Introduction to Club Slazy
Whether you heard your favourite 2.5D actor is in this or you just learned about its existence, this guide aims to help you dip your toes into the mysterious, sexy, and eccentric world of Slazy.
(Pictured from left to right: Oyama Masashi, Ota Motohiro, Yonehara Kousuke, Kato Ryosuke, Izawa Yuuki, Saikawa Koji, Gotou Takeru, Watanabe Daisuke, Fujita Ray, Norizuki Kohei, Inzagi, Morisaki Win, Kimeru, Higashi Keisuke, Fujiwara Yuki)
At Dilly Dally St. 24-7, Club Slazy is a place dedicated to lifting sadness from women’s hearts, and can only be found when you receive a Garnet Card. The top performers there are called Lazies, ranked from the Top Ace to Second Ace, Third Star, Fourth Star, and Fifth Star. Aspiring to those positions are the background dancers called the New Jacks. All the performers are named from the letters of the alphabet and introduce themselves like so: “Starting with the letter A, my name is Act.”
Tinkering behind the scenes, the Mystics erase the footprints of the guests every night. Unlike the performers, they’re named by numbers. (The notable exception to this rule is Q the head of the Mystics, but Q and 9 are pronounced the same in Japanese). The viewer is considered one of the Mystics, named 386 (pronounced Miharu).
The cane-twirling Manager is the one running the show. He is assisted by his Shadow, a figure that is bound to his will and can only be seen by him, the Mystics, and the Owner.
The Owner of the club during the duration of the series is Mr.X, a powerful man who makes it known how much he enjoys toying with members of the club. He makes it as difficult to leave the club as it is to find it. Situated below Club Slazy is the vaguely creepy Underworld, and looming above is the soulless world of Tori.
In this series there are a total of six stage plays, five special lives, and a TV drama. The stage plays follow a non-linear timeline, each focusing on different characters during different points of an overarching story. Four of the special lives are just performances of the songs and dances while Special Live 2016 takes place after Final Invitation. The TV drama is a continuation after that.
The DVDs/CDs are available on AmazonJapan, CDJapan, GYAO!, or the official CLIE website. Please show your support to the actors!
Spoiler-free summaries are below. (These are not translations)
This is the first work in the series. It follows Endou (Izawa Yuuki), a despairing man who receives a Garnet Card after being dumped by his girlfriend. The Manager, Zs (Fujiwara Yuki), brings him to the club where he meets the Lazies. The short-tempered Top Ace is Act (Oyama Masashi), followed by the seemingly air-headed Second Ace Bloom (Ota Motohiro). The narcissistic Third Star is Cool Beans (Yonehara Kousuke), and the perpetually drunk Fourth Star is Deep (Kato Ryosuke). The Fifth Star position is vacant. Soon Endou becomes entangled in a part of the club’s dark past as he and Act fall prey to the manipulations of an ex-Lazy Ya (Osuka Jun).
*Watch it here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av15141030/
2nd Invitation ~Sapphire~
Sapphire’s story starts before the events of OPEN, when King (Watanabe Daisuke) was the Top Ace of the club. It also introduces us to Q (Norizuki Kohei), the head of the Mystics. King becomes enamoured with a woman who continually occupies the special seat meant for the person with the deepest sadness, yet who leaves before his performance every night.
Bloom disappears from the club, and in his wake, two mysterious and talented performers appear. They are named Reti (Inzagi) and Riddle (Morisaki Win) by Mr.X (Ishizaka Isamu) and proclaim their desire to take over the Lazies’ positions. The ensuing conflict tears the members of the club into two factions, battling to preserve or destroy the status quo.
Deep’s brother, Doo Bop (Kuranuki Masahiro), returns to the club after years of separation. His arrival digs up memories of the past, both joyful and painful, especially for Cool Beans and Bloom. This is the story of how the brothers first joined the club, and how Deep is involved in Q and Bloom’s past.
Before Act was Top Ace, it was Will (Higashi Keisuke), a man with a nervous disposition and a weak stomach. Supporting him from the position of Second Ace was V.P (Kimeru). The pressure of being at the top drives Will to make a desperate bid for freedom. Meanwhile, what really happened between Act and the expelled Fifth Star, Eyeball (Nagakura Masaaki), is revealed.
Final Invitation ~Garnet~
While Odds (Fujita Ray) is the substitute Manager in Zs’ absence, a new Top Ace needs to be chosen. As he and the remaining Lazies agonise over this decision, Q visits the world of Tori to make a bet. The Lazies will compete against the Captain of the Tori and the New Jacks under Mr.X’s judgement. If the Captain loses, Zs will be safely returned to the club. If he wins, he’ll become the new Top Ace and the New Jacks will become Lazies while Odds and the old Lazies will be banished to the world of Tori. Who will be chosen?
Club Slazy has a Red VS White singing competition! It’s Deep as captain of the “garnet red” team versus Cool Beans as captain of the “angel feather white” team. But this isn’t just repeat performances from the previous stage plays; the cast covers each other’s solo songs in this special year end spectacle!
Extra Invitation ~Malachite~
Q has disappeared from Club Slazy. Is he on vacation? Did he get tired of everyone and leave? Or has he… been kidnapped? The drama is currently ongoing as of this date. You can find more information about it in this post and how to watch it as it airs in this post.
Still need more information? Feel free to drop me an ask about the story, the characters, or anything Slazy-related.
*This stage upload is not mine. If it breaks, there’s nothing I can do about it. I included it in this post since it’s already on a public site and it’s a recording of a free stream that used to be on GYAO. If you enjoy Club Slazy, please support the official production!
Sources:
CLIE
Japanese Wikipedia
Yukiradaruma’s Slazy resource page
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