Man Crush Monday: Raul

Dear Readers,

Hello, and welcome to 2023! To kick off the year of the rabbit, my first Man Crush post is dedicated to the one and only Raul (ラウール), the center of the Japanese idol group Snow Man! He is a big bright ball of boundless energy and the biggest goofball you’re every gonna meet!

Born Murakami Maito Raul on 27 June 2003, he is half Japanese and half Venezuelan (though he doesn’t speak much Spanish). The youngest member of Snow Man, he was one of the three last additions (with Meguro and Mukai) to group on 17 January 2019 eight months before their official debut. At 6’3 he’s also the tallest.

He always seems to bring out the best in the guys, especially Meguro. The two seem incredibly close, and it’s usually a laugh-riot anytime I’ve seen them together.

Seriously. They just have so much fun together.

As a dancer, Raul is absolutely mesmerizing. The way he moves, I’ve sometimes wondered if he’s even human. He appeared Twice on the special stage for The Tokyo Girls Spring / Summer and Winter / Fall lines.

When I started following Snow Man, because he was so young, I looked at Raul like that adorable little brother who’s always there. Sweet and adorable, but that was it. But then, last week, the group released the Dance Practice video to Movin’ Up, and BAM! Everything changed.

Almost every fan I watched posted about the video had the same comment “I thought Raul was Iwamoto!” and “Damn, the boy’s been WORKING OUT!” One of them even said, “He went from aww cutie little baby to DAMN DADDY overnight!”

I mean, it’s kind of true.

See the entire video here.

I mean, he’s still that sweetest little goofball on the planet, but now instead of needing someone to protect him, he’s the one looking out for everyone else.