IF Japan were to ever shoot a superheroine movie, the country's It Girl Haruka Ayase would make a great choice.

She has a great physique and is known to be athletic - she plays basketball and volleyball and runs marathons.

And in the 23-year-old's latest role as an indestructible cyborg in the romance-action flick Cyborg She, she even gives her male co-star Keisuke Koide a piggy-back ride.

The star of the hit drama serial Crying Out Love In The Centre Of The World may look sweet and demure, but she is no wallflower.

In an interview transcript for the movie, now showing in cinemas here, Haruka said: 'I think I'm pretty powerful like the cyborg.

'I would rather carry a guy on my back than have a guy carry me (laughs). It was the first time I actually did that, but I had no problem with it at all.

'I don't want anyone to carry me because I would worry too much that I would be too heavy.'

She's being modest, of course.

The 1.65m-tall babe reportedly weighs all but 45kg.

A good workout for her also includes throwing people around in stunt sequences in Cyborg She.

'I loved doing scenes where I would hit something and it would just fly away,' she said. 'I made seven or eight people fly.'

Regrettably though, it will be Haruka's other 'strengths' that will take the spotlight in her next film, Oppai Bare (literally Big Breasts Volleyball).

She plays a buxomy secondary school teacher in charge of the boys' volleyball team, who motivates them to train via unconventional means.

She said at a media conference announcing the novel-adapted film last month: 'I got a shock when I first saw the movie title, it seems rather sexual...

'But I hope to convey through the movie the spirit of fighting hard for something that you really want.'

Reports said that Haruka kept blushing when she repeated the word 'oppai' no less than seven times.

'I must practise until it doesn't bother me at all when I say the word 'oppai',' she said.

Her voluptuous figure was what got her noticed in the first place.

HEROINE: Haruka Ayase plays an indestructible cyborg who fights baddies and saves innocent people in action flick Cyborg She.

Skimpy start

Discovered at a talent scout contest in 2000, she rose to fame a year later as a 'gravure' idol, or babes who pose in skimpy bikinis in pictorial books or DVDs.

The Hiroshima-born babe was then best known for her 34F breasts, which she had flaunted in several swimwear projects while dabbling in small TV roles.

But, like the many bikini stars before her, she started to cover up consciously once she gained popularity as an actress, in the 2004 drama Crying Out Love In The Centre Of The World.

She has since been winning over fans for her knack for choosing unusual roles, like a so-called 'dried fish girl' in the drama Glow Of Fireflies last year.

Dried fish girl, or himono onna in Japanese, is a woman who has given up on finding love and prefers to laze at home and become sloppy.

It was a role that struck a cord with many office female workers, who raved over Haruka's good acting.

This year though, Haruka seems determined to become the next silver screen heroine.

Come October, she will surely grab headlines again with her new martial arts film Ichi, in which she plays a blind female warrior who roams the streets to punish wrongdoers.

This makes her the female version of Zatoichi, a blind swordsman from a novel that was adapted into numerous films and drama serials.

Don't forget the mighty cyborg she plays in Cyborg She too.

While preparing for the role, Haruka said she concentrated on honing her facial expressions and hand movements.

She added that director Kwak Jae Young (My Sassy Girl, The Classic) gave her pointers, like how to move her eyeballs in 'parallel motion' and lift the corners of her mouth just a bit when she smiles.

'At first, my scenes were mostly action scenes, so when I had to speak, there were some conflicts within myself.

'But throughout the shooting, my image became concrete and my cyborg moves became quite natural.'

Haruka also raved about the futuristic-looking cyborg costume, a metallic grey coloured bodysuit that showed off her curves.

On working with lead actor Keisuke again after their first collaboration in an earlier TV drama, Haruka said she got more time to talk to him this time.

'It felt like we had known each other for a while. We went over the scenes and shared our feelings. It was a warm feeling, like being with a childhood friend. I think we really strived together on this movie.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Aug 25, 2008.