Tokyo Friends

*Tokyo Friends*
Tokyo Friends
	Tokyo Friends DVD cover
Genre	Romantic comedy
Created by	Max Matsuura
Written by	Rin Eto
Directed by	Kozo Nagayama
Starring	Ai Otsuka; Eita; Rio Matsumoto; Masanobu Katsumura; Yōko Maki; Mao Kobayashi; Ryuta Sato;
Theme music composer	Ai Otsuka & Ikoman; Takehiko Takeuchi;
Opening theme	Friends (フレンズ) by Ai Otsuka
Ending theme	To Me by Boo Bee Benz; Kimi to Iu Hana (君という花) by Boo Bee Benz; Yumekui (ユメクイ) by Ai Otsuka
Composer	Sin
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Ryuhei Chiba; Masaomi Takagi;
Producers	Motohiro Abe; Yoshikazu Kenmochi; Nanami Takahashi; Hidefumi Tokairin; Ichiro Takai;
Cinematography	Tomotaka Sato; Hiroshi Gonda;
Editors	Yoshifumi Fukasawa; Masaharu Hirakawa;
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	46 min. (approx)
Production companies	Avex Entertainment; Fuji Television;
Release
Original release	June 3, 2005
Related
	Tokyo Friends: The Movie;

Tokyo Friends (東京フレンズ, Tōkyō Furenzu) is a Japanese television drama released on June 3, 2005. Unlike many other dramas, it was never aired on television but released as a set of 3 DVDs. Volumes one and two contain the first 4 episodes while volume three contains the last episode. Each episode is approximately 70 minutes.

The Tokyo Friends Premium Box was also released which includes all 5 episodes, a bonus DVD, and 12 postcards. Although this is a very typical Tokyo-story and was never aired, it was quite successful probably because it was Ai Otsuka's debut as an actress.

Plot

Rei Iwatsuki moved from her hometown Kōchi to Tokyo to pursue her dreams. On arrival, she found a job as a waitress in a restaurant and met guitarist Ryuuji Shintani. Ryuuji liked her voice and invited her to join his band as the vocalist, The Survival Company (also known as Sabakan). The two started a relationship but then broke off when Rei wanted to write her own songs.

Rei met other girls also working in the restaurant, Hirono, Ryoko and Maki, all in pursuit of their own dreams, and became good friends with all of them.

Cast

Ai Otsuka - Rei Iwatsuki
Eita - Ryuuji Shintani
Rio Matsumoto - Hirono Hayama
Masanobu Katsumura - Kazuo Sasakawa
Yōko Maki - Ryoko Fujiki
Mao Kobayashi - Maki Abiko
Ryuta Sato - Kenichi Satomi
Yuuta Hiraoka - Hidetoshi Tanaka
Kuranosuke Sasaki - Kohashi
Mari Hoshino - Akemi
Kei Tanaka - Wataru Iwatsuki
Kazuki Kitamura - Keitaro Sasakawa
Hajime Okayama
Kazuyuki Asano
Yutaka Matsushige - Shirakawa
Shunta Nakamura - Mitsuo Nagase
Takashi Ito - Oku-chan
Yuu Misaki - Yoshie Sasakawa
Arata Furuta - Wada

Movie

Tokyo Friends: The Movie was released in theaters by Shochiku on August 12, 2006 and on DVD by Avex on December 13, 2006.

External links

Official website (in Japanese)
Tokyo Friends at IMDb

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