I’ve been reading some drama-to-watch suggestions from Asian forums and I stumbled upon posts suggesting Iljimae as one of the best dramas of 2008. Certainly, I didn’t understand what the title is all about as I don’t understand Korean, but the sound of the title itself is intriguing. Now, after an hour of my forum reading marathon, I happened to view a picture of the said drama. From then, I didn’t have any more doubts, I need to watch it. And there I was, marching towards our local video store and grabbed a copy.

Jun Ki’s acting is superb I must say. The story could get a little boring halfway but as a whole, the drama is very good, not to mention its lavish production and well done fighting scenes to boost.

I also stumbled upon this post:

Lee Jun Ki captivated audiences and received critical acclaim for his role as the homosexual Gongkil in the 2005 Korean period drama, ‘The King and the Clown’. The role also won him many fans both in Korea and overseas. Lee was even invited to a birthday celebration for the Thai King last December and he has also been appointed as Korea-China public relations ambassador in Beijing.

Lee graduated from the Seoul Arts College with a major in Acting, and has 1st degree in both Hapkido and Taekyon, and 3rd degree in Taekwondo. Besides Korean, Lee also speaks some Japanese and English. As of 2007, Lee is one of the top screen stars in South Korea.

In 2005, his first major acting role came in The King and the Clown, where he took on the role of a feminine-appearing entertainer forced to satisfy King Yeonsan’s sexual and emotional cravings taking place in the late 15th century. The film became one of the highest grossing South Korean-made movies in South Korea.
Whether it’s his almost feminine looks or his great acting, there is something captivating about Lee Jun Ki! KOZINE chatted with the attractive Lee to try and unravel his interesting personality.

“I hope it’s because my fans appreciate the hard work I put into my every role and love me as an actor”

K: Have you been to Singapore?
L: No, I haven’t but I’d love to visit one day be it for work or a holiday.

K: Last December, Singaporean fans donated $3,788.98 to the Singapore Children’s Cancer Foundation in the name of Lee Jun Ki fan club. How did you feel when you first found out about this?
L: I was really surprised to hear that my fans in Singapore got together to make a donation to a patient with poliomyelitis. My first thought was that they did something good and kind and something that I should be doing myself. I’m really very appreciative of my fans for the kind gesture.

K: You have many fans overseas and you are appointed as a Korea-China goodwill ambassador. What do you think is the reason that you have so many overseas fans?
L: (Laughs heartily) I’m not too sure why either. If I had to guess, then I hope it’s because my fans appreciate the hard work I put into my every role and love me as an actor.

K: You are currently in the midst of filming a period TV drama which will be showing from April. What’s the most difficult part of this role?
L: Besides the heavy period costumes and the traditional way of speaking, I think the most difficult part is probably understanding the character I play, ‘Il ji mae’ and potraying it accurately and perfectly.

K: You had to shed some weight for the role and you lost 8 kg from a tofu diet recently. Could you share with us the most difficult part of that diet?
L: As you know, I started on that diet because I needed to fit into the role which called for the character to have sharp features. As with any diet, the most difficult part was that I couldn’t eat what I wanted. During that time, I had bad cravings for pizza and beef (laughs).

K: Anything you want to say to your fans in Asia?
L: From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all my fans who love and care for me both as an individual as well as an actor. If I could, I would love to meet with all my Asian fans. Unfortunately, circumstances don’t allow me to do so that at the moment. I want all of them to know that although I’m physically far away, all of them are always in my heart and mind. Thank you so much!

To read a copy of the magazine Kozine’s March issue,
http://www.mykozine.com/magazine/kozine_mar08_s.pdf

Credit: http://kickingasses.wordpress.com

We admire him when he played Nakatsu Shuichi in Hana Kimi, deeply moved by the friendship he shared with Yamashita Tomohisa, and was quiet impressed by the achievements he was able accomplish in such a short period of time from the time he started acting and until the much greater crowd he was able to gather at present when his acting career are at its prime. Surely, Ikuta Toma surely is hitting big time in the east side of the globe.

On the 11th day of February of 1996, Toma joined Johnny’s Jimusho at the tender age of 12. His first group was today’s what is greatly known as Arashi, another boyband that is mainly gaining a lot of attention nowadays because of their involvement as they will be singing the theme song of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and of course, they are just amazingly pretty gorgeous men. Well enough, just like other Johnny’s pretty boys, Toma has been trained from an early age, from acting, dancing, singing and performing live.

All the efforts must have been paid off as he bagged these awards in such a short span of time:
• 54th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e)
• 11th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix, April 2007-March 2008: Best Supporting Actor (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e)

• Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix, Winter 2007: Best Supporting Actor (Honey & Clover)

Now, what made his fans go crazy over him?

Star quality is one of the many great factors needed to rise up above among the others, and undeniably, Toma has it. But is that all that made him big? Personally, I don’t think so. Physical appearance is a plus, but for Toma, he is not as sexy as Arashi’s Jun Matsumoto, or hunky as Mokomichi, cute as Akanishi Jin, but Toma has his own spark, thanks to his sense of humor and great skills on delivering a hilarious monologue with polished body movements in Hana Kimi, he is one effective actor. A drama with Jiro Wang is totally an enigmatic experience but a Toma’s performance is just superbly enthralling.

I couldn’t think of another Nakatsu Shuichi but him alone. How can someone deliver a “Homo Janai” sing and dance scene hilariously as Toma? I’d have to say that it’s on par with Yamapi’s “Akira Shock” scene in Nobuta wo Produce, but a bit more funny.
He is not outrageously handsome or cute, but there’s something in him that keeps you glued in front of the television, munching on some popcorn and laughing until our jaws drop. Now, if you happen to know a lot more about Toma, what keeps you holding back?! It the comments link and tell us what you think!

This serves only as a backup for the real sparkASIA. Kindly post ur comments, suggestions and guestbook entry at the site stated above.

The secrets of their friendship was uncovered in a magazine special that was published two months prior this writing. I, as a contributor really felt the urge of reposting this magazine special not only because these people are interestingly famous but for the inspiration they bring in this fancy world of entertainment – that despite the realities behind every girl’s fantasies, there is genuine friendship.

0409 – Special 1

11 years x 365 days = 4015 days.
The eleven years after the two met. [In these 11 years], they have spent about 4000 days together. The secret behind Yamapi and Toma’s unbreakable bond will be uncovered today.

We’ll tell you, the secret behind the 4000 days we’ve spent together.

His perpetual perfection is compatible with my personality by Yamashita Tomohisa

When he watches my dramas, he always mails me after-thoughts. Awhile ago, when Toma advertised Kurosaki in his own Johnny’s web, my manager sent me his entry, and I was very happy. Toma is definitely a strong person for taking an interest in everything that I consider to be important. When it comes to Toma’s acting appearances, the stage play Azumi was truly very cool! From my point of view, Toma treats the people to whom he’s already given his heart very well. He’s not the type of wonderful person who takes care of everyone. But when we were once in a group together, Toma always remembered dance moves beautifully, so when I said “teach me teach me,” he would teach me everything with the feeling of “what am I going to do about you.” In my memory of our 11 years, we’ve fought innumerable times, but for our relationship to be this amazing, it’s not only because we’ve spent a long time together, but probably also because our personalities are compatible.

Because he starts and finishes so I can trust him by Ikuta Toma

Because we’ve been together for so long, we don’t even realize our one year age difference. When we discovered this in our Juniors days, we also felt that we were already together. We were in the same group, we went to the same high school, etc. Because we’re always together, we’ve had times where we became ridiculously angry over small things, but even if we fight, we still have to meet the following day, so our relationship will naturally recover. In the middle school and high school days, I often hear Yamashita say “I don’t want to go to school–” So when Yamashita went to college, I thought “Oh, wow,” and was pretty surprised. When he decided not to graduate, I harbored feelings of “continue trying hard” and sent him “congratulations for keeping back a year” messages. (Laugh) Because I’ve never attended college, I can’t say anything amazing, but I think to work hard is already a very magnificent feat. No matter what happens, Yamashita always pushes himself to the limit to accomplish his goal, and he would never give up halfway through. To be able to finish things well, to show results, this is the type of man that I trust when I work with him.

P: I’ve decided. I’m going to live by myself.
Toma: (Laugh) I’ve already heard you say that 3 times.

P: Honey and clover is on Tuesdays right?
Toma: Yeah, but it’s already finished airing. (Laugh)
P: I know. But I regret missing the last episode.

Toma: The celebratory dinner for Prodai was really exciting right? HC’s was really exciting, and everyone was still partying at 5 am in the morning.
P: It was exciting! Come to think of it, when does the Hanakimi SP air? (Suddenly)

P: Lately, don’t you have a manager younger than yourself?
Toma: I’m a little sad…I feel like I’m getting old.

P: If Toma had come to News’ Tokyo Dome Concert, I would’ve wanted to do something with you, like sing Yokubou no Rain together.

Toma: Yokubou no Rain, huh.

P: We sang it a lot together when we were juniors. But it appears that Toma was filming for Hanakimi so you couldn’t come.

Toma: I really wanted to go.

P: And I really wanted to sing.

P: Although the 2 of us haven’t gone to the beach together, we have watched UFOs together.

Toma: Ah, what is it again…

P: When Toma went to [some place] to play, I was also going in that direction, and Toma called: Hello hello? There was a UFO just now What? Fried noodles?
And then you explained No, not that. There really was a UFO just now! Although I said “I definitely don’t believe it,” but because Toma said “Right now I’m at [such and such place]“
So I said “Really? I’m walking in that direction.” And after I got there, I looked up and saw a UFO! I immediately called Toma and asked, “This is a UFO?” And Toma said “Yeah yeah yeah.”
That was definitely a UFO! To be able to give out lights like that, and to move so strangely.

Toma: Occasionally we’ll be at different yet same places. That was in high school…

P:  …Why did you call me?

Toma: Why? Maybe because I already knew that you were at [such and such place]

 P: (While looking at 2001’s ST11) Wow! I still have doraemon on my pockets!!! What does that mean

Toma: We were still kids– (Laugh)
P: (While looking at 2003’s ST Say Toma, does this kind of vision have feeling? (When both eyes have 0.05) Contacts?

Toma: Yeah, I wore them.
P: (While looking at 1999’s ST15) “If I can have sushi for a late night snack, I’ll be really lucky!!” I can’t believe I said that, I don’t remember at all.

P: Toma, what kind of lunch is best?

Toma: Anything’s fine. It’s upt o you.

Then lunch time arrived and they start eating…

P: Ah, I failed. I’m not so good at this dish.

Toma: Because I made a hamburger, so I definitely couldn’t fail!
P: So that’s true after all! I thought Toma would definitely make a hamburger. Sigh~ Rice, I will eat you!

Toma: If there’s only little fish, then it’s not really sushi!
P: ……But, I don’t really like it.

 Toma: Actually, I’m not into it either. (Laugh)

 P: Don’t you think this cat is really fat?

Toma: Yeah! It’s really fat…(Laugh)

The two of you were sempai-kouhai in high school. Can you please recall the days when “you were together every day” in the Junior era while reading these old issues of ST? Can you start from the student days?

Toma: We often played together on our way home. Although he was in a lower grade, Yamashita was good friends with my friends. Yamashita was a freshman, me a sophomore, and MatsuJun in his 3rd year, so our group was very strong. We even had a welcoming party for this new student.
Yamashita: I had a really large welcoming party! My friend’s brother was also a senior.

Toma: When we all convened, there were a lot of people.
Yamashita: Around 20 people? All of us would go karoaking or something.

Toma: We would go fool around in sempai’s homes. Even sempais wouldn’t torture Yamashita too much.
Yamashita: I was in a pretty good position.

Toma: It’s always been like that! I’m the one who gets teased.
Yamashita: When I’m next to Toma, I’m safe. But honestly, everyone respected the sempais.

Toma: Come to think of it, have I ever lent you my PE uniform?

Yamshita: Yep! When I forget I would borrow Toma’s.

Toma: When I look at the window at the courtyard, I would see Yamashita wearing a shirt that says “Ikuta.”

Yamashita: Because the size was the same, so it didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Toma: If you covered the name, no one would notice. We also ate lunch together in the cafeteria. Our seats were pretty much set. We ate at the largest table near the entrance. I only ate curry, with seven flavors, which was popular the time.

Yamashita: The first person who ate that way was me. Although everyone considered me stupid at first, it slowly became popular. Everyone’s probably forgotten, but I was the first one!

Toma: It was the first time I’ve seen someone eat that way.
Yamashita: Because the cafeteria curry wasn’t flavored enough.

Toma: it was a little sweet.
Yamashita: And we would always buy potatoes. What else did the cafeteria sell?

Toma: [This one dish that I don't know the name of...lol]
Yamshita: It was soft. (Laugh)

Toma: Yep!
Yamashita: But, it was very yummy. If you don’t go early, it’ll sell out.

Toma: I would stand in line for a long time, and sometimes kouhais would call and say “please buy two”
Yamashita: We would go to each other’s hosues. The two of us still live at home, so we often speak of “we must move out!”

Toma: Once, I found Yamashita’s swimming cap in Yamashita’s closet! (Hysterical laughter)
Yamashita: I completely don’t remember. It’s often like this! Well, it was probably because we went swimming. I went to Toma’s house and I ate fish bowl three times!

Toma: Really? (Laugh)

Yamashita: Yep, it wasyummy. <3 Because Toma’s parents are from Hokkaido, so someone probably gave them that.

Toma: Even so, I don’t want to feed you that 3 times! (Laugh) Because I like it a lot myself. Also, when we’re together, somehow it’ll feel like”Let’s go bathe,” so I’ve taken baths with Yamashita many times.
Yamashita: Like when we go on tours and stuff.

Toma: In the small hotel bathtubs, one person will be in front, the other person behind, and while waiting for the other person to finish showering, we would say “hurry up! it’s freezing!”
Yamashita: And then, after we half finish washing, we’d switch spots. It was very popular! Why do little kids like to shower together? Retrospectively, it’s a pretty crazy habit.

Toma: But, I think guys can understand. Yamshita’s pretty shy, so he’d always hide in the front. (Laugh)
Yamashita: But when News went on tour, everyone went to the bathing room. I don’t feel embarassed anymore. It’sonly during my youth that I feel shy.

Toma: Come to think of it, I’ve always went to the onsen with Yamashita’s grandmother.
Yamashita: Yep!

T: Why do I go on trips with Yamashita’s entire family?
Y: It was when TakkiTsuba debuted.

T: Yamashita called and said, “We’re goign to the onsen, wanna come?” When I asked with whom, he said ” with my family.”
Y: Huhuhuhu

T: I definitely said, “Um, I don’t think I should go”
Y: My attitude was, “There’s no problem! Stop worrying. Come along, please!”

T: We would put out futons in the same room and lay side by ide.
Y: Yeah, I remember. We went to the onsen together a lot, even though sometimes it was for work.

T: Once, I went with Yamashita to take photos in Hokkaido. I lived at Grandma’s place, so when they took me to the airport, we saw my grandma and cousin.

Y: Yeah! We took a picture togehter too! I remember! But, because we’ve been together for so long, even if we do something weird, it’s still nothing surprising. But when the two of us talk, sometimes I will suddenly start playing with my cell phone or listen to music.

T: When we rode the bus home together and stuff, we’re together, but Yamashita will listen to his MD. Back then, I thought “Wtf?”
Y: When I was confronted with ” What are you doing?” I would ask ” What are you talking about? But I guess it’s a pretty weird situation. But because it’s Toma, I don’t feel like I need to face him carefully.

Toma: I was really empathetic back then. But Yamashita was the type that was like” No problem, no problem,” so we would often argue. Although it’s like that now too, it’s not as bad.
Y: We were a group once, and at that time, Toma’s moves were really amazing. And then during actual performances, I would say ” And then? And then?” Also, I wasn’t good at MC, so Toma would say “say some more!”, work hard. I said we should be like Tegumassu and do something together, and film a drama.

Toma: Yeah, we haven’t acted together.
Y: If our characters had a good relationship, we would make it heart-felt. “Kurosaki” type characters probably aren’t fitting.
Toma: When I was watching Kurosaki, I thought I liked Yamashita as a dark character. How should I say, I don’t think have that sort of angsty spirit. Nobuta’s Akira was kind of idiotic, but actually, he also had a tragic side.
Y: I definitely like Hanakimi’s energetic feel. I like Toma’s actions. It’s pretty special. But, Toma showed your true self in HC.

T: [Nakatsu is] Fiery, huh.

Y: It’s pretty clear. Although there’s a feeling of Kyabikyabi, but there’s also a feeling of gacu gacu. Like that.
T: I also think that Yamashita can turn a pretty set into something interesting and full of energy. Like Nobuta and Kurosagi.

Y: Because I think a lot about it everyday.
T: Normally, we don’t really talk about the details of filming. In comparison, we talk about things further away, like what are we going to be like in ten years? Etc. That’s sort of thing we talk about when we meet. I want to be surrounded by good friends and do work that I have confidence in and taste good wine.
Y: Compared to before, we haven’t really changed much. It’s only that we don’t bathe together anymore? (Laugh)

T: Yeah
Y: From today onwards too. Our relationship will not change. Only our surroundings will change.
T: Although I think to not change is very hard. Compared to before, the surroundings have really changed a lot. Ultimately, change might be seen more often than not. But, Yamashita’s not like that. I believe it!
Y: Me too! Please take care of me in the future too!

To Yamashita:
Although it’s a little…to say it now (Laugh)
I REALLY like the Yamashita’s that’s filming a drama.
So I want us to act together once as people who haven’t known each other for a long time. What do you think?

To Toma:
When we’re thirty or forty, let’s be neighbors!
I really want my friends to convene and live nearby.
I want the distance to be so close we can borrow soysauce and stuff.
But if it’s around forty, we’ll probably arlready be married, huh?

Credits to Leisy Peisy, teacup79 for the translation, Helen@ Tomapi Rant

Ninomiya, Nishikido, and Toda play three siblings whose parents were murdered when they were children. After being deceived later on in life, they bonded together as a team of swindlers, stealing money from the rich. One day, they find a man whom they believe is their parents’ killer, and they start planning to take their revenge.

Ninomiya is taking the lead as the oldest sibling, Koichi. Nishikido plays the younger brother Taisuke, while Toda plays the sister Shizuna. Tomokazu Miura has also been announced as a cast member.

TBS will air the drama on Friday nights at 10:00pm, starting in October.

Source: tokyograph

Apparently, Ito Misaki (31) and Hayami Mokomichi (23) have been sighted in Misaki’s hometown in Iwake City frequently hanging around in restaurants and drinking pubs. The latter has been paired with another girl but the way both are behaving around each other hinted a deeper relationship yet another source stated that it is actually Misaki’s younger sister.

This intrigue would certainly raise many fangirls eyebrows, probably because of the age gap? Whatever the truth is, a better consideration is a must, indeed, Mokomichi is one lovable hottie that can hardly be ignored.

Whatcha think?

Watch this video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVZoFpWyaIg

Watch this video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVZoFpWyaIg