Cute and Talented: Yu Aoi

Yu Aoi

She is very popular actress and model like sort of idol, not only in Japan but also in Asian countries such as Korea or China. Maybe her face give Asian people oriented feeling or same color. However, She is more than cute or kawaii. She is a talented actress. You can find that on her acts on some firms. 

Her debut firm is "All About Lily Chou-Chou" (2001) directed by Shunji Iwai, as I mentioned on my past blog. 

Aoi, then 15 years old, acted a junior-high school students, who was blackmailed from a classmate and forced to do "enjo-kosai" (sexual favors to older men instead of giving money or luxury gifts) , and then eventually committed suicide. 

Aoi gave us a sort of forgettable impression and got a first big success on this firm. You can see a part of her performance on Youtube.

Hana & Alice

Second success is the performance on "Hana and Alice" (2004) - then 19 years old. This movie also directed by Shunji Iwai. I believe Iwai literally found Aoi and her talented act.

This story is: when two best friends, Hana (Ann Suzuki) and Alice (Aoi) develop a crush on the same boy, they develop a plan to trick him into dating them (from IMDb).

On this firm, Aoi is really cute. And most importantly, she performed an amazing impressive ballet. This scene is the best performance not on this firm but also , in my opinion, on her act. Check it out by yourself on Youtube.

Shiro for TEKKON KINKREET

I have to say one more thing. I wrote about a great anime movie "TEKKON KINKREET" on my past blog regarding "Asian Kung-Fu Generation". Aoi is a voice actor as "Shiro" (White) who is one of main characters on this firm.

You can see the opening of its firm and listen to Aoi's voice as a roll of "Shiro". I believe it exactly proves her talent.