I doubt they would kill off a main character so early in the series.
Well my suspicion of death still goes towards Sousuke, EVEN MORE now that
I see him holding a knife. He wasn't trying to joke with Michiru, he obviously
felt such a lonely pain in his heart when Michiru left him again that he thought
for a split second that he's better off dead than be in a world without Michiru.
Even though it may seem nothing more than a ploy to get Michiru to come back
to him, he's still holding a knife which is not visible to Michiru, only to himself.
Sousuke making the gesture physically and just by telling Michiru that he would
commit suicide shows that he isn't incapable of actually doing it. The more I watch
this drama I feel like the death isn't going to be anyone we didn't see coming, but more
of something we will progressively suspect later on in the drama.
My thoughts on MICHIRU:
Michiru is probably the most frustrating character on the series that's for sure.
Her helpless nature makes us the viewers frustrated and annoyed at the fact
that she can't fend for herself. We understand that because that is her nature,
Ruka feels that she has to protect her even more. From the beginning where the
salonist bullies Michiru or when we first see the darker side of Sousuke where he is
flipping through her cell phone, an act of invading privacy, we see that Michiru is
in fact a helpless person. She is of a timid nature and avoids any conflict possible.
If we pan over to Ruka, we see that the director is clearly trying to show the difference
between Ruka & Michiru. Ruka is the opposite of Michiru. We first see instances of that
at her motocross training when her coach gropes her. She doesn't stand still and
ignore it, something Michiru would most likely do. Instead, she kicks him from behind
an act that tells us, "i'm not going to just let things like this slide. don't mess with me."
and she gives off a fierce facial expression that we can read clearly that she is not
someone who will tolerate these kinds of things, whereas Michiru's expression after
being bullied or instagated by Sousuke of her actions is that of fearful and passive. Her
facial expression shows that she just wants to be loved and won't do anything back to
these people for fear of being hated.
We can all establish the fact that Michiru is closed off from anyone except when she's
with Ruka. The scenes with her and Ruka show how comfortable Michiru is when she
is with her. We see a different expression on her face when she is talking with Ruka but
when it comes to the point of Sousuke, she seems to hold back even to Ruka. Michiru
doesn't want to tell Ruka that Sousuke is violent because Michiru loves Sousuke and
she loves Ruka. She is afraid that if Ruka hates Sousuke she will be forced to choose
between the two, something she clearly cannot do. Because Sousuke to Ruka is the
only real LOVE she has ever experienced. Ruka to Michiru is the only real FRIENDSHIP
that she knows. Both which are precious things to a human being. I find it hard to watch
the scenes where Michiru is forced to lie to Ruka about what's going on between her
Sousuke because she doesn't want to worry Ruka and she doesn't want to end up
hurting Sousuke. We also see the vice versa side when Sousuke shows his dispise
towards Ruka. To Michiru, it is an offense that she cannot forgive because Ruka is
just as important to her as Sousuke. Not more, not less. In episode 3 when Ruka first
sees that Sousuke could be a violent person, she doesn't trust him being with Michiru.
This is when Michiru becomes in even more of a mental bind because now her love and
her friendship starts to conflict.
I honestly feel really bad for Michiru because she knows that at this point, if she
abandons Sousuke for Ruka, she will hurt him and it's not something she can bare
for long. If she betrays Ruka for Sousuke, she is risking her friendship. As viewers
I think we have mixed emotions for Michiru. At some point it becomes old and we
are eager to see Michiru come out of her protective shell and defend herself.
Michiru's character reminds me alot of Ayumu from LIFE. If you've seen the drama
then you'll know what I'm talking about. Ayumu also has the same nature as Michiru
in being non conflictive and fails to stand up for herself. It isn't until she meets someone
that helps her feel confident that she stands up for herself. Her bully, Manami is
not someone that she wants to hate, instead, wants to try to understand her and
establish a possible friendship. Likewise, Michiru has Ruka to help her stand up to
Sousuke who even though hurts her, she wants to understand him and continue to
love him.
The intro to the drama shows that Michiru is now the one who is alone, in kind of a
bittersweet sense. We know that Sousuke is lonely from the outside and the inside,
and Ruka, although she has friends and her passion, is heartbrokenly lonely on the
inside. Michiru being the one who ends up alone in the end displays a somewhat
realistic sense of character. Even though we want to cheer on Michiru and Ruka
to be together, it won't be a fairytale ending. The honest fact is that Michiru does not
love Ruka more or less than she loves Sousuke.
This is what we are all dying to see:
Michiru busting out a Ayumu and finally standing up for herself.
Ruka being able to open up on her problems and letting go of her fear of rejection.
Takeru accepting love and overcoming his traumatic past.
Sousuke either getting some mental help, seriously.... or Michiru letting him go for
GOOD. (there seems to be a bit of a conflict with that in the viewers. it's either we
sympathize with him and hopes he will mentally change, or we dislike him period and
hopes Michiru will run to Ruka, but we already know that's not in their fate, although we
can hope for something.)
Which reminds me, I really love the concept of the characters Eri and Ogurin.
I think someone already mentioned that they play the comic relief and that's true.
It's important to have a comic relief in a drama so serious like this, especially with
actors like Eita, Ryo, and of course Juri whom many viewers are used to a more
light comedy from Nodame Cantabile. Not only as comic relief, but they give off an
overall atmosphere in the drama that not everything is so negative in their particular
world. Both characters play their role in the drama well.
Even though Ogurin has issues in his own home, he talks about it in a light,
comedic sense which is not evident in any other character.
Eri's character is more of
the cool, calm character and a character that is yet to be further developed. But even
if we didn't know much about Eri, her nature is understood. It seems that out of all
the characters, she may lead the most NORMAL life. She works at a stable job, with
stable income. Her love life is not too evident yet but there aren't any instances that she
may be having a difficult one. With all these emotions and conflicts with each character,
Eri stands out giving off a natural, non dramatic human vibe. These two characters
gives an atmosphere to the drama that we can relate to in real life.
The share house
is basically the gateway from their messy personal lives to a more relaxed, common
ground. Much like people in real life who deal with problems at work or in relationships or
personally. When we are with a group of friends all those problems can escape even
if for momentarily. Sharing laughter, playing games, and eating food together all
emphasize that even though there is so much going on with each indivisual, in that
common ground they can learn to appreciate eachother and take a break from their
outside issues.
I have to give props to the director for the portray of this drama.
Most dramas are either too dramatic or too over-the-top in happiness.
Last Friends is a drama nontheless but it shows that there are people like
michiru in this world and people like Sousuke. There are issues that we cannot
confide like Ruka and things in the past that we cannot easily get over like with Takeru.
I think the director may have used Eri as a viewer relation character. Not sure
if she has some tramatic past herself or any issues but from what I see so far,
this is the vibe I'm getting. Meaning that Eri is who most of the viewers see themselves
as.
I see him holding a knife. He wasn't trying to joke with Michiru, he obviously
felt such a lonely pain in his heart when Michiru left him again that he thought
for a split second that he's better off dead than be in a world without Michiru.
Even though it may seem nothing more than a ploy to get Michiru to come back
to him, he's still holding a knife which is not visible to Michiru, only to himself.
Sousuke making the gesture physically and just by telling Michiru that he would
commit suicide shows that he isn't incapable of actually doing it. The more I watch
this drama I feel like the death isn't going to be anyone we didn't see coming, but more
of something we will progressively suspect later on in the drama.
My thoughts on MICHIRU:
Michiru is probably the most frustrating character on the series that's for sure.
Her helpless nature makes us the viewers frustrated and annoyed at the fact
that she can't fend for herself. We understand that because that is her nature,
Ruka feels that she has to protect her even more. From the beginning where the
salonist bullies Michiru or when we first see the darker side of Sousuke where he is
flipping through her cell phone, an act of invading privacy, we see that Michiru is
in fact a helpless person. She is of a timid nature and avoids any conflict possible.
If we pan over to Ruka, we see that the director is clearly trying to show the difference
between Ruka & Michiru. Ruka is the opposite of Michiru. We first see instances of that
at her motocross training when her coach gropes her. She doesn't stand still and
ignore it, something Michiru would most likely do. Instead, she kicks him from behind
an act that tells us, "i'm not going to just let things like this slide. don't mess with me."
and she gives off a fierce facial expression that we can read clearly that she is not
someone who will tolerate these kinds of things, whereas Michiru's expression after
being bullied or instagated by Sousuke of her actions is that of fearful and passive. Her
facial expression shows that she just wants to be loved and won't do anything back to
these people for fear of being hated.
We can all establish the fact that Michiru is closed off from anyone except when she's
with Ruka. The scenes with her and Ruka show how comfortable Michiru is when she
is with her. We see a different expression on her face when she is talking with Ruka but
when it comes to the point of Sousuke, she seems to hold back even to Ruka. Michiru
doesn't want to tell Ruka that Sousuke is violent because Michiru loves Sousuke and
she loves Ruka. She is afraid that if Ruka hates Sousuke she will be forced to choose
between the two, something she clearly cannot do. Because Sousuke to Ruka is the
only real LOVE she has ever experienced. Ruka to Michiru is the only real FRIENDSHIP
that she knows. Both which are precious things to a human being. I find it hard to watch
the scenes where Michiru is forced to lie to Ruka about what's going on between her
Sousuke because she doesn't want to worry Ruka and she doesn't want to end up
hurting Sousuke. We also see the vice versa side when Sousuke shows his dispise
towards Ruka. To Michiru, it is an offense that she cannot forgive because Ruka is
just as important to her as Sousuke. Not more, not less. In episode 3 when Ruka first
sees that Sousuke could be a violent person, she doesn't trust him being with Michiru.
This is when Michiru becomes in even more of a mental bind because now her love and
her friendship starts to conflict.
I honestly feel really bad for Michiru because she knows that at this point, if she
abandons Sousuke for Ruka, she will hurt him and it's not something she can bare
for long. If she betrays Ruka for Sousuke, she is risking her friendship. As viewers
I think we have mixed emotions for Michiru. At some point it becomes old and we
are eager to see Michiru come out of her protective shell and defend herself.
Michiru's character reminds me alot of Ayumu from LIFE. If you've seen the drama
then you'll know what I'm talking about. Ayumu also has the same nature as Michiru
in being non conflictive and fails to stand up for herself. It isn't until she meets someone
that helps her feel confident that she stands up for herself. Her bully, Manami is
not someone that she wants to hate, instead, wants to try to understand her and
establish a possible friendship. Likewise, Michiru has Ruka to help her stand up to
Sousuke who even though hurts her, she wants to understand him and continue to
love him.
The intro to the drama shows that Michiru is now the one who is alone, in kind of a
bittersweet sense. We know that Sousuke is lonely from the outside and the inside,
and Ruka, although she has friends and her passion, is heartbrokenly lonely on the
inside. Michiru being the one who ends up alone in the end displays a somewhat
realistic sense of character. Even though we want to cheer on Michiru and Ruka
to be together, it won't be a fairytale ending. The honest fact is that Michiru does not
love Ruka more or less than she loves Sousuke.
This is what we are all dying to see:
Michiru busting out a Ayumu and finally standing up for herself.
Ruka being able to open up on her problems and letting go of her fear of rejection.
Takeru accepting love and overcoming his traumatic past.
Sousuke either getting some mental help, seriously.... or Michiru letting him go for
GOOD. (there seems to be a bit of a conflict with that in the viewers. it's either we
sympathize with him and hopes he will mentally change, or we dislike him period and
hopes Michiru will run to Ruka, but we already know that's not in their fate, although we
can hope for something.)
Which reminds me, I really love the concept of the characters Eri and Ogurin.
I think someone already mentioned that they play the comic relief and that's true.
It's important to have a comic relief in a drama so serious like this, especially with
actors like Eita, Ryo, and of course Juri whom many viewers are used to a more
light comedy from Nodame Cantabile. Not only as comic relief, but they give off an
overall atmosphere in the drama that not everything is so negative in their particular
world. Both characters play their role in the drama well.
Even though Ogurin has issues in his own home, he talks about it in a light,
comedic sense which is not evident in any other character.
Eri's character is more of
the cool, calm character and a character that is yet to be further developed. But even
if we didn't know much about Eri, her nature is understood. It seems that out of all
the characters, she may lead the most NORMAL life. She works at a stable job, with
stable income. Her love life is not too evident yet but there aren't any instances that she
may be having a difficult one. With all these emotions and conflicts with each character,
Eri stands out giving off a natural, non dramatic human vibe. These two characters
gives an atmosphere to the drama that we can relate to in real life.
The share house
is basically the gateway from their messy personal lives to a more relaxed, common
ground. Much like people in real life who deal with problems at work or in relationships or
personally. When we are with a group of friends all those problems can escape even
if for momentarily. Sharing laughter, playing games, and eating food together all
emphasize that even though there is so much going on with each indivisual, in that
common ground they can learn to appreciate eachother and take a break from their
outside issues.
I have to give props to the director for the portray of this drama.
Most dramas are either too dramatic or too over-the-top in happiness.
Last Friends is a drama nontheless but it shows that there are people like
michiru in this world and people like Sousuke. There are issues that we cannot
confide like Ruka and things in the past that we cannot easily get over like with Takeru.
I think the director may have used Eri as a viewer relation character. Not sure
if she has some tramatic past herself or any issues but from what I see so far,
this is the vibe I'm getting. Meaning that Eri is who most of the viewers see themselves
as.