Ashita, Watashi wa Dareka no Kanojo おわり

This was one extremely well-done story of five different college girls immersed in the world of escort services, host clubs and prostitution, with characters you REALLY loved and cared and worried about as they learned about the life and about themselves as well.

I’ve already gushed about Ai Yoshikawa and how awesome she was in this drama as the soft-spoken and introspective Yuki Shirai, but special mention must be made of Yumena Yanai as the sweet and vulnerable Moe. Heartbreaking to watch her go from gruff confidence in being alone, to opening her heart for love, and the crushing feelings of being discarded, it was her story that was the most compelling to me. Yumena was AMAZING in this, I believed in her character so much that I never once realized she was the same actress who played Aoi in Yuru Camp!

Also props to actress Nagisa Saito playing the manic and obsessive Yua Takahashi- my GOSH, this girl was running on ALL cylinders every time she was on screen- So crazily charismatic and FULL of life, and yet so fractured, flawed and lonely….

I really loved the friendship she had with Moe, two totally different personalities whom come together by similar paths...

As a matter of fact, that's one of the things I really loved about this show, the way they brought together all the separate storylines with these seemingly loose connections, such great interaction between them all.

Mayu Yokota as Rina and Misato Ugaki as Aya rounded up the cast, and I love the fluid way they intertwined all the individual girls’ stories so as to become one solid story about the corruptive and obsessive nature of “Love for Sale”.

 I can't tell you how surprised I was how amazing this show was. Really hit me "in the feels"!

This one ranks a SOLID 10/10 from me, placing it right between Shoujiki Fudousan and Waru!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Haruka Fukuhara: With A Little Help from Her Friends

 

 Don’t know how many of you know, but Haruka Fukuhara has a cute youtube channel which she started mid 2020, filled with all her adorable antics and goings-on…

Like many other youtube channels, host Haruka has occasional guests on the spice things up, and it warmed my heart to see that among her guests were Yuno Ohara, 

Yumena Yanai, 

...and even Momoko Tanabe, all Yuru Camp buddies!!!

The girls get together to chat and play games, giving this real feeling of camaraderie between the castmates as if they were all real friends in real life!

And HEY,they even managed to squeeze in some CAMPING videos, with Haruka prepping kits, making campfires and cooking meals much like her TV show alter ego did!

While I doubt Haruka’s actually out there sleeping up in the mountains alone, it does give this warm feeling like the character of Camp-Obsessive Rin Shima is alive and well on Haruka's channel, still doin' her thing!

Yuru Camp おわり

When the Tina Tamashiro docu-style Train Drama "Tetsu Ota Michiko 2 Man Kiro" ended, it left a huge void in my heart as it was easily one of the most soothing and breathtaking shows out there, with its gentle way of narration as it followed a girl visiting hidden train stations tucked away in the remote parts of Japan, showing the scenery and cuisine as a by-product of her travels. 

In the same way, we have Yuru Camp, following an intrepid group of girls who love nothing more than to pack it all up and go camping out in the wild wilderness! In the same way as 2Man Kiro, detail is given for both the places they stay and visit as well as the local foods and little shops that pepper the countrysides!

So relaxing to watch Rin Shima (Haruka Fukuhara, in one of her cutest roles yet) takin in the rustic backwoods to find that perfect place to pitch her tent for the night...

Their obsession with all things Camp are hilarious- who knew that a mini-hibachi could cause such happiness in a girl?

Although peak Yuru Camp for me is when it's focused primarily on Rin camping alone, there is this wonderful dynamic when they split the episode with half following Rin and the other following Nadeshiko and her Camp clubmates Chiaki and Aoi!

Rin's part is always so silent, introspective and sombre... 

...while Nadeshiko and the gals are full of chatty giggling, eating and napping!!!

And then of course there is the relationship between Rina dn Nadeshiko which is the other part of this drama- while Nadeshiko learns about camping, Rin learns about friendship. So sweet watching them all bond.

When they say that a drama is a "feel-good" show, Yuru Camp is EXACTLY the kind of drama that they're talking about! You just CAN'T walk away from this show without a huge smile on your face!

PS: I had mentioned it before, but I really loved the ending song "Replay" by FLATMAN which tugged at my nostalgic memories of my own high school times, and when set against the backdrop of the girls scampering around in the classrooms, really ended each episode on a warm note!