Toma Ikuta reprises a bunch of his acting roles in the music video for his debut single “Super Romance”

Back in January, Japanese actor Toma Ikuta released his debut single “Super Romance”. And when I read that it was his debut single, I thought ‘That can’t be right’. Because I had just assumed that Toma was releasing music alongside his acting. But, nope. “Super Romance” is for real his debut single — which is a tie-in for the drama he stars in, Panda yori koi ga nigatena watachitachi.

It really is crazy to me that somebody who was part of Johnny & Associates for decades didn’t release music. Even if somebody were part of Johnny & Associates primarily as an actor, they’d usually end up releasing at least one song for the drama they were a lead in. So it really is wild that Toma went so long without releasing a single original song of his own.

This man has a thirty year career. And only now, at the age of 41, is he releasing a song.

Never let people tell you that it’s too late y’all.

“Super Romance” released digitally on 10 January, the same day that Panda yori Koi ga Nigatena Watashitachi started to air. But the music video was only released recently. We’re seeing this phased approach of music videos coming weeks after a digital single release becoming more and more common in Japanese music. And I like it. It makes a lot of sense. It helps extend the life of a single that bit more. And it also gives singles a second wind, to catch those who missed out on the initial song release. It’s just a shame that the video for “Super Romance” wasn’t released on Valentine’s Day.

All of the different looks / characters in this music video are references to characters that Toma has played over the course of his career. We see him as his characters from Yokokuhan, Berabou: Tsutajū Eiga no Yume-banashi, Ore no Hanashi wa Nagai, Mogura no uta – sennyu sosakan: Reiji and Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. If you are a J-drama watcher who hasn’t watched any of the aforementioned and is after something fun and light, then I highly recommend Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. It’s a really fun drama (gay as hell, BL — kinda, not really, but actually) and is one which really catapulted Toma’s career. I’d wager that his role in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e is still the one he’s best known for.

Having Toma reference roles that he’s played was such a clever direction to go in for his first music video. It shows some humility on Ikuta’s part to not try and position himself as this serious pop star who wants to distance himself from the vocation that most know him for. Also Ikuta is not that great of a singer nor dancer. Not that you need either to be a pop star and pursue music. It certainly didn’t stop fellow Johnny boy Tomohisa Yamashita. That man has a voice like a fart in a Pringles tube.

Toma Ikuta - Super Romance | Warner Music Japan

Toma Ikuta has a lot of charm. I’ve watched him in a bunch of things and can’t think of an instance where I thought he was bad. Even in shows where his character was an asshole, he was still likeable. And even in shows I didn’t particularly like, he was always good. So playing this up in a music video was a great choice.

I’m not a huge fan of the song, but it’s fine for what it is. It’s fun. It’s camp. And I like that there was no attempt at trying to make it adhere to any current music trends. It’s exactly the kinda thing you’d expect from a male J-idol. And it’s kinda comforting that J-idol pop hasn’t really changed over the years.