Last Friends

 Image from here

If I were asked last year of the reason why I’d like to watch this series, my answer would be “Nishikido Ryo.” One Liter of Tears definitely made its mark on me, but my intent to watch Last Friends grew stronger (even the Ryo-factor was eliminated) because of Ueno Juri. And Eita. And Mizukawa Asami.

It’s the Nodame Cantabile spill-over, so to speak.

I have always known that Juri’s role here has been a hallmark in her acting career. And being smitten by her talent from the very start, I knew I had to watch this. What’s more, even Nodame’s friends Mine-kun and Kiyora were with her.

Juri as the confused Gender Indentity Disorder patient was well-crafted—complex, humane, emotionally evolving, and strong yet makes the viewer care for her. I have learned that she is the kind of actor who becomes the character even off-cam. [Kyoko from Skip Beat!, anyone?] Her haircut [dude, the haircut! XD], the aura, her movements, her speech—the whole package convinces the viewers, and makes them empathize with Ruka.

Eita was also remarkable as Takeru. The character’s natural charm, the subtlety of his emotions, his touching actions, his homey, reliable, caring, and kind, yet tormented and confused personality was justified by Eita.

Mizukawa Asami as the vibrant, independent, empowered Eri was one of the (good) reasons why I was able to withstand this otherwise highly-strung and tensed series. Even though her story stayed in the sidelines, the longing for companionship of the “modern” woman Eri represents touched me. I guess it’s a basic human instinct after all, no matter how she puts up a show of indifference. I watched the series ’til its end because I want to see Eri happy. :3

I should say the series was good but, for me at least, it wasn’t that outstanding. Ryo as the violent, abusive, obsessive-compulsive Sousuke was rather effective. “Ryo is scary. Really scary,” I’ve said more than once. Nagasawa Masami as the fragile Aikawa Michiru was effective, too. Her stupidity made me want to hit her more than once, too. Hehe. Okay that was harsh. Perhaps the strongest point in Masami’s performance was that people around her would understandably feel the need to protect her. In the forum where I always lurk, Ryo and Masami were always criticized for their roles. Or the forumers would (rightfully) put the blame  on the writers for the existence of the roles. I say Sousuke and Michiru as the characters were exactly what the series needed—two extremes of what are really prevalent in the “modern society” that Last Friends attempted to tackle. If their personalities were toned down, or if some logic or reason were added into their way of thinking, their characters would not have been easily remembered.

I’m not an expert in giving opinions about a series’s technicalities, but I think Last Friends was decent enough. I really like Utada Hikaru’s “Prisoner of Love” as the sound track; it’s quite fitting. The focus of the series was really on the Michiru-Sousuke-Ruka issue, and a lot of parallelism were used to reinforce this. So naturally for me, there were periods when the scenes became boring to watch. But the closure was fitting and strong. If I had the option, though, I’d like to discover more about Sousuke’s reason for being who he is, Eri’s past and motivations, more of Takeru and Ruka’s coming into terms with their dilemma—in other words, a bit deeper view into the characters’ psyche.

I like LF’s presentation of different kinds of love and affection—how it should not be hindered by time, space, differences, and gender. I like how it was shown that we all need companions–lovers, husbands, parents, friends… although we should not be restricted by the labels we put on these relationships. However absurd this observation may be, it seemed to me that certain traits probably all of us possess were portrayed by each of the main characters—the fragility of Michiru, the selflessness of Ruka, the aggressiveness of Sousuke, the confusion of Takeru, and the solitude of Eri.

Does it sound like I’m all props to the series? Honestly, I wouldn’t watch it if Juri, Eita and Asami weren’t there. But I think it’s a deep, and revealing series worth the try. However, I still believe it could have been better.

Thanks to Shiki for lending me her copy. 

 Why, if this review isn’t quite long! XD