Will contain spoilers I wrote this very quickly last night before going to bed, but I wanted to lay down my impressions before they faded.
The stage opened with all of the cast on stage (minus Kitazono Ryo), along with the producer and director. They came forward and both the director and producer apologized for having to present a show that was incomplete. Then the producer said Ryo wanted to say a few words and he came on stage.
Ryo was wearing black pants and a Touken Ranbu Musical hoodie, and his glasses. You could see just how frustrated and sorry he was about not being able to perform. He actually cried as he apologized for not being able to perform. It was really heartbreaking to watch, and we tried to encourage him with a lot of applause.
The director explained that Ryo would be sitting behind us with the technical staff and do the voice performance live from there. They apparently decided against having a stand in, so it was understood his place on stage would be left empty. Then they left the stage for the actual show to start.
Regarding the upgrades from the previous show, I think the majority of them were in the beginning, and they were very clever because they linked the Atsukashiyama musical with Tsuwamono. The rest of the upgrades were mostly added lines to certain scenes.
The first scene was new and had Mikazuki singing the lotus flower song from Tsuwamono with some of the human cast acting behind him.
Another new thing was the Kogitsunemaru/Mikazuki song, which was about how they were forged and became âpartnersâ. It was supposed to be a dance as well, but obviously only Mario performed that, and it was similar to the dance Kogitsunemaru performs for the Saniwa at the beginning of Tsuwamono.
That scene was followed by a bit of dialogue between Mikazuki and Kogitsune, and I found it sweet that Mario said most of his lines while looking in the direction where Ryo was sitting, rather than at the empty spot at his side on stage. Obviously there were moments in the show where he couldnât do that, but he kept glancing towards there at some stages.
After this, the show mostly progressed in the same way as the first version with a few upgraded lines. For exmaple, when Iwatooshi and Imanotsurugi ask Kashuu what to do about what to do about their posture when Iwatooshi carries Imanotsurugi on his shoulders, Kashu goes ââŠ. is that a Zen Kouan?â and then says he doesnât have the answer - whereas in the first musical he just suggested Imanotsurugi should get down. In the scene before deploying, Mikazuki threw a paper plane at Kashuu and Ishikirimaru drew his protrait, which Kashuu complained didnât look like him at all.
There were some upgrades in the human cast scenes as well. More lines of dialogue, and Araki Kentarou who plays Yoshitsune was really good.
There were more lines between Kashuu and the Saniwa both at the beginning and at the end. With the Saniwa talling Kashuu he looked more grown up and Kashuu saying he learned some new things thanks to the Sanjou swords. Kashuu alsowondered about what he would do if he were to meet his former master, but ended it with âWell, I wonât know until that happensâ.
Musically, there was a lot more harmonizing in certain songs that were sung in unison in the first version, probably because they all got better and more assured with their singing.
There were maybe one or two scenes where not having Ryo on stage was really jarring mostly because the other characters are supposed to look towards him and they were looking at an empty spot. But on the whole, and as frustrating as this was for Ryo, I think they made it work because Kogitsune is a supporting character in this particular show. I am still grateful to Ryo for doing the voice performance no matter what and I understand he probably wanted to do something since he couldnât be on stage. He did really well, too.
Idol had upgraded costumes, and Ryo also performed his bits of the songs from behind the audience. I had my own little personal heart attacks when they all came into the audience. I got to see Tsubasa, Ryuuji, Mario and Shunya from up close and they were all so beautiful and having fun interacting with the audience.
And of course Idol had my favorite moment. Mikazuki was the one skipping trainign again and was supposed to create a dialogue that would make people happy⊠and instead he just turned his back on us, undid his jacket, and stripped to show us his bare back. That was both very IC and also Mario being a smartass because he keeps posting pictures of himself with his back bare from idol all the fucking time and he knows people love it.
They all learned a few words of French to introduce themselves, too! And Kashuu/Ryouji said âA bientot!â when it was time to say goodbye.
The drums were also very impressive, and it was almost a physical sensation. You could feel your body vibrating with them. I loved the cast performance with them.
We gave them a standing ovation when they finished. And then the audience all turned to the back so we could applaud Ryo as well, and we applauded him until he left the theater. He bowed a few times before he did, and I really hope that he got a little bit heartened by everyone cheering for him.
Performance-wise, Ryuuji does remain the best vocalist out of all of them and I was realy impressed with his performance. His voice was a little tired but even then, he gave it his all and he really delivered.
Tusbasaâs voice was really great especially in the slower songs. He does better in the musical proper than in idol because I think the fast dancing makes it harder for him to breathe properly when singing. In the musical, though his voice was so smooth and beautiful.
Mario also did beautifully on the slower songs and all in all this was a solid performance for him. He is not the strongest singer among them but he clearly has worked hard and in general his breathing seems to be more correct and his voice more stable.
The one who I feel really improved the most from the first performances is Daichi. He was the weakest singer from the start. If you watch even the original DVD performance, there are moments where he doesnât quite hit his notes or heâs off-pitch ever so slightly. Today he did really well. Nagoritsuki is one of my favorite songs in this musical and I liked todayâs version very much.
Now the one aspect that I feel was lacking was not at all the show, but the official goodies shop. It was way too small, with too few cash registers and this resulted in gigantic lines. In fact, I gave up and did not buy anything because we ended up waiting 45 minutes in line and spent the last twenty not moving an inch in the line. We were among the first queuing and never even made it to the space where we could actually shop. I think they clearly underestimated how many people would want goodies and did not size the shop area appropriately.
But apart from that, it was a really magical experience and I hope they come back with some other performances!
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