(born May 7, 1974) is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in multiple photo books, movies, and TV series in Japan and her DVD sets are popular in Japan, the United States, and Europe.

Career

Mizutani was born in

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

where she was also raised. She began her modelling career as a swimsuit and nude model for magazines, and began making TV appearances. She became a regular on the late-night adult-oriented TV program variety, ''

Gilgamesh Night was a softcore porn Japanese variety TV show broadcast from October 1991 to March 1998. Airing early Sunday mornings at 1:15 a.m. JST on TV Tokyo, the hour-long show helped launch the career of one of its late hosts, Ai Iijima, who afterwar ...

''.

''Weather Woman''

Mizutani's first movie, ''Weather Woman'' was one of the most surprising successes in Japanese cinema of the 1990s. Based on a popular adult manga which had been made into an anime series, '' Weather Report Girl'', the movie tells the story of a woman who becomes a phenomenally successful TV weatherwoman by exposing her panties on the air. Bandai Home Video financed the film, but, considering it a minor production, released it directly to video in 1995. The video quickly developed a large cult following. Bandai, mistakenly attributing the video's success to its sexual content, produced a sequel which emphasized the sex and concentrated less on the storyline and dark humor of the original. After reading the script, Mizutani refused to appear in the sequel, which proved to be a failure. However the reputation of the original video continued to grow. It won both the Oslo Film Festival and the

Stockholm International Film Festival The Stockholm International Film Festival ( sv, Stockholms filmfestival, italic=no) is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November. The w ...

in 1996. Bandai responded by pulling the original video from the market and releasing the film theatrically.Weisser, p.493. After its August 16, 1996 theatrical debut, ''Weather Woman'' became one of the most successful releases of the year in Japan. Besides its popularity with audiences, the critics also praised the film, and several put it on their top 10 lists for 1996. Kinema Jumpo named the film #26 for the year. In 1997, a television series based on the movie was produced for Asahi TV Network.

After ''Weather Woman''

Following in the rise of her ''Weather Woman'' popularity, Mizutani recorded a CD single in 1996 entitled ''He Loves Me''
ヒー・ラヴズ・ミー
. In 1998, she played the role of Shelinda, a villain on the ''

Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The sho ...

'' show ''

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is Toei's 22nd entry of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries. The series aired from February 22, 1998, to February 14, 1999. Its footage was used in ''Power Rangers Lost Galaxy''. The lead screenwriter f ...

'', which was adapted in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

as '' Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy''. In July 2000, she was a guest at the San Diego Comic Con, where the English version of ''Weather Woman'' received its premier.

Filmography

* ''Weather Woman'' (お天気お姉さん - ''Otenki Oneisan'') (April 25, 1995(V), theatrical release September 21, 1996) * ''Slave to Dirty Killing'' (水谷ケイ　淫殺の虜 - ''Mizutani Kei: Insatsu no Toriko'') (September 20, 1995), released in the English market as "Terminatrix" * ''New Dokudami Apartment'' (新・どくだみ荘 - ''Shin Dokudami So'') (May 21, 1995) * ''The Playboy'' (濡れ事師 - ''Nuregotoshi'') (October 6, 1995) * ''Image Club War, Pussy of the Angel'' (イメクラ戦争　天使のすまた - ''Imekura Senso, Tenshi no Sumata'') (November 10, 1995) * ''Bad Girl Teacher'' (スケバン女教師 - ''Sukeban Jokyoshi'') (February 9, 1996) * '' Sumo Vixens'' (花のおんな相撲 - ''Hana no Onna Sumo'') (February 22, 1996) * ''Heisei Dirty Teacher'' (平成ハレンチ学園 - ''Heisei Harenchi Gakuen'') (February 2, 1995) * ''Bewitching Kei, the Material Girl'' (''Youjo Kei - Matiriaru Garu'') (1995) * ''Edo Period Rapeman'' (大江戸レイプマン - ''O-Edo Reipu Man'') (July 26, 1996) * ''Sex Boy No. 2'' (''Otoko Gui No.2'') * ''The Female Pet'' (女飼い - ''Onna Gai'') (September 7, 1996) * ''The Story of Ms. Q'' (Ｑ嬢の物語 - ''Q Jo No Monogatari'') (September 21, 1996) * ''Tonight Is Good'' (今夜も絶好調！ - ''Konya Mo Zekkoucho'') (February 28, 1997) * ''Ass Girl'' (尻ＧＩＲＬ - ''Shiri Garu'') (May 21, 1996) * ''Tokyo Decameron'' (東京デカメロン) (July 21, 1996) * ''New Female Teacher - Leotards of Temptation'') (新任女教師　誘惑のレオタード - ''Shinnin Jokyoshi - Yuuwaku No Reotado'') (May 22, 1997) * 'Lovely Angel 2'' (''Raburii Enjuru 2'') (1997) * ''No Mercy Guard Dog'' (非常番犬　けだもの - ''Hijyo Banken Kedamono'') (January 23, 1998) * ''Tokyo Playboy Who Makes the Girls Crazy'' (東京ジゴロ　とり憑かれた女たち - ''Tokyo Jigoro Toritsukareta Onnatachi'') (March 27, 1998) * ''Ecstacy Special - New Female Teacher'' (''Ekusatashui Special - Shinnin Onna Kyoshi'') * ''Arei: New Wave Outlaw Story'' (アレイ - ''Arei'') (February 21, 1999) * ''True Record of an Ando Gang Side-Story: Starving Wolf's Rules'' (実録・安藤組外伝　餓狼の掟 - ''Jitsuroku Andô-gumi gaiden: Garô no okite'') (April 13, 2002) * (August 28, 2010)

Notes

Bibliography

* *
Kei Mizutani
at nytimes.com * "Kei Mizutani: Queen of Sex, Sumo, and Softcore" in ''She'' magazine, Vol.2, #13, p. 3–11. * * * * * * * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mizutani, Kei 1974 births Japanese actresses Living people Actors from Aomori Prefecture