How I noticed him

If you think that I noticed him as soon as he starts appearing in the movie (The Last Samurai, of course), you're wrong. Dead wrong. It's ironic that I started off hating him (or hating HIS CHARACTER, Nobutada, should I say), because of he seems to be visceral. Eager to kill Tom Cruise's character Captain Algren once the American drunkard is held hostage in his village, before his father, Katsumoto, said no because he "wanted to study his enemy." No, wrong. The bloke itching to kill Captain Nathan Algren is Ujio. Thus so far I've been confusing Nobutada with Ujio! Hah! How embarassing! I can imagine Shin laughing out loud if he ever reads this! Sorry, sorry. But still I hated him at first.
So when did I realize that this Shin Koyamada bloke is a serious eye candy? It was just a few moments before his character gets killed in front of his father's Tokyo house, in a different sort of Harakiri. So late, I know. Which led one of best mates Henny to joke, "I guess I have advice for aspiring celebs. Nana will be your big fan only after you die. Take Brandon Lee and Jackie O for example." She should've added, "Or at least die on screen," in this case, but somehow I'm just glad she didn't. We all know that Shin is alive and kicking, and I'm most grateful for that.
Oh, last but not least. You know what made me notice him more (or should I say, the second time)? There was the scene of Captain Algren's captivity, and in that scene after Katsumoto said, "You cannot run away," Nobutada said something which sounded like, "Jolly good." Yes, blame it on my ears, for I knew it was something in Japanese, but still it sounded funny to me!

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