Touken Ranbu: The Contradictory Tale of Genji
(I’m going by romanization in the program, which might differ from their Takarazuka days)
Here is the list of actors and their program introduction. There’s more to the Genji Monogatari cast that will be elaborated on in the spoiler section.
OG = Takarazuka OG, specifically otokoyaku
TR = Touken Ranbu character
GM = Tale of Genji character
Holy Takarazuka OG Batman!! What a star-studded cast! For me at least. I was drooling over this casting. All the named male roles were performed by otokoyaku retired from Takarazuka. It’s good to see the craft continue outside the big revue companies. This is in no small part thanks to Nanami Hiroki who actively continued otokoyaku work outside Takarazuka. There are the likes of Amami Yuuki and Sagiri Sena who have performed genderbent roles in their OG career on occasion. However, that was an exception in a true to gender cast. This is the first big production I’ve seen with all female casting outside Takarazuka. It worked incredibly well since the actors involved specialize in stuff like that. Also, with Takarazuka otokoyaku garnering a reputation of portraying idealized men, it made sense that they would portray fictionally idealized men about a novel lead by the perfect romantic hero. Overall, very impressed by the acting talent. I did enter the lottery three times to see this cast live lol.
Of the OGs on stage, I’m most familiar with Nanami Hiroki, Ayanagi Sho, and Seto Kazuya. They happen to play the major characters. The lead role is Nanami Hiroki as Kasen Kanesada closely followed by Ayanagi Sho as Okurika. These two swords are basically foils of each other. Kasen Kanesada is the cultured sword named after the Thirty-six Immortals of Poetry (or the 36 retainers his master killed, depending on your interpretation). He’s the level-headed leader and refined poetry master, making him ideal for being trapped in a literary work. Okurikara is the brash brawler sword. He belonged to the son of Date Masamune and if son resembles father at all, that explains the thirst for battle. Also, a lot of his design refers to a fierce Buddhist deity who removes obstacles so makes sense he tries to brute force his way out of a problem. As these two were possessed by Genji, they had the heaviest roles having to play two characters with one having to match Seto Kazuya’s acting. Both Kai and Ayaka did great and captured their respective characters. I barely recognized Sho and it wasn’t just the brown-face, she did something a bit different with her makeup. Akira is perfect for Genji. She is a versatile actor who can handle both drama and comedy. Here she wholeheartedly embodies the tragic hero and bitter villain (book protagonist but show antagonist, an interesting twist). She did such a good job I didn’t even recognize her as the nameless creeper fan until I checked the program. She played dweeby, shy nerd for that brief scene so convincingly, I thought it was a different actor.
The rest of the touken danshi serve as fanservice and comic relief. It’s a bunch of OGs playing Ichimonji swords, mostly relatively new collectables in the game. All anyone needs to know are the silver color characters are Uesugi swords who are there to be the cool, silent types. The blond boys have a bit more lines. Aya Oka as Ichimonji Norimune, expensive old man sword, will act suave and pretty in between scenes. Nansen Ichimonji by Shiotsuki Syu is the comic relief. Legend is the sword split a cat in two and was then cursed by the dead cat, hence all the cat mannerisms and frustrated meowing. So Fuku here has to act the cat and also act the young, explosive lad. She does the most audience-insert snarky commentary and slapstick of the side characters. She wasn’t too distracting or detracted from the story. In fact, she was genuinely funny and earned a lot of intentional chuckles and laughs from the crowd.
The musumeyaku, as we will call them here, I am not as familiar with as they are mostly idols and actresses from the part of Japanese pop culture I do not follow as closely. Everyone did a good job and were absolutely beautiful in their juunihito kimono. Now this is a Touken Ranbu show so naturally the Tale of Genji cast are secondary characters. However, each of the Genji cast was tasked with a double role that was important in carrying the theme. Including Akira, they each played a “real” person from the Heian era and a book character.
Half of the musumeyaku cast are basically random court ladies that, as a group, represent friends and fans of Murasaki Shikibu. However, they have more to do in the Tale of Genji isekai as Aoi no Ue, Utsusemi, and Suetsumuhana. What is important to note is their brief lines in the book club flashback when they discuss their favorite characters with the Empress. The discussion extends to the solace and inspiration they find from the text. Ironically, they all turn into their favorite characters when sucked into the book so perhaps that is why they so easily went with the flow. Aoi no Ue’s realworld counterpart is presumably going through a rocky marriage or having trouble conceiving so sympathizes with the character. Utsusemi finds inspiration in her character’s strong sense of morality and self-respect. Suetsumuhana is actually a bimbo enjoying the story? Well, she is basically comic relief on the girl’s side. In the book, she’s known for that little red nose and the fact that she’s broke and dull because her family fell on hard times so lacks an education. She even gets a clown mask with a giant nose to represent her morning-after cold for a bit of levity.
The other ladies carry are more relevant to the theme. We learn in Act 2 that Lady Rokujo (Genji’s MILF poetry teacher turned mistress), is actually the Empress in real life. She is having marital and thus political troubles with the Emperor and feels trapped so gravitates towards Lady Rokujo for catharsis. After all, Lady Rokujo of book fame goes wild and outright haunts her enemies by sheer will. In reverse, we have Lady Koshosho, Murasaki’s best friend and a humble court lady, reincarnate as the villain empress in the book. At the center of it all, we learn that the author Murasaki Shikibu has taken the role as unobtainable true love Consort Fujitsubo. These three women are more prominent in the real world timeline. The Empress voicing one opinion about fiction as head of book club, Lady Koshosho being avid book promoter and introductory character who links scenes, and Murasaki being the godly author of the book. Minamoto Maho as both Murasaki Shikibu and Consort Fujitsubo is fitting as the lofty author is as grand a figure in her fictional universe as the idolized woman Fujitsubo. Genji has a complicated love-hate relationship with her that blurs the line between character and creator. Not much to say about her as Fujitsubo since she just has to stand there and be pretty while Genji angsts in the foreground. However, she really shines as the author. Murasaki Shikibu within the play raises some interesting points regarding storytelling and fiction as we observe her life and the people impacted by her story and finding a place in history. A lot of Japanese portrayal of women, even with women protagonists, write them rather passively. In the case of this show, we see internal conflict and agency from Murasaki as she strives to finish her novel against criticism and backlash. Also, I would be remiss to not discuss young Murasaki, played by a set of child actresses. The one in my showing was very professional in her line delivery and performed well. Of course, she was super cute.
Even extras were noteworthy people with previous works in major franchises, some were household names by Japanese standards. We had voice actor from a Final Fantasy mobile game, guy in BLEACH musical, and boy band member.
Overall, all the actors brought their talent to the table so I have no complaints!
