# Last Friends (2008)

> A bullied beauty parlor assistant returning to Tokyo reconnects with her high school best friend, a motocross racer, and the two begin rebuilding their lives together.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/7270

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 11
- Episode runtime: 49 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Network: Fuji TV
- Cast: Masami Nagasawa, Juri Ueno, Eita Nagayama, Ryo Nishikido, Asami Mizukawa, Ranka Rea, Nagashima Mitsuki, Aki Nishihara
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1200618/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: melancholic, intimate, bittersweet, hopeful

## Synopsis

Last Friends (2008-2009) is a Japanese television drama series created for Fuji TV, a single-season limited series of eleven episodes running about forty-nine minutes each. Michiru Aida (Masami Nagasawa), a beauty parlor assistant who returns to Tokyo after four years away, is bullied by her seniors at work and worn down by an abusive boyfriend. Her life turns when she reunites with her best friend from high school, Ruka Kishimoto (Juri Ueno), a skilled motocross racer carrying her own tragic past. The engine of the story is the slow rebuilding of two damaged young women's lives under one roof, with Takeru Mizushima (Eita Nagayama), a make-up artist introduced to Ruka through her housemate Eri Takigawa (Asami Mizukawa), drawn into their circle. Each episode moves through workplace cruelty, fragile romance, and the quiet work of trust between friends. Set in contemporary Tokyo, the drama is intimate and melancholic, with moments of warmth and hope threaded through its heavier material. Fans of Sex and the City, Tokyo Love Story and Hana Yori Dango will find resonance in its female friendship, urban romance and emotionally raw storytelling.

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- [Tokyo Love Story (1991)](https://ember.film/tv/14946)
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