Last Friends

Last Friends ラスト·フレンズ
Last Friends title card
Genre	Drama, Friendship
Created by	Taeko Asano
Directed by	Endo Mitsutaka Moriwaki Tomonobu Miyaki Shogo
Starring	Masami Nagasawa Juri Ueno Eita Asami Mizukawa Ryo Nishikido
Narrated by	Masami Nagasawa Juri Ueno Eita
Theme music composer	Hikaru Utada
Opening theme	Prisoner of Love
Country of origin	Japan
Original language(s)	Japanese
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	12
Production
Producer(s)	Watanabe Tsuneya
Running time	60 min./episode
Release
Original network	Fuji TV
Picture format	1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	April 10 – June 19, 2008
External links
Website

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 special, consisting of a recap and some new additional scenes aired on June 26, 2008.

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 racer. Takeru, a make-up artist, is introduced to Ruka by her housemate, Eri and thus begin a journey of friendship.

A manga counterpart focusing on Ruka's and Michiru's high school days is currently being published in Malika. Although episode 11 was supposed to be the final episode, a sudden phone call requested the producers to add on a special. A movie has also been announced due to Last Friends' immense popularity.

Last Friends was number 1 on Fuji's top 50 list from June 16 till June 29. However, it had since dropped to 6th place 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. Aside from the official website at Fuji TV, another website has also been created, named "Last Friends: Another".

Juri Ueno and Masami Nagasawa were originally approached for the role of Ruka and Michiru.Asami Mizukawa was cast for the other woman character Taeko Asano planned to have in the drama. Takeru, however was a last minute addition because the producers wanted a male presence in the drama. Initially, the drama was to be only about domestic violence (DV) and gender identity disorder, portrayed by Nagasawa and Ueno respectively. A character who used DV was then created.