Last Friends

My Recommended J-drama this year: LAST FRIENDS

From L to R:

Eri: A stewardess who's not serious of "love" found herself in love with her colleague whose wife has an affairs outside 

Takeru: A makeup artist with a phobia of sex due to past trauma whom is thought a gay falls in love with a girl called Ruka, who tends out to be a lesbian who likes her ex-classmate Michiru

Michiru: A cheerful girl who is bullied at work & by her mum's boyfriends wants to find a peaceful life with her boyfriend but ends up facing domestic violence by her very own boyfriend Sousuke

Sousuke: A loving and caring social worker specializing in Domestic Violence & Children Care loves his girlfriend so much that he wants himself to be the only world of his girlfriend and is found to bully his old girlfriend. 

Here is the thriller of the drama:


Why is this drama a MUST watch?

1) Sensitive topics in Japan as the main themes (domestic violence, gender disorder, sex phobia, work bully and of cos friendship as the title says)

2) Super good acting (especially the silly bimbotic Ueno Juri in "Nodame" impressed me as a lesbian motorist "Ruka" & the kind & loving Nishikido Ryo in"1 Litre of Tears" made me go and kill the violent and abusive boyfriend "Sousuke")

3) Nice music & OST building up the drama to its climax (With this OST: Prisoner of Love, Utada Hikaru has topped on my own chart of best Japanese songs for this year)

4) Highest Ratings of TV viewership this year with the avg rate of 17.7%, started from 13.9% in the 1st episode ending up with 22.8% in the final episode whose last scene shot up to 25.9% outperforming this season's famous dramas "Gokusen" & "Change"

5) All famous actors/actresses (haha... who cares even if the drama is bad)

Here is the synopsis from the net: 

Last Friends tackles issues that afflict the current generation. Michiru's mother has brought a man back to their home and she is bullied at her workplace where she works as a beauty parlour assistant. She starts cohabiting with her boyfriend, a good young man who works at the Child Welfare Division and the only person who can give her emotional support, but ends up the victim of domestic violence and becomes fearful of love. The boyishly charming Ruka was a classmate of Michiru's in junior high school. She has performed brilliantly as a motocross racer and aims to win the national championship, but as the story progresses, a deep worry that she can neither confide in her parents or close friends grows evident. Takeru is a hair and makeup artist acquainted with Ruka. He is a good confidant to females due to his kindness and perceptiveness, and finds himself attracted to Ruka but has a phobia of sex as a result of a past trauma. The three of them become house mates and through their associations with others, gain the capacity to be positive about life. --jade_frost

Click here if you wanna watch the whole series with English subtitle!

Call me crazy, I was trying to watch the lastest episode of this drama on the net as soon as it's shown in Japan. Thanks to other drama enthusiasts who updated within few days after its broadcast in Japan, I don't have to wait till the DVD version is released.