this drama is not easy to watch, even skipping through to take screen shots brought tears to my eyes.
nagasawa masami plays michiru a girl suffering at the hands of her abusive boyfriend sosuke (played by nishikido ryo of jpop group news).
eita and ueno juri pair up again with perfect chemistry making me scream at the tv "for f*ck sake are they ever going to play a couple?!"
(wait for sunao ni narenakute dear girl you will wish you had never said that)
mizukawa asami and yamazaki shigenori are great supporting roles in this giving a little light relief to a dark setting.
i have to mention the theme tune prisoner of love. i heard this playing once in a japanese restaurant i go to frequently and it instantly conjured up all the memories of last friends.
when that song came in at points through the episodes and in at the end it usually sent tears to my eyes especially towards the end of the series.
the picture ive posted of the scene where michiru is all beaten up in her best friend's arms was a fine example - the theme tune comes in while michiru is collapsing and starts to sob, eita's character runs out to see the couple in a mess on the floor in his door way, the music swells and i just lose it completely and have to take the dog for yet another walk to calm myself down.
its ryo's scarey eyes and masami's angelic face that orchestrated the crushing feeling in my stomach when i watched last friends.
i could not rush through it, i only watched one episode in a sitting which i dont often do. it was not one i could walk right through.
now, seeing ryo being his usual playful self in footage of news backstage its hard to imagine him be so horrible. Pissy temper or not.
i was actually reluctant to watch him in anything else after last friends because he was so mean that i didnt like him at all.
but dont worry ryo, orthros no inu won you back into my favour (not that you care - why would you care? surely it means your acting did the job.
why i am directing this at you, youre not reading this, shut up rat get on with it)
having said all that about him i certainly did feel something for sosuke in terms of pity or sympathy. ryo seemed to be able to force aggression into his character while still looking like a scared little boy.i think i was completely taken in by his acting to be honest. i didnt put a picture of him doing his scarey psycho face here, it is too scarey psycho like.
ueno juri looks fantastic in last friends. i fell for her completely and thought how great she carries herself as a lesbian and was desperately rooting for her even though i knew it was hopeless.
the same with eita really, and i loved his hair - does he ever brush that mess? takeru (eita) was such a sweet character and my heart broke for him over and over. you almost love everyone through him because he cares for them all so much.
its hard going, especially if you have been affected by any sort of abuse as it is portrayed with realism. it is just exactly how it happens - no eastenders / hollyoaks over the top crap, you feel her sense of being trapped, you feel helpless alongside her friends. i cried pretty much all the way through.
without spoiling anything i will say i was very pleased with how they ended it - and really wasnt sure how they would wrap things up.
it makes it worth sticking with till the end. i dont make a habbit of watching shows that will depress me (^ ~ ^) but as sad as i was while watching last friends. it was worth every second of anguish.
it won a whole bunch of awards for good reason. i would recomend it but as a warning to anyone with a heart - it will be broken everytime michiru cries.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
~
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