Top 25 Japanese Actresses on MDL
From top left clockwise: Kanjani8, King & Prince, Hey!Say!Jump!, KAT-TUN, SMAP, and Arashi
The Tag on MDL for Idol Actor is defined by "The actor is labelled an "Idol" as their profession, usually in a band as well as an actor, and may have another profession as well such as news or sports anchor."
Inner voice: Hey, didn't you write that description? Shhh you, this is not the time to chime up. -_-
When I first started watching dramas, my completionist gene kicked in hardcore. I decided that I was going to pick 1 actor and follow his career from their first acting appearance. I started with actor Matsuda Shota, having been lured in by 3 dramas on Crunchyroll Clinic On the Sea, Liar Game, and Love Shuffle. Three VERY different genres and the only thing in common was the actor.
But wasn't your first drama Itazura na kiss? It was, but I was also new, and I wanted to exhaust all the dramas on Crunchyroll before the addiction took hold. Matsuda had the most dramas there. Shhh, you're stopping the story.
 Liar Game | So right off the bat, I was never locked into one genre or style of show. In the flurry of watching all his dramas and movies, I came across a music video with him in it, and that sparked my now insatiable love of Jpop. What was that video? Highlight by Illion featuring 5lack. For more on Matsuda Shota visit his stalker's guides from 2012 and 2017 and his marriage announcement. This set a pattern for me that persists to this day, every time I find a new actor I start from the |
beginning and watch everything I can find from them. This article is about Idols, and you have yet to talk about one. Oh yeah, I forgot. : ) So about the time I was waiting for Final Life to finish shooting, I found a little drama called Nobuta wo Produce. To find Nobuta, I had to hit the internet, and the internet was like a giddy fandom at its best, throwing "Best of " videos at me like a pitcher practicing fastballs. Nope, 1 litre of tears, not watching it (I did eventually), Koizora... gah, these look depressing, but this school one looks fun.
Totally different from what I had watched previously, but I found myself mesmerized by what was on the screen. The story for me was like an after school special they ran in the 80s in the US, but WAAAAAAAY better. So NOW I have 2 actors to follow from the beginning. Now here's a little secret, once you find 1 Johnny's Idol, you have found them all. 1 search will also include other names, and it becomes a web of senpai and kouhai like world's most tangled web of the game "6 degrees of..." Yamapi's career from P.P.O.I to 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made took me about 2 weeks. Giving me more school dramas, basketball, romance and a time travel romance and.. and... how do you classify Kurosagi? Now is when I started my blog, to keep track of what I watched (I did not know about MDL), and I am a list keeper by nature. |  Nobuta wo Produce |
From Crunchyroll to a certain streaming site that is now defunct, I kept on the format of watching everything with these three actors. Finished and search for someone new to follow. WUH WAT!? They make MUSIC TOO! My Metal-head self had fallen in love with Illion at this point, so now I am testing music from these kids I just watched. Arashi was too Pop-y for me, but this video stole my heart, and I never looked back - 1582. I had also found Cartoon KAT-TUN and Vs. Arashi variety shows getting myself deeper and deeper into the fandom.
So NOW I have 10 more actors to follow, starting with MatsuJun I cheated and did Hana Yori Dango first.
 Hana Yori Dango: Final | I needed more than what the site I was watching was providing me, and I found MDL. At this point, I was spending hours with refined searches looking for any little snippet of the men I had decided to take an interest in. Amazed by the range of genres they were in and yes their acting skills. So many people pan Idols for their acting skill. In my almost 50 years of watching dramas and movies from EVERY country now, these men are no better or worse than any other pool of actors. And I respect them for their tireless work ethic. MDL had brought me MORE titles from my guys |
to light, and I now worked to fill in the gaps I missed. Watching more variety shows just to see interviews and to learn the language on my own at my own pace just to understand without subtitles. I am now part of the admins of one of the largest Arashi fan sites in English on the internet and run my own Kamenashi and Yamashita fansite. I also have a big mouth on MDL now, as it has replaced my blog as a way to share my fangirl craziness.
I interact with subbers on twitter (which I would not have if I weren't into these guys) and watch news shows (Zero formally News Zero) and have even been known to watch Snippets of Going!.. a Sports entertainment commentary show just to watch these guys in action.
The genres and topics I have been introduced to have enriched my life immensely. I have gained a lot of new internet friends, keep up with news from across the globe, opening my way of thinking to a more global stance.
