats that purpose and would kill the show for me to be quite frank. Too fairy tale in a too real story about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and loveless relationships. A perfect ending for Ruka is for her to finally come out the closet and deal with her horrors as a lesbian hiding from the world rather than try and shack up with a woman who already is emotionally and mentally scarred.
you forgot one thing. Ruka's problem is not only being a lesbian, and how that would affect everyone around her life. But she wants to be treated as a person. She is always being called a "woman," truthfully that is what she is, but as a person, she is Ruka. Her motocross is really frustrating to her in a sense that she'll always be a woman, and everyone will always put her down for that. They don't treat her as a racer, but a racer who's a woman. If she was to beat a man in motocross, the man would feel as if he got beat by a girl, and not a better racer. She just wants to be treated equally. Which is also a large issue in Japan, as woman are somewhat inferior to the men. If a superior woman shows up, people feel uneasy (if you've seen Kimi wa Petto, you know what I mean). To be liberated of being a lesbian is one thing, but to be liberated from being just a woman is a whole different story, and a larger one. Michiru is the only one to treat her as a person, not as a woman-type or a man-type (as Eri points out in epi.4). Which is why she feels an attraction to her, the only one who sees her for who she is, regardless of Michiru's gender or sexual orientation. [/quote]

AKlRA
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Post by AKlRA » May 8th, '08, 09:06

Okay so I just joined this forum, for the sole purpose of having my input on this drama lol

Whoever said this reminds them of 'LIFE' is right. That's what I thought too while watching Last Friends.
I'm impressed by all the interpertations and inputs about this drama and it's characters. It's one of the most
intriguing drama I've seen in a long time. Seriously the only other drama I've actually made the effort to input on
was a 2003 drama called Sora Kara Furu Ichioku No Hoshi starring Kimura Takuya.

So first off I want to say how interesting I thought it was to see THREE of the main characters from NODAME CANTABILE
in this drama. lol! I'm sure al you Nodame fans thought the same thing. I mean this drama is so INTENSE and the characters
are so different than in Nodame. That's also when I discovered Miss Juri's talent! She is AMAZING in Nodame and her
character as Ruka is so believable that you'd think it wasn't the same actress that played the quirky, cute, and oddball Nodame. I was seriously impressed. I don't know why I've never heard of Ueno Juri before -_-; but I love her in Last Friends.
That hairstyle looks cute on her xD

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Post by belleza » May 8th, '08, 09:46

Plus there's also a bit of clever gender role-playing going between Michiru, Takeru and Ruka . . . of which subtext I think Eita has been most successful in realizing. (late, late, late) Episode 4 thoughts to follow . . .
If you rewatch episode 4 from the perspective of strictly Michiru, without empathizing with Ruka, I think you could make the case that Ruka, in spite of truly good intentions, wasn't helping Michiru that much. While I was watching the first 15 minutes of the episode, I kept on thinking "oh Ruka, why do you have to be such a guy?!? Michiru doesn't need you to protect her from her big, bad boyfriend. She just needs somebody to talk to, and you're shutting down Michiru by telling her her boyfriend is a monster." When she's sharing his story, when she's talking about having the same parents, when she reproaches them with "you don't understand", her way of saying "you're not really listening to me!" And when Ruka asks her how many times this has happened and tells her that Sosuke will continue beating her, Michiru feels like she's being patronized and in effect replies "well, uhhh, thanks, but you know, I've dealt with this before. You can give me and us more credit than that." Michiru doesn't realize she's hurting Ruka; but then, Ruka doesn't realize that she's not really helping her by keeping her in the house.

I feel bad for Ruka, because she's only doing what anybody who any decent person in love would do. The harder she tries to protect Michiru, the more she'll end up driving her back to Sosuke, having lost the opportunity to actually protect Michiru by helping her make important decisions, to bring her to a crossroad with Sosuke. Ruka's hands tremble with a burdened love . . . and so she knows not she's smothering Michiru with it, and seeding her own jealousy and resentment.

Ruka should watch how Takeru interacts with the women in the house. He establishes trust; he creates a safe, warm space without judgment, so they can bring out their own thoughts. He listens

Juri did some wonderful acting in the bar scene; there's a unique wrinkle here in that she's not just processing the post-trauma shock that oftens after physical assault; she's also trying to relax the intense, intense sexual repulsion that nobody else can understand. That is, nobody but Takeru. Eita's acting in the bar scene was so good -- watch the deliberateness of his body language, eye presence, and speech as he engages her. He's doing what a good crisis management does, establishing rapport and trust with the other severely agitated person, carefully testing the boundaries of their space in order to bring them out of their extreme agitation. Watch how Takeru paces Ruka -- "do you trust me? I am here. is this hand on your shoulder okay? I am safe. do you feel open? This hand is safe; this contact with a man is safe; let the repulsion leave you with my hand. I am your safe place." Taking on empathic elements considered "female", Takeru allowed Ruka to be vulnerable without feeling weak.

Eita's interpretation of Takeru is full enough that you can also pick up when he resolves himself to cross over his own safe space in order to help Ruka. He may not fully realize it, but his counseling of her, his putting himself out there in also an risky, intimate situation, is also therapy for him. Eita enables us to walk with his character Takeru in this gradual, intimate act of emotional bravery.

It's also ironic that, even without really realizing what, Takeru also keyed off a similar change in Michiru. More than what Ruka could do for her. Michiru already seems internally comparing her boyfriend's intense, violent possessiveness with Takeru's smiling, soft hand with his friends. And Michiru compares her own career with Takeru's much larger and exciting world, and it wakes up something in her. It's not a basis for love; it's a challenge brought about by friendship.

Ironically, I think Michiru and Sosuke share elements of that in their relationship, which is very difficult for Ruka to process. I felt the bar scene was one of not that many examples so far in Last Friends where we fully experience a dynamic between two people, where we weren't seeing a substantion of one's person desire or an "After School Special lessons" expressed by the characters. Where we were allowed to observe friendship without having it spelled out. The other notable example, for me, was the first fight between Michiru and Sosuke. In that scene, we observe that Sosuke assaults her with an impersonal, almost rote sense of purpose, and speculate that this very scene has happened again and again in their relationship. And likewise, we also observe that Michiru -- in her own way -- has found a way to survive Sosuke's violence and almost pace him from him losing all control. In other words, Michiru knows how to calm down the wild animal in Sosuke, and to contain her fear even while her body is being slammed around. It's not a healthy relationship; but it's a real interaction in a real relationship

I haven't made up my mind about Ryo's performance thus far, partially because the writing does not allow us to observe Sosuke with the same honesty and objectivity that we have with the other characters. If Eita had played the role of Sosuke, he would have more fully realized the emotional violence and his compulsive insecurity possible with Sosuke, and in turn would have created a much more terrifying character with much, much more terrifying scenes. BUT, that would not have been good with this drama. Because so much of the narrative is structured as a psychological thriller with Sosuke as the principal villain. And he's most definitely a villian here; it's IMO a significant flaw with the story. The story is compulsively addicting due to both the writer and director keying off tropes in line with stalker thrillers, "sleeping with the enemy" Lifetime dramas, and gothic (suffering in the rain) antihero dramas. But, it also caricaturizes the very credible circumstances and terrain of Sosuke's psyche, and turns what ought to be the corrosive dynamics of Michiru/Sosuke's relationships into not a ongoing dialogue on domestic violence, but a kind of thrill ride. It's forced us to frame Sosuke within the stereotypes of "stalker", "monster-child", and other labels, and to frame Ruka as "hero"/"heroine" with a "rooting interest" in her own predicament. That in turn has limited the actual dialogue between Michiru, Sosuke, and Ruka, since now we're mostly concerned about Ruka's feelings for Michiru (over Ruka's frustrations over her gender and sexual identity), Michiru's love/fear of Sosuke (rather than open a more honest dialogue into why she continues this relationship), and Sosuke's violent possessiveness (rather than his Sosuke's Finally it creates a dichotomy of "main story" and "side story" so far, trivializing and undernourishing the other developing relationships in the story as a "respite" from the "domestic violence" plot with Michiru.

Hopefully the drama will develop Sosuke away as the cartoon boogieman for all sob-story wifebeaters. But, although a lot of NeWs fans may be projecting Ryo onto the role, this is not a bad thing. If a more veteran actor like Eita might have filled out the monster/tortured shell of the character, it would have also thrown the balance of the whole drama too far into an "every breath you take" psycho-drama, turning the story into a perpetual motion machine of dread. In fact, this is a good example of what I call the "Kimataku Rules." Which is that by projecting our preconceptions of the idol onto the character, we (or specifically "fangirl nation") reflexively dull the character's frightful habits with a more sullen, boyish and ultimately sympathetic image, so that the script itself doesn't have to. We project Ryo's image of a serious, yet seriously dorky (and always sincere) sensibility onto his character. Although Sosuke does these horrible things, we also kind of see him as not quite a man and therefore not quite hardened by his history of violence. It offsets Sosuke's brutishness, and it also lends a more diminuitive, palpable, "human" dimension to his demons that the drama so far has not allowed. In other words, we could imagine that a guy who's just not very good with people can break the things he loves, with his hands trembling with equal degrees of love and evil. Whatever Sosuke does, whatever we hate him for, we want to see the "meaning" behind it; we want him to "mean" better. Fangirl compassion wins, but it also improves the quality of the performance.
I like where the story is going, but I do hope they turn down the "battered housewife" histrionics and allow each person's rite of passage to take over the twists in the story. We know a tragedy is coming, but before we watch how they fall, we want to see how they tried to fly. Every one.

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Post by Nomanymore » May 8th, '08, 10:02

haruko17 wrote:i joined this forum just to talk about last friends XD

with regards to the spin-off movie, this is what wiki says:
ドラマとの連動企画として、滝川エリ役の水川あさみを主演としたスピンオフムービー『エリー my Love』が各話放送終了直後にフジテレビ On Demandで配信。通常は有料であるが、各話放送終了後1時間程度は無料で配信される。

rough translation:
Planned along with the drama, a spin-off movie starring Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri called "Eri- my Love" will air on Fuji Television On Demand immediately following the broadcast ending(of the drama). Normally there is a charge(for On Demand), but for one hour immediately following the broadcast ending it will air with no charge.

So im guess the girl on the movie website who was sitting on the bench was Eri.
woa is it true?? confirmed? XD XD if it is, yay for more Eri :wub:
But what does it mean "no charge" ?

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Post by QNSpider » May 8th, '08, 10:10

belleza wrote:I like where the story is going, but I do hope they turn down the "battered housewife" histrionics and allow each person's rite of passage to take over the twists in the story. We know a tragedy is coming, but before we watch how they fall, we want to see how they tried to fly. Every one.
I agree. It's getting a bit overplayed, in my opinion. Can't he spend one moment without hitting her, geez...

Salz
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Post by Salz » May 8th, '08, 10:12

@belezza
ur summary of all the character is soooo good and very detailed^^
especially ur opinion of Takeru and Eita...
could never say better word myself^^
Eita and Juri is such great actors

AKlRA
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Post by AKlRA » May 8th, '08, 11:03

Okay so Last Friends. I think one of the reasons that this drama is capturing people is from the conflict that is dealt
with Ueno Juri's character, Ruka. Sure there have been instances of homosexuality in other dramas but RARELY
do you see lesbian issues, it's usually gay. (plus Ruka's cute. I'm sure that helps lol)

I'm going to try not to sound like a parrot on this topic since alot has already been discussed but I just thought I'd like
to share my personal opinion on this drama and these characters.
RUKA:
As viewers I think it's common for everyone to sympathize and side with Ruka because her problem seems more
troublesome than anyone elses. But to me I see Ruka's as the LEAST sympathetic character (well maybe not the least).
Ruka, is a woman who loves another woman. But throughout the drama she seems to emphasize the fact
that she is not a "woman" but she is who she is, Ruka. In that case if we look at it in her perspective, she is
just a person who loves another person who doesn't know about it. Basically a story of unrequited love (one sided).
Ruka's character is still a mystery. It's hard to label
her as 'lesbian' because she shows no interest in other females either. She doesn't seem to dispise men but doesn't
particularly favor women (besides the whole 'no men' in the share house thing in the beginning, but that makes sense).
In episode 4. when her coach kissed her she was so repulsed by it, a reaction that isn't normal to even a man. We
get to see a side of Ruka we have never seen thus far, a fearful Ruka. It makes me wonder if Ruka has always set
her eyes on Michiru since they were young or if something caused her to hate men.

As viewers we already know that Ruka will probably be the most hurt in the end but if Ruka
really is homosexual, she can move on from Michiru. If she ends up with a man (i know many want to see
Takeru + Ruka together) then perhaps she wasn't homosexual at all. Perhaps Ruka just feels that out of everyone
in this world she loves her dearest friend Michiru the most and she would do anything to take care of and watch out
for her, as a strong, caring man would. Afterall, Michiru is a much more timid character who gets stepped on by others
and is tangible to domestic violence. Ruka's personality is the opposite. She stands up for herself, she doesn't let
people step all over her. To Ruka, she may have fallen in love with that kind of person, someone she can care for,
someone sensitive, soft, and dependent. And that kind of sensitivity is found in Michiru. If that is the case, then Ruka
can find happiness.
Afterall it really isn't emphasized that Ruka is lesbian. The more emphasis is on how Ruka wants to be treated as neither
man nor woman but as person in general. As a motocross rider she wants to be the best motocross rider, not the best
WOMAN motocross rider. When she tells her coach these things it doesn't come off as Ruka being angry that she cannot
be a man, but instead because Ruka is a WOMAN, she feels that this title leaves her weak and only seen as what the rest
of the world sees as a WOMAN which leaves her feeling helpless to both Michiru and herself. This theory can also be seen
from her reaction to Takeru. Ruka says to Takeru in episode 4. "if it's Takeru, it's okay." meaning that she isn't afraid of him
even though he is a man. This scene displays alot of emotions but also a glimpse of Ruka's personality. Because Takeru is
shown as such a sensitive guy, it is no wonder that Ruka feels comfortable around him. Of course Takeru being a bit girly
isn't going to make Ruka fall in love with him, but it's an interesting thought that maybe Ruka just needs someone that she
can take care and lookout for. Also I had a suspicion of Ruka being a hermaphrodite because of several factors. First off when she is on her computer looking at possible gender change. A gender change would mean that they would remove her breast and genitals, which would make her gender MALE completely. That would be the whole purpose right? I mean if it
were just a sex change what would be the point in that? So she can have sex with women? I dont know about that, I'm not
buying that Ruka just wants to have sex with women, she obviously wants to be fully a MAN. But what if she was in fact a
hermaphrodite (meaning she is female but with male body part tissue which makes her technically a man, but gender wise
a woman or vice versa) and the reason that she is so EAGER looking up on that website is so she can be operated into
a full WOMAN. I know it sounds farfetched but if you think about it, it's not impossible. It could be the reason why she spites
her own reflection when she's looking at herself in the locker room, a scene which is emphasized more than once. The only
debunking of that theory would be the fact that her father seems so normal to her about finding "men" and if it were a genetics
case for Ruka, her parents would surely know that. BUT it doesn't mean that a hermaphrodite woman cannot love men
either. It could be the reason why her father is so supportive and sensitive to Ruka in supporting her in what she does.
just a theory though. :P
would only want to get just her

SOUSUKE:
To be honest the character I am MOST curious about, is SOUSUKE.
Call it good acting... in acting...but in episode 4 my perspective of Sousuke changed.
When Sousuke tells Michiru that he will always wait for her, I had a different view of him.
Most people might take that as bullcrap and that he's just trying to get her back because he's lonely,
but that's the thing about him is that he IS lonely.
Someone who abuses their lover is not in the right mindset. There is obviously something
wrong with the person and perhaps some traumatizing event occured in the past.
Most cases of domestic violence usually comes from the abuser being abused in his/her childhood.
Psychologically speaking, a person who abuses someone they love are either violent by nature or
grew up experiencing abuse as a form of showing affection (and i am not talking about s&m). But because
Sousuke is not naturally violent, I can only speculate that this DV nature comes from his childhood past.
This can also be evident by his occupation. Sousuke is defined by 'CONTRADICTION'
because he abuses Michiru yet his work centers around abused children. We can all establish the fact that
Sousuke DOES love Michiru, but feels that in order to keep her from straying or disobeying him, he must
hit her as a form of punishment. Why does he work in a field where he helps abused children? I sympathize
for Sousuke because he has a problem. Although he doesn't HAVE to hit Michiru, something binds him in his
mental state to react to his anger physically before he realizes what he's doing. We know this because
as soon as he hits Michiru the first time, he embraces her after, like a mother who hits their child and embraces them
after letting them know that they didn't "mean to" and that they love them and that hitting them was on impulse of anger.
Sousuke is probably the most loneliest person because without Michiru he has noone. He only has his work
which makes him feel even more lonely. What Sousuke does is wrong and how he tries to keep Michiru
to himself, away from her happiness and freedom is not an act of love but an act of greed. But he is nontheless
a person who has issues, like Ruka with her self or Takeru and his trauma.
This drama portrays every issue, be it with sympathy, with anger, or feeling helpless.
I am definately looking forward to what happens to each character, how their feelings are resolved and in the end
if anything changed.



[ Personally i think this drama should be called LIFE and life should be called LAST FRIENDS lol ]



my thought on the INTRO.
Well my first reaction to the beginning was that Ruka, whoever she may be, was going to die at the end
but I see as the drama progresses, that may not be the case. I feel that "DEATH" that Michiru mentions in
the beginning is someone that was part of the share house but not Ruka. I don't think it's Sousuke but at the same time I want to gear towards him because he's such a somber
character even in the beginning and even more throughout the drama, he seems like
the type to have committed a tragic thing like suicide, but then again I'm not too sure.
I think the only sure fired way he would commit suicide is if Michiru left him FOR GOOD
but that seems unlikely because afterall Michiru BETRAYS Ruka right?
I'm pretty sure that it's a suicide whatever the tragic death may be. If it is in fact
suicide then my second suspicion would be Takeru but his will to protect Ruka doesn't
seem like it will fall short and I very much doubt he would kill himself with Ruka to still
protect.
So in my mind it narrows down to Eri, Ogurin, Michiru's mom or step-dad, and whoever
else. Just my speculation FOR NOW, it's still kind of early in the drama to say, but so
far this drama is very good and I admit that I favor Ruka, Ueno Juri the most out of the
cast so I'll be hopefull that nothing bad happens to Ruka xD

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Post by bmwracer » May 8th, '08, 13:40

AKlRA wrote:So first off I want to say how interesting I thought it was to see THREE of the main characters from NODAME CANTABILE
in this drama. lol! I'm sure al you Nodame fans thought the same thing. I mean this drama is so INTENSE and the characters
are so different than in Nodame. That's also when I discovered Miss Juri's talent! She is AMAZING in Nodame and her
character as Ruka is so believable that you'd think it wasn't the same actress that played the quirky, cute, and oddball Nodame. I was seriously impressed. I don't know why I've never heard of Ueno Juri before -_-; but I love her in Last Friends.
That hairstyle looks cute on her xD
Juri-chan seems to effortlessly put in 150% into her work, no matter how big or small the role... She's just a terrific actress. :thumright:

ruka_michiru
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Post by ruka_michiru » May 8th, '08, 15:22

sleepyzzz wrote:
^Yuuki: About whether she knows about Ruka's feelings, if you look at her expressions during scenes like "Don't touch my Michiru!" and the 'Ruka treats Michiru like a guy' in episode 3, she seems to kinda know that something is going on but is in denial or scared to confront Ruka about it. OR, she felt that it's always been normal behaviour for Ruka and is thinking 'why is everyone saying weird things like that?'.
I agree on this! I thought it was just my eyes but I definitely sensed something from Michiru's expression after the 'Ruka acts like a guy to Michiru' scene - i rewatched it like 3 times! haha I don't think it is straight denial - more like her mind is just full of Sousuke at the moment and Ruka's behaviour is just 'normal'. There was some "sweetness" in that scene that I can't explain. They seemed so right for each other!
This is just so true, there seem to be a"mutual understanding" and undeniable "sweetness" between Ruka and Michiru in that scene. It just came out naturally.

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Post by ainhoa » May 8th, '08, 15:58

Doesn't episode 5 come out today?

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Post by sexy_kakashi » May 8th, '08, 16:24

ainhoa wrote:Doesn't episode 5 come out today?
yup, the RAW came out today.

@ belleza and AKIRA:
i love how you guyz explore and convey your outmost understanding of the characters in last friends, i totally agree with both of your opinions :salut:
things like these that make reading the forum threads oh-so-enjoyable. thank you so much!!! :wub:

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Post by xquasarx » May 8th, '08, 16:37

next episode...
sousuke lives. ~_~ and becomes even worse. i think he says, "kimi o boku no mono" to michiru, which roughly translates to: you are mine.
episode 5 is such a surprise... O_O if i didn't misunderstood, it was ruka who suggested that takeru is better for michiru than sousuke is?

>_<

Ladymercury
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Post by Ladymercury » May 8th, '08, 17:56

I just saw episode 5. *rubs against Utatane, I love you so much*

Wow, where to begin, where to begin.....

JGL;KJALSDKJGSG Wait, let me get my thoughts together before I post a summary but... my god.... Some of our speculations played out while others didn't. I'll say that.
As for Sousuke.... Let's say he doesn't go through with the suicide just yet in this episode for it is a CLIFFHANGER
Okay, thoughts together:
I would like to say that this is the first time ever in watching this show where I actually wanted Michiru to stop listening to Ruka and actually help Sousuke. I don't know why, I guess because Sousuke just seemed so pathetic that he even had me thinking that he may need more attention than we should give him -- Too bad I was wrong by the time Sousuke reverted back to his old crazy ass self.

Michiru does help Sousuke in the first half of the episode, but constantly reminding him that she is helping him and that she'll never go back to him unless he changed his ways. They part ways, after when Sousuke actually allowed Michiru to live her life. Yes, he actually let her go. He never called her, never waited for her outside the store, and did not go looking for her.

She returns "home" where she lets everyone know she's returned back to her job. With little apprehension from Eri and Ruja, Takeru supports her and Eri presents her with a key to the share house. I have a feeling this key will play a major point in this drama....

Then, like a Stockholm Syndrome, Michiru is feeling alone. Yes, she has the share house, but its like she lost something. She looks outside the window of her job that she finally came back too expecting him to be there, yet he's not. She checks her cell phone for the countless messages he leaves but there's none there. Finally, on one of her breaks, a few days later she calls the children's welfare department of the government ward asking for Sousuke. The lady lets her know that Sousuke has not came in for quite some time (man, what a nice job he has).

This gives Michiru reason to actually go and visit Sousuke without feeling guilty for doing so. She wants to check up on him, why is that so bad? No one answers the door, so she uses her key to enter the apartment. Its dark, as if no one is living in there. She calls out his name and she hears him, he's still bed ridden. He hasn't changed his clothes, and it doesn't look like he's even taken a shower.

Michiru checks up on him. His fever is down but he tells her he hasn't eaten anything nor did anything since she left. She tells him to stop it and that she'll make him a dish. As she's feeding him he mentions to her that he's sick because she isn't within him. Michiru basically doesn't want to feed into his nonesense and he doesn't want to accept her reluctance. He wraps his arms around her tightly and pulls her onto the bed, against his body burrying his face in her neck.

Michiru tells him to let her go but he doesn't. She tells him that this isn't the time or place to do this but he doesn't listen and she forces herself out of his hold. Sousuke leans back into the bed, frowning, as she looks down at him, near the window.

Michiru: I'm sorry. I'll be leaving
Sousuke: Why must you be like this?

Sousuke mentions to Michiru that she's acting like this because of that "Ruka-thing" but Michiru yells at him saying " It isn't like that! ", that she basically doesn't feel safe around him anymore but Sousuke is now angry and yells at her, throwing the rice bowl at the wall and it shatters everywhere. Ruka cowers, yelling stop it, but he jumps out the bed, grabs her and throws her on the bed and jumps on top of her, forcing himself on her.

The camera pans down and we don't know what happens next --

Except that we're back at the share house and Michiru comes back happy, hiding the fact that she went to Sousuke and that he hurt her.

That triggered Sousuke to continuously call her, asking for her to come back but she refusing to.

Then, at Michiru's next race, Sousuke keeps calling her. This scene basically shows the confliction within her. Who is she devoted to? She has someone who's sick and cries out to her and you have someone who is trying to save you. Yet, she answers the phone, giving in:

M: Yes?
S: Where are you at?
M: Motorcross race
S: I want to see you. When can we meet?
M: Sousuke....
S: I really need to see you
M: I can't.... This is a very important race to Ruka

Sousuke tries to put the guilt trip on Michiru, but Michiru ends the call. Later, that evening, after Ruka places 1st in the race, Sousuke calls again:

M: Hello?
S: Michiru/
M: Sorry about earlier. I can see you, just wait.
S: Don't bother
M: Why?
S: I am going to kill my self. I am going to die now. Goodbye.

Michiru freaks and runs out the bar, startling everyone and Ruka confronts her. She tells her that Michiru isn't being strong, that she's losing everytime she runs to him. That he isn't worth it but Michiru mentions that Ruka is strong and that she has a strong family... that it just isn't that simple.

M: Right now, I need to be by his side. I'm so sorry

Michiru runs away in tears and Takeru walks up to Ruka to comfort her but Ruka quicky shoves him away

R: Don't touch me.... don't touch me!


And the episode ends.

---

A good episode, and of course, the pace of the drama is slowing down since we're half way there. The preview for this episode, last week, was really a go getter because it had you excited for a whole mess of drama which in this episode took more a sullen pace. I noticed they're dragging out Sousuke's suicide attempt, which by watching the preview isn't going to happen.

I think the writters are successfully writing a villian here. Even he has me sometimes at his toes sympathizing with him in this episode. I think Sousuke knows what he's doing and he knows if he plays this game Michiru will come back to him. The expression he gives her when she walks alway, after visiting him, is clearly evident.

As for Eri, its obvious she is dependent on people despite the fact of living a "single woman" life. When Ogurin leaves her for an attempt to patch up with his wife, she becomes drunk and tries to find someone else to cure that hole in her heart. I thought that it was more evident that Eri doesn't want love she wants companionship. Whoever can make her feel wanted is good enough for her. I thought it was interesting that when Eri eluded to the fact that Takeru maybe gay he just simply confirmed it despite the fact that he's not. I guess to make sure that Eri doesn't do it again.

As for Ruka, she's suffering... but I can see why she suffers. She wants Michiru, she wants to love Michiru, but she knows she can't. I think because of this she is hurting herself more than needed, and in a way, I can see that she's obssessed with her as well. She gets defensive as much so as Sousuke when it comes to protecting her. I think this is why Ruka is losing Michiru -- Because like Sousuke, Ruka doesn't let Michiru breath. I can see why Michiru is leaning towards Takeru... because Takeru allows her to breath, to make her mistakes, to find her self. But it seems in the next episode Takeru chews her out.
Also, I thought this was interesting...
Image

Apparently, Sousuke has cut himself before. Issuesssss..!!!

I never thought of that, but you do get a better cut if you let water soak on the skin.
Oh, and for the hell of it, scruffy!Sousuke
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Last edited by Ladymercury on May 8th, '08, 19:32, edited 1 time in total.

shijin
Posts: 27
Joined: Oct 22nd, '06, 10:38
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Post by shijin » May 8th, '08, 19:25

I admit I'm one of those that started watching this dorama because it boasts three actors from nodame and one from proposu daisakusen. :whistling:
However, I can't believe how well the acting and how intense the storyline (up to ep3 - that's how far I've watched) is. The unmasked realism of the dorama hit me like a hammer, no corny romance story this time. Just how far would go for what you think is right for you? Also I already knew the theme song - and loved it - but it just struck me how incredibly fitting that song is to the storyline and the characters and their problems so far.
QNSpiders comment was "I agree. It's getting a bit overplayed, in my opinion. Can't he spend one moment without hitting her, geez..." but come to think of it, I guess the story in the drama is just the summary of events up to the climax (which is set up in the very first episode). So the intensity and single-sidedness of the issues doesn't bother me all too much.
The acting is awesome and I can't see how I'm able to enjoy other dramas with hell-worse acting :P
Well, that's just my two cents, I'll watch up to ep5 tonight and read through the many spoiler comments soon.

haruko17
Posts: 17
Joined: May 8th, '08, 00:12
Contact:

Post by haruko17 » May 8th, '08, 20:24

Nomanymore wrote:
haruko17 wrote:i joined this forum just to talk about last friends XD

with regards to the spin-off movie, this is what wiki says:
ドラマとの連動企画として、滝川エリ役の水川あさみを主演としたスピンオフムービー『エリー my Love』が各話放送終了直後にフジテレビ On Demandで配信。通常は有料であるが、各話放送終了後1時間程度は無料で配信される。

rough translation:
Planned along with the drama, a spin-off movie starring Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri called "Eri- my Love" will air on Fuji Television On Demand immediately following the broadcast ending(of the drama). Normally there is a charge(for On Demand), but for one hour immediately following the broadcast ending it will air with no charge.

So im guess the girl on the movie website who was sitting on the bench was Eri.
woa is it true?? confirmed? XD XD if it is, yay for more Eri :wub:
But what does it mean "no charge" ?
oh, no charge, as in you dont have to pay money ^^

AKlRA
Posts: 17
Joined: May 8th, '08, 08:57
Location: wouldnt you like to know

Post by AKlRA » May 8th, '08, 22:14

I haven't seen episode 5 yet, but from what I hear, he lives... obviously.
I doubt they would kill off a main character so early in the series.
Well my suspicion of death still goes towards Sousuke, EVEN MORE now that
I see him holding a knife. He wasn't trying to joke with Michiru, he obviously
felt such a lonely pain in his heart when Michiru left him again that he thought
for a split second that he's better off dead than be in a world without Michiru.
Even though it may seem nothing more than a ploy to get Michiru to come back
to him, he's still holding a knife which is not visible to Michiru, only to himself.
Sousuke making the gesture physically and just by telling Michiru that he would
commit suicide shows that he isn't incapable of actually doing it. The more I watch
this drama I feel like the death isn't going to be anyone we didn't see coming, but more
of something we will progressively suspect later on in the drama.



My thoughts on MICHIRU:
Michiru is probably the most frustrating character on the series that's for sure.
Her helpless nature makes us the viewers frustrated and annoyed at the fact
that she can't fend for herself. We understand that because that is her nature,
Ruka feels that she has to protect her even more. From the beginning where the
salonist bullies Michiru or when we first see the darker side of Sousuke where he is
flipping through her cell phone, an act of invading privacy, we see that Michiru is
in fact a helpless person. She is of a timid nature and avoids any conflict possible.
If we pan over to Ruka, we see that the director is clearly trying to show the difference
between Ruka & Michiru. Ruka is the opposite of Michiru. We first see instances of that
at her motocross training when her coach gropes her. She doesn't stand still and
ignore it, something Michiru would most likely do. Instead, she kicks him from behind
an act that tells us, "i'm not going to just let things like this slide. don't mess with me."
and she gives off a fierce facial expression that we can read clearly that she is not
someone who will tolerate these kinds of things, whereas Michiru's expression after
being bullied or instagated by Sousuke of her actions is that of fearful and passive. Her
facial expression shows that she just wants to be loved and won't do anything back to
these people for fear of being hated.
We can all establish the fact that Michiru is closed off from anyone except when she's
with Ruka. The scenes with her and Ruka show how comfortable Michiru is when she
is with her. We see a different expression on her face when she is talking with Ruka but
when it comes to the point of Sousuke, she seems to hold back even to Ruka. Michiru
doesn't want to tell Ruka that Sousuke is violent because Michiru loves Sousuke and
she loves Ruka. She is afraid that if Ruka hates Sousuke she will be forced to choose
between the two, something she clearly cannot do. Because Sousuke to Ruka is the
only real LOVE she has ever experienced. Ruka to Michiru is the only real FRIENDSHIP
that she knows. Both which are precious things to a human being. I find it hard to watch
the scenes where Michiru is forced to lie to Ruka about what's going on between her
Sousuke because she doesn't want to worry Ruka and she doesn't want to end up
hurting Sousuke. We also see the vice versa side when Sousuke shows his dispise
towards Ruka. To Michiru, it is an offense that she cannot forgive because Ruka is
just as important to her as Sousuke. Not more, not less. In episode 3 when Ruka first
sees that Sousuke could be a violent person, she doesn't trust him being with Michiru.
This is when Michiru becomes in even more of a mental bind because now her love and
her friendship starts to conflict.
I honestly feel really bad for Michiru because she knows that at this point, if she
abandons Sousuke for Ruka, she will hurt him and it's not something she can bare
for long. If she betrays Ruka for Sousuke, she is risking her friendship. As viewers
I think we have mixed emotions for Michiru. At some point it becomes old and we
are eager to see Michiru come out of her protective shell and defend herself.
Michiru's character reminds me alot of Ayumu from LIFE. If you've seen the drama
then you'll know what I'm talking about. Ayumu also has the same nature as Michiru
in being non conflictive and fails to stand up for herself. It isn't until she meets someone
that helps her feel confident that she stands up for herself. Her bully, Manami is
not someone that she wants to hate, instead, wants to try to understand her and
establish a possible friendship. Likewise, Michiru has Ruka to help her stand up to
Sousuke who even though hurts her, she wants to understand him and continue to
love him.

The intro to the drama shows that Michiru is now the one who is alone, in kind of a
bittersweet sense. We know that Sousuke is lonely from the outside and the inside,
and Ruka, although she has friends and her passion, is heartbrokenly lonely on the
inside. Michiru being the one who ends up alone in the end displays a somewhat
realistic sense of character. Even though we want to cheer on Michiru and Ruka
to be together, it won't be a fairytale ending. The honest fact is that Michiru does not
love Ruka more or less than she loves Sousuke.

This is what we are all dying to see:
Michiru busting out a Ayumu and finally standing up for herself.
Ruka being able to open up on her problems and letting go of her fear of rejection.
Takeru accepting love and overcoming his traumatic past.
Sousuke either getting some mental help, seriously.... or Michiru letting him go for
GOOD. (there seems to be a bit of a conflict with that in the viewers. it's either we
sympathize with him and hopes he will mentally change, or we dislike him period and
hopes Michiru will run to Ruka, but we already know that's not in their fate, although we
can hope for something.)

Which reminds me, I really love the concept of the characters Eri and Ogurin.
I think someone already mentioned that they play the comic relief and that's true.
It's important to have a comic relief in a drama so serious like this, especially with
actors like Eita, Ryo, and of course Juri whom many viewers are used to a more
light comedy from Nodame Cantabile. Not only as comic relief, but they give off an
overall atmosphere in the drama that not everything is so negative in their particular
world. Both characters play their role in the drama well.
Even though Ogurin has issues in his own home, he talks about it in a light,
comedic sense which is not evident in any other character.

Eri's character is more of
the cool, calm character and a character that is yet to be further developed. But even
if we didn't know much about Eri, her nature is understood. It seems that out of all
the characters, she may lead the most NORMAL life. She works at a stable job, with
stable income. Her love life is not too evident yet but there aren't any instances that she
may be having a difficult one. With all these emotions and conflicts with each character,
Eri stands out giving off a natural, non dramatic human vibe. These two characters
gives an atmosphere to the drama that we can relate to in real life.

The share house
is basically the gateway from their messy personal lives to a more relaxed, common
ground. Much like people in real life who deal with problems at work or in relationships or
personally. When we are with a group of friends all those problems can escape even
if for momentarily. Sharing laughter, playing games, and eating food together all
emphasize that even though there is so much going on with each indivisual, in that
common ground they can learn to appreciate eachother and take a break from their
outside issues.


I have to give props to the director for the portray of this drama.
Most dramas are either too dramatic or too over-the-top in happiness.
Last Friends is a drama nontheless but it shows that there are people like
michiru in this world and people like Sousuke. There are issues that we cannot
confide like Ruka and things in the past that we cannot easily get over like with Takeru.
I think the director may have used Eri as a viewer relation character. Not sure
if she has some tramatic past herself or any issues but from what I see so far,
this is the vibe I'm getting. Meaning that Eri is who most of the viewers see themselves
as.

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