From the first episode of the first day of my drama watching career I have had a drama leading man crush. His name is Matsumoto Jun and the drama was Gokusen. The image of Matsu-jun with his perfectly styled hair with the bleached out tips and swagger that went on for days captured me from the get go.

Maybe it was because it was so macho and manly while having such complete flower boy potential. I really don’t know. I haven’t re-watched it for years and to narrow down just what it was at that point in my life almost 10 years ago is pretty difficult. I can tell you however, that it certainly made such an impression on me that it remains one of my favorite characters he’s ever played and inspired me to watch the rest of his work and wallpaper my computer screen with his face for months. For this, he is and will always be one of my ultimate leading Asian drama men.

That isn’t to say that he’s not continued to capture and captivate my imagination over the years. As time is valuable I certainly have chosen to spend quite a significant amount of it on observing and admiring his work. Currently, I’m caught up in his most recent drama that’s still airing, Heartbroken Chocolatier. This drama is a total live-action drama. And by that I mean that it’s completely fictional, a bit over the top and seriously based on a manga. There’s no question as to that! But it’s also one of the smexiest dramas that I’ve seen come out of Japan for a while. Particularly, as a girl there’s the seductiveness of chocolate, combined with Matsumoto Jun and if that’s not enough he fantasies about feeding her chocolate and wine in a chocolate bath… seriously, where can I sign up for this spa treatment?!?! I don’t even think I’d care that much about the cost.

But that doesn’t draw me away from my all time Matsumoto Jun drama, Hana Yori Dango. I feel like I could go on tirades about almost any and all of the dramas on the list for this week, but I’ll try to keep this short. Hana Yori Dango or Boys Over Flowers is one of the most popular and well-known stories in the Asian drama world. It takes established actors and tests their caliber. It takes relatively unknowns and thrusts them into A-list stardom (Lee Min Ho anyone?!?!) and this, the Japanese version is my all time favorite version of the story. Why is it my all time favorite? In large part it’s because of Matsumoto Jun. There’s something about his look that reminds me of Michael Jackson circa Thriller that makes me love his look in a totally nerdy way. His attitude also nails the role for me. Jerry Yan in Taiwan’s version was super rich and ignorant. Lee Min Ho’s version of the role reminded me of a big dumb jock from a wealthy family. For me the struggle and the dangerous nature that the role required is perfectly (or as close to perfect) as it should be played. He’s gorgeous, annoying, scary, and at the same time he leaves you utterly smitten. And these are just a few reasons why I like Matsumoto Jun.

What’s your favorite Matsu-Jun drama?

The Full Matsu Jun list:

Natsu no Koi – 夏の恋は虹色に輝

Lucky Seven – ラッキーセブン

Bambino! – バンビーノ!

Kimi Wa Petto – きみはペット

Heartbroken Chocolatier – 失恋ショコラティエ

Gokusen – ごくせん

Hana Yori Dango – 花より男子

the bloopers