Meisa Kuroki

Biography

Satsuki Shimabukuro (Japanese: 島袋 さつき, Shimabukuro Satsuki, Born on May 28, 1988 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name Meisa Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木 メイサ, Kuroki Meisa), is a Japanese actress, model and singer. She is represented by the agency Sweet Power and is signed to Sony Music Japan. She made her acting debut in 2004. She has modeled for the popular Japanese fashion magazine JJ, among others, and is the current Japanese representative for Epson and Giorgio Armani. She has appeared in numerous television dramas, commercials, films, and stage productions.
Kuroki released her debut single "Like This×Like This21 June 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Like This" in 2008, followed by the extended play Hellcat (2009). Her debut studio album, Magazine×MAGAZINE26 January 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Intro -MAGAZINE-1:032LOL!4:043SWITCH⇔4:284BYE BYE MY FRIEND3:385CELEBRATE4:206SHOCK -運命-3:447Say Good Night☆4:278As I Am3:489Why??3:5810Loneliness3:3511LOVEHOLIC3:2012Wasted3:04135 -FIVE-4:0114Somewhere...4:37 (2011) peaked at number six on the Oricon and featured her first top fifteen single, "LOL!". Kuroki is best known for the song "Wired Life×Wired Life31 August 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Wired Life4:412Wired Life (No Escape Remix)4:323Wired Life (アニメサイズversion)2:134Wired Life (instrumental)4:39", which served as an ending theme for the anime series Blue Exorcist. It was included on her second studio album, Unlocked×UNLOCKED15 February 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Hit the Road3:492Shake it Off4:133Wired Life4:414One More Drama4:005Take Me Away4:286Flash Light4:057Woman’s Worth4:188Breeze Out4:049LAST CODE4:4710Happy to be Me4:4711PARADE4:1412S.O.S -ワタシサガサナイデクダサイ-4:0813UPGRADE U!3:4214曖昧で贅沢な欲望4:46 (2012). Since its release, Kuroki has focused solely on her acting career.

Early life and career

Kuroki was born Satsuki Shimabukuro in Okinawa, Japan. While in her second year of junior high school in Okinawa, Kuroki was discovered by a fashion scout and subsequently began modeling, initially modeling exclusively for the popular fashion magazine JJ. While studying at the Okinawa Actors School, from which she graduated in 2007, she was a member of the institution's B.B. Waves group. Kuroki is one-quarter Brazilian.

Acting career

Kuroki made her acting debut in February 2004 in the Kōhei Tsuka play Atami Satsujin Jiken: Pyonyang Kara Kita Onna Keiji (The Atami Murder Case.) Since her debut she has continued to perform in theater, notably in the Azumi stage productions in 2005 and 2006, the musical Endless Shock (2005), and most recently in Onna Nobunaga (2009) and Hiryuden 2010: Last Princess (2010). Kuroki made her television debut in 2004 in the Fuji TV drama, Medaka. She has played supporting roles in several high-rated and critically acclaimed drama series, including Haikei, Chichiue-sama (2007), Kaze no Garden (2008), and Shinzanmono (2010). Kuroki won the Television Drama Academy Award and TV Life Annual Drama Awards for Best Supporting Actress in 2009 for her role in the Fuji TV drama, Ninkyo Helper. In 2006, she starred in Chakushin Ari: Final, the final installment of the Chakushin Ari franchise, for which she earned the Golden Arrow Award for Newcomer of the Year. In 2007 she appeared in Fumihiko Sori's CGI anime film Vexille. She also starred in Subaru, the live-action, film adaptation of the Masahito Soda manga, produced by Bill Kong, and Assault Girls, directed by Mamoru Oshii. In 2010, Kuroki played the role of Yuki Mori in the live-action film Space Battleship Yamato, opposite Takuya Kimura. In 2011, Kuroki co-starred with Mikako Tabe in her first serial drama lead role in the TV Asahi drama Jiu: Keishicho Tokushuhan Sosakei.
In 2011, she also starred in the film "ANDALUCIA" by director Hiroshi Nishitani, who also shared roles with the acclaimed Hideaki Ito and Yuyi Oda. This film was shot at the legendary Toho Studios, where the iconic film Godzilla was filmed decades ago.

Music career

Kuroki performed on the soundtrack of the 2007 film Crows Zero, in which she also appeared. On June 21, 2008, her debut song, "Like This×Like This21 June 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Like This", was released through the Sony Music Japan subsidiary label Studioseven Recordings. It soon was announced on February 17, 2009, that Kuroki's first EP, Hellcat×hellcat8 April 2009 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Hear the Alarm?4:132Like This3:353Bad Girl3:574Criminal3:355No, no, no3:486SEX4:097Lost3:208THIS IS CRAZY4:13, would be released on April 8, 2009. Her second EP, Attitude×ATTITUDE1 January 2010 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11ATTITUDE (Intro)0:462Are ya Ready?3:543Kind Of Guy4:024#14:185No Restriction (Interlude)0:456Late Show4:287Stand Up!3:328Before Dawn (Interlude)0:309Awakening5:09Disc 21Are ya Ready? (MUSIC VIDEO), was released in January 2010. In January 2011 Kuroki released her first studio album, Magazine×MAGAZINE26 January 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Intro -MAGAZINE-1:032LOL!4:043SWITCH⇔4:284BYE BYE MY FRIEND3:385CELEBRATE4:206SHOCK -運命-3:447Say Good Night☆4:278As I Am3:489Why??3:5810Loneliness3:3511LOVEHOLIC3:2012Wasted3:04135 -FIVE-4:0114Somewhere...4:37, which peaked at number 6 on the Oricon Weekly Albums chart. She also performed "Wired Life×Wired Life31 August 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Wired Life4:412Wired Life (No Escape Remix)4:323Wired Life (アニメサイズversion)2:134Wired Life (instrumental)4:39" for Ao no Exorcist as the second ending theme.

Modeling

In addition to her modeling work for the fashion magazines JJ and 25ans, Kuroki has released two photobooks, one of her own, Love Meisa, and a joint one, Missmatch, with her best friend and actress, Maki Horikita, photographed by Kishin Shinoyama. In 2009, Kuroki was chosen as the Japanese face of international fashion brand, Emporio Armani, and she also appeared in numerous events for the brand worldwide. In 2010 Kuroki was chosen as the international face of French cosmetic brand, L'Oréal.

Personal life

On February 2, 2012, Kuroki married Jin Akanishi, a Japanese actor and pop singer best known for his work as part of the boy band KAT-TUN, and the following week, on 9 February, the media reported she was pregnant. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Theia, on September 23, 2012 and their second child, a son, on June 6, 2017. On December 25, 2023, Kuroki and Akanishi announced through their respective social media accounts that they were getting divorced. The two promised to co-parent their two children.