Last Friends
I finally decided to try and finish Last Friends before the next season of dramas begins, and actually managed to watch all three remaining episodes tonight. Though I did have to take a couple of breathers every now and then when some of the events got me too upset...
Episode 9
Michiru looks very hurt when she sees Ruka in the garden smiling and chatting carelessly with Takeru. I guess she's jealous that Ruka feels she can confide in him but not her, who has after all been her oldest friend?
Ewww, Takeru's sister looks really reepy and a bit too eager to see him. Also, her reaction to seeing him sleep almost in Ruka's arms is a bit too obvious, especially with all the clues there have been about Takeru probably having been sexually molested when he was younger...
Even Michiru, who isn't usually the most perceptive person noticed something weird about that woman. And Takeru's reaction, when he heard about the visit, only made her more concerned about it.
Eeek, more creepiness with Sousuke hanging around the house and spying on them :/!
Michiru's mom is really a piece of work. She's complaining to Michiru that why couldn't she stay with Sousuke, who looks so respectable, and when Takeru tells her how Sousuke used to treat Michiru, her only comment is that doesn't every guy occasionally behave like that. Then again, it's also very sad and well shows what kind of men she has been with - no wonder Michiru kept going back to Sousuke again and again when she had that kind of model for relationships.
Sousuke really is completely delusional! When he tracks down Michiru in the store, he's asking when will she come home and is trying to play the pity card with his injuries... Michiru tries to tell him that she's broken up with him, but it's almost like her words just don't register in his mind and he just keeps asking her if she read his letters and so on. He only lets her go when she says that she has found someone else, even though it's looks like he can't believe her at all.
Yikes, looks like he came to the obvious conclusion that it's Takeru that she likes. And of course he goes completely psycho and attacks Takeru, beating him up with his crutch (which, I have to say, looked a bit ridiculous).
There is such a clear difference between the way Michiru acts when Sousuke is out of the picture and when he's creeping around. It's like she shrinks completely into herself and acts so wary all the time, like she's constantly fearing that he'll pop up from somewhere to harass her again.
Having someone else hurt by Sousuke certainly isn't helping matters, since there is the extra burden of feeling guilty for the way Sousuke is acting "because of her". But like Ruka tells her, she is not the one at fault. He is! Still, it isn't that easy - she feels guilty anyway, especially since she told Sousuke that she had someone new in her life. But I don't think she could really predict how Sousuke would react, and certainly wasn't expecting him to attack Takeru...
Can't the police do anything?! With this kind of obvious attack and all. Still, it might be word against word and with Sousuke being a government employee and very convincing when he wants to be, it might be no help at all to involve the police in this. Still, I wonder...
The good thing about this event is that it does bring Ruka back into the share house, as she wants to be able to protect Michiru. She even goes to meet Sousuke in his home, where he tells that he's planning to write to her parents and tell them everything about her, but she tells him just to go ahead, she's not afraid.
He really is crazy! He's accusing Ruka of planning it all! But Ruka tells him that she won't let him come beteen Michiru and her happiness. "How can you say such things?" "Because the one who really loves Michiru, is me. I don't consider your love to be real love." Oh, how much that comment must annoy Sousuke!
Of course he attacks her, since that's completely his modus operandum whenever he is crossed! OMG! Is he going to rape her?!! At least it strongly looks like they are hinting that way...
Episode 10
Phew, she did manage to escape from him before he did it... Looks like her first impulse is to cover herself up, so she rushes to a clothing store and the shock doesn't really hit her until she's in the changing booth. But when she gets to back to the house she tries to act like nothing happened, though I think Takeru noticed that something is wrong.
What I keep wondering about is that didn't all those punches and the strangling leave any bruises on Ruka's skin, because it looked like Sousuke was really beating her??? In the end she only showed that one minor cut on her cheek? In real life she would have been black and blue after such treatment!
Michiru is talking of leaving the house again, because everyone is acting so nervous every time the phone or the doorbell rings. But Ruka tells her that would be no help. Sousuke would track her down anyway and it would be more dangerous for her to live alone... Like Takeru tells her: Ruka is risking her life to protect her and it would be like betraying her to go back now.
That little kid is really cute, but are they including the scene between Sousuke and him just to try to show that he isn't a complete monster or why? Especially when the next scene just proves his malice once more, since he apparently tipped some magazines about Ruka wanting a sex change.
Heh, Takeru asks Ruka if it's right not to tell Michiru about Ruka's feelings, but she says she just can't tell her, when Michiru just happens to arrive outside the door just at that moment and hears everything anyway. So she finally finds out the truth from Ruka's own mouth, and just like Ruka feared, her first reaction is to run away, feeling scared and betrayed.
She also starts remembering all of Sousuke's nasty comments about Ruka looking at her "with the eyes of a man", etc. and in the end decides to flee the house because she can't stay under the same roof as Ruka, knowing she will never be able to return her feelings. It's just too painful.
But I can't help comparing her to Takeru, since isn't that exactly what he's been doing all this time? He's in love with Ruka and knows she doesn't return his feelings, but he's still stayed there and supported her through everything...
Ouch, Ruka's father read the nasty article about Ruka and was very understandably shocked by it. He goes to meet her asking if there's something she wants to tell him. And she honestly tells him the truth. Ruka's family is such a contrast to Michiru's! They are so supportive even with something as hard as this. After the initial shock, her father says he will continue to support her as long as she's happy.
I don't for a moment believe Sousuke is willing to give up like he claims when he calls for Michiru to come and pick up her clothes from the apartment. Eri's words about giving Michiru some space because his clinginess is just pushing her farther and farther away must have made him think of some new plan to get to Michiru...
Poor girl, she looks so wary and scared standing at his door. Then in the apartment, she spots Ruka's lucky harm under the bed where it fell when Sousuke attacked her and remembers how Ruka looked the other day.
Sousuke just keeps persistently blaiming Ruka for the way his and Michiru's relationship fell apart. He can't accept any blame for himself at all. I guess in his mind he is just trying to protect Michiru from the evil person trying to drive them apart.
Aiyee! Michiru hears how Ruka told Sousuke that she won't let him stand in the way of Michiru's happiness, so she finally starts to remember all the good moments. And then Sousuke tells her that Ruka is just a woman as he disovered when he had her down. She looks so horrified by that comment!
I was really cheering when she slapped him! Go Michiru!!! But when she tries to leave, he won't let her go - just as I suspected, it was just a ploy to get her to come to him. And when she tries to leave again, he first threatens her friends... And then he rapes her...
GAAAAHHHHH!!! She's willing to sacrifice herself and stay with him, if he just promises that he won't lay a hand on her friends again. Urgh!!! His comment "Why are you crying, Michiru?" *incoherent rage*
I think we are supposed to think that his tears prove that he knows what he's doing is wrong, but just can't admit it. He knows he has lost Michiru, but isn't able to let her go. I don't buy it.
WTF!!! First he raped her and then he slashes his wrists. Talk about an ultimate guilt trip. He's really something :P...
Still, I feel the writers haven't really been that consistent with his character. One moment he is shown as an abuser who regrets what he's done afterwards and the other he's just a complete psycho without any kind of remorse about his actions.
Episode 11
According to his letter, he thinks this will free her from him. But I suspect it will only make her feel more tied to him than ever. All those apologies aren't much consolation in this situation. They will just make her feel even worse...
Also, referring to my comment above about inconsistent writing, I just don't buy him suddenly deciding to let Michiru go and to even apologize for his actions. The way I see the character, it would have been much more believable if he had first killed Michiru and then committed suicide. The drama's solution to the situation just felt like a copout to me.
Ruka's family and friends are really wonderful, because they are all so supportive of her and accept her as she is. It must be such a relief to her not to have to fear about everybody's reactions anymore and not to hide her true self all the time.
The group doesn't find out until well after the race that Sousuke committed suicide. They only get a message from her that she has gone away and they shouldn't worry about her.
Ogurin is such a loser! Eri deserves much better! She's good at pretending not to care, but it's clear that she's really hurt by the way he suddenly announced that he is being transferred to Milan and is taking his wife with him.
Heh, I just knew Michiru would start feeling ill at some point in the kitchen and discover that she's pregnant... She remembers how kind Sousuke used to be in the beginning, but her horrid mother is immediately telling her to get rid of the baby after she learns it's Sousuke's child. She tells Michiru that children are "a burden" that you can't get rid of that easily. She's so horrible even though she mellows a bit after Michiru comments how she always felt like a burden to her mother!
Hee! Ogurin came back to Eri. Maybe he isn't such a total loser after all. He's just really weak and tries to take the easiest path most of the time. Eri knos he isn't perfect, but she accepts and loves him as he is. Which, I guess, is one of the themes of this drama.
I guess it fees a bit weird for both of them now that Ruka and Takeru are alone in the sharehouse after Eri and Ogurin got married. So Takeru tells Ruka that they should go visit Michiru because he can't take the way she's constantly missing her anymore.
So, we finally get to hear Takeru's story almost at the end of the last episode. About time, even though it was already pretty obvious from all the hints what had happened between him and his older sister.
Oh no, they are not bloody hinting at some crash with that truck they keep shoing?! F***, of course the crashed :P. But neither Ruka nor Takeru got any serious injuries... Grrr, they shouldn't scare the viewers that way!
But I guess it was just a way to get them to the hospital, because of course Michiru arrives there while they are still there, and Takeru sees her with her big big belly. Looks like she's very near the birth of the baby.
When Ruka asks her to come back to Tokyo, she tells that she can't because it's Sousuke's baby and he died because of her. She's still feeling guilty about his death, maybe just like he intended. She doesn't think she deserves to be happy or to seek consolation from her friends.
But Ruka convinces her that she can live her on life now and that both she and Takeru will help her raise the baby if she is willing to accept them. Of course she goes into labor right after. But it looks like they and the baby girl will be living together after this all.
I don't know, the last episode felt just a little flat to me, especially all those fake scares that were there only to prolong the episode, and the way they neatly tied all the stories. The drama had so much controversial and hard stuff in it that this pat happy ending for almost everybody just felt completely false to me.
Episode 9
Michiru looks very hurt when she sees Ruka in the garden smiling and chatting carelessly with Takeru. I guess she's jealous that Ruka feels she can confide in him but not her, who has after all been her oldest friend?
Ewww, Takeru's sister looks really reepy and a bit too eager to see him. Also, her reaction to seeing him sleep almost in Ruka's arms is a bit too obvious, especially with all the clues there have been about Takeru probably having been sexually molested when he was younger...
Even Michiru, who isn't usually the most perceptive person noticed something weird about that woman. And Takeru's reaction, when he heard about the visit, only made her more concerned about it.
Eeek, more creepiness with Sousuke hanging around the house and spying on them :/!
Michiru's mom is really a piece of work. She's complaining to Michiru that why couldn't she stay with Sousuke, who looks so respectable, and when Takeru tells her how Sousuke used to treat Michiru, her only comment is that doesn't every guy occasionally behave like that. Then again, it's also very sad and well shows what kind of men she has been with - no wonder Michiru kept going back to Sousuke again and again when she had that kind of model for relationships.
Sousuke really is completely delusional! When he tracks down Michiru in the store, he's asking when will she come home and is trying to play the pity card with his injuries... Michiru tries to tell him that she's broken up with him, but it's almost like her words just don't register in his mind and he just keeps asking her if she read his letters and so on. He only lets her go when she says that she has found someone else, even though it's looks like he can't believe her at all.
Yikes, looks like he came to the obvious conclusion that it's Takeru that she likes. And of course he goes completely psycho and attacks Takeru, beating him up with his crutch (which, I have to say, looked a bit ridiculous).
There is such a clear difference between the way Michiru acts when Sousuke is out of the picture and when he's creeping around. It's like she shrinks completely into herself and acts so wary all the time, like she's constantly fearing that he'll pop up from somewhere to harass her again.
Having someone else hurt by Sousuke certainly isn't helping matters, since there is the extra burden of feeling guilty for the way Sousuke is acting "because of her". But like Ruka tells her, she is not the one at fault. He is! Still, it isn't that easy - she feels guilty anyway, especially since she told Sousuke that she had someone new in her life. But I don't think she could really predict how Sousuke would react, and certainly wasn't expecting him to attack Takeru...
Can't the police do anything?! With this kind of obvious attack and all. Still, it might be word against word and with Sousuke being a government employee and very convincing when he wants to be, it might be no help at all to involve the police in this. Still, I wonder...
The good thing about this event is that it does bring Ruka back into the share house, as she wants to be able to protect Michiru. She even goes to meet Sousuke in his home, where he tells that he's planning to write to her parents and tell them everything about her, but she tells him just to go ahead, she's not afraid.
He really is crazy! He's accusing Ruka of planning it all! But Ruka tells him that she won't let him come beteen Michiru and her happiness. "How can you say such things?" "Because the one who really loves Michiru, is me. I don't consider your love to be real love." Oh, how much that comment must annoy Sousuke!
Of course he attacks her, since that's completely his modus operandum whenever he is crossed! OMG! Is he going to rape her?!! At least it strongly looks like they are hinting that way...
Episode 10
Phew, she did manage to escape from him before he did it... Looks like her first impulse is to cover herself up, so she rushes to a clothing store and the shock doesn't really hit her until she's in the changing booth. But when she gets to back to the house she tries to act like nothing happened, though I think Takeru noticed that something is wrong.
What I keep wondering about is that didn't all those punches and the strangling leave any bruises on Ruka's skin, because it looked like Sousuke was really beating her??? In the end she only showed that one minor cut on her cheek? In real life she would have been black and blue after such treatment!
Michiru is talking of leaving the house again, because everyone is acting so nervous every time the phone or the doorbell rings. But Ruka tells her that would be no help. Sousuke would track her down anyway and it would be more dangerous for her to live alone... Like Takeru tells her: Ruka is risking her life to protect her and it would be like betraying her to go back now.
That little kid is really cute, but are they including the scene between Sousuke and him just to try to show that he isn't a complete monster or why? Especially when the next scene just proves his malice once more, since he apparently tipped some magazines about Ruka wanting a sex change.
Heh, Takeru asks Ruka if it's right not to tell Michiru about Ruka's feelings, but she says she just can't tell her, when Michiru just happens to arrive outside the door just at that moment and hears everything anyway. So she finally finds out the truth from Ruka's own mouth, and just like Ruka feared, her first reaction is to run away, feeling scared and betrayed.
She also starts remembering all of Sousuke's nasty comments about Ruka looking at her "with the eyes of a man", etc. and in the end decides to flee the house because she can't stay under the same roof as Ruka, knowing she will never be able to return her feelings. It's just too painful.
But I can't help comparing her to Takeru, since isn't that exactly what he's been doing all this time? He's in love with Ruka and knows she doesn't return his feelings, but he's still stayed there and supported her through everything...
Ouch, Ruka's father read the nasty article about Ruka and was very understandably shocked by it. He goes to meet her asking if there's something she wants to tell him. And she honestly tells him the truth. Ruka's family is such a contrast to Michiru's! They are so supportive even with something as hard as this. After the initial shock, her father says he will continue to support her as long as she's happy.
I don't for a moment believe Sousuke is willing to give up like he claims when he calls for Michiru to come and pick up her clothes from the apartment. Eri's words about giving Michiru some space because his clinginess is just pushing her farther and farther away must have made him think of some new plan to get to Michiru...
Poor girl, she looks so wary and scared standing at his door. Then in the apartment, she spots Ruka's lucky harm under the bed where it fell when Sousuke attacked her and remembers how Ruka looked the other day.
Sousuke just keeps persistently blaiming Ruka for the way his and Michiru's relationship fell apart. He can't accept any blame for himself at all. I guess in his mind he is just trying to protect Michiru from the evil person trying to drive them apart.
Aiyee! Michiru hears how Ruka told Sousuke that she won't let him stand in the way of Michiru's happiness, so she finally starts to remember all the good moments. And then Sousuke tells her that Ruka is just a woman as he disovered when he had her down. She looks so horrified by that comment!
I was really cheering when she slapped him! Go Michiru!!! But when she tries to leave, he won't let her go - just as I suspected, it was just a ploy to get her to come to him. And when she tries to leave again, he first threatens her friends... And then he rapes her...
GAAAAHHHHH!!! She's willing to sacrifice herself and stay with him, if he just promises that he won't lay a hand on her friends again. Urgh!!! His comment "Why are you crying, Michiru?" *incoherent rage*
I think we are supposed to think that his tears prove that he knows what he's doing is wrong, but just can't admit it. He knows he has lost Michiru, but isn't able to let her go. I don't buy it.
WTF!!! First he raped her and then he slashes his wrists. Talk about an ultimate guilt trip. He's really something :P...
Still, I feel the writers haven't really been that consistent with his character. One moment he is shown as an abuser who regrets what he's done afterwards and the other he's just a complete psycho without any kind of remorse about his actions.
Episode 11
According to his letter, he thinks this will free her from him. But I suspect it will only make her feel more tied to him than ever. All those apologies aren't much consolation in this situation. They will just make her feel even worse...
Also, referring to my comment above about inconsistent writing, I just don't buy him suddenly deciding to let Michiru go and to even apologize for his actions. The way I see the character, it would have been much more believable if he had first killed Michiru and then committed suicide. The drama's solution to the situation just felt like a copout to me.
Ruka's family and friends are really wonderful, because they are all so supportive of her and accept her as she is. It must be such a relief to her not to have to fear about everybody's reactions anymore and not to hide her true self all the time.
The group doesn't find out until well after the race that Sousuke committed suicide. They only get a message from her that she has gone away and they shouldn't worry about her.
Ogurin is such a loser! Eri deserves much better! She's good at pretending not to care, but it's clear that she's really hurt by the way he suddenly announced that he is being transferred to Milan and is taking his wife with him.
Heh, I just knew Michiru would start feeling ill at some point in the kitchen and discover that she's pregnant... She remembers how kind Sousuke used to be in the beginning, but her horrid mother is immediately telling her to get rid of the baby after she learns it's Sousuke's child. She tells Michiru that children are "a burden" that you can't get rid of that easily. She's so horrible even though she mellows a bit after Michiru comments how she always felt like a burden to her mother!
Hee! Ogurin came back to Eri. Maybe he isn't such a total loser after all. He's just really weak and tries to take the easiest path most of the time. Eri knos he isn't perfect, but she accepts and loves him as he is. Which, I guess, is one of the themes of this drama.
I guess it fees a bit weird for both of them now that Ruka and Takeru are alone in the sharehouse after Eri and Ogurin got married. So Takeru tells Ruka that they should go visit Michiru because he can't take the way she's constantly missing her anymore.
So, we finally get to hear Takeru's story almost at the end of the last episode. About time, even though it was already pretty obvious from all the hints what had happened between him and his older sister.
Oh no, they are not bloody hinting at some crash with that truck they keep shoing?! F***, of course the crashed :P. But neither Ruka nor Takeru got any serious injuries... Grrr, they shouldn't scare the viewers that way!
But I guess it was just a way to get them to the hospital, because of course Michiru arrives there while they are still there, and Takeru sees her with her big big belly. Looks like she's very near the birth of the baby.
When Ruka asks her to come back to Tokyo, she tells that she can't because it's Sousuke's baby and he died because of her. She's still feeling guilty about his death, maybe just like he intended. She doesn't think she deserves to be happy or to seek consolation from her friends.
But Ruka convinces her that she can live her on life now and that both she and Takeru will help her raise the baby if she is willing to accept them. Of course she goes into labor right after. But it looks like they and the baby girl will be living together after this all.
I don't know, the last episode felt just a little flat to me, especially all those fake scares that were there only to prolong the episode, and the way they neatly tied all the stories. The drama had so much controversial and hard stuff in it that this pat happy ending for almost everybody just felt completely false to me.