Hey guys, this post got deleted when Kuro switched host, so if you missed it last time, here it is again! This is my review of Last Friends.

“I’m a prisoner of love, I’m a prisoner of love…”

The lyrics to Utada Hikaru’s “Prisoner of Love” stick with me even a month after completing this very disturbing, yet heart warming drama series. To say that it takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride is an understatement! What it really does is toss the viewer down the backside of a tremendous mountain just as the sun is setting. It’s terrifying and beautiful all at once. For me to say such a thing about a series I almost passed up, well, says a lot.

Last Friends focuses on a group of people and their seemingly normal lives. Aida Michiru (Nagasawa Masami), is a hairdresser with a cute and sweet as pie boyfriend, Oikawa Sosuke (Nishikido Ryo). After being asked by Sosuke to move in with him, Michiru accepts instantly. After a fated meeting with a junior high friend, Kishimoto Ruka (Ueno Juri) the two reminisce for a bit. Ruka tells Michiru of the share house she is living in with her friend Eri (Mizukawa Asami). The rent is cheap, and Ruka offers to let Michiru move in, but Michiru informs Ruka of her life with her boyfriend. They exchange numbers, and agree to meet up soon. The writers then proceed to punch the viewers in the face when Sosuke’s jealousy turns him from the kind Ryo of 1 Liter of Tears, to a psychopathic monster. Soon, Michiru ends up becoming close with Ruka, her friends Takeru (Eita), Eri, and “Ogurin” (Yamazaki Shigenori). The series then centers around the meaning of love and friendship in unexpected ways. Each character carries their own burdens and pain, and in a way they all become prisoners of love.

This drama brings to light some matters that many young people face today – the most notable problem being DV (domestic violence) relationships. It sends the message that real love isn’t based on jealousy and control, but meaningful bonds that better your life. Because of its slight focus on DV, there are some graphic and uncomfortable scenes.

Generally, I loved this series. It is certainly a tearjerker, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like a lot of drama. Though there are happy moments that make your heart feel warm and fuzzy, the majority of it is heart wrenching. The series starts out sickeningly average, and even a bit too cheery. I only got through the first twenty minutes of the first episode before turning it off. Then I went back to it when I was ready to give it my full attention. By the end of the first episode I wanted to kick myself for not getting into it sooner. The acting is well done, and I found Ruka to be one of my favorite characters. Then again, I felt an attachment to each of them, even the creepy Sosuke.

The ending is satisfying in that it doesn’t cater to the typical love story you may see in other dramas. The story revolved, and ended, around the central theme of finding love for yourself and keeping the bonds of friendship strong. There are not only one or two kinds of love. Sometimes there is a feeling that goes a bit deeper – that can’t be defined. A love that is free.

I would give this series an 8.8/10

LIFE ライフ

Date aired: June – Sept 2007
Number of episodes: 11
Average Ratings: 12.2%
Dorama Theme: LIFE (Nakashima Mika)

Starring:
Kitano Kii – Shiiba Ayumu
Fukuda Saki – Anzai Manami
Hosoda Yoshihiko – Sako Katsumi
Seki Megumi – Hatori Miki
Sakai Miki – Hiraoka Masako
Seto Asaka – Toda Wakae
Osawa Akane – Shinozuka Yuko

Synopsis:
Adapted from Keiko Suenobu’s manga “LIFE,” this drama delves into the dark side of high school life. The story focuses mainly on bullying, but the manga also touches on subjects such as self-mutilation, suicide, and rape. Kitano Kii stars as Ayumu Shiiba, one of the students bullied by a group of classmates led by Ayumu’s former friend, Manami Anzai (Fukuda Saki).
D-addicts.com(click here to know more)

This Drama is NOT registered outside of Japan, is fan subbed by SOS. If this series become registered by any company outside of Japan, Please tell me and I’ll remove it right away! To discuss more about Life go to the FORUM THREAD HERE.

PS. This Series is PG13, no nudity involved of any kind.

Instructions:
The file is 334mb Big, so it was compressed and divided into six(6) 60mb archives for easier download. YOU MUST HAVE WINRAR to open them. To correctly uncompress the Drama episode, you must PUT ALL 6 COMPRESSED PARTS in the same folder, then either double click the first one and hit extract or just right click it and hit extract here. The file is a mp4 file, therefor you need either quicktime, windows player classic, realmedia player or get the best player available which is VLC player (click here to download it)

Download:
1st Part
2nd Part
3rd Part
4th Part
5th Part
6th Part

**Important Notice**
This is the only episode that will be available Open. All next episodes will only be available for people with more than 50 posts in the forums and good participation in here(comments). So if you wanna keep direct downloading freely the series, register(please register in the main site to avoid compatibilities issues) and start posting! Tell your friends.