Snapshot of the Most Popular Japanese Actors of 2014 From Popular Year End Polls

The end of the year starts counting down now and with it comes the unending stream of polls, surveys, and lists. Which makes it a good time to check back in with Japan entertainment to see how the tastes have changed, if any, after a bustling 2014 worth of doramas and movies. Below are two just released polls showing how the two genders prefer their male stars of Japan. Vivi Magazine, one of the top ladies fashion publications in Japan and the more demure Glamour to AnAn’s Cosmopolitan, collected all the female readership votes for the Top 20 most favorite male stars of the year. Over at Oricon, the chart behemoth just released its 6th annual Men Rank Men poll results of all the male voters choosing their ideal male star looks. The results are vastly different but for the two hottest It Guys of the year making it onto both, proving that Sato Takeru and Fukushu Sota definitely deserve their red hot career rise. They are the definition of the Chinese slang Eating Up Both Sides (通吃). Continue reading

First Look at Oguri Shun Leading Star-studded Cast for Time-travel J-dorama Nobunaga Concerto

Holy mamacitas what is this crazy star-studded cast of what is shaping up to be the biggest fall J-dorama around. Oguri Shun is headlining the upcoming Fuji TV 50th anniversary special dorama Nobunaga Concerto, a time-traveling story based on the … Continue reading

A Review and Recap of the Paradise Kiss Movie with Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu

The Paradise Kiss live-action movie can be viewed two ways. For folks unfamiliar with Yazawa Ai‘s brilliant source manga, the ParaKiss movie starring Kitagawa Keiko and Mukai Osamu is likely just a frothy harmless shallow piece of fashion coming-of-age entertainment … Continue reading

A Look at the Leading Actors of Japanese Entertainment

A couple of months ago I did a write up on TW-actors and TW-actresses, which was relatively easy to do since there just aren’t that many of them occupying the perch as certifiable leads. The same isn’t true elsewhere, which … Continue reading