The Evolution of KimuTaku Through AnAn Magazine Covers

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• wow... he's graced the cover at least once every year??? that's amazing.

• I know next to nothing about J-entertainment. Just started watching Buzzer Beat based on your rec... But am wondering, if he is the Crown Prince, who is the King? And Queen? Thanks!

  • in my opinion he's totally KING. but i'm not sure who'd be Prince, Princess and Queen haha

    • I second that. Kimutaku is the King himself IMO.

      It's hard to find a long-reigning Queen in J-ent... I don't think at this moment there is any actress who can claim this title.

    • i agree! he is definitely the king :-)

  • Easy.

    Johnny is the King of J-ent. He makes or breaks any newbie. Period. He's the Emperor and Johnny & Associates is the Death Star.

    KimuTaku is the Crown Prince, and always will be. He doesn't want to be King - too much responsibility, he needs the freedom to challenge himself.

    There is no Queen of J-ent. Hamasaki Ayumi rules the singing roost, and maybe Shinohara Ryoko has the respect and the widespread actress appeal, but in the end J-ent is all about the guys.

    My Pi may be considered a successor to KimuTaku, but there is no such person ever to come again. If KimuTaku is Michael Jordan, then Pi, Kame, Jun, Shun, Miura, Hayami, et. al. are all just pretenders to the throne. Akin to Kobe, Wade, LeBron, etc.

    KimuTaku has everything - there won't ever be another him.

    • So fascinating. I'm going to have to look up some of his work for future rainy weekends...

      BTW, I'm 4 episodes into Buzzer Beat now, and I have to agree with your praise - it's got such a great vibe to it... totally digging the natural feeling I get from the main actors, esp your boy!

    • Haha love how you always bring basketball into the eqaution. Your a HUGE fan huh?

      But anyways koala, your right. KimuTaku is an original, but if there is a time when he needs a successor, I think it definitely has to be Shun! Shun. Oh I love him and his name. Because shun is so boss--IMO ofcourse. :)

    • agreed! hands down to KimuTaku.

      i have a major crush on him since Long Vacation :3

    • "KimuTaku has everything – there won’t ever be another him."

      so true!

    • Definetly agree with you, there are allot of people who are talented and goodlooking. But there are only a handfull of people who have that something special on top of that. Like George Cloony in hollywood and Sha Ruk Khan in Bollywood.

    • yup ! nothing compare him :p (bias)

      i have all the picture because i adore him since kid :p until FOREVER

    • Kimutaku!! *Bow* He is like Peter Pan. Never aged much since his SMAP days...

      U like Pi chan? My love is Takki. *heart, heart*

  • To me, Nakama Yukie is the queen, but that's totally my own bias XD Amami Yuki is also really awesome ^^

    But I'd agree, for the females there isn't really someone like that. There are lots of popular younger actresses, like Horikita Maki, Toda Erika, Inoue Mao and Ayase Haruka, but they haven't been around long enough, or are too young or something, I don't know. It's really weird, because there are so many awesome actresses, there's really not one general national favourite, I think.

  • my first J was Pride and I've loved him since then. No question whatsoever HE IS KING! Now to plug PRIDE, it clever, his cocky and its set to several rocking Queen anthems. Shoot now I have to go watch it.

• Oh my... missed the good old days when I see some of the covers of An An that I did own... esp. the ones around 1995 / 1996, basically the same year when I first saw a dorama with KimuTaku in it. (also the golden era of J-dorama. sigh)

  Thanks for sharing this!!

• KimuTaku is the reason I got hooked to J-Doramas. He is an enigma.

• Every time I see Lee Min Ho.., I always remember Kimutaku .. ;D

• This guy is just soooo sexy without even trying. Love his confidence.

• Kimutaku...my...drug of choice??? he's not your usual pretty boy but he got sooo much sex appeal and talent that you simply melt into his world everytime you see him... Thank you madame K for these pics... Love them all... until now I can't explain why I'm captivated by him... Love him in Pride and then hounded all his dramas after... he truly deserves to be called the Crown Prince of J ent.

• love him, though it's 100% because of Pride. <3

  There are a couple pictures in there of him smiling with the long hair where he looks like (sorry, but I don't know the names) The guy who plays Mike He's little brother in the TW drama Devil Beside You.
  I don't necessarily think he's more handsome that all the other J-drama guys out there (though he's certainly up there) but he is definitely the sexiest.

• for me
  kimutaku=johnny depp
  the king of cool in j-ent

  love his lion-kingesque mane!

• This man is just pure awesomeness when it comes to sex appeal. I also really fell in "love" with him acting-wise after he acted in Pride. I know that Long Vacation really exploded him onto everything in Japan and Asia, but I wasn't really fully impressed with his doramas until 2004. I loved Mr Brain and Karei naru Ichizoku.

  Even though I wasn't super into his dramas until then, I still really really loved him and the rest of SMAP for their variety show talents. They absolutely are hilarious! Loved their stuff from 1997 til now. I was always quite impressed with how even though they are really famous, they still do a lot of really funny comedy sketches. I don't know... I feel like in TW industry, once you go super idol/famous, you no longer really do that kind of stuff. Granted the market is different there, but I still appreciate the SxS show and other variety shows that members host.

  Gosh, is it me or maybe really great photoshopping skills - but he looks younger in the 2010 cover than in some of the previous ones. Either way, he's super fine. He definitely is the reigning crown prince... no one will ever be quite like him.