5 posts tagged “matsujun”
Nicknames: MatsuJun, Junji
Birthday: 8/30/83
Height: 5'6" (173cm)
Weight: 127 lbs (58kg)
Where do I know him from? Gokusen, Kimi wa Petto, Hana Yori Dango, Bambino
Tell me some more! MatsuJun is also a member of the singing group Arashi. They debuted in 1999 and are still going strong.
What is your opinion of him? I've seen a couple of his shows with some variety in characters. He plays a bad boy very well. I'm hoping to catch Bambino at some point to see how he handles that role. On the singing side, he doesn't have the best voice in Arashi but he definitely has the charisma to make up for it.
Also known as: I'm Your Pet
Broadcast date: 4/9/03 - 6/18/03
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Cast: Koyuki, Matsumoto Jun, Tanabe Seiichi
Plot: Journalist Iwaya Sumire (Koyuki) has had a terrible day - her longtime boyfriend broke up with her and she got a demotion at work. On the way home, she finds an injured boy (Matsumoto Jun) in a cardboard box. After nursing him back to health, the boy claims that he will do anything in order to stay with her. So Iwaya takes him in as a pet and names him Momo, after the dog she owned when she was a child.
What is good: MatsuJun is pretty cute as Momo.
What is bad: The "ideal" man that all the girls want (Tanabe Seiichi) is a huge dork, whereas everyone calls him "cool."
Letter rating: B
Overall: Kimi wa Petto is a very cute show. However, there isn't a whole lot of depth to it. While you like the characters, there isn't anything to make you really feel for them. Iwaya seems to be stuck in this sadness, even when she's supposed to be happy. Takeshi shines when he takes on the Momo personality but is fairly dull as himself. This is something that you'd watch when you have nothing else to watch and you don't want to turn on your brain.
Buy it here!
Title (english): Boys Over Flowers 2 Returns
Broadcast date: 1/5/07 - 3/16/07
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi, Kato Natsuki
Plot: One year has passed since we last saw Makino Tsukushi (Inoue Mao). She still keeps in contact with most of F4, even though they have graduated.However, Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto Jun), now going to business school in New York, has been distancing himself from F4 as well as Makino. When he returns to Japan, his mother announces his engagement to Okawahara Shigeru (Kato Natsuki). Then Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun) finds himself falling in love with Makino! Love shouldn't be this complicated!
What is good: Domyouji maturing as a man
What is bad: Mimasaka Akira gets the shaft this season.
Letter rating: A+
Overall: Another good season from everyone involved with the Hana Yori Dango drama. Matsumoto Jun does an amazing job bringing Domyouji's personal growth to the screen. The character has has such a drastic change from the beginning of the first season to the end of the second that I really believe a lesser actor would have screwed it up. Let's not forget Inoue Mao either! While Makino doesn't have the huge change that Domyouji does, she gets tossed around emotionally through the entire show. My heart broke every time Makino shed tears. Unfortunately, there isn't too much going on with the other characters. Hanazawa Rui is the same as ever. There is one episode dedicated to a past relationship of Nishikado Shojirou's (Matsuda Shota) and you get a tiny glimpse into the homelife of Mimasaka Akira (Abe Tsuyoshi) but that is it. Again, Nishikado and Mamasaka aren't the main characters in the series but it would be nice to know why they stick around Domyouji, especially with his major attitude problem. This is still my very favorite show. I'm sad that this will most likely be the end for it. At least it had a perfect ending.
Pre-order the box set!
Title (english): Boys Over Flowers
Broadcast date: 10/21/05 - 12/16/05
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi, Kaga Mariko
Plot: Makino Tsukushi (Inoue Mao) is a poor girl attending Eitoku Gakuen, the elite high school of the rich and famous. The school is ruled by F4 (aka Flower Four), four boys from extremely powerful families. Their leader is Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto Jun), heir to the Domyouji World Finance Group. Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun), Nishikado Soujiro (Matsuda Shota) and Mimasaka Akira (Abe Tsuyoshi) round out the group. Makino hoped to pass through school unnoticed. However, one day stands up against Domyouji's bullying of her friend. As a result, she gets a dreaded red notice, which pits the entire school against her. Instead of giving up, Makino declares war on F4. Doing this not only attracts the attention of her crush, Hanazawa Rui, but it also begins to rouse romantic feelings between Makino and Domyouji.
What is good: The tension between Makino, Domyouji and Hanazawa.
What is bad: Poor Nishikado and Mimasaka get relegated to secondary characters so you don't learn very much about them.
Letter rating: A+
Overall: I'm amazed that this season is only 9 episodes long. So much happens from beginning to end that you barely notice that an entire episode has passed. Before you know it, it's all over. Luckily, there's another season to keep you hooked. Both the acting and the writing in this are very good. Throughout the entire series you are rooting for Makino and Domyouji, even though there are huge differences between them. The only bad thing I can say about the series is that it is way too short. I would have loved to have seen some background into Nishikado and Mimasaka's lives. A "filler" episode or even taking some of the scenes into their houses would have been nice. Though I will admit that you get so wrapped up in the main plot that you completely forget they exist until they pop up for one reason or another. This is definitely a series that I would recommend to anyone. I think there's a little something for everyone here.
Buy the box set!
Title: Gokusen
Broadcast date: 4/1/02 - 7/3/02
Genre: comedy
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Waki Tomohiro, Narimiya Hiroki, Ishigaki Yuma, Namase Katsuhisa, Itoh Misaki, Nakazawa Yuko
Plot: Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) always wanted to be a teacher, like her late parents. However, she is the granddaughter of the third generation Oedo yakuza boss. Kumiko will try her best to keep her family's business secret when she gets a job at Shirokin high school as the homeroom teacher for the worst class of the school - 3D.
What is good: Both Nakama Yukie and Matsumoto Jun's acting.
What is bad: No matter what the situation, Kumiko insists on doing everything herself and refuses help from anyone.
Letter rating: A
Overall: The casting director managed to get a wonderful group of actors together for this series. While I haven't seen any of her dramatic roles yet, Nakama Yukie absolutely shines as a comedic actress. Pairing her with Matsumoto Jun (of the group Arashi) was brilliant. The two of them have a chemistry that pops on the screen and you can see the friendship bloom through the entire show. Add in Namase Katsuhisa as the vice-principal of the school to keep Nakama-san on her toes. There isn't much more you could want in a comedy. Each of the main students of 3D get a background episode so it isn't left to just the leader of the group. While there is a special that follows the end of the series, I would have loved to see more of 'what became of Yankumi's first class.' I suppose I'l have to leave that to my imagination.
