Takashi Shimizu
Takashi Shimizu (清水 崇 ''Shimizu Takashi'', born 27 July 1972) is a Japanese people, Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator of the Ju-On, ''Ju-On'' franchise, and directing four of its films, internationally, in both Jap ...
. He was played by several child actors, including Daiki Sawada in the short movie '' 4444444444'', Ryōta Koyama in the original two
V-Cinema
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strate ...
The Grudge
''The Grudge'' is a 2004 American supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco, and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film '' Ju-On: The ...
'', Ohga Tanaka in ''
The Grudge 2
''The Grudge 2'' is a 2006 American supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu and written by Stephen Susco. The film is a sequel to ''The Grudge'' (2004) and the second installment in the American ''The Grudge'' film series, based ...
'', Shimba Tsuchiya in ''
The Grudge 3
''The Grudge 3'' is a 2009 American supernatural horror film directed by Toby Wilkins and written by Brad Keene. The film is a sequel to '' The Grudge 2'' (2006) and the third installment in the American ''The Grudge'' film series. The film st ...
Scary Movie 4
''Scary Movie 4'' is a 2006 American parody film directed by David Zucker, written by Jim Abrahams, Craig Mazin, and Pat Proft, and produced by Mazin and Robert K. Weiss. It is the sequel to '' Scary Movie 3'' and the fourth installment in the ...
''. He is characterized by his pitch-black eyes, pale skin, and the haunting
meowing
A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones in terms of their sound, and what is heard can vary from being chattered to calls, murmurs, and whispers. Adult cats rarely meow to each other. Thus, an adult cat meowin ...
sounds he makes.
Overview
He can be considered a prominent character in the series, second to Kayako, his mother. His first appearance was in
Takashi Shimizu
Takashi Shimizu (清水 崇 ''Shimizu Takashi'', born 27 July 1972) is a Japanese people, Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator of the Ju-On, ''Ju-On'' franchise, and directing four of its films, internationally, in both Jap ...
's short movie ''4444444444'' and his haunting goes all through the franchise series in a house in
Nerima
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Nerima City.
, the ward has an estimated population of 721,858, with 323,296 households and a population density of 15,013 persons ...
, Japan. He is one of the enactors of the curse, which states that when someone dies amidst rage and intense wrath, those feelings remain at the death site and kill whoever it touches.
His next appearance was in ''
The Grudge 3
''The Grudge 3'' is a 2009 American supernatural horror film directed by Toby Wilkins and written by Brad Keene. The film is a sequel to '' The Grudge 2'' (2006) and the third installment in the American ''The Grudge'' film series. The film st ...
'', played by Shimba Tsuchiya. He also has a guest appearance in '' Ju-on: White Ghost'' and '' Ju-on: Black Ghost'' respectively, the 2009 Japanese sequels and both are played by Shūsei Uto.
Toshio has his first major appearance in the 2014 reboot '' Ju-on: The Beginning of the End'' and its sequel '' Ju-on: The Final Curse'', where unlike the previous films, he is the main antagonist and the ultimate cause behind the curse.
Kayako Saeki
is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Ju-On'' and ''The Grudge'' horror franchises. Kayako's fictional history alternates slightly between continuities, but all depict her as the very attractive yet unfortunately vengeful ...
, a Japanese couple residing in Nerima City, Tokyo on July 27, 1987.''Ju-on: The Grudge''. Dir. Takashi Shimizu. Prod. Taka Ichise. By Takashi Shimizu. Perf. Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara, Takashi Matsuyama, and Yui Ichikawa.
Geneon Entertainment
(abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Min ...
, 2003. Film. He was named after his mother's crush (Shunsuke, 俊介), afterward adding a character from his father's name (Takeo, 剛雄) to avoid suspicion.
To commemorate Toshio's first day at elementary school, Kayako got him a black kitten that he named Mar. His father, despite being displeased with this, did not object to keeping the pet.
His teacher happened to be his mother's old crush, and their meeting rekindled the woman's feelings. Takeo discovered her journal, in which she wrote of her love for Kobayashi. Furious, Takeo believed that Kayako was cheating on him and that Toshio was not his son.
When Kayako came home that day, Takeo stabbed her to death. Takeo took Mar from Toshio and killed it with the same box cutter used previously to torture Kayako, then buried the cat in the dirt path beside their house. After Toshio was sent to his room, he escaped to the attic, where Takeo left him to die. There, Toshio found his mother's corpse and was shortly after
spirited away
is a 2001 Japanese Anime film, animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli, and distributed by Toho.
This begins a curse upon that house, in which the ghosts of Kayako, Toshio and Takeo (who is killed by Kayako soon after her murder) attack people who enter, re-enacting the murders and following the victims wherever they go. In no portrayal of the ghosts do victims ever attempt to fight back.
Toshio is often seen outside of the house without clothing and as chalk-white as his mother. He usually just haunts his victims – instead of killing them, he spirits them away.
2014 reboot
The 2014 reboot '' Ju-on: The Beginning of the End'' gives an entirely different backstory for Toshio and the Saeki family as a whole. In the film, before the Saeki family even moved in, there was another family who resided there: the Yamaga, whose eldest son, Toshio, was found dead in the second-floor closet during a
heat wave
A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
. Thus, the house's curse is not entirely caused by the Saeki family, as a group of four schoolgirls who visited the house were killed solely by Toshio. Toshio is also the ultimate cause of the Saeki murders, as he became Kayako's child by "entering" her womb, while she was frustrated by her inability to conceive a child with Takeo. Takeo eventually found the truth years afterward and killed his wife, igniting the curse to include Kayako as well. In the sequel, '' Ju-on: The Final Curse'', it is revealed that Toshio is capable of controlling anyone claimed by the curse under his control, not just Kayako, as shown when he directs Yayoi to kill her sister, as well as Reo and her mother. He is also able to possess a person and leaving them at will; doing this ensures the survival of his second mortal incarnation long enough to be adopted by Reo's family, thus dooming them.
American timeline
Similar to the original, Toshio's mother has a crush on his teacher – in this case, Peter Kirk – and this obsession leads to a misunderstanding with his father. After Takeo snaps Kayako's neck, he sees Toshio watching from the second floor. Takeo drowns Toshio, as well as his cat Mar, in the bathtub.
His maternal grandmother is Nakagawa Kawamata, his aunt is Kayako's younger sister, Naoko, and his uncle by marriage is
Daisuke
is a common masculine Japanese given name.
Written forms
Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*大輔, "big, assist"
*大介, "big, mediate"
*大祐, "big, bless"
*大助, "big, help"
*大典, "big, law/rule/c ...
.
Differences between versions
* In the American remake, Takeo kills Toshio by drowning him in the bathtub. Unlike in the Japanese original, where Takeo kills the cat with a utility knife, in the American remake he also drowns him in the bathtub. He puts Toshio's body in the closet and seals it with duct tape.
* In the ''Ju-on'' novel, Toshio hides in the attic from his father. Instead of coming after him, Takeo slams the cupboard door shut, leaving Toshio to starve to death. However, while in the attic, Toshio encounters the body (and the ghost) of his mother, so it is unknown if he did indeed starve, or if Kayako claimed him. Also in the novel, Toshio buries his own cat in the dirt, after both of their deaths.
* In the ''Ju-on'' films, Toshio is six years old at the time of his death. In the ''Grudge'' films, he was either seven or eight years old (the online newspaper article that Karen reads states Toshio's age as seven, but a link to another online article on the search engine she uses states Toshio's age as eight).
* In the ''Ju-on'' films, Takeo killed Toshio because he wrongly suspected that he was not his son, and was instead the product of an affair between Kayako and Kobayashi. The ''Ju-on'' novelization expands on this, by detailing that Takeo and Kayako were unable to get pregnant again no matter what they tried, and at his doctor's appointment he was informed that he had a low sperm count, fueling his suspicion that Toshio wasn't his son. In the American films, Takeo had to kill Toshio because he walked in on him killing Kayako. It's unlikely that he suspected that Toshio wasn't his son in the American films, as Peter Kirk, Kobayashi's American counterpart, is a white man.
* In the ''Ju-on: The Beginning of the End'' reboot, there are two Toshio identified: Toshio Yamaga, who resided in the house nineteen years before the main timeline, and Toshio Saeki, who was reborn in Kayako's womb ten years before the main timeline. Toshio is also older than the previous continuities, being at least 9 years old at his death. While the backstory is completely changed as mentioned above, Toshio's pet cat, Mar, is still retained.
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...