Zulu-Niner

More like realist drama than all the genres you said

I find Amachan is more representative for Iwate though

and sometimes +Kanno Miho and young Ikewaki Chizuru

Issei WAS underrated prior to Quartet, and he's been around since long time.

Where did you watch it?

Of course some would stand out of the rest, that is, the really gifted ones. But I'm happy to see even the ones considered 'average' players (I mean, the not-so-skillful ones) among the cohort are at least competent, well-trained, and well-prepared for the projects they are in. Unlike previous cohorts (i.e. 88-92, and to lesser extent 93-96 liners) of which their 'average actors/actresses' are often too raw or overpushed by the agency/public. The 88-92 liner is so far the biggest offender that a significant portion of the established actresses in the cohort are late starters or late bloomers (i.e. the likes of Haru Kuroki or Mitsuki Takahata), which means the former young prodigies 'died' out quite early in their careers due to lack of opportunities. Not sure why the writer let Kanna in though, she is by far the worst 'actress' in the class, skill-wise.

WTF this article missed TONS of talented youngsters. So many of them that it would take too many space in this post. On the other hand, how on earth Kanna and Menma could make into the list?

Indeed, except for a few bad apples tho. I think it has to do with demands from the producers recently, which requires the actors to be more well-prepared and trained. Moreover, many of current youngsters have years of acting experiences under their belt, significant proportion of them had been child actresses or took acting classes or acting in theater troupes since childhood. The scale wasn't seen in most of the previous cohorts, where vast majority of child prodigies were failed to develop and forced to retire early before they were able to make their mark.

Can't agree more. Many current A and A+ class actors are often entitled to take important parts in well-directed, festival quality series and movies since the start of their careers. That guarantees them to stay on the top in a winner-takes-all atmosphere in J-entertainment (except if only they get involved in terrible scandals or incarcerated lol). Mayu on the other hand didn't have this privilege. Many of her earlier works (prior to very recently) nowhere near that stellar, yet she always manages to elevate the depth of the characters she plays, even for smaller roles. That's why seeing her in top movies cast recently is very deserving.

OMG she tackles all type of dramas, from 156 episodes-long full Asadora to experimental slot dramas. Heck even Sakamoto Yuji has yet to write his asadora so far and many great screenwriters who do great in renzokus and movies often failed to deliver in this regard. She doesn't write a lot but whenever she does, it almost always strikes gold.

lol that lips. BTW she looks more similar to Morikawa Aoi instead - similar facial feature, similar height, even similar body frame as well. Acting style wise, they are somewhat different, I think Sei is a little more versatile than Aoi, although Aoi isn't bad either.

Perhaps she is THE most versatile actress by a mile in the 97-2000 age group? Maybe she isn't a virtuoso, hyper-technically-gifted actress, but her applicable range of roles is incredibly wide (especially for someone so young like her). Think something from that bloke in Channel no Sonomama to outright creepy in Kasane, which is quite a feat.

She is upgraded, technically more gifted version of Maki

Agreed, in my books she is more technically-gifted version of Nana Komatsu. I think she is bouncing back recently, her recent works seem interesting.

Moka will make an appearance in the second leg as first Japanese female gold medalist :)))

Morikawa Aoi's long lost sister?

Yup the photo was taken when she was a child actress

Honestly I won't call actors who've won awards back to back and got nominated everywhere all the time underrated. The only 'legitimate' underrated actors in the list are only Ohgo, Tanimura, Taiga, Ikewaki, Aso Kumiko (relative to the likes of same age group big stars like late Kanno Miho, Matsu Takako, Miki Nakatani etc) and perhaps Ikematsu.

Faux GTO instead of real GTO? No My Boss My Hero, Dragonzakura, Nobuta in the top 10 list? and no Suzuki Sensei? WTF

Nana vs Moka - 2000-liner cheek battle :))))