The Evolution of KimuTaku Through AnAn Magazine Covers

I recently came across a lovely compendium of all the AnAn Magazine covers that KimuTaku (Kimura Takuya) has ever graced. It perfectly encapsulates the Crown Prince of J-ent and his evolution from free love hippie boy toy to serious thespian goofy SMAP member. It’s incredible to consider his legacy and longevity in an industry that typically values the next-big-thing. Currently KimuTaku is filming the TBS anniversary tent-pole drama Nankyoku Monogatari.

Based on the true story of Japan’s First Cross-Winter Expedition in Anarctica, the drama focuses on the 11 members of the team and their relationship with the 19 Sakhalin Huskies. Terrible weather conditions made the team leave all of the dogs behind at the Shouwa Base. One year later Kuramochi (KimuTaku) and a few others returned to the base with the Third Cross-Winter Expedition to surprisingly find that two of the dogs, Taro and Jiro, were able to survive despite the harsh conditions. Can’t wait to see KimuTaku in Anarctica now that he’s already been to space. The AnAn cover above is his latest from 2010.

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

[Credit: all pictures from Baidu Kimura Takuya bar]

Comments

The Evolution of KimuTaku Through AnAn Magazine Covers — 59 Comments

anon on July 16, 2011 at 8:08 PM said:

wow… he’s graced the cover at least once every year??? that’s amazing.

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Anon on July 16, 2011 at 8:26 PM said:

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!

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- jandoe on July 16, 2011 at 8:45 PM said:
  
  in my opinion he’s totally KING. but i’m not sure who’d be Prince, Princess and Queen haha
  
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  - So3 on July 16, 2011 at 8:49 PM said:
    
    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.
  - cha on July 16, 2011 at 9:14 PM said:
    
    i agree! he is definitely the king 🙂
- ockoala on July 16, 2011 at 9:22 PM said:
  
  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.
  
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  - Anon on July 16, 2011 at 10:24 PM said:
    
    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!
  - Leishers on July 16, 2011 at 11:58 PM said:
    
    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. 🙂
  - sleepaddict on July 17, 2011 at 4:39 AM said:
    
    agreed! hands down to KimuTaku.
    
    i have a major crush on him since Long Vacation :3
  - oi on July 17, 2011 at 5:17 AM said:
    
    “KimuTaku has everything – there won’t ever be another him.”
    
    so true!
  - absothe on July 17, 2011 at 8:24 AM said:
    
    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.
  - Nita on July 17, 2011 at 9:14 AM said:
    
    yup ! nothing compare him :p (bias)
    
    i have all the picture because i adore him since kid :p until FOREVER
  - txtlinda on July 19, 2011 at 6:01 AM said:
    
    Kimutaku!! *Bow* He is like Peter Pan. Never aged much since his SMAP days…
    
    U like Pi chan? My love is Takki. *heart, heart*
- Selli on July 17, 2011 at 6:57 AM said:
  
  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.
  
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- Yami on July 18, 2011 at 4:31 AM said:
  
  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.
  
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So3 on July 16, 2011 at 8:46 PM said:

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!!

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Byj_angel on July 16, 2011 at 9:12 PM said:

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

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jeha on July 16, 2011 at 10:27 PM said:

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

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magnolia on July 16, 2011 at 10:53 PM said:

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

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mizweng on July 16, 2011 at 11:27 PM said:

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.

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hookedonmonix on July 16, 2011 at 11:29 PM said:

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.

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poopy on July 17, 2011 at 12:30 AM said:

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

love his lion-kingesque mane!

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lovedramas on July 17, 2011 at 1:07 AM said:

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.

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serendipity on July 17, 2011 at 2:30 AM said:

Strange but true: I first fell in love with KimuTaku’s ACTING VOICE. In Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle, which I love with a deep passion and always watch in Japanese because I’m so much of a voice purist I don’t even like watching CARTOONS which are dubbed over in another language. Especially cartoons which are as elegant and culture-specific as Miyazaki. So, I’m in love with Howl, right. And so one day I google-image the actor and, hey, he’s kinda cute. And I watch A Million Stars Fall From the Sky. And the rest is history.

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- sleepaddict on July 17, 2011 at 4:47 AM said:
  
  really??? kimutaku as Howl????? i only watched the subbed one….
  >_<
  
  i have to agree with you in terms of Ghibli studio's film.
  Fantastic film!!!!
  
  but, i'm not a big an of their latest movie, Tales from earthsea…
  kinda let-down for me…
  
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  - lovedramas on July 17, 2011 at 7:03 PM said:
    
    Yep yep… he is howl. 🙂 Super sexy. Even my hubby was impressed when I told him that the lead was an idol!! hehe. He loves Miyazki-san’s works.
  - serendipity on July 17, 2011 at 7:08 PM said:
    
    I was warned that anyone who loved the Earthsea books (Ursula le Guin) as I do would be disappointed with the Ghibli Earthsea. And even with managed expectations I thought Earthsea was a pale shadow of Ghibli glory.
    
    Watch Howl’s Moving Castle in Japanese! The actor (yes, actor) who plays the Witch of the Waste is amazing. And, of course, it’s got KimuTaku!! 😉
  - hookedonmonix on July 18, 2011 at 12:50 AM said:
    
    I keep putting off watching Howl’s in Japanese, but now i think i’ll have to. Everything else, I prefer subbed over dubbed, but I always watch Miyazaki dubbed (probably because it’s so much easier to find dubbed). I think I need to align my Miyazaki with the rest of my anime. especially Howl’s.
shedi on July 17, 2011 at 2:33 AM said:

he has the ‘shy smile’..:))

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sleeplessinwgtn on July 17, 2011 at 2:45 AM said:

What a coincidence. I am in the process of d/loading Long Vacation, which happens to star KimuTaku. I just finished episode 1 and I think I will like it as much as BB. Apparently it’s from the same director or author?

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dee on July 17, 2011 at 3:27 AM said:

His cold image were met all his drama

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rose on July 17, 2011 at 3:28 AM said:

i like him , he is totally j drama prince …. but hoping to see also matsu jun an an cover evolution if he has one

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Meix2 on July 17, 2011 at 3:47 AM said:

Wow.
Can he let known his secret to eternal youth? Hardly changed at all over 10+ years. I wasn’t much of his fan in Pride or Long Vacation but don’t deny he’s good looking. However, was completely hooked since he did ‘Million stars falling from the sky’ Mmmmmmmmm.

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Sere on July 17, 2011 at 5:48 AM said:

A little warning next time please? HOMG! *fans self*

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Einna on July 17, 2011 at 6:51 AM said:

It is just me or does he resemble Won Bin in practically all shots? Am I seeing things?

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- Emeldy on July 17, 2011 at 7:05 AM said:
  
  Yes, he does. I use to call him Won Bin lookalike before i knew KimuTaku.
  
  Kimu Taku will always be the King of J Entertainment. If i hear Timu Taku speak japanese, i want to start learning the language right away. He has this aura and charisma and i don’t think any one is close to reaching his level yet.
  
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- Sere on July 17, 2011 at 7:30 AM said:
  
  In the 2002 pic, the resemblance is uncanny!
  
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karened on July 17, 2011 at 7:55 AM said:

KimuTaku is THE face of the Japanese version of the Hallyu wave. We’ll never see another like him in J-ent.

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azzurri on July 17, 2011 at 8:54 AM said:

Thank thank you Koala for the pics. I was hooked on Jdramas solely because of him. Loved him in Love Generation, Pride and Sleeping Forest especially. And will always look forward to his new dramas. I so agree that they won’t see another phenomenon like KimuTaku in J-ent, or maybe even in any asian entertainment circles. He is truly one of a kind.

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ish on July 17, 2011 at 9:06 AM said:

I know very little about j-ent but I like his (KimuTaku’s) aura..it’s like I see my cute little Uchi Hiroki, who is the one I like most in what little japanese shows I’ve seen

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k on July 17, 2011 at 9:49 AM said:

Is it me or that guy doesn’t seem to age much?? There’s some covers in the later years where I would totally have mistaken them for covers of his younger years… Magic of photoshopping? anyway, I crushed for that man right the first drama I watched him… and then I watched all his drama over the years until Pride came and I totally fell for him… I might be more obsessed with Pi but Kimutaku has this drawing power called charisma that Pi cannot equal.

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- k on July 17, 2011 at 9:52 AM said:
  
  Also… i loved in Hero… Awesome drama even though there wasn’t any romance. ^^ That man oozes sex appeal no matter what he does, and no matter how much the scenes lack romance in it. Or I’m just incredibly biased… -_-“
  
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momosan on July 17, 2011 at 11:54 AM said:

Swoon……Kimutaku…..swoon.

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dana on July 17, 2011 at 3:41 PM said:

Damn. I thought I was looking at Won Bin!

I don’t know who’s older, but either he looks like WB or WB looks like him. Spitting image for majority of these photos.

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Lina on July 17, 2011 at 4:48 PM said:

at first glance i thought i saw lee minho but then i looked at the title and was like “oh…” xD

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- 1love on July 17, 2011 at 6:05 PM said:
  
  My first thought was there’s definitely something Lee Min ho-esque about the 1st cover shown above…He looks gorgeous in the 2002 cover.
  
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HunnyBunny on July 17, 2011 at 8:13 PM said:

Oishiiiii neeeehhh!

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pof on July 18, 2011 at 2:48 AM said:

to Dana and Lina, I agree that Won Bin is a very gud actor, he is special but pls dont say that Takuya Kimura looks like him or other actors, if you research and read about Takuya. HE is not like anyone else, both his appearance and talents…
I watched most of his dramas and movies, and CMs, and I have to say I always can watch them again and again….
Sorry to be a bit rude, but I just cant help myself saying that hehehe..

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Fran on July 18, 2011 at 6:30 AM said:

Always lurked, but couldn’t resist when you brought out the KimuTaku! Been a fan since the 90’s myself and I can say there will never be another like him. Am an absolute Arashi fangirl, but individually, no one comes close to the KimuTaku.
Just wondering if you’ve seen the anan pics of Pi… and Jin and Jun and Sho? The “this needs to be censored” series ;p

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reverie on July 18, 2011 at 8:42 AM said:

He is my first (in drama world) and lasting adorable love. Anyone else came after him.

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ZeeGirl on July 18, 2011 at 2:18 PM said:

LOVE Kimutaku!!!
Thanks for uploading Koala. Been following his career for quite a while now an I agree he is crown Prince. No one comes close… Love the hair, love the look, love the style, love his dramas. Just finished watching ‘Space Battleship Yamato’, he plays the lead Kodai and he rocks.

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ank on July 19, 2011 at 7:30 PM said:

He doesn’t seem to age at all. He is just awesome! He is definitely my favorite Japanese actor along with Fukuyama Masaharu.

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Ender's Girl on August 29, 2011 at 5:14 PM said:

Holy smokes, I love you 87348377 x for posting this!!! ;D

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PrincessAyra on September 11, 2011 at 7:54 PM said:

Whoa!~ I’ve been looking for a post like this since last week. Thank you so much!!! 😀

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Hipployta on February 29, 2012 at 7:49 PM said:

I’m super late on this post…but I was just flipping thru KimiTaku’s 1998 An An shoot and Jin’s again…*sigh* Such fond memories

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yuzie on February 3, 2016 at 5:20 PM said:

i might be toooo late for this post..But whenever everyone in my country has been caught by Korean k-pop fever.. i’ve been falling in love with this Japanes guy ever since.It’s been 20 years already. love smap n kimutaku forever!

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Yk on April 22, 2018 at 1:17 AM said:

He is really something. I only found his dramas recently. I’ve watched the ones by yamapi and tamaki hiroshi, but after discovering kimura takuya , he dominates my no 1 ranking. He’s on a different level than all the jdrama actors that I’ve liked before. Aura , presence , looks.. he just has it all. The emotion he conveys in his drama is deep as well. My so far favs are PRIDE , Good luck and 1 million stars falling from the sky.

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kimmygirl on April 14, 2019 at 11:29 AM said:

I’m a new fan of his. I think a lot of actors in Korea copied his style of but they cannot copy his swag.

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Mia on February 16, 2021 at 10:06 PM said:

Legend
He’s amazing

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