Pemu wrote:

The way he talks (more like stutters), behaves and his jolly and dense manners, Atsuro Watabe's good-for-nothing-guy-roles are perfect for him! He's a great actor, too bad he's rather an under rated actor in the industry. A versatile actor, good-for-nothin-guy is at his best! Along side Miki Mizuno, they make the best couples on screen. Their chemistry match 100%, even more compatible than Kimutaku/Matsu Takako!

He's underrated because he's not "hot." Sad to say, but I think Japan is probably even more looks conscious than America...
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"...but it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it's all we have left in this place. It is the very last inch of us...but within that inch we are free." - V for Vendetta

I love Watabe's face; he's so baby-faced, but simultaneously weathered. His performances are also great. I really like that while his acting style is very consistent across his comedic roles, the characters he plays are all distinct in my mind. He portrays vulnerability wonderfully well. Then of course, there's Keizoku. This is one of the best cop-on-the-edge performances I've ever seen. The way Mayama could go from teasing Shibata to beating the crap out of a perp was startling in it's smoothness. His performance had such wonderful tension.

I always keep my eye out for his dramas. I need to start looking for his movies as well!

i saw his "Last Love, First Love" recently... can't stop crying and somehow I am experiencing what he has been through in the movie...

Hope one day, I will stand up again like him in the movie...

Atsuro Watabe and Ayame Gouriki team up in Asahi TV 2015 Spring drama

Gouriki Ayame and Watabe Atsuro will be teaming up in the TV Asahi Spring 2015 drama "Tenshi to Akuma - Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Koshoka -"which will begin its run from April in the Fridays 11.15pm timeslot. Gouriki plays the role of a newbie police officer Maita Hikari who trusts others wholeheartedly, keeps making mistakes at work and ends up being sent to work in an insignificant position while Watabe plays Chajima Ryunosuke who is a lawyer with no morals and doesn't believe in people. The two of them who are 24 years apart in age, form an unlikely alliance to crack unresolved cases in the Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Koshoka by using plea deals to get suspects and the accused to testify against the true culprits responsible for committing the crimes. Plea deals are not used in Japan yet but this topic is expected to be debated in the parliament this year.

Gouriki and Watabe last appeared together in the TBS 2013 drama "Kurokochi" but this will be the first time that they will be working closely together.

Source: Sanspo

Atsuro Watabe remarries

Watabe Atsuro remarried in late June was reported on 9 July. According to the media, his wife is in her 30s and the marriage application was filed late last month. There are no plans for a wedding at the moment. The couple were said to have met more than 6 years ago but only became an item last autumn. News of their relationship first came out in the press in February this year. Watabe's agency said that they had been informed of this but didn't make it public since this is Watabe's private matter.

Watabe married celebrity RIKACO in 1994 and the couple had 2 sons before they divorced in 2005. His latest drama will be "ON Ijou Hanzai Sousakan Toudou Hinako" which begins its run from 12 July via FujiTV.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo

First Toruu Nakamura and now Watabe. Can't any of these guys drive?

Atsuro Watabe involved in traffic accident

Watabe Atsuro got into a traffic accident at Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on 18th October and his case had been sent to the prosecutors' office as reported on 19th October. According to the police, Watabe was driving his car around 2pm on the 18th at a junction where he tried to make a right turn and bumped into a motorcycle coming from the back. The motorcyclist suffered a slight injury to his left leg as a result but Watabe was unhurt. The place where the accident happened is a two-lane road and Watabe's car was in the left lane when he suddenly wanted to make a turn to the right and switched lanes without checking the right and back properly.

When asked about the accident, Watabe's agency confirmed the report and pledged to handle this situation with the utmost sincerity going forward. They also apologised for any inconvenience and worry caused by this accident.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon

Atsuro Watabe and Marie Iitoyo to star in dTV and FujiTV-on demand drama "Papakatsu"

Watabe Atsuro and Iitoyo Marie will be starring in the drama "Papakatsu" jointly produced by video streaming service dTV and FujiTV-on-demand (FOD) which consists of 8 episodes and will be released at midnight on Mondays from 26 June. The drama is a scandalous love story written by Nojima Shinji on the theme of papakatsu which refers to the trend of young women looking for men much older than them to date and get financial support from but with no sexual relationship between them. Nojima commented that many of such women involved in these relationships or seeking such partners are in financial difficulty due to their inability to pay their school fees or scholarships but there has been criticism over how it is a nicely-packaged way of describing compensated dating. Although the story is fictitious, Nojima hopes that the viewers can try putting themselves into the heroine's shoes and consider if they would make the same choices when faced with a similar situation.

The story describes how a 20-year-old university student Anri (Iitoyo) is chased out of her house when her mother has a new boyfriend. While spending every night at different Internet cafes, Anri comes to know about "papakatsu" and subsequently meets a 45-year-old university lecturer Wataru (Watabe). Anri then moves into the apartment which Wataru rents for her before finding out about a secret which he has been hiding from her. Co-stars include Kentaro, Kirishima Reika and Hashimoto Satoshi.

Watabe reflected on the filming and commented that it was a precious experience to be playing a character very unlike himself and he had to spend a lot of time understanding his character's feelings. In addition, he was glad to be able to take on such a project just before he turns 50 and had learnt a lot from his first participation in a Nojima work. On the other hand, Iitoyo said that her character is in a forbidden relationship with a man of the same age as her own father and hopes that people of her age group will be able to appreciate the different way of how such a romance is depicted by Nojima. She also commented that another highlight will be some romantic scenes which are bound to set hearts of the audience fluttering.

Sources: Eiga.com / Oricon

Atsuro Watabe and Kanna Hashimoto to star in FujiTV 2017 Summer drama

Watabe Atsuro and Hashimoto Kanna will be starring in the new FujiTV Summer 2017 drama "Keishicho Ikimonogakari" (Metropolitan Police Department Living Things Section) which begins its run from July in the Sundays 9pm timeslot. The drama is based on the "Keishicho Ikimonogakari" series of novels by Okura Takahiro and set in a fictitious plants and animals department within the general affairs section of the MPD where a lieutenant and a newbie police officer work together to solve cases while looking into the ecology of plants and animals.

Watabe plays Sudou Tomozou, a 48-year-old lieutenant who used to be from the first investigation section and was taken off the frontline 6 months ago due to an injury and sent to the Ikimonogakari which takes care of pets left behind by suspects and those whose whereabouts are unknown. Much as he desires to go back to the frontline, he knows that his condition and age are not in his favour. Sudou meets the 22-year-old newbie police constable Usuki Keiko (Hashimoto) who graduated from the veterinary faculty in university and is a huge animal lover who prefers them to human beings. Sudou gets angry at how Keiko seemingly behaves without a care for others but gradually appreciates her knowledge about these animals and observant powers which help him in solving the cases they encounter.

Co-stars include Miura Shohei who plays the 33-year-old Ishimatsu Kazuo who used to be the buddy of Sudou when they were in the 1st investigation section, Hasegawa Tomoharu who plays 42-year-old Nittou Hajime and looks down on Sudou for being transferred from the frontline, Ishikawa Ren who plays the 23-year-old Mikasa Yayoi, a receptionist at the Police Museum, Denden who plays 68-year-old retired police detective Nidegawa Shoukichi and offers advice to Keiko in her investigations. Kiyohara Sho plays 28-year-old Sakurai Kaoru who works under Ishimatsu while Sudou's former boss Kitou Tsutomu will be played by Terajima Susumu. Asano Atsuko will play 52-year-old Tamaru Hiroko who is the only admin staff in the Ikimonogakari.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon