LIFE (Japanese Series about Bullying)

 

 

 

                                                     

This series is about bullying. Ayumu, a new student in a highschool in Japan , becomes friend with Manami Anzai, one of her classmates. Manami seems nice at first, but then betrays Ayumu and start bullying her. She plays the victim and manipulates other classmates into thinking that bullying Ayumu is good and that she deserves it. Ayumu then becomes the target of the entire classroom. But she becomes stronger and stronger, and decides to fight bullying, with the help of two friends she met (Miki Hatori, a kind and strong girl classmate, and Sonoda Yuki, a male classmate who has been bullied too in the past). 

Name of the series:  LIFE

Year : 2007

Country: Japan

Genre: Drama / Engaged TV serie

Number of episodes: 11

Length of episodes: around 37 minutes each episode

Main actors:  Kii Kitano (Ayumu Shiiba), Megumi Seki (Miki Hatori), Hojo Takahiro (Sonoda Yuki), Hosoda Yushihiko (Sako Katsumi), Saki Fukuda (Manami Anzai), Maya Miki (Ayumu's mother), Seto Asaka (Toda-sensei), Sakai Miki (Hiraoka-sensei), Haruka Suenaga (Midori, Manami's best friend). 

 

My opinion:  This series is dark, serious and engaged. It is about bullying. Some scenes are not soft (Suicide attempts, manipulation, bullying) so be strong while watching that.  

This series is different from other ones. Not a cheesy love story this time. But a realistic drama that shows the cruelty of bullying. 

I like also how the drama doesn't only portrays bullying within teen students, but shows it can also happen between adults at work (like the scene when the teacher Hiraoka gets ignored and bullied by the rest of the other teachers)

Special congratulations to the actress Saki Fukuda, who played Manami Anzai. Very talented actress! her character (Manami) is unbearable! She is manipulative and apart from few students, no one knows she is the bully. She keeps playing the victim and says that Ayumu bullies her while it's the otherway around. SPOIL: Until near the end when other students realize she's bad and she gets bullied in return by the whole classroom students (KARMA!!). But Ayumu is nice and is against unfair things so she decides to help Manami despite she doesn't forgive her. But she is against bullying and the bullying didn't stop, Manami is just the new target.That's nice and right of Ayumu to act like this, but if I was in her shoes, I would take my revenge on Manami. [END OF SPOILER]

Manami  seems nice at first. But if you look closely, we can see a bit of manipulative behaviour even in the first episodes:  When Hiro, wants to eat her lunch with Ayumu, Ayumu accepts but Manami says to Ayumu:  "You should not eat with her. We are friends remember? So you should do as I say"  Her concept of friendship is very weird. You don't blackmail your friends. Anyways she's a bad person, and not to mention Sako Katsumi, who is as sociopathic as she is. But Ayumu (the victim) gets to know two friends who will help her against the bullying she is receiving (the 2 friends are Miki Hatori and Sonoda), so there is still some scenes that are softer and less sad.

This drama is engaged, talk about serious topic (bullying) and is full of suspenseful scenes. The acting is amazing as well. I recommand this.