I think among all of Arashi, Aiba has the worst luck with dramas.
What always seems to happen is he gets something that sounds really interesting on paper, but in execution just falls flat. Half the time it has nothing to do with whether or not he can act.
Last Hope is about a band of specialist doctors (with tragic/confusing PASTS!) who work together at a center that specializes in cases other doctors have rejected. They are the patients’ ‘last hope’, something they never fail to mention (I’m talking every single episode, to the point that it’s lampshaded by the characters). To solve these cases they use “cutting edge medical technology”. They deal with the aforementioned pasts and “help each other”. They also wrestle with heavy questions about Japan’s medical system, about life and death and ethics etc.
It sounds good, right? Having a tragic past is a bit of cliche, but it can work well, if it’s done properly, right? In fact, the reveal of one of these “pasts” left me completely floored.
Then why, WHY is it so boring?
(SPOILER ALERT!!! This review contains major plot spoilers – basically I’m spoiling Aiba’s ending – as in every detail. Also, this review focuses mainly on Aiba’s story arc more than the others.)
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