Last Friends

ラスト·フレンズ
Genre: Drama, Friendship
Episodes: 12
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: April 10, 2008 – June 19, 2008

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

Synopsis
Michiru Aida is a beauty parlour assistant who returns to Tokyo after four years of absence. She moves in with her boyfriend, Sousuke Oikawa, who works in the Child Welfare Division. She quickly becomes the victim of DV and is bullied at her workplace. Ruka Kishimoto is Michiru's best friend that works part-time at a mechanic shop and is a brilliant motocross racer. She has a problem which she cannot confide to anyone and her worry becomes evident throughout the series. Takeru Mizhushima is a professional hair makeup artist by day and a bartender by night who suffers from a traumatic past. The three meet by chance and a journey of friendship begins.
Plot
A pregnant Michiru is first seen walking in a fishing village area, wondering about her friends and a horrible death which occurred laments the fact that she did not have the ability to know what is in a person's heart, and therefore could not stop the death. However, she acknowledges that her friends are supporting her even though she betrayed Ruka.

Present day Tokyo, Michiru is working at a beauty parlour when she sees her boyfriend, Sousuke Oikawa waving at her and pointing out a place to meet him for dinner. When she does, Sousuke gives her a cup for her birthday present and invites her to live together. Michiru gets permission from her mother and tells Sousuke that she will move in soon, first buying pair furniture. At the department store, Michiru is seen by Ruka, who chases the bus Michiru has boarded. In her hurry, Ruka bumps into Takeru and drops her cup. She catches up, and the two meet each other for the first time in four years. Later that day, Ruka meets Takeru again after Eri drags her along to the night bar where Takeru works.

Source
Cast
Main characters
Michiru Aida
Japanese Live action actor: Masami Nagasawa

Ruka Kishimoto
Japanese Live action actor: Juri Ueno

Takeru Mizushima
Japanese Live action actor: Eita

Eri Takigawa
Japanese Live action actor: Asami Mizukawa

Sousuke Oikawa
Japanese Live action actor: Ryo Nishikido

Supporting characters
Tomohiko Ogura
Japanese Live action actor: Shigenori Yamazaki

Aki Nishihara as Reina Hiratsuka
Rea Ranka as Sayuri Mita
Sayaka Hirano as Mayumi Okabe
Mitsuko Baisho as Chinatsu Aida
Takeru Shibuya as Naoya Higuchi
Toshiyuki Kitami as Kenichiro Endo
Yuko Ito as Yuko Shirahata
Tetsushi Tanaka as Kazumi Hayashida
Mayumi Asaka as Yoko Kishimoto
Mitsuru Hirata as Shuji Kishimoto
Mitsuki Nagashima as Shogo Kishimoto

OST
Last Friends OST

Nodame Cantabile (Live Action)

Nodame Cantabile (Live Action)
Broadcast Network: Fuji TV
Television drama
Directed by Takeuchi Hideki
Broadcast Period: October 16, 2006 – December 25, 2006 (Original run)
Episodes 11

Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe
Broadcast Network: Fuji TV
Broadcast Period: January 4, 2008 – January 5, 2008 (Original run)
Episodes 2

Nodame Cantabile Saishū Gakushō Zen-Pen
Live-action film
Released December 19, 2009

Nodame Cantabile Saishū Gakushō Kou-Hen
Live-action film
Released April 17, 2010

Plot
Shinichi Chiaki, an arrogant, multilingual perfectionist, is the top student at Momogaoka College of Music and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy (namely Prague), but is trapped in Japan because of his childhood phobia of airplanes and the ocean. In contrast, Megumi Noda, or "Nodame", is a piano student at Momogaoka, notorious for messiness and eccentric behavior. Despite being very talented, Nodame prefers to play by ear rather than according to the musical score; thus, she is regarded as sloppy and playful.

When they meet by accident, Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame's unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Along the way, they meet some crazy people (like Masumi, Mine, and Stresemann) and make lasting friendships. Because of Nodame, Chiaki gets the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people's musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible.

After graduation, Nodame succeeds in curing Chiaki from his phobias and they both move to Paris, where Nodame continues her piano studies at the Conservatoire de Paris while Chiaki starts a professional career as a conductor. In Europe, they encounter new friends and rivals, as well as keep in touch with their friends from Japan.

Live-action drama
Nodame Cantabile has been adapted as a live-action television drama broadcast in 11 hour-long episodes from October 16, to December 25, 2006 on Fuji TV, covering events up to volume 9 of the manga. This was followed by a four-hour sequel television special, Nodame Cantabile New Year's Special in Europe, adapting further events in the manga after Chiaki and Nodame move to Paris, broadcast on Fuji TV on January 4 and 5, 2008. These were directed by Hideki Takeuchi from scripts by Rin Etou, and starred Hiroshi Tamaki as Shinichi Chiaki and Juri Ueno as Megumi "Nodame" Noda.

Music direction was by Daisuke Mogi with original music by Takayuki Hattori, with several works of classical music featured in each episode. The orchestral music was performed by Nodame Orchestra, which consisted of members specially selected for the live-action drama with professional support from the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra was conducted by James DePriest, Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, who would later have his name and likeness used in the Nodame storyline as the musical director of the fictional Roux-Marlet Orchestra. The opening theme for both the drama series and special was the First movement ("Andante Cantabile") from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, and the ending theme was Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, both performed by the Nodame Orchestra conducted by Toshiaki Umeda.

An episode of PuriGorota: Uchū no Yūjō Daibōken (プリごろ太 宇宙の友情大冒険?), the fictional anime series that Nodame watches, was created by J.C.Staff for the drama. The anime was written and directed by Ken'ichi Kasai, the director of the first season of the Nodame Cantabile anime. Segments of the PuriGorota anime were shown during episode 4 of the Nodame Cantabile drama, with the complete anime released as a DVD extra with the Nodame Cantabile anime series.

Two live-action movie sequels to the television drama, with the same actors, were released in December 2009 while the second film was released in April 2010. Filming began in May 2009 and lasted for five months, and included location filming in Vienna. On May 4, 2009 the drama began airing in the Philippines on the GMA Network. In South Korea the drama aired on MBC's cable channel where it achieved peak ratings of 2%, which is a record high for a foreign cable drama.

A South Korean adaptation starring Joo Won and Shim Eun-kyung in the lead roles will air on KBS2 in 2014.

OST
Nodame Cantabile OST (Live Action)