the new AF ikuta toma thread TS PAGE!!!!!! i made it!! ^_^

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE NEW TS POST (the very 1st post) OF THIS THREAD, I REALLY REALLY WORKED HARD ON IT!!!!! ONEGAISHIMAS~!
(remember to read the credit/thanks part too!)
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=289753


just posted it up last night. stayed up late (got a little lightheaded~ xD) to finish editing, IT'S FINALLY DONE. *collapsed* spent around 2 weeks on this!! maybe it is spoiling the new toma fans a bit, me posting a ton of toma info and pics and links and a really detailed bio about toma...but then, i thought it'd be nice to have all this cool toma info in one place. it's kinda like there's over 2 yrs of toma fangirling squeezed into that post. xD i hope all toma fans, new and old, will like the post (especially the toma bio!) and learn more about toma and maybe even LOVE TOMA A LITTLE MORE cuz of it!!♥♥

yappari, writing the toma bio took the MOST time, though i really only set out to write a few paragraphs. but i couldn't help myself, i ended up writing so much, trying to cover not only the events in toma's career but also how toma felt about it. wow...but it was fun, too. i realized anew, toma's been through a lot. i'm really so proud of him. all the things he's done to get to where he is today. ah, i love him so much!!♥

finding toma pics was hard too, cuz so many pretty ones!! i wish i coulda used more maou period pics, but there wasn't much nice ones at AF (which i kinda had to use, for the thumbnails)...the rest of the things there, though, the profile info, links, was easy to gather.

i'll just post some interesting toma stuff f/there here plus the whole bio i wrote, but PLEASE PLEASE, DO GO THERE TO SEE ALL THE TOMA PICS AND LINKS, ETC. I POSTED UP!!! ALSO, PLEASE DO JOIN US IN CHATTING ABOUT TOMA THERE, ALL U NEED TO DO IS REGISTER W/AF.

see u there!! ^_^

kate♥


cute or random Toma quotes:

-Today I'll also work hard~
-School, work, and other things...live life to the fullest. (^O^)
-[Infinite] possibilities exist 4 me as well as every1...so believe in possibilities, do your best, and fight on.
-I like setting off without a destination in mind. Because it feels like the end of the day will never come.
-ahh~ really, i'm glad i was born a boy!!
-Somehow i got all excited. yes.
-today's sunlight is warm and gentle. such a nice and warm weather, outdoors scenes are also much better for filming! yes.
-ah-hh, i'm talking about things that aren't important at all again.
-it's good to look up to the sky once in a while, you know.

......................

AWARDS AND OTHER MISC. INFO:

* 54th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e)

* Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix, Winter 2007: Best Supporting Actor (Honey & Clover)

* 11th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix, April 2007-March 2008: Best Supporting Actor (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e)

......toma knows how to play the (electric) guitar, and he spent around 9 years learning/playing!

......toma thinks his best features are his soft cheeks and his butt. =P

......toma has been asked many times, what kinda girl he likes. in a november 2009 interview, he said someone who likes cleanliness (who's not messy, but neat?), gentle, and who tries her best. other times, he has said: cute, mysterious/quiet, really feminine/girly, has a nice smile, her age doesn't matter (as long as not as old as his mom. lol.), polite, kind, doesn't care about her appearance (not vain?), not clingy (doesn't wanna be with her ALL the time), someone who he can talk to and will listen to him, someone who can cook his fav foods for him. OH, and toma often has crushes on actresses older than him!! xD

(for more info, go here: http://kll-tcs.livejournal.com/1448.html
the title of interview is HOW TO MAKE IKUTA TOMA FALL IN LOVE WITH U IN 10 DAYS. need i say more?! it's a bunch of tips given by toma on the kinda girl he'd fall for. hurry, study up now!! lol.)

......toma wants to be married by the time he's 30 yrs old and have kids (cuz they're cute!)


kate's RECAP OF HIS 13 LONG YEAR CAREER
(i daresay, the most comprehensive, detailed, up-to-date, and awesome-nest toma bio ever online!!! xD):

ikuta toma is only 25 years old (just turned 25 last month!), but he's been in show business for more than half his life. he's been in A LOT of stageplays and dramas (not to mention tons of variety shows, concerts, radio programs, and magazines). in his chichin pui pui tv interview from sept. 2007, they say that from 1997 until then, he's acted in 21 dramas and 19 stageplays! it all started from that day that changed toma's life, the day that his mom made him go to an audition at Johnny's. but he was supposed to (and really wanted to) go to his soccer match and cried when she would not let him go play. back then, toma actually thought it was weird for a guy to sing and dance, so he didn't want to go to the audition. :P but of course, toma got accepted (and was so happy when he got the good news f/his mom!) and officially became a Johnny's Jr. on February 11 (or 14th?), 1996. he was 11 years old then. soon, he got his first performance, his first tv appearance in NHK's Asadora Aguri drama. (his first appearance in a stage play took place 1 year later.)

toma has been a part of many johnny's jr. music groups. (he was the leader of M.A.I.N. or one of the other groups he was in, but i can't remember which group and where i read this, sorry!) the first was M.A.I.N. (initials of the members), with some of the guys that are now in Arashi: Jun Matsumoto, Masaki Aiba, and Kazunari Ninomiya. then in 1999 (when Arashi debuted), he was grouped with B.I.G. (Bad Image Generation), with 10 other popular juniors, which included yamashita tomahisa (now with NewS). soon, toma and yamashita were the only ones left in B.I.G. they became good friends and are still very close to this day. in 2002, the leader of the Johnny's Jr.s, hideaki takiszawa, debuted as a part of Tackey and Tsubasa. so, toma and the other top Tokyo juniors were made into a new group, 4TOPS, and became the leaders of the juniors. all the members were former B.I.G. members: toma, Yamashita, Jun Hasegawa and Shunsuke Kazama. as the leaders, they got to host the music variety show, Shounen Club.

also in 2002, toma (then 17 yrs old) was cast in a Gekidan Shinkansen stage play, Susano -Story of God's Sword. this was an important turning point for toma! the first time that he felt so inspired and amazed by the passion and enthusiasm of the wonderful and carefree cast and staff, it made him feel that he wants to be like them, so passionate about acting, to act in more plays and also watch more plays. then in 2003, yamashita became the leader of a temporary new group, NewS (it stands for North, East, West, South, and became permanent in 2004), and the 3 members remaining were known as 3Tops. After NewS and KAT-TUN started hosting Shounen Club, toma was able to get his own segment on the show, hosting Meitantei Tomasu. soon, toma and the other 2 members left started working on their own dramas and stage plays, gradually appearing less on variety shows. actually, many of johnny's jr.s were upset and shocked when NewS was announced and toma was not included. most notably, nino (Kazunari Ninomiya) walked out of the conference where NewS' formation was announced in protest, and he was very vocal about how it wasn't right to leave toma behind. also, many juniors were shocked because a lot of them thought 4Tops was going to debut soon. but toma and yamashita remained good friends, though they could no longer sing together or see each other as often.

this was a tough time for toma, since he was unsure of what he should do with his life after he graduates from high school. he gradually got less and less jobs as other juniors got more popular and continued to debut and pass him by. also, there were rumors that he only continued to be friends with yamashita so that it could help him be more popular!! despite all this, toma decided to continue to stay with Johnny's and not quit and go to college or do something else. he continued to have small roles in tv dramas and stage plays. finally in 2005, he got to be one of the main characters in the stage play, Azumi, and had some exciting fighting/flying scenes too (and an intense kissing scene!! wait or was that in Azumi Returns in 2006? or both?? sorry, i forgot!). suddenly in 2006, toma's first leading role in a stage play!! a breakthrough role, as the lonely and often daydreaming Toma (it's like he was destined to play this role!!! or did they choose the character name after casting toma??) who goes on a magical adventure in the Shinkansen*NEXUS volume 2 stage play, Cat in the Red Boots. he was 21 years old then. this role truly changed his life, and toma describes what a huge impact it had on him then in an interview:

"That performance was the turning point in [my] life. Looking at the senpais twice my age being so engrossed in acting, makes me want to be devoted to acting my whole life. Looking at the eyes of the spectators from the stage, receiving letters from my fans, all these has made me realised that I am doing something meaningful in my life, and an important job that will affect the life of others." (Credit: thesweetnote f/LJ)

and in june 2006, toma and his other JE friends formed an unofficial new music group, NO BORDER, all on their own. toma, Tomohisa Yamashita (NEWS), Jun Matsumoto (Arashi), Shingo Murakami (Kanjani8), Atsuhiro Satou (former Hikaru Genji), Kōichi Dōmoto (Kinki Kids), Tatsuya Yamaguchi (TOKIO), and Hideaki Takizawa (Tackey & Tsubasa) made up the group. they came up with the idea when they were having dinner together one day, and toma thought up the name. each of the 8 members have a different color name (though they are keeping it secret, who is what color. but i think toma is white cuz it's his fav color!), White, Black, Red, Pink, Purple, Gold, Blue, and Grey. also this month, toma's quirky, weirdly funny drama with his fellow 4Tops member kazama, Akihabara@DEEP started! toma's role was Box, the clean freak who is scared of women, but still the coolest and cutest of all the akiba otaku (geeks) there! (box is so funny and cute!! one of my fav toma roles ever. xD)

2007, as most toma fans know, was the year that toma finally got his big breakthrough role, as the lovable and silly, "homo jana~ii!" nakatsu in the manga turned drama hanazakari no kimitachi e. before that though, he already put in impressive performances in the stage play SHOCK - ENDLESS SHOCK, as koichi's brother (toma dancing, singing, crying!! all amazing.), and as the two-faced (and very hot!!) junpei in the 1st episode of hana yori dango, season 2. of course, there's so many reasons to like nakatsu, too many to list here, but trust me, many many many people became toma's fan after watching hana kimi (myself included). i'm sure that there were more people rooting for nakatsu to end up with mizuki than the ppl rooting for sano and mizuki. yappari~ toma's popularity shot up after hana kimi, and he earned 2 Best Supporting Actor awards for this role, too! toma said people and kids started calling out "nakatsu!!" when they saw him in public...the first time he was being recognized, he was so happy about this! :D toma has said, the summer of 2007, filming hanazakari, was an unforgettable and very happy time for him.

toma got to be in many dramas and stage plays since 2007! as toma says, it feels like he's been running and running since hana kimi. always working or preparing for his next project during his break, in between roles. but of course, he's so grateful that he can keep busy! toma's such a versatile actor and showed us many different sides to him through his very different roles from 2007-2008. after hana kimi, he got the leading role of a rebellious but heroic gentleman, Valentine, in the stage play The Two Gentlemen of Verona. then came the winter drama, Honey and Clover, his first leading role (although it was an ensemble cast), as the melancholy, hopeless college student, takemoto. during that time, toma got to be a guest host of ANN (All Night Nippon, a late night radio program) for the first time, one night that december. he also got to appear at the Johnny's big new year concert (partly cuz he was born in the year of the rat)! H&C got really low ratings, but toma won a Best Supporting Actor award (shouldn't it be leading actor?) for his role as takemoto-kun. then he became the smiley-cool nakatsu again to film the SP for hana kimi!

next, he cut his hair short and worked out more to prepare for his role as a tough cop fighting against the "devil" and running away from his troubled past, in the drama Maou (The Devil). the first time toma really got such a serious, complicated role, and he was brilliant as naoto! toma and ohno got to work together, but being enemies in the drama, they hardly talked to each other while filming, in order to keep in character. filming was intense and exhausting both emotionally (many difficult angry and sad scenes) and physically (running around in the heat of summer!) for toma, but he really had a wonderful time filming this drama. and he still refers to himself and ohno (calling him Maou!) as the Maou Team sometimes. saying, as part of the MAOU TEAM, they'lldo their best! however, only ohno won awards for his role, while toma got none. by the end of Maou's filming, toma was already rehearsing for the musical Grease, in which he got the leading role, Danny. if i remember correctly, all the Grease tickets sold out within a couple minutes (was it 2 minutes)?! toma didn't stop there, though. after Grease ended, he started to study forensics books to prepare for his role as a forensics student in the winter drama, Voice (voices of the lifeless).

in 2009, toma would end up working non-stop, it has been the busiest year of his life!! first, he is one of the main characters in Voice, the cool, cheerful, and somewhat flirty ryosuke. Voice was a good drama, that told touching stories about how precious family and life is, but it also got low ratings (but so did most of the other dramas at this time). then, the first BIG MOMENT of the year for him, he got his first *real* leading role in the late night suspenseful courtroom drama, majo saiban (The Witch Trial)!! as toru, a careless, curly-haired freeter, who becomes a lay judge for the first time. this drama preceded the actual start of the lay judge system in japan, so toma felt more pressure because of this! also, it was the first time toma's character had a girlfriend (1st real kissing scene 4 a tv drama!!). though he was more stressed out about this role for various reasons, and the drama got just ok ratings, majo saiban still had a huge following and many people wanted their own THINK TWICE t-shirt (just like toru wore in the drama)!!

despite all of his success, however, toma still cannot graduate from his johnny's junior status yet. most juniors debut in their teens. when they're 20something and still haven't debuted, most would quit and go to college or change to a different field of work. toma's somehow stuck. he can't debut unless he joins a new group with younger juniors, or as a solo singer. but both situations seem highly unlikely, especially since toma is only known for his acting in recent years (though he has sang a lot in stage plays all this time). however, toma's now one of those rare juniors that have not debuted, yet still can be successful. and although he's gotten so much more popular and respected in a very short time, toma has not changed. he remains hard-working, modest, and straightforward. he's not sure of what he wants to do in the future, he just wants to concentrate on doing his best for each role he gets now. but he has said that he would like to work with his other JE friends on a drama or movie or something one day. ^_^ and also be in a lot more butai's (stage plays)!!

toma's popularity continued to soar (despite how he looks a little funny with his majosai curly hair. lol. it takes some getting used to!), and he got to appear on a lot of his senpai's variety shows at this time, from kinki kids' Shin Domoto Kyoudai to VS ARASHI. the most surprising invitation he got was from SHOUNEN CLUB PREMIUM!! he is the 1st junior to appear on this show, which mostly only interviews popular JE guys who have graduated from the junior status. another breakthrough for toma!! the first time doing a long and serious tv interview, talking about johnny's, friends, and his career like this, but he seemed quite comfortable and straightforward the whole time (maybe cuz his sempai, taichi-kun, was the interviewer). and toma was really so calm and honest when talking about not being able to debut, though he seemed just a little uncomfortable/upset, but still...he handled these tough questions quite well! ~_~ lucky for all of us fans, he didn't quit!! he thought it wouldn't be right ("it would not be cool") if he quit...ah, i agree with taichi-kun when he told toma, "i think u're really mentally strong!" i really admire his perseverence and patience!! he said in a different interview, he felt like if he gave up, he would be betraying himself. and it really changed his life, when he found a bigger world, the acting world. after he found out he liked acting more than singing, debuting was no longer important to him.

and then in may, in the middle of majo saiban's run, suddenly,
THIS BIG NEWS: TOMA WILL STAR IN HIS FIRST MOVIE, NINGEN SHIKKAKU (No Longer Human)!! *o*

*(there were) tears of joy, loud cheering & screaming in the fandom* ♥♥♥ V^___^V

the movie is based on the highly respected Dazai Osamu's post-WW II, semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, which is considered his masterpiece and remains japan's 2nd best-selling novel of all time. this movie will celebrate dazai's 100th birthday (if he hadn't committed suicide soon after this book was published). toma will play the role of the deeply disturbed and depressed oba yozo (who many think represents dazai), who only pretends to be happy and uses women and drugs to forget his troubles. he cannot understand people and how to live in this world that makes no sense to him. and he eventually becomes suicidal...

the first time starring in a movie, and toma's got so much pressure!! it's an extremely difficult role and an extremely popular book. and people think of yozo as being dazai, so there's great expectations for how he will be portrayed in a movie for the first time, by such a young actor. it's a lot of pressure, but still a dream come true for toma and his fans! and since many people think dazai = greatness and yozo = dazai, then if toma = yozo, then toma = greatness!! (i didn't think of this, toma = greatness! this is taken f/a fan's comment at LJ, but i forgot her name. sorry!) they really have so much faith in him, believing that toma can do this. of course, toma was so excited and grateful for this chance to play such a famous character in his FIRST movie! and he was so impressed by how wonderful the movie cast and staff were, comparing them to when he first encountered the greatness of the Shinkansen team. i think the cast and staff were equally impressed with toma, from all the good things they blogged about him. ^_^ and after the movie finished filming, the director even said that he was glad that because of making this movie, he got to become friends with a 24 year old young man (toma!) that he respects! toma was really so touched to hear this ne. *_*

and although toma (and his fans) was worried about him becoming depressed all the while during the filming of this movie (as toma often gets TOO in character), this wasn't the case!! toma said he tried his best to be yozo for every scene, but once they say "cut!", the atmosphere lightens up right away. and so the filming went smoothly and was a very happy and exciting time for him (except for having to wear thick clothing and pretend it's winter in the middle of the hot summer!). the movie won't be released until feb. 2010, but they already had a screening. due to being incredibly nervous, toma couldn't properly watch and tell how his acting was in the movie. but seeing the director being so touched afterwards, he was finally sure that he was able to fully represent oba yozo. (omedetou!! congratulations!! we knew u could do it toma!!)

toma fans kept getting more and more good news in 2009...in the middle of ningen's filming, august, 2 funny Lotte ACUO gum CMs toma did was released. the last major CM he did was for KFC, in 2008. then it was revealed in early september, right after ningen finished filming (end of august), toma had secretly flown to guam to start filming for his 2nd movie, Seaside Motel!! this time, he is a dishonest salesman who falls in love with a call girl and meets various interesting characters at a motel that's actually not by the sea. (the story seems to take place in the 70s?) after filming completed unusually fast for this movie in mid-september, toma appeared in a short story (as a suicidal young man, again) for the yomino drama SP, kinda like the Twilight Zone show. after that, he started filming (end of sept.) in hokkaido (he said filming in the cold weather was tough, but the seafood was delicious!) for his 3rd movie in a row (wow!!!), this time with gakky, called Hanamizuki (which took the longest time to be confirmed. it was kept secret for more than a month!). it's a modern day romantic movie about a girl (gakky) and a fisherman (toma) who met when they were in high school and would end up having a 10 year long love story. filming is still going on now. finally, toma's hair is not curly/wavy any longer, though he is much more tan now (i hope it's a fake tan?? but i think it's real. he's almost as dark as ohno now!)!!

ja...though he couldn't debut and was left behind, toma never gave up and discovered his love for acting. he's really worked hard to prove himself as an actor! and now, it's like...HE'S MADE IT!!! finally!! but he often says there's still many things he wants to do. ~_~ seriously though, toma has said many times this year, he really wants to get a week off, no work, to rest and do nothing at all. toma's been running for way too long! but he can't stop to rest yet, at least not until hanamizuki filming is completed. and so, "Toma continues to run on without rest, but it seems his feet are nowhere near stopping yet." (what they said in his winkup interview from may 2009, translated by Enshinge.)

The End.
(of this bio, not toma's career!! :P
finally. whew. thank YOU for reading the whole thing!! ^_~)

________________
(CREDITS:

2. bio info compiled/summarized from various sites:
http://www.tomalicious.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Toma, video clips subbed by TFS: http://community.livejournal.com/tomalicious_frm, interviews translated by enshinge and xdustbunnys at: http://enshinge.livejournal.com/ and http://xdustbunnys.livejournal.com/, fans' posts at http://z11.invisionfree.com/Ikuta_Toma/, and http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero..._stursula_06_ul, this interview: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/index.php?s...9753&st=560 (Credit: thesweetnote from LJ), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningen_Shikkaku, http://comipress.com/news/2007/08/22/2529

and lastly, some info came from kate's fangirl memory after more than 2 years in the toma fandom, forgive me (and pls tell me) if i made any mistakes!! ~_~

oh, and i want to say a big THANK YOU~!! to all toma fans who share/translate/sub toma dramas/pics/news/interviews/etc.! especially those people whose info helped me make this TS page! without so many nice toma fans that translate toma's stuff, it would be extremely difficult for people like me, who can't speak japanese and don't live in japan, to be toma's fan and watch his dramas, see his pics, read his interviews, etc. hounto ni, ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA!!!♥

4. awards, etc. info from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Toma

5. toma's quotes from translations of tomagoto from: http://z11.invisionfree.com/Ikuta_Toma/ (and maybe some other places, i can't remember, sorry!)

AIYA, I FORGOT TO THANK OTHER TOMA FANS.
JUST POSTED IT UP @the TS page's credits/thanks. SUMIMASEN!!