Last Friends [END]

Warning: Spoilers included! For a spoiler-free/first impression entry, click here.

I had absolutely no plan writing an overall entry on Last Friends, and if you think an amazing finale had pushed me to do it, you are very, very wrong. I was too gentle when I wrote my first impression because I had a hard time bashing a drama that is loved by everyone. When I see people writing a three-thousand-word character analysis, I back off. Man, I could never write like that unless if it’s for an English assignment. So this is my skin-deep, shallow opinion of Last Friends. This time, I’ll jump off from the bandwagon.

I. Do. Not. Like. Ruka.

Gomen!!

Ruka, not Ueno Juri. Just so we’re clear.

Last Friends is undeniably the most popular jdrama this season; it touches several controversial themes all at once, but most importantly it also made me see the unappealing side of my favorite actors. What’s ironic is that, Nishikido Ryo went into this drama with a character one is bound to hate, but pulled out unscathed. Should we credit the oh-so-dramatic Shakespearean ending the writer has given him? When he was lying on that sofa, I thought he was wearing the dress. WTF? So he’s a crossdresser? It turns out he’s clutching it Whew! I found Sousuke’s voice-over letter to Michiru the last touching moment of the drama. After that, everything goes downhill. Well, it was already going downhill even before that. We started the show with a foreshadowing of death and spent the whole season trying to predict who will die and who will kill. We ended up ignoring the simplest scenario – a way for the monster to absolve himself to the viewers. We could also say that Sousuke’s way of letting go Michiru is a literal interpretation of the drama’s theme, Prisoner of Love.

Among the Nodame alumni, Eita’s character is the only one who I honestly like in the drama. He also probably has the most alarming background among the sharehouse members that even the creators of the show did not dare say it out loud. It was left to our imagination, but I’ll be darned if we’re not imagining the same thing.

Mizukawa Asami’s shrieky Eri and her contrived relationship with Ogu-rin (Yamazaki Shigenori) was similar but not on par with the secondary love team in Prodai – Oku Eri and Tsurumi Hisashi. It’s probably the height and appearance difference that made me think of the latter. Asami was so stylish, quick, and dignified in Nodame Cantabile. Here, everything about her character seem forced and fake. The only time we get to peek in the solitude side of her story was her “I’m alone and very, very sad” expressions at the airport scenes.

The writer should have cut down Ryo’s beating extravaganza and paid more attention on the other sharehouse members. I am probably sounding like a broken record now, but for a drama to be called Last Friends, it didn’t even live up to the team spirit I have witnessed in dramas like Orange Days and Proposal Daisakusen (Hey, even the delinquents in Rookies are bonding much better than these guys). That’s why when Michiru was reciting the last lines of the show, “My dear friends, you are my last friends…” I laughed out loud. Of all the lines to butcher, must it be the closing dialogue? And they had to repeat the damn line in the SP too. Don’t they see how engrishy and corny it sounded?

But I was already laughing way before that. I had the feeling that the writer was playing us during the last episode. First they borrowed a signature Korean Hallyu scene – the truck collision – and almost gave me a heart attack with the thought of having a triple death. Next, they did the same stunt while Michiru was giving birth to baby Rumi. I didn’t fall for it the second time around though. It felt like the writer is desperate for a last minute shocker but at the same time, he/she isn’t willing to give up the happy ending.

The best part of this show are the first three episodes. But after that, the content and the direction dwindled. From time to time, there are short periods of rejuvenation. A crowd favorite was the Ruka/Takeru scene in the park. I didn’t cry in that scene. I am not really into the Ruka/Takeru love team – nor any love team in this drama – but that scene was perfectly executed. The sudden alienation between Ruka and Michiru is probably the trigger that made me fall off from the Ruka bandwagon. The duo had never recaptured that powerful connection that was channeled in the beginning.

I could never explain why I don’t like Ruka without bordering to being petty. I just don’t find myself swooning over her like other fangirls. I didn’t know it was possible, but one moment, I adore her, and the next minute, the light switch was turned off. I hate it when she struts into the scene pretending not to care about Michiru and we know that she does care but she ends up acting like she doesn’t really care. See, I told you, I shouldn’t go there.

Overall, I give Last Friends credit for bravely tackling sensitive issues in our society. I think the writer centered too much on the DV component as a cheap vehicle to gain reaction and awareness from the viewers. As for providing a solution, hmnn…maybe not.

Would I recommend it? Sure, why not? It’s not everyday, that we get to see a very well done OP video. I can still remember reading spoilers before watching the first episode. Knowing there was a twist, I assumed it was about Sousuke’s DV problem. That is, until, Ruka leaned down to kiss Michiru.

Memorable scenes aside from the above screenshots:

“Tasukete”: I think this is the only time where I teared up in this drama.

“My Michiru” : OMG, Juri is totally radiating a lesbian vibe here!

The Fight: This felt like watching a boxing match.

Waiting in the Rain: One of Sousuke’s redeeming moments until he turned ballistic a minute later.

The Sousuke/Michiru DV scenes could have been memorable (in a disturbing way) if only they didn’t do it 746237864238756 times.