Nikkan Sports has finished announcing the winners of its 12th annual reader-chosen Drama Grand Prix. The awards cover the period from April 2008 to March 2009, with the final nominees consisting of the top five from each season.

The TBS thriller "Maou" was voted Best Drama. Arashi leader Ohno Satoshi picked up the title of Best Actor, impressing fans with his acting in that series. Meanwhile, Best Actress was won by a wide margin by Miyazaki Aoi, who starred in the hit taiga drama "Atsuhime."

NEWS and Kanjani8 member Nishikido Ryo was the top choice for Best Supporting Actor, having played the violent and possessive boyfriend in Fuji TV's "Last Friends." Ueno Juri also picked up Best Supporting Actress for the same drama series.

Copied from Tokyograph

As every year, Oricon asked about 600 women (10's~40's) between about which female celebrity's spring make-up they'd like to try out on themselves. Let's not bother with the details and get straight to the results of "The female celebrity whose make-up I'd like to copy for spring 2009".

01 - Kanno Miho - "It's simply wonderful, pretty and not too thick."
02 - Miyazaki Aoi - "She has a very natural make-up, but it's still so pretty! I definitely want to learn how she does it!"
03 - Ebihara Yuri - "It's pretty and sweet."
04 - Hamasaki Ayumi - "Because she tries out many different things, from princess-like to really cool."
05 - Ueno Juri - "Her make-up in the Shiseido "MAQillAGE" CM is pretty and suits her very well."
06 - Ueto Aya - "Because she has a cute and natural make-up."
07 - Ayase Haruka - "I want to have an as fresh and natural make-up as her."
08 - Kimura Kaera - "The colors she uses and her style, it's so pretty!"
09 - Nakashima Mika - "The way she uses the mascara and makes her eyeshadow is really beautiful."
10 - Fukada Kyoko - "She has very cute make-up and looks almost like a doll. I definitely want to copy her!"

Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com / Source: Oricon
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Readers of TVnavi magazine have cast their votes for 2008's Drama of the Year, and on Saturday it was announced that the winner is the TBS suspense series "Maou" that starred Ohno Satoshi and Ikuta Toma. Ohno also was named Best Actor for his role in that series.

Miyazaki Aoi was voted Best Actress for "Atsuhime." Best Supporting Actor and Actress went to Eita and Ueno Juri, who both appeared in Fuji TV's "Last Friends." In the Best Newcomer category, Yamada Ryosuke ("One-Pound Gospel," "Scrap Teacher") and Higa Manami ("Code Blue") received the most votes.

Source: Tokyograph

The 32nd Japan Academy Awards have just been held in Japan today and a few days before Oricon took the opportunity to make a survey about what movies people would like to see again and which actors/actresses are favored on the big screen.

The popularity of Japanese movies really reached record highs over the recent years. Deep stories and unique outlooks on the world are what made them winning candidates in film festivals like Cannes. Even Hollywood can't turn their eyes away and try to remake many of the Japanese originals. The Japanese Academy Awards exist to pick out the most shining gems out of this flood of amazing movies. We took the chance and asked you people what movies that ever won one of the awards you would like to see in the cinemas once more. Apart from that we also wanted to know which actors and actress you like to see in movies the most.

Award-winning movies that you would like to see again

1. Spirited Away (25th Academy Awards)
2. Princess Mononoke (21st Academy Awards)
3. Always: Sunset on Third Street (30th Academy Awards)
4. Hula Girls (30th Academy Awards)
5. Tokyo Tower (31st Academy Awards)
6. Shall we DANCE? (20th Academy Awards)
7. A Taxing Woman (11th Academy Awards)
8. Poppoya (23rd Academy Awards)
9. The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness (01st Academy Awards)
10. Kamata March (06th Academy Awards)

Actors you would like to see in movies from now on
Their performances in doramas really influenced the ranking.

1. Matsuyama Kenichi
2. Eita
3. Miura Haruma
4. Fukuyama Masaharu
5. Mizushima Hiro

Actresses you would like to see in movies from now on
Both their acting abilities and originality are what important for actresses.

1. Miyazaki Aoi
2. Ueno Juri
3. Toda Erika
4. Aoi Yuu
5. Sawajiri Erika

The actresses elected for the top5 are all already active in movies and doramas. They are all young shining stars with a great variety in their personalities.
It's no surprise that Miyazaki Aoi took the 1st place. There's currently no actress as popular as her thanks to her starring role in the historical dorama "Atsuhime". She's currently in the cinemas with her movie "Shonen Meriken Sakku" and fans want to see more of her. "She's a great actress and while seeing her on TV is already a pleasure, I'd like to see her in more movies, too."
In 2nd place comes Ueno Juri who is liked for her superb performances in comedic roles. She became popular with her roles in the movie "Swing Girls" and the dorama "Nodame Cantabile".
Toda Erika on the 3rd place is able to pull off many different characters from Misa in "Death Note" to a newbie doctor in the dorama "Code Blue".
Aoi Yuu is just as able to pull off various roles and can easily make any movie, any dorama and any story so interesting that it is almost a crime to miss any of her performances.
On 5th place we have Sawajiri Erika who recently made more headlines with her marriage and studies abroad than with roles in movies or doramas, but there still is a very high demand for her acting abilities. "I want her to make a comeback soon!!" - That is the general opinion of movie and dorama fans alike.

If there is one thing we can say for sure, then it's that Japan is (still) looking into a very bright future when it comes to movies and the talents who act in them. The people who will benefit from that are us, the moviegoers.

Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com / Source: Oricon
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