| Hugeass Mizushima Hiro Pimp Post! |
I'm finally typing this out! Like I said, it seems like not a lot of people know enough about Hiro to get a good idea of his personality, so I took it upon myself to do a little pimping. JUST A WARNING: this labor of love is 75 pictures deep. I've resized the images to fit my browser, but the originals are as big as I could find without them being fuzzy. So be prepared for long loading times!
It's totally worth it. At least I think so.
So who's this Hiro guy anyway?
The Basics:
Real Name: Saito Tomohiro
Birthday: April 13, 1984
Height: 180cm (about 5'9")
Siblings: Older sister (who gave him this scar during a fight)
Language Fluency: English, Japanese
How do I even start? Hiro is one of the reasons I continued watching Japanese television after my first drama, Hana Kimi. (I'm showing my fandom newness. Whoops!) His personality is a little difficult to pin down because he tends to be really quiet in interviews, but he's apparently really spacey and odd! Co-stars have compared him to Arashi's Aiba, which is a pretty amusing comparison as it is.
Hiro lived in Switzerland from the age of six to twelve because of his dad's job. (Apparently soccer players are needed in Switzerland? I don't know.) When he first started going to school there, he was pretty overwhelmed because of all the different nationalities he experienced. Plus, no one else spoke Japanese. So he learned English and gradually fit in with the other kids. It's a success story, really!
At some point, Hiro's plan was to graduate high school and go to college in New York. Before he took the trip to the United States, he was scouted to be a model and got into the entertainment business.
He looks familiar! Where have I seen him before?
The answer to that, most likely, is Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. Hiro played Nanba-sempai, which as far as i know is still one of the roles he's most known for. After learning more about Hiro, I appreciate the bits of his own personality he put into Nanba, including his tendency to be either really high-tension or really low-tension.
You also may have seen him recently in Mei-Chan no Shitsuji, a personal favorite. He played Rihito, an elite butler assigned to a reluctant high school student. I'm partial to anything even vaguely butler-related (hello happy boys!) so this pretty much had it all for me.
Or perhaps you're more of a sentai fan? Not a problem! Hiro was Kamen Rider Kabuto! I'm still working on this show myself, but what I've seen of it so far is genius. His character, Tendou, is how I imagine most people's experience with Hiro turns out in a professional atmosphere. Maybe less self-importance, but he's got a far-away sort of feel that I could see being Hiro's actual character.
I can't leave out Room of King, which is one of my top dramas. I haven't finished it yet because the subs are only out up to the sixth episode, but I love it so much. Hiro plays a NEET who works in a flower shop and it's just precious. ♥ Added bonus! Hiro's superhot in Room of King. SUPER. HOT.Just ignore the fact that his look is pretty much just a clone of Jun in Smile.
If you're going to watch one thing to decide if you like Hiro or not, I whole-heartedly suggest Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata. Hiro plays a highschooler who's been playing a secret "princess and servant" game with a girl since they were kids. The game's been going on for so long because they made a pact to keep it a secret and never stop playing until someone finds them out. It's surprisingly touching and you get hotass Hiro shots like this:
There are other well-known dramas and movies Hiro's been in, but these are my personal favorites. Zettai Kareshi is pretty good, as is Gokusen 2 and Brother Beat. If you're interested in further research, head to Hiro's DoramaWiki!
♥ Married Life ♥
Speaking of Zettai Kareshi, Hiro met his wife because he was involved in that drama. He's married to Ayaka, who sang the theme song! After an eight-month relationship, Hiro and Ayaka married on February 22, 2009. When I originally heard about this, there were talks about them possibly waiting until Hiro's birthday, which would have been really cute.
I love these two so much. ♥ They're both so damn cute and sweet and if they don't have babies soon, the world will probably explode. Not only that, Ayaka has Grave's Disease, so the announcement of their marriage came around the same time Ayaka announced her reduction of activities due to the disease. There was a very touching press conference where Hiro announced he wanted to marry Ayaka so quickly so he could better take care of her. Oh god, my heart.
Soccer: The Family Business
Like I mentioned earlier, Hiro's father was (Is? I'm not sure.) a professional soccer player. It was probably a natural progression for Hiro to have interest in the sport as well.
He didn't really play seriously until junior high, where there was an incident between him and the more seasoned players. Hiro started ribbing the other players when they didn't do well, which is apparently okay in Switzerland but not in Japan. So he got bullied until the sempais graduated. :( Hiro played with professional soccer career in mind until he fractured his leg in high school and wasn't able to play anymore. A tragedy, but possibly the reason he's an actor now. So it all turned out good in the end!
Hiro has a "7" necklace he wears a lot. It's always been his jersey number as far as i know. He seems to be... really obsessed with the number seven. it's even on his car's license plate! XD
Let's face it, we're all here for the English
One of the biggest draws to Hiro seems to be his amazing command of the English language. It's really not surprising when his time in Switzerland is taken into account since English is all he spoke for the six years he lived there. I have no idea if he has an English-speaking accent when he speaks Japanese, but I haven't heard anyone mention it.
Luckily, Hiro gets to use his English skills a lot! I think his voice sounds like a nerdy tech support guy; his Japanese-speaking voice is so much smoother than his English-speaking voice. These are some of the better examples of Hiro's English on film:
Dramas/SPs
Cell Phone Conversation (100 Scene no Koi)
Repeat after me! (Kamen Rider Kabuto)
Stronger/Strongest (Kamen Rider Kabuto)
Random TV Appearances
Hanamaru Cafe
Encouraging a child! (Kabuto movie report)
He loves food so much!
There's not much to say about this other than a ridiculous picspam of Hiro eating and drinking various things. I joke about his contract having a "Must Eat Food In Photoshoots" clause, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually true. Seriously, look at this!
He also loves his dog!
So Hiro has this long-haired chihuahua named Richie that he takes everywhere. Not only does Richie seem to be everywhere Hiro is, he also has a wardrobe to rival a human's. On one hand, I really hope Hiro and Ayaka spawn so that Hiro can spread the love a little bit. On the other hand, I would be sad to know that Hiro wasn't giving Richie his usual level of pampering anymore. :(
BONUS CORNER OF SELFISHNESS!
also known as "Chele is the only Sho/Hiro Shipper" :(
That's really the point of this whole thing, right? I'd really like to see more people try their hand at writing/drawing/whatever-ing Hiro and Sakurai Sho, but I'm not holding my breath. There's absolutely NO basis for this ship except for about ten seconds of two Arashi no Shukudai-kun episodes and a shocking parallel in interests and education.
Sho and Hiro:
- Graduated from Keio University
- Speak English (to varying degrees)
- Played soccer
- Write hip-hop/rap lyrics
- Love food. A LOT.
In the Shukudai-kun episodes I mentioned earlier, they're pretty much just occurrences of Sho mentioning Hiro in a conversation. The first time was in episode 129 when Motokariya Yuika and Shinagagawa Hiroshi came on to promote Drop. They talked briefly about how Hiro's personality is very Aiba-like (they're both kind of spacey and silly) and Sho said he'd like to see Hiro-Aiba interaction. The second time was an episode that I actually haven't seen but they were guessing who would come out of the box in the intro and the description said someone who had just gotten married. Sho guessed Hiro! ♥
I think that's about it? Hopefully this helped some people out, especially if they didn't know anything about Hiro. And if you do know about him and notice I left out a glaring part of his history, please feel free to let me know! I'm always up for adding more!
It's totally worth it. At least I think so.
The Basics:
Real Name: Saito Tomohiro
Birthday: April 13, 1984
Height: 180cm (about 5'9")
Siblings: Older sister (who gave him this scar during a fight)
Language Fluency: English, Japanese
How do I even start? Hiro is one of the reasons I continued watching Japanese television after my first drama, Hana Kimi. (I'm showing my fandom newness. Whoops!) His personality is a little difficult to pin down because he tends to be really quiet in interviews, but he's apparently really spacey and odd! Co-stars have compared him to Arashi's Aiba, which is a pretty amusing comparison as it is.
Hiro lived in Switzerland from the age of six to twelve because of his dad's job. (Apparently soccer players are needed in Switzerland? I don't know.) When he first started going to school there, he was pretty overwhelmed because of all the different nationalities he experienced. Plus, no one else spoke Japanese. So he learned English and gradually fit in with the other kids. It's a success story, really!
At some point, Hiro's plan was to graduate high school and go to college in New York. Before he took the trip to the United States, he was scouted to be a model and got into the entertainment business.
The answer to that, most likely, is Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. Hiro played Nanba-sempai, which as far as i know is still one of the roles he's most known for. After learning more about Hiro, I appreciate the bits of his own personality he put into Nanba, including his tendency to be either really high-tension or really low-tension.
You also may have seen him recently in Mei-Chan no Shitsuji, a personal favorite. He played Rihito, an elite butler assigned to a reluctant high school student. I'm partial to anything even vaguely butler-related (hello happy boys!) so this pretty much had it all for me.
Or perhaps you're more of a sentai fan? Not a problem! Hiro was Kamen Rider Kabuto! I'm still working on this show myself, but what I've seen of it so far is genius. His character, Tendou, is how I imagine most people's experience with Hiro turns out in a professional atmosphere. Maybe less self-importance, but he's got a far-away sort of feel that I could see being Hiro's actual character.
I can't leave out Room of King, which is one of my top dramas. I haven't finished it yet because the subs are only out up to the sixth episode, but I love it so much. Hiro plays a NEET who works in a flower shop and it's just precious. ♥ Added bonus! Hiro's superhot in Room of King. SUPER. HOT.
If you're going to watch one thing to decide if you like Hiro or not, I whole-heartedly suggest Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata. Hiro plays a highschooler who's been playing a secret "princess and servant" game with a girl since they were kids. The game's been going on for so long because they made a pact to keep it a secret and never stop playing until someone finds them out. It's surprisingly touching and you get hotass Hiro shots like this:
There are other well-known dramas and movies Hiro's been in, but these are my personal favorites. Zettai Kareshi is pretty good, as is Gokusen 2 and Brother Beat. If you're interested in further research, head to Hiro's DoramaWiki!
Speaking of Zettai Kareshi, Hiro met his wife because he was involved in that drama. He's married to Ayaka, who sang the theme song! After an eight-month relationship, Hiro and Ayaka married on February 22, 2009. When I originally heard about this, there were talks about them possibly waiting until Hiro's birthday, which would have been really cute.
I love these two so much. ♥ They're both so damn cute and sweet and if they don't have babies soon, the world will probably explode. Not only that, Ayaka has Grave's Disease, so the announcement of their marriage came around the same time Ayaka announced her reduction of activities due to the disease. There was a very touching press conference where Hiro announced he wanted to marry Ayaka so quickly so he could better take care of her. Oh god, my heart.
Like I mentioned earlier, Hiro's father was (Is? I'm not sure.) a professional soccer player. It was probably a natural progression for Hiro to have interest in the sport as well.
He didn't really play seriously until junior high, where there was an incident between him and the more seasoned players. Hiro started ribbing the other players when they didn't do well, which is apparently okay in Switzerland but not in Japan. So he got bullied until the sempais graduated. :( Hiro played with professional soccer career in mind until he fractured his leg in high school and wasn't able to play anymore. A tragedy, but possibly the reason he's an actor now. So it all turned out good in the end!
Hiro has a "7" necklace he wears a lot. It's always been his jersey number as far as i know. He seems to be... really obsessed with the number seven. it's even on his car's license plate! XD
One of the biggest draws to Hiro seems to be his amazing command of the English language. It's really not surprising when his time in Switzerland is taken into account since English is all he spoke for the six years he lived there. I have no idea if he has an English-speaking accent when he speaks Japanese, but I haven't heard anyone mention it.
Luckily, Hiro gets to use his English skills a lot! I think his voice sounds like a nerdy tech support guy; his Japanese-speaking voice is so much smoother than his English-speaking voice. These are some of the better examples of Hiro's English on film:
Dramas/SPs
Cell Phone Conversation (100 Scene no Koi)
Repeat after me! (Kamen Rider Kabuto)
Stronger/Strongest (Kamen Rider Kabuto)
Random TV Appearances
Hanamaru Cafe
Encouraging a child! (Kabuto movie report)
There's not much to say about this other than a ridiculous picspam of Hiro eating and drinking various things. I joke about his contract having a "Must Eat Food In Photoshoots" clause, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually true. Seriously, look at this!
So Hiro has this long-haired chihuahua named Richie that he takes everywhere. Not only does Richie seem to be everywhere Hiro is, he also has a wardrobe to rival a human's. On one hand, I really hope Hiro and Ayaka spawn so that Hiro can spread the love a little bit. On the other hand, I would be sad to know that Hiro wasn't giving Richie his usual level of pampering anymore. :(
also known as "Chele is the only Sho/Hiro Shipper" :(
That's really the point of this whole thing, right? I'd really like to see more people try their hand at writing/drawing/whatever-ing Hiro and Sakurai Sho, but I'm not holding my breath. There's absolutely NO basis for this ship except for about ten seconds of two Arashi no Shukudai-kun episodes and a shocking parallel in interests and education.
Sho and Hiro:
- Graduated from Keio University
- Speak English (to varying degrees)
- Played soccer
- Write hip-hop/rap lyrics
- Love food. A LOT.
In the Shukudai-kun episodes I mentioned earlier, they're pretty much just occurrences of Sho mentioning Hiro in a conversation. The first time was in episode 129 when Motokariya Yuika and Shinagagawa Hiroshi came on to promote Drop. They talked briefly about how Hiro's personality is very Aiba-like (they're both kind of spacey and silly) and Sho said he'd like to see Hiro-Aiba interaction. The second time was an episode that I actually haven't seen but they were guessing who would come out of the box in the intro and the description said someone who had just gotten married. Sho guessed Hiro! ♥
I think that's about it? Hopefully this helped some people out, especially if they didn't know anything about Hiro. And if you do know about him and notice I left out a glaring part of his history, please feel free to let me know! I'm always up for adding more!