LIFE - Drama Review

I’ve always been curious about this drama because I heard that it was very intense as well being labeled as a “must watch” drama to see. And, I finally had the courage to watch this. However, I didn’t know that a high school life can be scary as it was portrayed in this drama.

The drama began with Ayumu who was walking outside towards her school when all of the sudden a desk came falling out of the school’s balcony and barley missed her. However, that was just a small glimpse of what sort of ugliness that was going on behind this high school.

Shiiba Ayumu (Kitano Kii) was able to successfully go to a prestigious school called the Nishidate High School. What inspired her to go to this school was that she wanted to stay close to her best friend, Sonoda Yuuki (Hojo Takahiro), who always dreamed of going to Nishi High. One year ago, when they were both middle school students, they had to pass an exam in order to be qualified to go to that school. Ayuma had a high score and was able to get in. But her friend had a low score and failed to get in. Later, her friend became so jealous of her and blamed her for her failure. And so, they separated. As a result, Ayumi felt so guilty about ruining her friend’s dream that she later became withdrawn from others.

However, Ayumu meets Anzai Manami (Fukuda Saki), a popular high school girl who became Ayumu’s first friend at Nishi High. They even made a promise that they will not betray each other as long as there are still friends. But as Ayumu began to hang out with Manami and her friends more frequently, she noticed that Manami had a dark side to her personality. Whenever she encounters a certain person that she doesn’t like or  betrays her, she would make sure that he/she will have a miserable life at school by spreading nasty rumors and pulling off pranks. But one particular rumor started to spread throughout the school that Ayumu was having an affair with Manami’s boyfriend. The conflicts and misunderstandings started to escalate between her and Manami. Manami felt so betrayed by her that she and her friends decided to gang up on her and sabotage her life. 

  
I give prompts to all the actors in this drama because I thought that they did an excellent job in portraying their roles. The way that they showed their emotions and action, made the whole school bullying atmosphere so believable and real. Especially, Fukuda Saki (from the IS drama), she did an awesome job as a believable mean girl, Manami, that everyone will either hate her or love her. Another actress that I liked was Kitano Kii as Ayumu. I was really terrified as to what was to come for this poor girl because as the story progresses, the abuse from her classmates just gets even worse. In the beginning, she was always depressed and let her classmate harass her even further, but she finally finds the strength to stand up for herself and fight back. And that’s what I liked about Ayumu. She was not one of those students who takes their own life and just gives up so easily. But she was able to turn around and face her own demons. Thanks to the support of her two friends who understood what she was going through. I was rooting for her. However, it really felt like I was watching an actual person being bullied, and forgot that there were just actors. 

The whole harassment and bully situation does get a little over the top sometimes. I mean, Minami even used outside resources to get what she wants and cause Ayumu and her friend’s life even more troublesome. As well as, blackmailing and threatening one of her teachers so that no one would suspect that she was involved in this mess. Minami does go to the extreme and that was the part that I found it to be a bit unbelievable. Although, it was entertaining to watch that manipulative bi*ch and how far she was willing to go. 

Overall, if you like to see a really good school drama, then watch this one. I thought the drama did really well in showing the consequences of bullying someone and how it really impacts a person’s life so realistically. And, I thought that the story itself manages to convey that message loud and clear.