Former Faky member Anna Sawai is now an Emmy Award Winner

The post title has already told you what’s up. But lemme lead into it and set a scene anyway.

When FX’s, Hulu’s, Disney’s, whomever-the-fuck’s Shōgun started to gain popularity and become a hot topic in Hollywood, many began to suspect that it would garner some Emmy nominations. And when the nominations went and Shōgun was in every damn category, many also suspected that Shōgun would sweep. The Emmy’s took place tonight, and Shōgun did just that. It swept like a janitor. But one of the wins went to Anna Sawai—who Random J Pop frequenters and J-pop aficionados will remember as one of the original members of Faky.

Sawai is now an Emmy winner, taking home a golden statue for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Avex girl group Faky was an absolute shit show, and many of us could see it from early on. But even so, when Sawai announced that she was leaving the group in 2018, some of us were like ‘Girl!?’. Because leaving the group at the point it seemed Avex finally got their shit together and things for the group might actually start to happen seemed so bizarre. And no disrespect to Sawai, but I did not see a solo career for her. But given where Faky is now and how things have turned out for Sawai, she obviously made the right call. But it wasn’t until May of this year when Sawai revealed why she actually left the group—Avex wouldn’t allow her to pursue acting. A role which Avex blocked her from auditioning for was Katana in 2016’s Suicide Squad. And in hindsight we can now see that she dodged a bullet by not becoming a part of the doo-doo legacy of that film. Although Katana is barely in the film and she isn’t exactly the most memorable part of it. And Sawai playing ‘generic Japanese woman with a katana’ may not have done much for her career. The role of Katana would eventually land with Karen Fukuhara and her career hasn’t exactly been on fire. She plays Kimiko in The Boys, which is a hit show. But her role is now a bit of a non role, between the writers not knowing what to do with her and Frenchie, and her character in the show being a mute. Meanwhile Sawai found a path to Shōgun through roles in two Apple TV+ shows (Pachinko and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters). And now a bitch has an Emmy.

Sometimes you just never know what life has in store for you. And what can seem like one dream is actually pulling you away from THE dream. Some of us thought Sawai was crazy for leaving Faky. Especially when it seemed like she hadn’t jumped to anything. But she always saw the plan and knew what she wanted. And now she is the first actor of Asian descent to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. And her name sits alongside fellow winners such as Zendaya, Olivia Colman, Viola Davis, Glenn Close, Allison Janney and Edie Falco.

It’s a shame that fellow Japanese actor and Shōgun star Tadanobu Asano didn’t win an Emmy for his role as Kashigi Yabushige. Everybody who has watched Shōgun agrees that Asano is a standout. Losing to Billy Crudup for his role in the absolute garbage that is The Morning Show is daylight robbery. Crudup’s performance was no award worthy. It stinks of the Academy not liking the optics of all of the awards going to Japanese actors and wanting some whiteness in the mix. As if there isn’t enough.’ And it sucks. Especially considering that The Morning Show will go on for future seasons, which Crudup will be a part of and he will have other chances to win—which he more than likely will, as he’s already won an Emmy for his role in the Morning Show. Where-as Asano will probably never get this chance again. But that’s a whole other post.