Shu Watanabe

Shu Watanabe came to the public through the Junon Super Boy Contest in 2008 and began his acting career in 2010. His first listed drama that year was the NHK mobile phone drama Gekikoi, in which he played Hirose Minato, followed by a guest part as Kobayashi in an episode of Yankee-kun to Megane-chan on TBS. In September 2010 he started the work that defined his early career, Kamen Rider OOO on TV Asahi, playing the title hero Hino Eiji across 48 Sunday morning episodes until August 2011. He also played the role in the films Movie War Core in December 2010 and Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals in August 2011.

After OOO he moved quickly into dramas and stage work. In early 2012 he played Numabukuro Sentaro in the TV Asahi drama Mousou Sousa, and in the autumn he joined the NHK morning drama Jun and Ai. On stage he took the part of Inukawa Shosuke in Satomi Hakkenden in November 2012 and Sanada Daisuke in Sanada Juyushi in 2013. Television in 2013 included Saruta Isao in the Fuji TV series Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji and Yasuda Takashi in the TBS special Kounotori no Yurikago. In 2014 he played Hayasaki Ichibei in the NHK period series Nezumi, Edo wo Hashiru and the detective Ikeda in the TV Tokyo drama Last Doctor.

In 2015 he appeared as Fukushi in the two live action Attack on Titan films released by Toho in August and September, and he played the lead role of Monkey in the stage production GO WEST in June. He appeared as Otsuki Hyogo in the Fuji TV special Ooku in January 2016, and he later became Hashiguchi Rota in the long running TV Asahi series Kasouken no Onna, a role he continued across many seasons and in the 2021 film version. His lead film role as Kurenai Ken in Brave Storm followed in November 2017, and in 2018 he played Sayama Daisuke in Love Rerun and Goto Koichi in Seigi no Se, both on Nippon TV.

The 2020s showed a broader range. In March 2020 he shared the stage with Matsushima Shota in Tsumi Otoko to Batsu Otoko, playing Yamada Takeo. In 2022 he returned to his best known character in the film Kamen Rider OOO 10th Core Medal Resurrection, and in 2023 he played Yano Ryota in the series Konkatsu Shokudo. In January 2024 he appeared as Kijima Joji in the TV Asahi drama I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama, and he continued the part in Season 2, which streamed on Telasa from June 13 to July 25, 2025. In 2025 he also led the drama A Kiss Lasts Forever as Nitta Yuji.

His 2026 lead role is Takoi Heisuke in Duty First, Kiss Later, known in Japanese as Kiss wa Sosa no Ato de. The ten half hour episodes began on ABC in the Kansai region on July 26, 2026, and follow Takoi, a kind and unmarried detective of 38 at a small police station who is trusted by everyone around him. His rival and dormitory neighbour is Shiono Shu, a sharp tongued junior officer in his twenties played by Ryu Saito. When Takoi goes to a marriage meeting, the rivalry between the two begins to change. The supporting cast includes Kudo Haruka as Egawa Moriko, Kanai Yuta as Hasegawa Jirou and Doronzu Ishimoto as Yagi Tamotsu.

One comparison runs through his career. Hino Eiji is a young wanderer who carries almost nothing and helps people wherever he arrives, a hero defined by movement. Takoi Heisuke is the opposite, a settled colleague whose gentleness makes the whole station confide in him. Between them stand years of procedural dramas, stage work and supporting roles, and the difference shows how far his range has grown from action and energy to patience and warmth in a story centred on one relationship.