Kimura Kimura Kimura Kimura Cham-eee-leon...

At one point 75 percent of people polled in Japan wanted to sleep with this man to the left. That’s women and men polled (Japanese kink is another subject for another day). North America has Brad Pitt, Japan has Takuya Kimura. Actually, many posts have described him as Japan’s Kevin Bacon, and with all due respect to Mr.Footloose, that’s not exactly a compliment. Sure it might be sour graping on some people’s parts towards someone who has been arguably Japan’s biggest star the last 10 years. It stems from the fact that the man has rode a wave of success of a series of television dramas that all have the same story. Now, it’s true that he has played characters who have as many different occupations as a chameleon on a rainbow tie-dyed t-shirt would have colours. He’s been a pianist (Long Vacation), race car driver (Engine), airline co-pilot (Good Luck), public defendant (Hero), and hockey player (Pride) to name a few. Pretty interesting resume, huh? But the basic premise is always the same: Kimura plays a (insert occupation here) who is a cool loner, overly-skilled but lacking in direction who finds guidance in the most unlikely places to be the best gosh darn (insert occupation here) there ever was (at least in Japan). There’s always a love interest, a girl who at first rejects him due to his unruly, abnormal behaviour, but eventually falls under his spell (get with it girl! 3 out of every 4 people want to go to bed with the guy!). It’s formulaic. It’s melodramatic. It works. For ten years it has worked.
When Long Vacation came out in 1996, 1 in every 3 televisions in Japan was tuned to this show each week. Kimura was set for life after that and why fight it? Each of his successive shows had a 20% or better average rating a surpassing 30%. A 20% rating in North America ensures top 10 status. Kimura could be playing a mailman. But as long as he played a cool, rogue mailman who struggles hard to become the best darn mailman he could be (and bed the lead actress), the Japanese viewers will gobble it up.

And I do have to say, for the most part, his shows are pretty entertaining. Long Vacation is now considered a modern classic and it is truly a perfect cocktail of romance, melodrama, humour, and sexiness all wrapped up in a slick production with an amazing soundtrack (which also went on to break records itself in the land of the rising sun). Having the feisty-sexy and superlative actress Yamaguchi Tomoko as the love interest who turns Kimura’s placid character’s life topsy turvy certainly boosted the show’s value. It’s probably the one show of all the Japanese dramas I’ve watched thus far that could easily cross over into mainstream North American television and be a resounding hit (With Orange Days and Last Christmas tailing closely).
Kimura followed that up with Love Generation (still haven’t seen that one) which apparently was even a bigger hit and then began his succession of everyman working hero dramas.
The only one of those I didn’t quite buy though was the one with him playing Mr.Hockey in Pride.

There are several prolific younger actors coming up in the ranks looking to take over the j-idol crown from the man they call Taki…Kazuya Kamenashi (Suppli; Nobuta Wo Produce) and Matsumoto Jun (Gokusen; Kimi Wa Petto) seem to do a series in each of Japan’s 4 television seasons…but it’ll probably be a while before they earn the achievement of being the one actor men would leave their wives for (at least for one night).

A quick round up of some works by Takuya Kimura:
Long Vacation: A+; A classic romantic drama-comedy; Kimura is appropriately solitary in nature and the excellent supporting cast all do their best to crack his shell
Engine: B; Feel good (adopted) family drama with an exceptional child cast and Kimura as a jaded racer
Good Luck: B+; Kimura gets his (pilot) wings…or at least tries to. The mesmerizing Kou Shibasaki (Battle Royale; One Missed Call; Orange Days) plays the mechanic love interest.
Hero: B-; Playing a public defendant, Kimura’s character is a little too self-aware of his own eccentricities and coolness
Pride: C+; The formula is drying up faster than the ice in this one and Kimura is looking a little bored with it himself; he’s also looking a little sallow and his haircut doesn’t flatter him (ooh that 75% bed rate is dropping)