Of last legs and subbing

[scottishlass]

Hoo-frelling-yah! I'm on the last leg of subbing Hajimete no natsu ... only twenty minutes to go. After 2 and a half days (and nights) of subbing I think I need a break from young SMAP. Geesh, they are all so adorable, and especially Nakai really has the role of obnoxious brat down pat :) And Shingo ... oh ... even though he is as tall (and taller) as his SMAP members, you can tell he is still a kid and he is so cute. I could hug him breathless all day. And Kimura ... Waa-waa-wa-woom, even as far back as 1990, he was hot. Thinking back at that time (me starting university) and seeing him on screen ... I think back then I would have fallen already for him. He is tall, dark, handsome and has this air of boyishness around him, that I always fell for.

Well, back to the subbing. Only 20 minutes more and I'm done. Then I will upload it, link it to the Hajimete no natsu post on smapxmedia and will finally finish Kimi wa Toki no Kanata e and move on to the SMAP specials ... either X'SMap (Tiger, Lion & 5 Men) or Furuhata vs. SMAP.

Comments

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

OMG! You are SO quick! You are really a hero!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Just an obsessed fan :)

It's ready .. will upload now :)

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

You are superlady!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Thank you :) Will start to finish the Samurai time travel story now :) And tomorrow I will try to start on one of the shorter 1 hour specials from SMAP :)

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

I re-watched Hajimete today. Thank you for your big job, Una!

Hmm... BTW, when I watched it for the first time last year, not understanding a word, my first question after the end of the film was: "OK, he managed to take off, but will he manage to land back?"

...grrr.. why in his early days Takuya-kun so ofter was given roles with sad ends? Honestly I didn't understarnd the translation of the final voice-over pretty well... Did I get it right that Hiroshi failed to land the craft because of fail of engine and it fall into ocean and the he died?

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

That is what I understood though Shingo said it in more poetic words - I also checked the Korean subs and indeed they said Forever Hiroshi flying into the night something like that. So I assume he drowned when the aircraft crashed intot he ocean while approaching to land.

Takuya died int he first three SMAP movies .. Hajimete, Kokoro (well he didn't die but turned into a wolf) and in SHOOT. But then, comparing acting abilities, only he and Shingo would be really able to pull such roles off and I think JE didn't want Shingo's characters to die because he was still so young.

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

Takuya died in the first three SMAP movies

+ not to forget "non-SMAP" "Otouto" where the death of his young character is one of the most heartbreaking things I saw in films in last years. I felt so depressed after it - the face of dieing kid was before my inner eyes for some days.

only he and Shingo would be really able to pull such roles off
Yeah, of cource, my question was more rhetoric than anything else. Takuya-kun was able to play tragic roles really well even when he was very young and inexperienced... Just because he's naturally gifted with serious, big acting talent. I just a bit fed up with his characters die. I'm always left heartbroken after.

Shingo-kun always was my #2 in SMAP... :) He also can act!

BTW, in titles you name Kimura's character Hiroshi "Yamamura" except "Kitayama"

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Oops, have to change that ... LOL I guess I was a bit too tired. I don't know why I wrote Yamamura :)

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

BTW, after watching all this SMAP early stuff, I honestly don't understand all that rambling that "if Mori didn't quit, he woulld be the SMAP bigest star, not Kimura". It seems to me that even in their early days it was quite obvious, who's the biggest brilliant there, whi's the most talented and charismatic. And it was not Mori.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Mori is indeed none existent as an actor. You could have put a wooden puppet there, and it would have delivered the words just as well. But as a SMAP member, he was more popular than Takuya. You can see it in the early concerts, Mori got far more exposure than Kimura. You can hear the roar of pleasure during Kimura's Koi no melody when Mori steps onto the stage and sings the last words with him. The audience goes more crazy than when Kimura enters the stage. I think it was his lean figure. During the early 1990's Japanese teenage girls went crazy for tall, dark, handsome and Mori fit the bill. Shingo, even though as tall, was seen as a kid, but Mori? Yeah he fit the bill to a tee.
Me personally? I think Mori of all six members is the less appealing to me. When I come across interviews with him he appears snobbish and obnoxious (even more than Nakai who is cute in his brattiness). Kimura, Tsu and Goro try to see the seriousness of interviews. It is part of their job and they give their best, being polite and accomodating (though with Tsuyopon you can see, he gets more closed off the worse his acne got - I think he really suffered from it). Shingo was just carefree and a big kid, talking about anything and everything that came to mind, even embarrassing things. You can see he looked at it as a huge game. But Mori? Mori always appears very *I'm a star* and you can count yourself lucky I'm talking to you in interviews.

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

Well, may be I don't see what it was so appealing for Japanese girls in Moro, because I'm mostly interested in acting and in them as actors. And Mori is "zero" as an actor, you are right.

I already mentioned that personally I'm interested in films/series and quite half-hearted for SMAP asa a pop-group of TV-showmen. For me SMAP is only a "make-weight" to Kimura as an actor. I wouldn't watch anything SMAP without him.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

I understand you. For me .. I like Kimura as an actor AND as a member of SMAP because I like SMAP as well, both as a pop group, as entertainers and as individual actors (I think Shingo in his recent Bara no nai Hanaya and Tsu in Boku no aruku michi did fantastic jobs and you can see they are very talented as well).
I think with Kimura persuing more acting work, he also spurs on his fellow SMAP members. They all of a sudden push the envelope in their acting.

Do I believe that Kimura would have come to where he is now without SMAP? Doubtful. Even though his acting skills (even in his early years) are exceptional, without the exposure of SMAP to the media he wouldn't have had the success he had. Perhaps he might not have been KimuTaku but I think he would have had a much harder time to establish himself as an actor because in the mid 1990's there were a lot of talented young actors abound who didn't have the backing Kimura and SMAP got from JE. SMAP for him is both a vehicle but it is also family. For more than half his life these four guys have been his family. They have worked hard together, suffered together and also made stupid stunts together.