Last Friends (ラスト·フレンズ, Rasuto Furenzu) is a Japanese television drama which aired on Fuji TV at 10:00 pm every Thursday from April 10, 2008, until June 17, 2008.
It stars Masami Nagasawa, Juri Ueno, Eita, Asami Mizukawa and Ryo Nishikido of japanese idol group Kanjani Eight.
The series follow the life of Michiru Aida, a beauty parlor assistant who returns to Tokyo after 4 years.
Bullied by her seniors at work and abused by her boyfriend, she is reunited with her best friend during high school, Ruka Kishimoto, a skilled motocross racer.
A manga counterpart focusing on Ruka's and Michiru's high school days is currently being published in Malika.
[2] However, it had since dropped to 6th place[3] after the broadcast of the special and as of the week of July 7 to 13, Last Friends ranked 9th on the Top 50 list.
[6] Initially, the drama was to be only about domestic violence (DV) and gender identity disorder, portrayed by Nagasawa and Ueno respectively.
According to Asano, it was her intuition which said Ueno was perfect for the role of Ruka Kishimoto, a character with gender identity issues.
Centered around the current generation's afflictions, Last Friends follows the various issues of domestic violence, gender dysphoria and trauma.
Each of the five characters are represented by an issue,[5][9] which are: Michiru Aida is a beauty parlour assistant who returns to Tokyo after four years of absence.
Ruka Kishimoto is Michiru's best friend that works part-time at a mechanic shop and is a brilliant motocross racer.
Takeru Mizhushima is a professional hair makeup artist by day and a bartender by night who suffers from a traumatic past.
Present day Tokyo, Michiru is working at a beauty parlour when she sees her boyfriend, Sousuke Oikawa waving at her and pointing out a place to meet him for dinner.
In the past, Michiru would tell Ruka all of her family problems at the very same park, eat ice cream and take shelter from the rain there.
Ueno started training for the motocross scenes in February, and she commented that the bike was really heavy as it weighs 90 kg.
[17] Taeko Asano commented that Ueno Juri "changed" her image from the Nodame Cantabile hairstyle to Ruka's clothing and hair style right before rehearsal.
Asano also commented that "she's a natural genius" and that she became "the character itself" because Ueno changed her habits of walking, talking and sitting to emulate Ruka's style, even when the camera's were not in action.
[14] They meet Michiru at the hospital after a minor accident, and after she gives birth, Takeru tells the baby that he will be the father.
Eri loves to drink, and can speak various words in different languages due to her experience at work.
Sousuke commits suicide at the end of the series because he felt he could not give Michiru the happiness she found with the ShareHouse members.
Masami Nagasawa, who played opposite Nishikido as Michiru, stated that "his type of acting is more difficult than mine.
When Chinatsu needed money to pay of some debts, Sousuke offers her some and in return she tells him of Michiru's location.
Often looking down on women, Hayashida believes that it is almost impossible for a woman to reach the speed and level of a male racer.
Juri Ueno, Asami Mizukawa and Ryo Nishikido were the three members who played the bow and arrow game, each scoring 100 points each.
Masami Nagasawa, Juri Ueno and Eita appeared on Mentore G talk show on June 1, 2008.
The May edition of the KazeRock magazine features Nagasawa, Ueno and Eita as rock band members.
The interview took place at Odaiba's Wangan Studio and the guest were Ueno, Eita, Mizukawa and Yamazaki.
[2] However, it had since dropped to 6th place after the broadcast of the special[3] and as of the week of July 7 to 13, Last Friends ranked 9 on the Top 50 list.
[23] Oricon Style had a poll for the female audience's favorite actor and actress right after Last Friends finished its run.
Last Friends was also awarded the Best Script, Best Director and the Best Theme Song for Hikaru Utada's "Prisoner of Love".