A while back, (more precisely, February of 2008) ARASHI appeared on popular music show UTABAN to promote their latest single STEP AND GO, and while all of their appearances are always entertaining as heck, this one spot was particularly interesting because in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, they had invited a handful of child actresses to chat and quiz Arashi on various love-related themes!
There were six of these girls, with ages running from 6 to 11, and while I myself didn’t know any of them, Car had seen about half of them in shows like HOTMAN and the like. All of them were cute and precocious, asking Arashi questions like “How should I confess my love to someone I like” and such, but there was one girl that I thought seemed to stand out from the rest of them.
“Wow”, I told Car, “That girl’s gonna be a heartbreaker when she gets a little older!” And I probably wasn't the only one to think so- In fact, even Nakai and the guys in Arashi were commenting on how grown-up she’d become since they last saw her, so I suppose she was already on her way!
I don’t know what it really was about her that struck me, perhaps her demeanor and composed state (and the fact that her favorite member of Arashi was an unexpected AIBA-kun!), but I really thought this girl had it together!
The girls performed little skits with various members of Arashi, and even here (in a wacky scene with Jun as a mean boyfriend and Nakai as a rock!) she impressed me with her professional acting and sense of humor.
That episode ended with the girls giving chocolates to their favorite member of Arashi, and in a MOST unprecedented scene, EVERY member got chocolate EXCEPT Matsujun!!! Ohno got one. Aiba got one. Sho got one. Jun got none. And Nino got...TWO! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!
After that I told myself I'd look out for that girl, and when I began watching "Byakoyakou” a few months ago and saw young actress Mayuko Fukuda, I thought to myself, “HEY! There she is! It's that girl that was in UTABAN!” When I relayed this to Car, however, she said “Hmmm…I don’t think so. I think it was some other girl”, but she couldn’t be sure.
Then when I began watching ENKA NO JOOU and JOOU NO KYOUKUSHI and saw Mayuko AGAIN, I was convinced that she WAS the girl in the Valentine’s Day special, but when I mentioned it to Car, she said that she’d gone back and re-watched the UTABAN episode, and it was NOT Mayuko Fukuda, though they DID look quite similar. Oops. MAN, I thought it was the girl!
ANYWAY…
So just last week I began watching the highly regarded Kusanagi Tsuyoshi Drama BOKU TO KANOJYO TO KANOJYO NO IKIRU MICHI. The Dramawiki synopsis gave me the impression the show was going to be about a man and his mid-life crisis, focusing on married couples and their relationships with each other. And though there IS a little of that, the heart of the show is about a man suddenly separated from his wife, and in true “Kramer VS Kramer” style, ending up having to take care of their child alone.
I wouldn’t say that I’m a HUGE fan of children-based dramas, ESPECIALLY when they’re of the “bratty because misunderstood” variety which irritates me to no end, but this (thankfully) wasn't one of those, and the little girl they got to play Tsuyoshi’s six year old daughter Rin was so INSANELY adorable and loveable she just melted my heart and won me over and I knew instantly that this drama would become my top viewing priority!
Every scene this girl was in killed me, just watching this cute waifish little thing following grouchy old Tsuyoshi across town practically brought tears to my eyes! What really pierces me is how sweet and innocent she is amidst the wreckage of her parents’ marriage. Tsuyoshi is a businessman and doesn’t want her, so he goes to talk to his wife who, after arguing, says she doesn’t want the girl either. “I don’t love her,” she flatly states. Tsuyoshi goes home, and there’s this TOTALLY heartbreaking scene when he goes into Rin’s room, and silently watches her sleeping. Just seeing this tiny, fragile unloved child sleeping in the bed JUST KILLS ME. Fortunately, it is this revelation that motivates Tsuyoshi to try and make an effort to care for Rin.
So after watching about 5 episodes of the Boku to Kanojo to Kanojo no Ikiru Michi, I’m talking to Car, gushing about the show, and in particular, this adorable child actress that she just has to see. “This little girl they got, she plays Tsuyoshi’s kid, and-
“THAT”S HER!!!!” Car abruptly realized, completely startling me!
EH? That’s WHO?
“That little girl is the girl in UTABAN that you keep thinking is Mayuko Fukuda!!!!"
"Remember, in Utaban, Nakai mentioned that she played Tsuyoshi’s daughter in that show!”
WHAAAATTT! This LITTLE, LITTLE girl was that UTABAN girl?
“Remember, they all were surprised how much she’d grown since that drama?” Car added. “Nakai had said she’d grown into a young lady!”
HUH! Could It BE?? I had to make sure! So I dug out my own copy of that Utaban episode, and watching it, for a while, I still couldn’t believe this 11-year-old girl was that 6 year old in BOKU KANOJYO. She’d changed so much in those 4 or 5 years that just about the only thing that looked like the little girl was her smile! But it WAS her, after all! WOW! SO I FINALLY got to know who this girl was!
I found out her name was Karen Miyama, and going online to research more about her, I was surprised to find that she’d actually been making quite a bit of headway into the idol arena, with multiple photobooks and video DVDs already on the market! But it’s funny that it seems like she hasn’t done too many dramas lately aside from playing “younger versions” of the lead actresses in flashback scenes like Keiko Kitagawa’s character in MOP GIRL and Tanimura Mitsuki’s in CAT STREET.
Perhaps when she gets a little bit older she’ll make the transition to teen actress and start getting bigger roles…I for one will be waiting to see her…and Mayuko Fukuda, too, for that matter! Them's two talented young actresses, they are!