Last Cinderella

The Japanese drama, Last Cinderella (ラスト シンデレラ), is endearing and slightly comical at the same time. The show's cast is comprised of great actors and actresses, the three main leads being Haruma Miura, Ryoko Shinohara, and Naohito Fujiki. The drama premiered on Fuji Television and aired from April 11, 2013 to June 20 of the same year with 11 episodes in all.

Plot

Sakura Toyama (Ryoko Shinohara) has been boyfriendless and sex-deprived for the past ten years of her life, and with her nearing the age of forty in only a few months, she's coming to the conclusion that she'll remain alone for the rest of her life, stating that her job as a stylist is her current husband. When an old colleague from her past, Rintaro Tachibana (Naohito Fujiki), re-enters her life as her new boss, she's less than pleased as she had been hoping to earn his new position as manager.

With Rintaro's sudden reappearance comes Chiyoko Ogami's, a young girl that Sakura's known for quite some time. Chiyoko's had her eyes set upon Rintaro for a while, and when she notices that Sakura's and his relationship is chummy due to their past friendship together, she takes matters into her own hands, calling in a favor and inviting Sakura to a dating event so she can find someone other than Rintaro. Chiyoko's favor is getting someone she knows to sweep Sakura off her feet so she won't think about looking at Rintaro's way, and 24-year-old Hiroto Saeki (Haruma Miura) is the man capable of swooning nearly any woman with his good looks.

After the dating event, Sakura, who was completely drunk the previous night, wakes up to find Hiroto right beside her on a hotel bed. Hiroto explains that the two of them had a very intimate night together and that he would like to pursue dating her, however, Sakura is very adamant that it won't happen due to the 15 year age difference between them.

As time passes and Hiroto and Sakura decide to see each other regularly, Hiroto realizes that Sakura's kindness is rubbing off on him and is making him a better person and that he's beginning to develop real feelings for her. However, with Chiyoko being determined to win Rintaro's heart, she's going to stop at nothing to make sure that she wins it, and if she can't? She'll simply have to make other people as miserable as her.

Overall

I was extremely hesitant when I picked up this drama for the fact that I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. Of course, I was happily surprised to find that it's now another favorite of mine. Last Cinderella is a drama that's full of surprises. While it doesn't follow the usual Cinderella storyline, I find that's what's so great about it. It wasn't a drama that's completely predictable and I found that to be really refreshing. The acting was superb - Haruma Miura's performance in particular was simply above and beyond, the storyline held your attention and left you wondering what would happen next, and I adored watching the relationship between Hiroto and Sakura blossom from awkward to intimate. This drama did not let me down in any way and I found myself glued to my television for the past day. Last Cinderella is a drama that I would recommend anyone to watch and enjoy.