From the Tennis Court To Outer Space

When I started watching Saitoh Takumi in the Prince of Tennis musicals, there were a couple of other actors that caught my attention for one reason or another. I noticed immediately that Kazuki Kato (Hyotei's Atobe) had a clear—and good—singing voice, which is probably why he was given one of the two roles with the most solo lines. At any rate, I decided to see what other projects he's been involved in, and was surprised at the wide variety in his career. Let's jump right in:

Shigoku Shoujo—Ichimoku Ren

Literally translated, it means “Hell Girl”. A live-action drama based on the supernatural horror anime, it focuses on a young girl who lives in a world of eternal sunset. Named Enma Ai, she exacted vengeance on her village 400 years ago and now serves her punishment by fulfilling the vengeance of others and escorting people to Hell. When humans require her services, she offers them a contract and a warning: “When one is cursed, two graves are dug.” Three companions aid her in her work, carrying out her contracts. Kazuki plays one of Enma Ai's companions, Ichimoku Ren—the spirit of a katana who takes the form of a young man.

Ichimoku has a larger role in the anime, but Kazuki did get some pretty good scenes. For some reason, my absolute favorite scene came about halfway in episode 10; I loved the almost frightening smile on his face when he said “Ja, iko ka?” (“Well, shall we go?”) right before dragging the Victim of the Day out into oncoming traffic. It just seemed so very different from the other roles I've seen him in, which is always a treat from an acting perspective.

Hotaru no Hikari—Teshima Makoto

This show gives a good idea of the Japanese viewpoint regarding single women approaching their 30s, which makes me suspect that the typical Japanese citizen would probably consider me very strange since I'm not much for the dating scene myself. Hotaru works at a famous interior design company, but once at home she lounges about in jerseys with a cat, a can of beer, and a decided lack of interest in men. Her landlord's son, recently separated from his wife, decides to live on his father's property for a while—not realizing Hotaru also lives there. Even worse, it turns out the man is Hotaru's own boss. Kazuki adds fuel to the fire as the young designer Teshima, who's smitten with an increasingly confused Hotaru.

The best way I can describe this series is “a light but screwy comedy, with surprisingly deep moments”. I didn't actually finish the series—not because it was bad, but at times the love triangle plot was almost painful to watch (which may have more to do with my own emotional hangups rather than anything in the actual show.) It's the usual comedy/angst series, although well worth watching if you're interested in Kazuki given the amount of air time he has. You can see the series on Crunchyroll.com; just follow this link.

Kamen Rider Kabuto—Daisuke Kazama/Kamen Rider Drake

The latest Kamen Rider series in a list of many, Kabuto celebrates the franchise's 35^th anniversary. It focuses on a high-minded man named Tendou Souji, who's trained for seven years to use the Rider belt. He makes many enemies in the process, his ego and aloof personality isolating him from everyone but his sister Juka. He meets other Riders, each with vastly different personalities from his own, and often teams up with ZECT member Kagami Arata to fight the growing threat of Worm invaders.

Kazuki enters this series as a famous metrosexual makeup artist who will go out of his way to help any woman in trouble. He travels with a little girl named Gon, who often finishes his sentences when he can't think of the right word. He also happens to possess a Rider belt, allowing him to transform (“Henshin!”) into Kamen Rider Drake.

Um...yeah. Let's just say this series gave me bad flashbacks of the endless fight sequences in Sailor Moon. I'll say upfront I'm not a big fan of the superhero-type shows, where “Henshin!” is a phrase you're guaranteed to hear at least once per episode (although, to be fair, I was warned that the Kamen Rider series is most known for it). That being said, I have to admit the NON-“henshin” portions of the series were very impressive. I was most struck by the rocky friendship between Tendou and Kagami; the producers didn't take the cheap way out by throwing them together and having them become best friends within the first three episodes like too many shows have done. Instead, difficulties of every variety confront them constantly, keeping a barrier of tension between them until the very end. I also enjoyed the sibling-like relationship between Daisuke (Kazuki) and Gon; we don't see much of either of them after episode 28, but the dynamics of their relationship were able to add a refreshing spice to the mix.

A side note: Kazuki also shows up in two Kamen Rider movies. One is a retelling of the series Kamen Rider Kabuto in an alternate universe, taking place in outer space. (Yes, you read that right. No, I don't know what they were thinking either.) I haven't actually seen it yet, but if I can find it online I'll post my opinion. The other movie, Kamen Rider the Next, is a sequel to Kamen Rider the First—and makes about as much sense. Kazuki plays an entirely different character from the Kabuto series, and frankly, not even his acting skills could have saved that flick. It's on YouTube with English subs if, for some unknown reason, you're struck by the impulse to see something that makes stabbing your eyes out with an ice pick sound like more fun.

As it turns out, Kazuki is just as involved in the music world as he is in acting. Along with being featured on disc 002 of the Tenimyu Best Actor's CD series (under his character's name, Atobe Keigo), he's released a number of singles and full CD sets. My favorite songs happen to be “Faith”, “Yume Hikoki” and “Warning”, but he has quite an assortment of songs out—including the strange but catchy “Vampire”. He has music videos for nearly every song, and you can look them up on YouTube.

Next time: Shirota Yu and a show that everyone should see at least once in their lives.

Different Doesn't Always Mean Worse

Before I get into my next post, I have to say one thing: Buses are helpful. Exact change is evil.

Anyway, here's a list of the “normal” (read: non-BL) Japanese TV shows I've been watching, featuring a few of the actors I've decided to keep track of. The funny thing about these shows is that you can usually end up playing the Six Degrees of Separation game (based on the theory that everyone in the world can be connected to virtually anyone in six steps.) So I would watch one show because of X actor, then find Y actor from the same show pop up elsewhere, who just happened to co-star with Z actor, whom I'd already seen in another series with X actor...repeat ad infinitum. Even I can't keep up with all the connections, so I may miss a few when describing the shows.

Also, for the record, I freely admit Japanese names confuse me and I can often get the order wrong. Although I'm aware the surname comes before the first name in Japan, I've seen the names below written both ways so I'm not always certain which is which. I'm 100% certain Saito(h) Takumi is correct, but the others are open for interpretation.

There is an order to this, I swear (at least, I think so). So as not to bore everyone with a long post again, I'll probably end up breaking this up into a couple of segments. Let's start with the first three non-BL projects that I watched:

Boys Este
Featuring: Saitoh Takumi as Shikishima Shichiri

Not subbed in English yet, but the general plot involves Akagi Hibiki, a high schooler who starts work at an esthetic salon, and a young girl named Shizuka who lost confidence in her looks when her former boyfriend insulted her. While they struggle with their feelings for each other, Shikishima's eye also lands on Shizuka.

A 12-episode light romance/comedy series, not to be confused with Saitoh's darker and more graphic movie Boys Love. No BL in this show, although it's hinted at least once that Shikishima is bisexual. The humor takes some getting used to, but once you get past Shizuka's overacting in the comedic parts, it's actually an enjoyable series. I had a difficult time locating all the episodes, but it isn't impossible.

Princess Princess D
Featuring: Kamakari “KenKen” Kenta as Yutaka Mikoto; Saitoh Takumi as Arisada Shuya

An all-boys high school (which is apparently a popular setting for TV shows) has established a rather unusual practice: choosing three first-year students every year to dress as “princesses” and be the school's official mascots. A very reluctant Mikoto is coaxed into it by his friends, and discovers a few things about the true power—and trials—of friendship.

KenKen was also Hyotei's Shishido in Tenimyu. I don't know what it is with Japan and cross-dressing, but at any rate Saitoh is practically one of the only actors who don't end up in a dress by the end—and let me tell you, seeing the rowdy and incredibly boyish KenKen dressing in pink lace is enough to give anyone nightmares. There were also hints of BL sprinkled liberally across the ten epsidodes, although not enough to be classified a BL-genre show. Overall, the series was “cute”, but I doubt I'd sit through the whole thing a second time.

Forbidden Siren 2
Featuring: Saitoh Takumi as Itsuki Mamoru

This isn't actually a series, or even a movie—it's a video game for the Japanese PS2, following in the tradition of the survival horror genre ala Silent Hill. 29 years ago the remote island Yamijima was thrown into darkness when an underwater cable snapped. The next morning, all of the island's inhabitants were gone. A group of present-day travelers are visiting the island for their own separate reasons when the boat they're on capsizes--and that's just the beginning of their terror.

Even if Saitoh hadn't lent his voice to the main protagonist, I probably would have been interested in this game anyway. The story seems fairly complex, the developers made the creepiness factor actually work, and apparently one of the main features is the fact you end up playing many different characters by the end. Very much like Alan Wake, light plays an integral role in gameplay, which I find fascinating. Even the violence level isn't all that bad compared to its English counterparts. But Japanese games won't work on American consoles, so I guess I'll just be happy with the cutscenes others have uploaded to the internet.

Up next: Kazuki Kato, Shirota Yuu and how I ended up expanding my search beyond the grads of Tenimyu.

The Different Side of Japanese Movies

My last two posts have been about the Prince of Tennis musicals, but the truth is I ended up getting interested in them because of Saitoh Takumi, and I only saw Saitoh because one of my perverted friends suggested watching a movie called Sukitomo. (I'm not saying I'm ungrateful for finding him, but come on—he has done non-BL projects...)

I also held off discussing other Japanese movies until I covered Tenimyu because, as it turns out, nearly every Japanese-made movie or TV series since 2005 tends to feature one or more “graduates” from a Tenimyu production. This may be due to the fact that there are so many cast members in the various productions (not to mention the various people who have played the different characters over the years) that it's practically a given for the acting industry to be inundated by them. This is particularly true in the BL genre, where a certain few actors seem to dominate the stage.

I'm breaking this up into two posts, of which the order will hopefully make sense. This post will review the BL-genre movies I've seen, and the next one will review the non-BL projects. For this post, I'll review the ones with so-called “happy” endings (read: no one dies, tries to kill someone, or ends up in a similarly unfortunate situation) first. The ratings are mine, keeping the content in mind:

Sukitomo
Rated PG












Summary: Yoshiki (Aiba Hiroki), a photographer for his school newspaper, takes pictures of his childhood friend Tomokazu (Saitoh Takumi) at boxing matches. A frightening incident makes him realize he just might like the clueless Tomo more than he thought. The only problem is, so does Tomo's own stepsister.

Review: This was the first project where I saw Saitoh Takumi and Aiba Hiroki, and had no idea they had been in Tenimyu together (as Hyotei's Oshitari and Seigaku's Fuji respectively.) While I rate it PG, the truth is nothing ever actually happens; it's probably the “safest” movie out of everything I saw, which is why I suspect my friend suggested it first. The tension is entirely emotional. It's the content of the film that makes it PG—aside from being a BL movie, it touches on the subject of incest (despite the fact Tomo and his stepsister aren't blood related.) On an unrelated note, this is also the movie where I learned the appropriate time to say Ja, matashita (“Then, see you tomorrow.”)


Itsuka no Kimi e
Rated PG-13












Summary: More photography! Photography major Hayase Kouhei (Ryunosuke Kawai) can't figure out his new classmate, the introverted and unapproachable Noboru Fukami (Saitoh Takumi), and ends up befriending Noboru's more outgoing brother Ryu. But the dark secret of Noboru's past may not be what Hayase expected.

Review: Another Saitoh movie—he must have been really busy in 2006. This time he stars with Ryunosuke Kawai, who played Hyotei's Hiyoshi in Tenimyu. I have to say, out of all the BL movies I've seen, this movie had a plot that was the most believable (and interesting.) Admittedly it's predictable, but the acting makes it impressive. However, there are a couple of decidedly suggestive scenes you may not appreciate, and an actual kiss towards the end. If you can handle that, then you might want to take a look, just keep one thing in mind: “Aniki” is the term for a brother, not a name.


Takumi-kun Series: Soshite Harukaze ni Sasayaite
Rated PG









Summary: Takumi Hayama (Tomo Yanagishita), a youth with an acute fear of being touched, attends an all-boys high school where he attracts the attention of the school's idol, Saki “Gii” Giichi (Kato Keisuke), much to the chagrin of Gii's longtime admirer Izumi (Yasuka Saito). Unfortunately, he also catches the eye of a devious, predatory student, who has plans of his own for Takumi.

Review: Tomo Yanagishita (Seigaku's third-generation Kaidoh from Tenimyu—of course) plays the lead; Aiba Hiroki (Seigaku's Fuji) also makes a brief appearance as a violinist. For the most part this movie is relatively safe, and even kind of sweet, if grossly overacted. (Although I get the feeling from other people who have seen the movie that it was intentionally done like that, since the manga is much the same way.) The plot was simple and predictable, but again, it was clearly intended to be like that so I can't fault them. There's a suggestive scene at the end, but the frosted lighting simply makes it too comical to be realistic.

Ai no Kotodama
Rated PG-13












Summary: University students Ootani (Hidenori Tokuyama) and Tachibana (Yasuka Saito) have been living together for two years, hiding their relationship from others. A girl from their high school days suddenly shows up out of the blue, sparking jealousy and misunderstanding between them.

Review: At first I thought there was no Tenimyu connection in this film, but as it turns out Yasuka Saito (who was also Izumi in Takumi-kun) had played Higa's Hirakoba in the "Progressive Match" Tenimyu performance. It's an interesting take on the BL genre—the two actually start off together and face challenges as a couple, rather than getting together halfway through the movie. There are a couple of suggestive scenes and at least one kiss, but nothing too serious or dramatic.

And now for the “Not So Happy Endings” (otherwise known as “the crippled puppy drowns after watching his mother get hit by a car” endings). Do not watch if you're depressed, or don't want to get depressed:

Boys Love
Rated R

Summary: Magazine journalist Taishin Mamiya (Yoshikazu Kotani) is hired to interview the famous model and temperamental high-school student Noeru Kisaragi (Saitoh Takumi), only to find himself in deeper water than he imagined. After a rough start, their relationship is further tested by the demons from Noeru's past and the wanton promiscuity they drive him to in the present. And then there's the matter of Noeru's overprotective friend Chidori (Hiroya Matsumoto)...

Review: The title says it all. Saitoh's back, teaming up with yet another Tenimyu alumnus: Yoshikazu Kotani, formerly Seigaku's Kawamura. First, I take serious issue (!) with the way the relationship between the characters started, but after witnessing far worse things in Kichiku Megane I suppose it's to be expected in this genre. And the ending...granted, the opening scene already gave the impression it wasn't going to end well, but literally everything changes in the last three minutes. It's basically like a sucker punch with an added knife-twist for good measure. I've noticed this theme a lot with BL products, which strengthens my belief that the producers of such projects think these endings are appealing to women. (I would really like to meet these women, because I didn't find it appealing in the slightest.)

While you never actually “see” anything, there is partial nudity and a few scenes that don't leave anything to the imagination, which is why I gave it an R rating. Still, the acting is pretty damn good for a Direct-to-DVD film, so if you can handle the scenes mentioned above, it's a decent enough picture. And for the record (MAJOR spoiler alert; highlight to read): Saitoh can do a fantastic death scene.


Renai Shindan
Rated PG-13






Summary: This is actually a 12-episode TV series instead of a movie, with four completely separate story arcs covering different aspects of “forbidden love”: the first and last arcs are BL, with three episodes each.

In the first story arc, the young painter Tsubasa (Tomo Yanagishita) is constantly being harassed by a gang of thugs when he meets two other boys: tough rebel Leo (Shiozaki Airu) and quiet sculptor Kain (JURI). When he has to choose between the two, the consequences may prove more than he can handle.

In the last arc, physician Kei Katsuragi (Ryunosuke Kawai) is saved by lifeguard Kanade Maki (Kumai Kouhei) when he nearly drowns. No sooner does the relationship start than Kanade is diagnosed with a serious—and fatal—heart condition. (Think of it as Love Story with a truly gut-wrenching twist at the end.)

Review: Like everything else I've seen, Tenimyu actors abound in the BL portions of this series, although Saitoh is absent. Tomo Yanagishita (Seigaku's third-generation Kaidoh and star of the Takumi-kun movie) shows up again, along with Shiozaki Airu (Rokkaku's Amane) and JURI (Yamabuki's Jin). In the other story, Ryunosuke Kawai (Hyotei's Hiyoshi) is back after doing Itsuka no Kimi e to play the role of Kei.

Like the movie Boys Love, nothing is ever actually shown, but you do see some kissing and fade-to-black scenes. Again, the focus seems to be more on emotional trauma than anything else, and this series has that in spades. Without spoiling anything, I can only say you shouldn't expect a happy ending. Ever.

So there you have it. Really, the only reason you'd see these films is if you're a fan of any of the actors (like me *coughSaitohcough*) or you like the genre. If I had to recommend one out of all of them, the acting in Itsuka no Kimi e impressed me so I'd go with that one. Up next: the "normal" Japanese projects I've seen.