#2016...what a year

Truth be told this year was the year that I came to appreciate Narimiya Hiroki. He was always an actor I paid attention to of course, since he’s been acting for as long as I’ve been into Jdramas. It’s impossible to be a Jdrama fan and not know of him. He’s a staple, though he’s seldom the lead. 

Frankly I don’t think he’s a great actor. I know this is a subjective point but I’ve watched many of his dramas and am confident enough to my critical taste to say this. He’s not bad, but he’s not great. And I think the industry knows that he doesn’t hold up in a lead role that well.

Yet despite all my reservations about his acting, I found myself intrigued by him as a person. In life I have met people like him, who, for some reason is always misunderstood. I said before when I subbed the A Station interview of his - I had never expected him to have a life as tough as he did. Even drama fans are sometimes surprised when people like Oguri Shun says Narimiya is the more mature one. He just doesn’t come across that way. 

Because I’m only an observer, I know my understanding of him is severely limited. But from what I see from TV appearances/interviews/etc., he’s a naturally shy person who is slow to warm up to people, but when he does open himself he is a ‘let’s have a good time’ kind of person. 

Narimiya has, over the years, been open to share who his industry friends are, even if they are of the opposite sex. So I don’t think he is a calculative person by nature. 

Yet it must have taken a lot of discipline on his part over the years to keep away from scandal, keep his private life private, and keep his mouth shut about the persistent gay rumours. When I heard him talk about why he refused to give a speech at his brother’s wedding, I realised he is a person who considers things quite thoroughly. 

So I can completely how upset he must be that his privacy has been compromised. It’s difficult for any celebrity - but not all would be upset enough to leave the industry. His hurt is clear, and I hope he’s getting emotional support from somewhere. 

Narimiya’s move doesn’t surprise me for a number of other reasons. He’s said the following in a number of different interviews: 

1) He’s the sort of person who can’t stand doing the same thing for a long time. He gets tired easily and is constantly looking for something new to do. That he stuck with acting for so long is contrary to his personality.

I could come up with a number of possible reasons - He wanted to fully commit to his promise to his mum (to be an actor). He had a good enough standing to command an amount that, until more recently, allowed him to bring up his brother. He didn’t know what job he would move on to. 

2) He doesn’t know that he’s suitable for this job. And precisely because he has to, on a level, be constantly exposed to people. This I think, is crucial to note. On a slightly related note he’s also often remarked that he doesn’t know whether he is confident that he’d continue to be happy, or to make someone (if he were to marry) happy. 

3) He finds it hard to make friends in this industry. He explained that in this competitive industry, where actors vie for many of the same jobs, it’s hard to build genuine friendships. 

So though I was shocked by this announcement, the more I think about it the less surprised I am. This incident was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

I hope that the police would be involved in this matter, until then, the issue of Narimiya’s drug use always stands. And rightfully so, though I am more inclined to believe his innocence.

I hope that, guilty or innocent, Narimiya has a support group of some sort.