Thursday, April 17, 2008
Before They Were Stars: Teru & Ako
Not many readers realize this (I didn't until a commenter pointed it out to me last week), but Dragon Head wasn't the first work for Teru Aoki and Ako Seto. The two previously worked together on another manga (currently only available via scanlation, and even then only incompletely), Zashiki Onna:
Obviously, they're a bit younger and not as accomplished, but it's still interesting to see the origins of a creative dynamic that would serve them well years later in their best-known pairing in Dragon Head:
Of course, after that breakout success, many claimed everything went downhill for the two. Evidently fame went to their heads and soon they were almost unrecognizable when they cashed in on a big-budget remake of Dragon Head helmed by Michael Bay:
After the film bombed at the box office, both actors' careers went into freefall. Even former fans turned on the two, dismissing them as "sellouts" or worse. After years out of the public eye, both Teru and Ako have recently attempted to jump-start comeback efforts with appearances on the Japanese version of "Dancing with the Stars."
Not many readers realize this (I didn't until a commenter pointed it out to me last week), but Dragon Head wasn't the first work for Teru Aoki and Ako Seto. The two previously worked together on another manga (currently only available via scanlation, and even then only incompletely), Zashiki Onna:
Obviously, they're a bit younger and not as accomplished, but it's still interesting to see the origins of a creative dynamic that would serve them well years later in their best-known pairing in Dragon Head:
Of course, after that breakout success, many claimed everything went downhill for the two. Evidently fame went to their heads and soon they were almost unrecognizable when they cashed in on a big-budget remake of Dragon Head helmed by Michael Bay:
After the film bombed at the box office, both actors' careers went into freefall. Even former fans turned on the two, dismissing them as "sellouts" or worse. After years out of the public eye, both Teru and Ako have recently attempted to jump-start comeback efforts with appearances on the Japanese version of "Dancing with the Stars."
Labels: Dragon Head, Minetaro Mochizuki, True J-Horror Story
11:02 PM | |