“For those who want to watch ‘Tokyo Friends: The Movie’ and have not watched the drama series that came out before the film, this navigation edition condenses the five drama episodes to one special. A good way to understand the characters and the women’s friendship and life challenges before watching the film.”
TITLE: TOKYO FRIENDS THE MOVIE: NAVIGATE EDITION
DURATION: 92 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Region 2, Color
COMPANY: avex entertainment
Starring:
Ai Otsuka as Rei
Mao Kobayashi as Maki Abiko
Maki Yoko as Ryoko Fujiki
Rio Matsumoto as Hiroko Hayama
The following was originally posted on J!-ENT as a PDF, but is being reposted in the blog:
A tale about four women searching for their dreams in Tokyo. The story of four women through happiness and pain, welcome to “Tokyo Friendsâ€.
Originally released as five episode OVA drama series on DVD (three volumes), the series sets up for a major film release for “Tokyo Friends†which came out in Japan in the Summer of 2006.
The main storyline revolves around the character Iwatsuki Rei (played by singer Otsuka Ai). Rei moves from the country to Tokyo and gets a job at a pub called “Yume no Kuraâ€. Through the pub is where Rei meets Abiko Maki (Kobayashi Mao) who is Rei’s co-worker. A woman who has a talent for painting and is urged by her teacher to pursue her dreams in art.
At the pub, we meet an OL named Fujiki Ryoko (Yoko Maki) who seems to be drunk all the time and seems to be with a different man. As it is her dream to find a financially sufficient husband.
And last, there is Hayama Hirono (played by Matsumoto Rio) who is an actress who came to Tokyo to be close to her senpai. And ends up working at the pub. Hayama’s dream is to star in her own play. And through the pub, the main character Rei witnesses a fight between members of the rock band Survival Company. By trying to help stop the fight, Rei ends up getting a bloody nose and from that point, she and the band’s guitarist, Ryuuji develop a relationship.
With the band needing a new vocalist, the band takes in Rei as their new vocalist. So, throughout the series, we watch as Rei and the band Survival Company evolve, as they experience many ups and downs.
As for the four women, aside from knowing their dreams, we also see the trouble they have with the men in their lives and of course, their friendship.
In order to get people who never watched the five episode OAV drama, and get them up to speed before the release of the film, a special “Navigation Edition†was released.
Included in this edition are four chapter tracks. The first is the navigation of Tokyo Friends, the second is a 90 minute digest version of drama episodes 1-5. The third is the making of “Tokyo Friends The Movie†and the fourth is the trailer for the film.
Of course, with the original episodes being 70-minutes long, with 25 minutes dedicated per episode, you don’t get too see too much into the women’s relationships with the men in their lives.
But the condensed stories are cutwell enough that you understand what is going on.
All in all, I found the navigation edition to be a great resource and primer to the film.
Having never watched the drama series, watching the digest version really kept me up-to-speed of what is going on in the series. So, the navigation edition accomplishes what it is supposed to be used for and now I want to watch “Tokyo Friends – The Movieâ€.
If you want to learn about the series before watching the film, definitely check out the navigation edition.