Horikita, Maki
One of the J-dorama’s I’ve finished watching last year was Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hana Kimi). I was smitten by the pure kawaiiness of the lead female. She now, tops the kawaii spot on my list. A round face with a short bob cut hair, defines cute.
Maki Horikita (堀北真希, Horikita Maki) born on October 6, 1988, in Kiyose, Tokyo. She started as a U-15 idol by starring in a number of J-Doramas. She’s an accomplished TV and movie actress, a radio show host, a photobook model, and appeared on numerous magazines. Now she’s already a U-20 idol.
A breakthrough in her acting career was when she starred in the Japanese drama series Nobuta. O Produce (2005) bagging the Best Supporting Actress. And when she portrayed as Mizuki Ashiya in the J-dorama, Hanazakari no Kimitachi E (2007), which won her Best Actress.
More photos and a video after the gap.
Currently, as of this writing, Horikita is reportedly the fifth highest-paid product spokeswoman in Japan, commanding a fee of 31 million yen ($403,000) for each deal.
Because of the shadow patterns that fall on her face and the ambiance that results, she has made countless appearances as the lead of horror films.
Her nicknames are: Maki-maki, Homaki, Makinpo, Horikitty
More kawaii photos of her at Flickr and Google search.
Here is a music video dedicated to the TV series Hana Kimi, featuring Sano (Oguri Shun) and Mizuki (Horikita Maki).
More videos at YouTube.
Post note: Since in Japan, last names are often written first before the first name, I’ll follow that writing format, and place a comma in between (to distinguish their last name).
Kawaii is Japanese for cute.
J-Doramas is Japanese TV dramas.
maki-chan kawaii!!! i’ve only seen her on hanazakari no kimitachi e, nobuta wo produce, kurosagi, densha otoko and a single episode of galileo.. any other series?
Aside from the shows you’ve mentioned, except densha and galileo, I’ve haven’t seen any other jdoramas which she starred in. Well not yet anyway, I’m still waiting for my ’source’ to bring me a copy of his latest jdorama collection.
she only had a minor role in densha otoko (the sister of the heroine who hates otakus)… and she only had minor appearances there… i actually thought that it’s unnecessary to use a bigtime actress for a single episode, but then again, seeing her despite for the limited appearance is always worthwhile.. well.. it’s maki