Blending in too well on the screen..! Why Teru Iwamoto, Shota Watanabe and other “Snow Man” members are making great strides in winter dramas

I noticed that five members from Snow Man appeared in winter dramas. They are Teru Iwamoto (30), Shota Watanabe (31) and Tatsuya Fukasawa (31), Ryota Miyadate (30) and Koji Mukai (29).

You might say, “What’s the big deal now?” as we are approaching the second half of the winter dramas. But I think the reason I have not noticed them so far is because all five of them are blending into the drama beautifully. To add to that, “XX-kun, your first starring role! A new love story!” I was not so much interested in the drama because I didn’t see any of the tiresome advertisements such as “XX-kun, your first starring role! I hope you understand that if you see too much of that, your desire to watch the show will be reduced.

I have watched all five films from the first episode to the present without getting tired of them, and they are all interesting in five different ways. Let me first tell you what each of them is about.

An emotionless bodyguard and a high school teacher in love with a student

Teru Iwamoto stars in “Koisuru Keigou 24h” (TV Asahi) as Tatsunosuke Kitazawa, a bodyguard. He is chasing the truth behind the death of his murdered father while guarding lawyer Rika Kishimura (Mai Shiraishi). The script was written by Arisa Kaneko, who is considered a master of romantic dramas. The cold-blooded bodyguard, who never shows any emotion, eventually falls in love with Satonatsu, the target of his protection, right? I watch the show every week with a grin on my face.

The bodyguard in “BG: Personal Bodyguard” (TV Asahi), played by Takuya Kimura, who is a senior at the office, had a realistic sense of “Oh, he might be near a VIP. In contrast, the bodyguard played by Iwamoto shines with his long arms and legs as he stands around in action scenes. The bodyguard, played by Iwamoto, showed off his long arms and legs in the action scenes. He exuded a somewhat princely air, perhaps due to his many years of experience on stage.

Shota Watanabe stars in “Sensei Sayonara” (NTV). Takuro Tamura (Watanabe), a high school teacher, and Yayoi Jojima (Meari Hayashi), a female student, fall faintly in love in this story, which is a standard story in romantic dramas. The old men around me like this drama, saying, “This is the kind of drama I’ve always wanted to see. It is a rare phenomenon.

Takuro had a history of falling in love with a female teacher when he was in high school. It was a little too much for Watanabe, who is in his twenties, to play the role of a high school student, but otherwise the story is generally sweet and sour. The freshness of Meari Hayashi’s character made my intuition say, “This girl is going to be a commercial girl for JR SKISKI in the future. Watanabe’s relatability made us think, “Ah, there are teachers like her! In this winter season’s drama series with few love stories, this is a rare example of such a drama.

Both dramas have one thing in common. Both dramas were aired during the time slot in which many young celebrities starred in them, which usually does not enthrall even me, a drama geek. Is it because of their charm? Or was it because I was immersed in the Snow Man swamp?

These five guys are drinking around Shinbashi, right?

Tatsuya Fukazawa plays the role of Keigo Kishi in “Haru ni nara natta” (Kansai TV, Fuji TV). He is a longtime friend who likes Hitomi Shiina (Nao), the main character, but is unable to say so; his father, who will die in three months, likes him and calls his fiancée “irresponsible. His good performances in popular dramas have shined through.

Ryota Miyadate plays the role of Sadanobu Matsudaira in “Ooku” (Fuji TV). He has a delicate relationship with the main characters Tokugawa Ieharu (Kamenashi Kazuya, 38) and Rinko (Koshiba Fuka, 26). It has been a very long time since we have seen him in a terrestrial drama.

Koji Mukai, introduced in the last section, appears in “Matsunaga-san in the Living Room” (Kansai TV, Fuji TV). He lives in a share house, the main setting of the drama, and is in good shape and good at getting close to people (?). He plays the role of Kentaro Suzuki, a bartender who lives in the share house where the main stage of the drama takes place.

What all five have in common is that they are good actors. Whenever I see idols acting in dramas, I am always skeptical and ready to watch them. Even if the result is an unsatisfactory performance, I try to watch the performance and see how the idols develop. This routine was not the case with the five actors in this case, probably due to the fact that they have been on the boards since their teenage years.

Furthermore, when idols appear in dramas and movies, they are usually subjected to lines such as “He’s so handsome” and “He’s so cool, isn’t he? We all know how good-looking they are. For many years, I have felt that it is not right to have such comments made into lines. This time, however, the persistent visual praise did not appear in any of the five films. All the signs of star power as members of a group that can fill the Tokyo Dome to capacity have been erased, and all five actors fit into their roles with ease. It’s enough to make you want to see them in other roles again.

When I think back to Snow Man’s debut, I recall that the ladies around me were all in an uproar, saying that nine members was a lot of members and that someone would probably leave sooner or later. I think they will continue to be extremely popular in 2024, and I hope that the drama will show us other members we haven’t seen yet.