[JP 11] Japan Actor/Actress are Becoming Singer Too?!
With the announcement of the "Hitomi Ja Nai(ひとりぼっちじゃない; I'm Not Alone) " film's release date to be of 2023, I was surprised to learn that king Gnu "Iguchi Satoru(井口理)" will play the male lead.
Further researched revealed that this was not his first acting role; he had previously appeared in films such as "Gekijo" and "The Last 10 Years," as well as in a few dramas as a side character such as Miu404(see here).
This piqued my interest in researching more about other Japanese actors/actresses who are also singers, and thus this post.
Interestingly, according to my findings, some artists who have primarily taken on a duel role in singing tend to be former idols or current idols.
Kimura Takuya and Yamashita Tomohisa are two of the most popular former idols who have gone solo to pursue acting and singing careers.
Both of them have produced numerous notable dramas.In Yamashita's case ,some notable works include Nobuta Wo Produce, Kurosagi, the Code Blue series, and From 5 to 9.
A Snippet of From 5 to 9
Yamashita has continued to act and sing in recent years.
Last year, he released a song called "beautiful world," and also acted as the male lead in Shoujiki Fudosan, which was probably my favorite Jdrama last season.
In Kimura case, some of his notable works includes Long Vacation, Hero, and Beautiful Life.
He has continued to act and sing in recent years.
For example, he released his album, Next Destination, and has just finished his tour for it, as well as acting in Mirai e no 10 count(See here)
If you look closely, you'll notice that both Yamashita and Kimutaku are from Johnny's Entertainment, which has the monopoly on boy idol groups in Japan. The Johnny's trend of putting their idol in drama and singing the drama theme song is still going on in recent years.
For example, one of the most popular dramas last year was Kieta Hatsukoi, starring Shunsuke Machieda from Naniwa Danshi and Meguro Ren from Snow Man. In addition, Naniwa Danshi sang the ost for their debut single "Ubu Love."
Shunsuke Machieda has also taken on the lead for Kindaichi Case File Live Action, which has already been adapted five times, and its previous male leads are all Johnny's Entertainment related, ranging from Tsuyoshi Dōmoto(Kinki Kids), Matsumoto Jun (Arashi), Kazuya Kamenashi (KAT-TUN) and Yamada Ryosuke( Hey! Say! JUMP.)
On the other hand, there are artists who have taken on acting roles despite having no idol background.
For example, Yojiro Noda, the lead singer of Radwimp, appeared in the film "Pieta in the Toilet" and composed its theme song, "Picnic".He has also appear in various other flims and dramas
Takumi Kitamura from DISH is another example where he play one of the leads in Let Me Eat Your Pancreas Live Action, as well as the lead in Tokyo Revengers Live Action .Likewise,he has also appear in various other flims and dramas
Interestingly, DISH is affiliated with Sony Music Japan Entertainment, which includes a number of actors and actresses who have released a song or two.
Masaki Suda, Hashimoto Ai, Kamishiraishi Moka (Adieu), and Nana Mori are a few examples.
Masaki Suda, who is probably the most well-known amongst them, is already an A-lister among Japan male celebrities.Some of his Well-known works include Mr Hiragi's Classroom, which is available on Netflix, and Don't Call it Mystery
On top of that, 3 of his music videos have already surpassed the 100 million views mark like "Sayonara Elegy"," Haiiro To Ao" and "Niji" , which is an incredible achievement in jpop.Of course, there are many more actors and actresses who release a couple of songs, and many more female and male Idols before 00s who has starred in the flims and dramas which I have not mentioned.
In my opinion, it is pretty cool for an actor or actress to take on more dual roles for singing and acting. On one hand, public regconition is already there, and on the other hand, it is an extra income for the actor/actress.We will probably see even more Actor and Actress taking on singer role too in the future.
Another point to keep in mind is that this acting/singing model is also somewhat emplyed in the anime industry by Seiyuu, who in their case take on voice acting roles and sang that particular anime ost song, but that's a story for another day.
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