So, I’m trying to get back into translating news about our favorite boys but I haven’t been able to get a habit out of it yet. I’ve been asking myself too many existential questions lately, I only find comfort in watching Arashi Ni Shiyagare. I’m longing for some Kanjani8 Chronicles but I never have time to ‘apply’ into subbing communities and by the time they allow me in, I already have forgotten my password to LJ. Why can’t Japanese TVs be more lenient to fansubs… Don’t they see all the money Korea made with their shows? If you can’t tell, I’m very frustrated about it.
I’ve actually been really interested in subbing recently. While I can understand dramas and movie rather easily (without subs), my level is still not there yet. I’d need a transcript just in case I make mistakes.
Anyways, this is a recap of the TV Dramas and Movies that Johnny’s boys have done in 2017. I felt really bad for not updating the site for almost 2 years, and I was actually thinking of doing a whole year recap of all the things that happened in 2017 for the Johnny’s but that was really too much work especially with the workload in my life already, so I’ve limited myself to TV Dramas and Movies they have done. I will be doing this for 2018 as well.
2017 was a rather slow but diverse year for the boys. Almost everyone had at least 1 role in either format.
Let us start with groups.
SMAP
Kimura Takuya starred in the TBS drama “A LIFE“. While they were scrutinized by some Japanese news outlets for having rather low ratings for a KimuTaku drama, (14.2/14,7/13.9 for the first 3 episodes which are still alright), by the end of the series, with the time shifts counted in, “A LIFE” received in a total of a 24.2% viewership. AramaJapan explained the whole time shift system that was recently introduced in this post. I usually get my ratings from AramaJapan, but I’m not sure myself if the ratings from now on will be counted with the time shifts. He also starred in the much anticipated “Blade of the Immortal“, which is available on Netflix.
Kusanagi Tsuyoshi starred as a main in “Uso no Sensou“, a rather well-received TV drama. Nakai Masahiro also made a guest appearance.
V6
Inohara Yoshihiko reprised his role in Keishichou Sousa Ikka for its 12th season, and Miyake Ken has a supporting role in the drama “Totto-chan!”. Morita Go plays Kogure Kyuusaku in “Hello Harinezumi“, while Okada Junichi only starred in movies, notably Sekigahara and Memory.
Kinki Kids
The Domotos reprised their roles from the 1997 TV drama, Bokura no Yuuki, in Bokura no Yuuki SP. MatsuJun and Aiba-chan also joined them, and I’m so pissed cause I can’t seem to find it anywhere.
Domoto Tsuyoshi also was cast in the movie live action of Gintama as Takasugi Shinsuke, which is kind of a miscast in my opinion but we don’t see him enough in the movie to judge him properly yet.
TOKIO
Only two members of Tokio had TV Drama work that year, Nagase Tomoya starred in the Japanese remake of the hit K-Drama, “Sorry, I love you“, and Matsuoka Masahiro played Toyama Kinshiro in “Meibugyou! Tooyama no Kinshirou“.
ARASHI
Arashi members have landed themselves quite good roles in 2017. Most of their work was highly anticipated, with two TV dramas and 3 movies.
Aiba Masaki landed himself in a Getsu9 drama, “Kizoku Tantei”, which was enjoyable, but as usual, Aiba-chan is being carried by his co-stars. It pains me to say it but… he’s not a good actor… but the good thing is that people want to see him which is why he keeps getting main roles. If not, Johnny is just doing gorioshi, something I hope they aren’t doing because it usually backfires. Ayame Gouriki was hated at one point and now I don’t really hear much from her anymore. But shes slowly coming back with “Kaseifu no Mitazono” (in which Matsuoka from Tokio has reprised his role in 2018).
“Saki ni Umaretta Dake no Boku” starring Sakurai Sho was probably the most low-key one of the bunch. I personally didn’t really hear about it until I did the research for this post. I definitely want to write a review or something on MyDramaList once I get to watch it.
Ninomiya Kazunari cast in the “Last Recipe” was quite anticipated as Nino would be working with Takita Yojiro, who won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his film “Departures”. I can’t wait to finally get the time to watch the movie this Winter break.
MatsuJun starred in the movie Narratage alongside Arimura Kasumi. The movie was not greatly received by more Western critics who claim the movie glorifies the forbidden romance trope [1/2]. I was excited about this movie and so I watched it when it came out, I was so bored of the first 20 minutes that I moved onto watching Unnatural and put Narratage on the side for now. I will still be finishing it when I can get a bigger screen so I can do my best to immerse myself. Will definitely give my impressions later.
Our leader, Ohno Satoshi plays Mumon in “Mumon: Shinobi no Kuni“. I wrote about this movie and I was really excited to watch it. The film was one of the chosen ones that were shown in my home country as part of the Japanese Film Festival. Unfortunately, I missed the day of the screening for Mumon, you can bet I beat myself up because of it. But I managed to watch it, tho it was much later, and I absolutely adored it! Definitely, fun and maybe even must watch. Every time Ohno was on screen, his charisma was just inviting and it made the movie more immersive, and Ishihara Satomi wasn’t playing herself, that was a plus.
Tackey & Tsubasa
Takizawa starred as the mysterious man in the horror movie “Innocent Curse/Kodomo Tsukai” alongside Arioka Daiki.
Tsubasa, on the other hand, did the TV drama “Yaneura no Koibito“, a story about a housewife who moves into a Western-style house left by her deceased husband. She later meets her ex-boyfriend who is slowly revealed to be living in her attic as things that belonged to her husband gradually goes missing.
KAT-TUN
2017 was one busy year for Kamenashi, he did the TV movie “Jidai wo Tsukutta Otoko Aku Yu Monogatari“, the TV Drama, “Boku, Unmei no Hito desu” and two movies that I have mentioned before, “A Beautiful Star” and “P To JK“.
Nakamaru landed the main role for “Massage Tantei Joe“, which is as weird as it sounds. It’s about Yabukihara Joe, a talented masseur, who finds himself involved in a murder case, and “uses his massage techniques and powers of observation to solve the mystery and clear his name”.
Ueda plays Nanase, a pawn shop owner in Shinjuku who skilled at distinguishing fakes, in “Shinjuku Seven“. While it looks like action or suspense drama, it leans more into the slice of life genre. Ueda also plays a supporting role in the drama adaptation of “Shikaku Tantei Higurashi Tabito“.
KANJANI8
We only got three members of Kanjini8 on their the small screen or the silver screen, the group is rather busy with group variety shows and individual member’s TV works so it’s understandable. But I can say that all three works are rather interesting.
Yokoyama co-starred with Sasaki Kuranosuke in “Hamon: Yakuza Boogie“.
Nishikido plays a husband whose life seemed perfect when in fact he cannot do his job properly in “Uchi no Otto wa Shigoto ga Dekinai“.
The movie that sparked the most interest in me was “Dorobou Yakusha” starring Maruyama as a former thief who gets forced to steal again and get caught in the act. Fortunately for him, everyone seems to mistake him for someone else, which leads him to have to keep up the act in order to save himself.
NEWS
Maybe its because I never really paid attention to NEWS’s dramas or movies appearances but it does seem that they are starting to get a lot more roles starting from late 2017.
Koyama plays one of the three main roles in “Juuyou Sankounin Tantei” and in my opinion, people slept on this drama (including myself). Kis-My-Ft2’s Tamamori Yuta and Furukawa Yuki also star in the drama.
Off-Topic: I was also surprised to see Araki Yuko there, she seems to be popping up everywhere as of late, which lead me to look her up and find out that she was a member of the Happy Science cult… it does seem like she has no choice since her parents are part of the cult tho. It came out during the time she was filming Todome no Kisu, and it also seems like her agency were and are doing their best to cover it up.
Shigeaki Kato plays a detective who in contrast to his co-star, Karina, cares about what people think about him in “Kirawareru Yuuki“.
Tegoshi plays the main role in one of the stories in the summer special for “Honto ni Atta Kowai Hanashi“, one of my favorite TV Specials. They are a bit hard to find but who doesn’t love Japanese scary stories?
HEY! SAY! JUMP
Yamada Ryosuke stars in two movies, “Full Metal Alchemist” and “Namiya Zakkatei no Kiseki.” While “Namiya Zakkatei no Kiseki” was loved domestically, “Full Metal Alchemist” went international and the well-hated don’t-use-our-artist’s-pictures-without-permission was once again criticized but this time by the international press, saying it was old and dated. Not long after that, I believe the Johnny’s Jimusho actually dabbled a bit into social media, notably a Twitter account for a while and in Jan 2018, the Johnny’s Jr Youtube Channel started. I hope they continue on this path and maybe just punch the accelerator a bit…? Full Metal Alchemist is available on Netflix btw.
Yuri Chinen got himself two roles, a role in “Mumon: Land of Stealth”, supporting his senpai Ohno Satoshi, and in “I’m Underage but I’m Not a Child“, supporting Nakajima Kento from Sexy Zone.
Arioka Daiki played two supporting roles, in Code Blue 3 and Koshoku Robot, and 1 main role in Innocent Curse/Kodomo Tsukai. Yabu Kota played a supporting role in “Uchi no Otto wa Shigoto Dekinai“.
Nakajima Yuto plays the main in a romance movie, “Our Meal For Tomorrow” and a supporting role in “Haha ni Naru“.
Our Inoo Kei plays Okayasu Kairi in “Peach Girl“. I was surprised by the movie, I wasn’t sure of Inoo’s acting but he didn’t take me away from the film and I quite enjoyed it. Definitely looking forward to seeing Inoo in more roles. I recommend it for anyone who wants a light watch, and who wants to see Mackenyu in a role that doesn’t make him the bad guy.
Kis-My-Ft2
Tamamori Yuta plays the main in “Juuyou Sankounin Tantei“, a model who becomes a witness in an important murder case, and does a supporting role in “Reverse“.
Fujigaya Taisuke stars in “Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru“, an adaptation of one of my favorite newer animes. Quite interested in how they brought it in the live action form, it’s definitely in my list to watch.
Sexy Zone
The members of Sexy Zone all starred in the drama “Wagahai no Heya de Aru“, but Fuma Kikuchi is the main in it. Other than that, Kikuchi also starred in a supporting role in “Uso no Sensou“.
As mentioned before, Nakajima Kento starred in the movie “I’m Underage but I’m not a Child“, he also starred in the “Anthem of The Heart“.
I have written before [here] about the movie “Haruta & Chika” or “Haruchika”, starring Sato Shori and Hashimoto Kanna.
Johnny’s West
Johnny’s West, like Sexy Zone, also had their group drama, “Honoo no Tenkousei REBORN“, currently available on Netflix. There are only 8 episodes so it’s a very quick binge. If you have Netflix, I recommend watching it cause more numbers means more possibilities of getting more Johnny’s content. And the show is not bad.
Only Hamada and Kamiyama had other roles that year. Hamada supporting Yokoyama Yu in “Hamon: Yakuza Boogie” and Kamiyama in “Daibinbo” and in “Meibugyou! Tooyama no Kinshirou” supporting his Tokio senpai, Matsuoka.
ABC-Z
Totsuka Shota plays a supporting role in “Kono Koe wo Kimi ni” and Tsukada Ryoichi also plays a supporting role in “Sakura no Oyakodonburi“. ABC-Z is always under promoted in my opinion, but they aren’t popular either. It’s too bad because they are quite talented dancers and acrobats.
And finally, we have Johnny’s Actors…
Nakayama Yuma plays the main role in “Hokuto“, a rather intense psychological drama. I wasn’t able to finish it mainly because I didn’t have time, but from the reviews, people seem to enjoy it. If you don’t mind something a bit more tragic, give it a try. It’s only 5 episodes so its a rather quick watch. Yuma also has a guest role in “Juuyou Sankounin Tantei“.
Ikuta Toma plays one if the most interesting roles in 2017 in Close Knit. He plays a transgender who starts to take care of his lover’s niece as she was abandoned by her mother.
He also plays the main role in “Sensei, Suki ni Natte no Iidesuka“.
Kazama Shunsuke mainly did supporting roles in 2017, he played Sakamoto Taro in Rikuo, Narazaki Tetsuya in Gekokujo Juken and Adonis in Kamen Rider Ghost RE:BIRTH: Kamen Rider Specter. Not a 2017 title but I really recommend watching Cats Don’t Come When You Call Them. That movie really resonated with me as a new cat owner. If you love cats, watch it.
Code Blue’s season 3 return made a lot of people excited. Yamapi reprised the role for Aizawa Kosaku, and also played the Mysterious Man in “Boku, Unmei no Hito Desu“.
I’ll be working on a 2018 version for the films and TV drama recap, as well as a timeline of all the things that happened to the Johnny’s Jimusho. 2018 was not kind to them… I predict it will take a lot of time for me to come out with the next posts so I apologize first for it. I’ll be taking the SATs and the ACTs this February & March to open up my options a bit more, probably applying for university in July/August. I have until then to find a good way to manage both university workload and writing this blog… I won’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best.