Iwatsuki Shigehisa Played by Johnny's Jr./KAT-TUN member Tanaka Kouki Iwatsuki is a year younger than the others and really looks up to his "senpai", especially Yoshikuni. He's sweet, extremely polite, soft-spoken, a stickler for the rules, and somewhat shy. He loves photography... especially photos of Yoshikuni. His room is literally covered with photos of Yoshikuni on the walls, in boxes, or hanging from the ceiling. Iwatsuki's major problem in life (well, besides the fact that he's got a crush of a guy with a girlfriend) is the fact that he has a serious heart problem and is fitted with a pacemaker. He's often left of the sidelines since he can't go through too much physical exertion, and he can't get near cell phones, either. Iwatsuki's home life seems normal, but really, he's constantly compared to his "perfect" older brother and feels inferior to a guy who's everything he's not: naturally brilliant, a strong sportsman, and a womanizer. When I first saw "Neverland", I was frankly surprised that Johnny's Entertainment gave one of their young Juniors such a difficult and somewhat controversial role. But Tanaka Kouki gave a spectacular performance as the conflicted Iwatsuki, delivering dark and intense material that was brilliantly handled by "Neverland." Tanaka-kun was a young Johnny's Jr. member at the time, but is now a part of the new Johnny's group "KAT-TUN" (pronounced like "cartoon" with no "r"). *-*-*-*SPOILERS BELOW*-*-*-* In episode #5 of "Neverland", the series took a rather dark, shocking turn with the character of Iwatsuki, revolving primarily around himself, his feelings of inadequecy from being compared to his brother, and his feelings for Yoshikuni. Jealous of Yoshikuni's girlfriend, Hiroko, Iwatsuki tells her that Yoshikuni doesn't like women. (This is only a slight exaggeration from Yoshikuni's actual confession of "I'm scared of women," which in understandable in the whole "nearly got killed" context.) Unfortunately, Iwatsuki is overheard by Takagi, the incredibly evil senior staying alone at the neighboring dorm. Knowing Iwatsuki's fear of losing Yoshikuni's friendship, Takagi blackmails Iwatsuki into keeping him "entertained" while he's alone in the dorm. Shell-shocked, Iwatsuki returns back to the dorm and eventually works up the courage to talk to Yoshikuni, but Yoshikuni is too busy trying to repair things with Hiroko. The next day when Takagi returns for a second round, Iwatsuki fends him off with an art knife, causing Takagi to drop his cell phone. Iwatsuki goes into the study and uses Takagi's phone to call Hiroko, apologizing for lying to her. That night, Kanji drags Mitsuhiro and Yoshikuni into the study, where Iwatsuki lies with Takagi's cell phone in one hand, dead from a failed pacemaker. Iwatsuki knew the dangers, so why did he make the phone call? Was it an accident, or suicide? Yoshikuni blames himself for not listening to Iwatsuki and starts seeing Iwatsuki's ghost around the dorm. Eventually, the guys figure out Takagi's role in Iwatsuki's death and drive him from the dorm. Iwatsuki's storyline contains some of the most dramatic, well-written, and subtle scenes in the entire series, as seen by the infamous sugar scene. Early in episode #5, Iwatsuki makes iced tea for the group, but loads it full of sugar (it's actually pretty common for Japanese people, especially males, to not like sweet things). Kanji yells at Iwatsuki in his Kansai-like manner, but Hiroko changes the topic soon after and it's dropped. After returning from Takagi's, Iwatsuki explains to his worried dormmates and dorm mother that he was out shopping so that he could cook his special fried mochi. After he's done cooking, the guys and the dorm mother gather to test out the mochi. Kanji goes first... and is horrified to find out that the mochi has been given a thick coating of sugar. Kanji can't believe Iwatsuki made such sweet mochi and begins yelling at him, telling him that it's strange to make such sweet mochi and that he's strange, too. Iwatsuki suddenly crumples against the counter. When he raises his tear-filled face, he asks if he's really that strange. The dorm mother quickly reassures him that he's not strange, that there's nothing wrong with him. Some people like sugar, some don't, it's all up to your own tastes. The others agree and quickly reassure him that there's nothing wrong or weird about him. Despite the first sugar scene, I'll admit that I had no idea what they were doing with it until Iwatsuki started crying. It was one of the most amazing, poignant, and subtle dialogue exchanges I'd ever seen. Neverland | TV Index