King & Prince's Ren Nagase voted Japan's most handsome man of 2020
While we always say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, it is one thing to be handsome, and another to enter a hall of fame for being good-looking. Having been awarded the national treasure level of handsomeness consecutively for the first and second half of 2020 in Japanese magazine ViVi’s ranking, Ren Nagase of J-pop group King & Prince has been officially welcomed into the fashion magazine’s hall of fame.
The recent ranking received more than 450,000 votes, which was the highest number of votes for the ranking since its inauguration. Nagase took first place with 186,753 votes, leading to his induction into the hall of fame.
With his achievement, Nagase becomes the second person from King & Prince to enter ViVi’s hall of fame for the national treasure level of handsomeness. The first, who was inducted into the hall of fame last year, is Sho Hirano. Hirano also consecutively topped the ranking in both halves of 2019, and is best known for being the lead actor in the second season of Japanese drama Boys Over Flowers.
To celebrate Nagase entering the hall of fame, he was featured on the cover of ViVi’s February 2021 special issue. (If you are lucky enough that the issue has not already been sold out, you may be able to get one in Japanese bookstores like Kinokuniya.) Regarding his accomplishment, Nagase commented, “Thank you everyone for your votes! I’m very thrilled! In order not to let down this result, I will become even more cool! Please watch over me.”
Apart from Nagase and Hirano, the celebrities who have entered the hall of fame have been actors, such as Kento Yamazaki (2016), Masaki Suda (2017), and Ryo Yoshizawa (2018) — Yoshizawa is also among the top 10 in Oricon Japan’s ranking for the most ideal face.
Previously, we speculated that the talent agency Johnny & Associates is going downhill. But with the potential of relatively newer groups like King & Prince, perhaps things might become better?
