ディアフレンズ Dear Friends
Have you ever watched a movie that no matter what age a person maybe you just know it will make them cry their eyes dry like a baby through it,and after it?!
Have you ever seen a movie that made you wish you met a person like that in this world?
Has a movie ever made you go…”To hell with romance! I will take friendship any day!”?
Have you ever loved a movie so much, watched it many times despite the pain it brings every time you watch it?
Was there a movie that actually touched your life and changed it?!
Is there a movie you want everyone to watch once in their one life!
Dear friends, For me, ‘Dear Friends’ is that movie!
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| Kitagawa Keiko as Rina | Motokariya Yuika as Maki |
BUT
Dear Friends is not for the weak of heart ( and those who lack faith in the yuri) because this is one sad sad movie!
Wait, wait, before you go I have to let you know that if I could narrow down all the yuri movies I’ve seen to date (and there’s a lot! believe you me) ‘Dear Friends’ would be in the top 5!
I love this movie so very much….despite the pain and tears that always follows!
~
Rina and Maki are two girls from different worlds.
Rina (Kitagawa Keiko) is at the top of the world and her life is at it’s peak! She’s got everything – friends, looks, boyfriends, money – everything!
Everyone and anyone wants her. Be it in school or in the outside world. Be it young boys her age or older men! Damn, even women want her…or would if she didn’t borrow their boyfriends whenever she was in the mood for ‘some’. Oh wait, that is her friends.
But as the laws of physics have taught us, there has to be balance and the day comes when Rina has to pay up.
She is diagnosed with cancer which completely wreaks her life! Everything she had, and thought had, all left her after the collecting began and cancer took its toll.
But perhaps lady justice was a little more blind than usual that day as it seems that she had dealt a worse hand to Rina than originally planned. So Lady Justice introduces Rina to Maki.
On the other side of the coin, we have Maki (Motokariya Yuika). Maki has not been as lucky as Rina. She has no friends (that we see), doesn’t seem that rich (again that we are shown) in fact the only thing she had that Rina didn’t have was that her family loved her (unlike Rina, though it might have been her fault. She was quite a bitch-ahem)
Worst of all, while Rina had Lady Justice as her watcher, Maki on the other hand had Lady Death herself watching over her. She was watching so damn closely in fact that her hand was literally on Maki’s shoulder for Lord knows how long too.
Imagine this scenario ya?
You get a disease that for starters – has no cure whatsoever! Despite knowing you are destined to kick it (that’s not so bad, right? Everyone dies, right?) you know exactly how you are going to die, what the process will entail. You also know how long it is going to take for you to finally go and the worst news is that it will get more painful as that day comes closer.
That is Maki’s destiny.
But could you even suspect that such fate awaited her when you first see her?!
Hell no!
I ask thee, how would you handle that info?! I mean people commit suicide just from stress or depression.
Like…
Rina herself was planning to jump of the roof just because she had cancer (that was curable by the way) though thanks to none other than Maki coming to the rescue just in time, she didn’t end there.
Maki with such a destiny hanging over her like a forever cloud was the one who saved Rina from not only committing suicide but from herself and showed her a new life, a new way!
The contrast from the Rina at the beginning of the movie and the Rina at the end of the movie was so great that it was inspirational.
On the other hand, the Maki from the beginning to the Maki at the end was so heart-wreaking, emotionally building, and superbly inspirational that I think all they need to do to save the people that have lost their way is to show them this movie and there won’t be no need for prisons anymore!
Maki changed my life as well too. here I was frowning from the reasons why I have to suffer through education – EDUCATION?!!! I was like – Bitch Please to myself after this movie. Everything bad afterwards seemed like eating cake compared to what Maki was going through that now I no longer do things half-assed or complain about life (real life) or such things!
As for the yuri, I will say it again – romance?! To hell with that. I will take this friendship over any thing else!
If there is a movie that deserves an AU ending fic that’s better than a script from Christopher Nolan, then this is it! I just can’t imagine, okay I can imagine, how Maki and Rina would have ended up had Lady Death changed her ‘absolute’ rules just this once! I tell you now that I doubt, 98%, that Rina ever got a boyfriend ever again after the events of the movie! I doubt it!
Damn, now I am going to cry again! I need an ending fic so I can always read it to be happy after every re-watch, or try to be happy!
Dear friends, I command you to watch this movie!
Trailer
~ and finally, pics of Keiko and Yuika!
百合 Fever 
August 11, 2012 at 22:45
Okay, I admit it. This sounds so cliched, but… you’ve convinced me. I’ll watch this! – It does look good. 🙂 And Kitagawa Keiko… ^^
BTW, I watched Spider Lilies… I was like, wow it’s Rainie Yang! And then like, they’re talking Japanese! And then, aw it’s awesome!!!
Though I’m intrigued now – do you think you could blog exactly what your top 5 yuri movies are? Or even top 10?
August 12, 2012 at 13:14
My Top 10?
Now there’s a challenge ^^
Hmm…I just might actually
August 12, 2012 at 23:22
Please do! It doesn’t necessarily have to be ranked, but I’d love to find some more films to watch.
Also – have you seen pictures from the performance of SKEs new single yet? XD
August 13, 2012 at 05:56
I watched it!! At first I wasn’t really into it, but since I watch anything with Kitagawa Keiko in it….I also liked it a lot. A heart-warming story, well directed and well acted! Thumbs up for this film!
August 13, 2012 at 19:40
Yeah, it starts kinda slow and Rina’s love for bloke doesn’t help at al, does it?
August 13, 2012 at 22:06
I agree, the initial pace was almost drowsy for me, but as the film went you get hooked into it and absorbed by the story! At the end I was surprised how much Rina had changed from the beginning until the end. Rina’s character is a bit like Mika in Always zoku San Chome no Yuhi, though obviously Rina goes through a harsher reality. The relationship with Yosuke is kind of superficial so I didn’t like it, but then again her life-style–Rina’s- was also like that!
August 14, 2012 at 16:46
You’re the worst, you’re the opposite of Batman! Why would you do this to me?? ヽ(´□｀。)ﾉ
No, shut up! I didn’t mean it, okay? It’s just that…. you know, you’re probably an S aren’t you?
Actually don’t mind me, I talk nonsense right now because I am still recovering from the ugly sobbing I went through because of this movie… I really really liked it! In fact, I definitely enjoy your movie recommendations a lot, so keep up the good work, I’m looking forward to it, senpai! –I don’t even know whether you are older than me or not, I will call senpai, deal with it. Okay? 🙂
So far this one and Miao Miao are my favorites! Now I’m usually quite the crybaby when it comes to powerfully emotional dramas, more than I’d like to admit mind you, so it’s not like I haven’t prepared myself for shedding a few tears after reading your post, but… this movie broke me. Completely. Tearjerker in the true sense of the word. ; ____ ;
And thanks to Dear Friends I think I’m starting to take a liking to Keiko, she went way beyond my expectations in terms of acting, her performance was incredible! And she is so freakin’ pretty, she sort of seems like a beautiful fusion of KojiHaru (my AKB oshimen!) and Tomochin… or is it just me… maybe that’s why I’ve been so instantly drawn to her, because she reminded me of Harunyan, oh I see…
(￣ω￣;) I’m still considering watching some more of her filmography though.
I’ll probably go and read the manga now. Yes I’ll torture myself some more. Some might even wonder if I find pleasure in suffering. Sometimes this is the case. I am a bit of a masochist after all.
Thank you for your time, senpai! And for the awesome recommendation!
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
August 14, 2012 at 18:08
LOL
Hi there DIANA,
Welcome (very much so) to 百合Goggles (this is your first comment, right? I mean I would definitely remember you ^^ if you did) and thank you for the kind words and commenting as well.
You might not believe it, but after all these years, you are the first one to thank me like that! I mean okay, this is a personal blog where I only share what I come across (Not researching for the sake of posting) but still, some recognition of taste in my choices is very well appreciated ^^
I am sorry too I guess for it seems that I didn’t warn you about the tear-jerking to come, enough anyway but I did mention how it would make just about anyone cry, right?
actually, I think you are an S since you loved Miao Miao so much to be your favourite and now Dear Friends. I mean they both end with one of the couple leaving so in a way, BAD ENDs, right?
But you know what, I actually love those too. Which is why I so very much enjoy the Whispering Corridors Series (Korean Movies). If the emotions between characters are deepest (like Rina and Maki) even if they don’t end up together in the end due to any reasons, I will re-watch that movie every time even with the pain that is sure to follow.
Also I didn’t think you were an Idol fan during the beginning of your comment so when I saw that you are into AKB, my happiness soared! And you so nailed it on the head with Keiko looking like a mixture of Kojiharu and Tomochin!
So, thank you.
Really, it’s comments like these that make a blogger feel that happier sharing their thoughts on things and fuel them to share more.
So I will be hearing from you again, I hope….
Thank you again DIANA ^^
Ja ne
August 15, 2012 at 10:44
Well, sometime ago, there was this one post regarding Madoka Magica (which lured me here) and I remember posting a short comment about me fangirling at the mere mention of KyouSaya. Yes, I am hopeless like that (๑ơ ₃ ơ)
And surprisingly so, yes, I am into the AKB48 / SKE48 fandom. But I’ve only been a fan for two months or so. While I still have a bunch of things to learn, it feels like I’ve been in this fandom for years. By the way, Rena happens to be my SKE oshimen as well, in fact I was really glad I bumped into your blog because of those W Matsui fanfictions, hehe, which I’ve definitely enjoyed! (*/∇＼*)
So let’s see… you’ve got MadoMagi, AKB / SKE, W Matsui, shoujo ai movie recommendations, and basically plenty of things to meet my yuricon and idol needs… yes, I think you’ll hear from me again, senpai!
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