Nagayama Eita (who normally goes by just Eita, 瑛太) is a rather under appreciated actor from Japan, despite having appeared in a large number of dramas and movies to date.

27 year old Eita is the most successful of 3 acting brothers. He began his career modeling in 1999 before switching to acting 2001. Starting with small roles, he found his niche playing likable supporting characters, sometimes infused with a touch of his own eccentricity.

Nagayama Eita.

The first time I would encounter Eita was in the 2003 film version of the Azumi manga staring Ueto Aya. He later played a more prominent role (though still secondary to Tsumabuki Satoshi and Shibasaki Kou) in the memorable Orange Days.

Eita.

After his strong performance in Orange Days, Eita saw more success in 2005 when he finally managed to land multiple lead roles, the most popular of which was in the television version of Water Boys. He also starred alongside Miyazaki Aoi in an artsy movie called Su-ki-da, which deserves special mention for having pretty much only one scene for the entire duration of the movie and hardly any dialogue. Still it was an emotion filled movie that was well received by critics. It’s worth the watch if your a fan of the genre.

Despite his age, he has the image of a friendly old man.

In 2006, Eita appeared as the violinist in the highly popular Nodame Cantabile. He also reprises the role in the recent two films based on the series. However, Eita’s big break came in 2008, when he appeared with Miyazaki again, this time in the year long taiga drama Atsuhime. Atsuhime became the highest rated show of the past decade and Eita finally entered the list of Japan’s top actors. He was also part of the main cast in the controversial Last Friends, another of the year’s top ranking dramas.

More recently, Eita appeared in Voice. He also co-stars with Ueno Juri once more in last month’s Sunao ni Narenakute.

And is known for his crazy hair styles.

In his personal life, Eita had been romantically linked to a number of actresses including Ueno Juri who he acted together with in Nodame Cantabile and Last Friends. However last month, pop idol Kimura Kaela announced her engagement to the actor (to everyone’s surprise). More shockingly though was the news that Kaela was already 5 months pregnant with his child. Despite that, she has been working on releasing her new single and compilation album this month. While it seems like a shotgun marriage, Eita and Kimura with their quirky personalities, do make for a matching couple.

In what is one of 2009′s best dramas, the likeable Eita plays a medical student who is highly empathetic to the dead. Despite applying for a separate course, he gets a personal request to join the forensic seminar. The show follows Eita and his fellow students as they embrace the world of forensic medicine.

To call Voice another forensic crime show would be unfair. While each episode begins with the school performing an autopsy requested by the police department, the results are immediate and the case is settled. Instead, the drama takes a bold direction by choosing to focus on the people affected by the death.

Eita has a breakthrough.

After the introduction of each new scenario, the cast skip school to investigate the person’s death. With lots of scopping (and very little science) they then piece together the final moments of the deceased’s life. In a sudden burst of inspiration (not unlike Yada Akiko’s in My Little Chef), Eita then successfully sees pass the medical explanation and helps convey the true “voice” of the deceased to the family.

Apart from Eita, Voice also stars Ikuta Toma, Ishihara Satomi and Yada Akiko. Johnny’s hearthrob Ikuta serves as Eita’s best friend. The charming actress Ishihara Satomi (who looks like a cross between Maou Inoue and Ueto Aya) plays their uptight classmate, and the now vetaran Yada Akiko acts as their stern assistant professor.

They make a nice couple.

Ikuta’s infatuation for Yada Akiko is brought up at many times and the story continually hints toward the mutual attraction between Eita and Ishihara. Though the show choses to forgo any romantic development, the chemistry of the characters can still be felt strongly. It is endearing to see quirky relationship between the characters played by Eita and Ishihara. Eita often has fun at the expense of Ishihara’s serious personality and I found myself smiling during some of the show’s more lighthearted scenes.

Eeek!

The show does well to stick to the story and each episode tells a moving tale. The group cannot help but be affected themselves by the troubles of the deceased. By helping the families move on, they take away with them life changing experiences. Viewers too are presented with stories that highlight human compassion.

The group reflect the end of another mystery.

While Voice doesn’t feature a powerhouse cast, the drama manages to provide a fresh take on the medical mystery genre while presenting an emotional story that managed to move me to tears on many ocassions. If there is one drama from recent times that I would recommend watching, it would definitely be this underrated show.