<figure id="attachment_415400" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415400" style="width: 445px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cae2274f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/a8d3006a133247a535563e9d67dc8335.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415400" class="wp-caption-text">Kimu-taku&#8217;s reputation has been on the rise due to the Nakai issue, but he has always had a good reputation among those in the know.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> A &#8220;quote&#8221; from &#8220;Taipro&#8221; is echoed by many.</span></h3>
<p> The members of the new &#8220;timelesz&#8221; have finally been selected.</p>
<p> The selection process was streamed on Netflix as &#8220;timelesz project-AUDITION-&#8221; over a six-month period. The popularity of the project grew with each episode, and when the final selection was narrowed down to eight members, many fans of the program watched with bated breath to see who would be chosen as the new members.</p>
<p> In the midst of all this, there was one person who suddenly appeared in the episode broadcast just before the final episode and became the talk of the town. Who could it be but Takuya Kimura (52), a.k.a. Kimura Takuya?</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The candidates and the three members of timelesz were surprised by his appearance, but he didn&#8217;t act at all arrogant and began by thanking them, saying, &#8220;Thank you for bringing awareness to us despite the prejudice against our office. This alone was enough to win the hearts of the viewers, but what he then said to the three members was wonderful.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He was concerned that the three members had grown accustomed to the presence of the staff supporting the project, and he gently pointed out that it would be a waste if they took the provision of water for granted. The public mood was instantly, &#8220;That&#8217;s what Kim Taku is for! &#8216; (Entertainment writer).</span></p>
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<p> Recently, Kimutaku has often come under fire and criticism for his comments on social networking sites about Janney&#8217;s sexual assaults. However, when the scandal involving another former SMAP member, Masahiro Nakai (52), came to light, his reputation has once again exploded in comparison.</p>
<p> But in fact, the evaluation of Kimura within the industry has not changed consistently. Over the years of covering the entertainment industry, all of the reviews of Kimura that have come in on a regular basis have all been, as the writer mentioned earlier, &#8220;Kimura was as good as it gets.</p>
<p> A long time ago, a former production staff member at a TV station recounted the following episode.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The episode of Kimutaku&#39;s popularity explosion"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">From the moment he stepped into the office, he was &#8220;Kimutaku</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When the workload of &#8220;SMAP&#8221; was at its peak, all the members were sleep deprived and would fall asleep when it was time to change clothes. But Mr. Kimura was the only one who changed quickly in a corner of the studio, saying, &#8216;I get sleepy when I change in the dressing room. He was the only one who showed a different level of professionalism.</span></p>
<p> I was also told about this episode.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> When SMAP performed with a certain foreign celebrity, the members were supposed to greet him, so everyone stood and waited. However, the celebrity was very late because of his selfish behavior. While the members were apologizing, Mr. Kimura stood and waited for the celebrity, saying, &#8216;It&#8217;s totally fine. In contrast, Nakai-san became unhappy and sat down. It was a very bad feeling,&#8221; said another production staff member.</span></p>
<p> Editors and writers who interviewed Kimutaku for magazines also commented that he <span class="strongInContent">was &#8220;very nice</span>,&#8221; and <span class="strongInContent">that &#8220;his enthusiasm to make something good was amazing</span>. In any case, almost all of them were in a state of &#8220;glowing praise.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> He never let his guard down, not only in front of the camera, but from the moment he entered the studio, and his aura and behavior from start to finish were just like the &#8220;star Kim Taku&#8221; we see on TV. I was happy to see that he respected our magazine and gave his all to the filming and interviews. I felt that Mr. Kimura is always &#8220;Kimutaku&#8221; from the moment he steps into the office.</span></p>
<p> Perhaps more than anyone else, Kimura is the one who continues to practice the saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s not natural to have water ready for you.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" This is a direct interview with the magazine, but Kim Taku is smiling at ......!"></div>
<figure id="attachment_415401" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415401" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="44fe5b22"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/60f6fae66024753c470913e175232efe.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415401" class="wp-caption-text">The magazine directly interviewed Kimutaku while he was on location for a TV drama, and although initially surprised, he answered each question one by one (from the January 5, &#8217;18 issue).</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_415402" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415402" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="42313030"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/a2038866339cf1b1882171a410f15447.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415402" class="wp-caption-text"> At the time, it had been one year since the breakup of SMAP. When asked about changes in her state of mind, she replied, &#8220;It would be strange if it wasn&#8217;t (laughs). But I&#8217;ve switched to a more positive attitude and am now working on it.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_415403" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415403" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a00a1665"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/71f73a7f44482c4d32ff38e59f60a17e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415403" class="wp-caption-text"> When this magazine apologized for bothering him by barging into his home, he replied, &#8220;It took a while! (laugh)&#8221; (from the January 5, 2006 issue).</figcaption></figure>


 Nanako

 Kazuhiko Nakamura (Nakai), Ippei Hara (2nd and 3rd photos), Takahiro Kagawa (4th photo)

 Kimutaku's "quotes" from his appearance on "Taipro" have been getting a lot of attention. Recently, he has been compared to the troubled Nakai and his reputation has risen, but according to those in the know, his reputation has not changed.

The reason for the &#8220;explosion in reputation&#8221; is not because of the comparison with Nakai&#8230; The &#8220;Legend of Kimutaku&#8221; that has been whispered among the people concerned for a long time.

The reason for the “explosion in reputation” is not because of the comparison with Nakai… The “Legend of Kimutaku” that has been whispered among the people concerned for a long time.

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