Kyoko Yoshine , who played a married couple with Kyoya Honda in the drama series " A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You " (Fuji TV), which aired its final episode on June 26th, became a hot topic. Looking back, it seems that Yoshine first attracted a lot of attention in her first lead role in the drama series "Omotesando High School Choir Club!" (TBS) in July 2015. It's been 10 years since "Omoko". Now, it seems that Yoshine is once again on the rise as an actor, so what is her appeal...?
◇ The breakthrough ten years ago was like a "Cinderella story"
Yoshine was born on February 28, 1997 in Tokyo. Her acting debut was in the 2013 serial drama "Last Cinderella" (Fuji TV), which was a production of the same Thursday Theatre as " A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You". The following year, in the first half of 2014, she made her debut in a Asadora in the serial TV drama "Hanako to Anne". Then, in 2015, she won the lead role in "Omotesando High School Choir Club!" out of about 1,000 people in an audition, and continued on that momentum by being selected as the heroine of the morning Asadora"Beppin-san" in the second half of 2016, also in an audition with 2,261 applicants.
Yoshine's recent success is like a "Cinderella story," but it was no fluke; she had solid talent even back then. Her breakthrough work, "Omoko," is a coming-of-age story about a high school girl who creates a miracle at her school with the "power of song," and is famous for having produced such stars as Jun Shison, Miyu Jun Shison, Mahiro Takasugi, Aoi Morikawa, and Wakana Aoi, but there's no doubt that Yoshine was at the center of it all.
Although the drama itself, "Beppin-san," was not highly acclaimed (as most would say), Yoshine's acting was by no means bad, as evidenced by the fact that she has subsequently been cast in leading and heroine roles in many films and dramas.
◇ Make people think, "I want to see more of this character"
Looking back at her time after "Beppinsan," she first tried her hand at comedy in the Fuji TV Getsuku drama "Kuragehime" in 2018. The new talent that blossomed there was fully displayed in the 2019 HTB 50th anniversary drama "Channel wa Soredemo!", which won the Grand Prix in the TV category at the 2019 Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Awards.
She also won the Newcomer of the Year Award at the 42nd Japan Academy Awards for her performance in "Kasane" (2018), a Asadora in which she co-starred with Tao Tsuchiya . In addition, in the 2021 NHK drama "Radius 5 Meters," in which she played the role of a young editor at a women's weekly magazine, she gave a great performance as a life-sized working woman, including her love affair with Katsuya Maikuma. The mockery of her acting as "playing house" during the "Beppin-san" era (although this was not directed at Yoshine's acting) is now a thing of the past.
The charm of Yoshine-san is that she attracts the audience with her subtle emotional expressions, and even in the most ordinary scenes, she makes them think, "I want to see more of this character." This seems to have remained the same since "Omoko."
Furthermore, the straightforwardness of her eyes has remained unchanged since then. That purity has allowed her to play not only "cute" or "adorable" roles, but also crazy characters.
She is currently 28 years old. She starred in two dramas, " Madoka26sai,Kenshui Yattemasu!" in January, and "A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You" this season, and both dramas had a "viewing fever" that could not be measured by numbers (viewer ratings). Naturally, Yoshine's contributions are great, and we hope to see her continue to rise from here.
