lol, japan

For you guys into the drama scene, the 2008 Spring dramas aren’t really all that appealing except for two dramas IMO — Last Friends and Zettai Kareshi.

I’ve been falling behind on Last Friends due to my job so I decided to catch up, and my god this show is amazing. I haven’t watched a drama that actually inflicted this much emotional response from me since 14sai no Haha, even Watashitachi no Kyoukasho couldn’t get me to react as much as when I watch Last Friends. When I first saw the previews, I didn’t look all that great. It didn’t stand out, but when I actually WATCHED it… my god, it was raw and amazing.

It’s about this girl named Michiru, she just turned 21 (going on 22), and she met the man of her dreams. On her birthday he, Sousuke, invites her to live with him since they’ve been dating for quite sometime. This give Michiru to finally get out of the abusive and run down setting of parent’s small apartment. For the first few days its a happy setting, Michiru and Sousuke act like the ideal couple. She buys things for the house, he works diligently as a social worker for the Children and Familys department for the city government (handling cases about child abuse), and she holds a part time job as an apprentice as a hair stylist in a nice salon in Tokyo.

One day, she runs into her childhood friend, Ruka, and they exchange phone numbers. Michiru didn’t think much of it until one morning Sosuke wakes up and reads her cell phone messages — one of the messages telling Michiru that she wishes to meet up with her. This is when things go down hill for the couple. Sosuke tells her to delete the message and threatens her by kicking the table to get whatever the person wants back, because Michiru made a white lie saying that the person wanted a CD back. After returning back to her own home, Michiru nervously searches for a CD but Sousuke calls — she misses the first call b ut then he calls again and she picks it up. He askes her why did she not pick up the first time and she states cause she was looking for the CD. He tells her to come back home immidiately.

When she finally returns back to their apartment, Sousuke askes her where’s the CD. She tells him, nervously, that he told her to hurry back home and that she didn’t it find it. He promptly grabs her and drags her inside the apartment, throwing her against the floor and knocking over the coffee table. He then, without any word, slaps her repeatedly and then kicks her until she stops crying. Then, after, he some how gets out of his blinded rage and grabs her, hugging her, and telling her he’s sorry and that he loves her and that he didn’t mean to. He’s grabbing on to her waist, and she tells him it hurts repeatedly…. yet he doesn’t listen.

The next two episodes follow the same way — Sousuke is jealous of anyone that Michiru even gives the slightest attention to. Episode two she cuts of of Ruka’s friends hair, Takeru, and Sousuke watches this from the streets in front of the building (he does this everyday to make sure she comes home on time) and when they get home he wants her to cut his hair. Nervously, she tries to cut his hair but she knows its not that simple and he grabs her hand and forces the pair of scissors near his ear, almost slicing the earlobe and she screams and pleads to stop and that she’ll nevre cut another man’s hair. He drops her hand and stalks out, leaving her crying.

Later on, Sousuke ‘allows’ her to go to the motorcross race that Ruka’s is in but she injures herself. Michiru stays behind, despite Sousuke telling her to be home at 3pm on the dot, and stays at the hospital. Sousuke then arrives at the hospital, all smiles to everyone despite the anger within him, and then speaks to Michiru alone. He scolds her for staying behind and slaps her, she tries to defend herself by explaining, and he takes her and pushes her on the ground. He then picks up a wooden chair, about to throw it at her but Ruka sees this in time and stops it. She then steps between them and says ” Don’t hurt my Michiru! “. Sousuke looks at them and scoffs, saying ” My… Michiru? ” but before anything else can happen, Takeru comes in. Michiru and Sousuke hide their argument by saying they were just playing…. despite that everyone could see he was beating on her.

His main jealously is Ruka. He doesn’t like Michiru anywhere near her because Ruka is a lesbian and looks at Michiru, as how he said it, ” with the eyes of a man “. Michiru doesn’t understand this because they were always friends and never even once thought that Michiru could be a lesbian. Michiru finally stands tall and says that she’s sacrificed everything (she’s losing her job because he wont allow her to stay late or to cut a man’s hair, because if she does she’s breaking their promise and he’ll kick her ass) and she won’t allow him to take away Ruka from her. He then freaks the fuck out because she said ” I won’t let you take my Ruka away” and totally beats the shit out of her…. to the point that she comes back to Ruka’s share house bleeding and bruised.

It’s a great series and I can’t wait for episode 4. What drives me crazy is the fact that the Ryo Nishikido fans are IN LOVE with his character. I’m sorry, but I don’t find anything to love about a man who violently beats on his girlfriend to the point that she’s emotionally and physically scarred. I mean he purposely LEFT her outside the door because she stayed late after work and made him WAIT. I find it so funny that he is this type of person YET he works for the government as a social worker arresting parents for child abuse. I don’t think a person like this changes and if he fans like him because they think he’s going to CHANGE, I doubt it. He wants her and he wants her all to himself. He’s mentally sick and he’s willing to kill anyone to keep her away from them. The show keeps eluding to a death, its only obvious that he’s going to kill someone to keep Michiru.

Quite frankly, anytime a character makes me sit with my mouth agape and coverred because you fear what he’s going to do to this girl then obviously HE’S not a loveable character. God, sometimes I wonder about these JE fans….

anyway, screencaps.

They celebrate her birthday and he invites her to live with him