Stage Patalliro 2021 Foggy London Airport Arc Review
Today I finally managed to see the delays of the first and last day of the new 2021 Patalliro stage.
Overall, I will rate this show as a 9 out of 10.
I don't know if I'm giddy just because I watched the show today and have been really looking forward to it, and especially since I didn't enjoy the last 2.5D show I was looking forward to I might be projecting a bit onto this show. But I did enjoy every second of this show and can’t wait to buy the dvd.
While there were things, I was very nervous about for this show, I was also very excited as a lot of actors I really love are in the show.
I just wanna say anything I say about negative fan reaction is of course not most fans. Most fans stayed quiet and just did what they wanted, I’m just talking about a few fans whose comments I have seen floating about.
I was very nervous about the hostility to the new cast which I felt was unwarranted. Obviously, this wasn’t from most fans but was just from a very small amount of them. Hostility to the company and how they handled the graduation of the previous cost and the handling of the bringing in of the new cast is completely justified. However, this new cast is full of people who truly love the show and were very excited to be in it and no one had seen them on stage as those characters and so I feel like hostility towards them was undue.
The main reason this made me nervous was that I was worried if the show was bad the director and the company would not be the ones blamed but the actors who merely were doing their best in roles they were cast in.
I am so glad to say that I believe the show was fantastic. I believe that they lived up to the legacy of the previous cast and have started a good new tradition for their next shows and any cast that follows them.
One thing that really shocked me but also spoke to me about how this show most likely wouldn’t have happened without a new cast, was Kato Ryo Crying out of happiness on the final day of the show. Kato Ryo is known for never breaking character and not breaking down on stage which shows how much this show means to him. He was truly happy to be on the stage performing as Patalliro again, and it did seem as if he had also bonded to this new cast as Dai instantly went to give him a hug which he returned. He spoke about how it was amazing they could make it to the final performance as he didn’t think they’d even make it to a first one. I believe it is not too far-fetched to say that he might be referring to the fact that Nelke and the 2.5d association mostly likely said that they would not continue the show with Tsune onboard. As before Kato Ryo said he would only continue the show if the cast didn’t change and that seemed like a serious change.
I have seen comments that Maaya-sensei didn’t like the new cast and that he was completely unaware of the change in casting which I would be very surprised by. 2.5d shows have to sign off for new shows with the creator of the original and also you could see that Maaya-sensei’s family had bonded the new cast greatly. Giving the show a standing ovation and kept waving to the cast on the final night.
I know the re cast is a very difficult topic for people who likes the old cast and don't want to see a new cost, for people who liked the old cast and are willing to see the new cast, for people who didn't see much of the old cast but excited for the new cast or for people who like the new actors coming in and so getting into Patalliro for the first time.
I believe that as long as you are not attacking anyone your thoughts and feelings are completely valid and if you only liked the show for the previous cast then you have every right to just ignore the new shows and just watch the three amazing instalments from the old cast. You are valid and I hope you have a lovely day/week and hope that this awful situation (covid and the such) isn’t being too bad to you.
In my opinion if this show was the result of the recast, and that if it hadn't happened we wouldn't have gotten another show, then I'm very glad it happened because I think this show was excellent and another fantastic instalment under the name of Patalliro stage. Under the cut I will include a spoilered review of the stage but before then I just wanted to say some of my basic thoughts for anyone who doesn't want to be spoiled for what is in the show.
Acting: All the acting was fantastic. There wasn't a single actor who I wasn't entranced by and I was enthralled and engaged the entire show. I think every actor performed their roles perfectly and to the best of their abilities.
Singing: Obviously the big stand out for singing in this show was the transgender actress Nakamura Ataru as she was hired for her singing voice, her being a professional singer. However, I think everybody performed extremely well. I continue to be a little frustrated with the use of recorded singing for everybody except for Ataru, as I believe the music they have on it is too loud and it makes it harder to hear a lot of the singers and I also feel it's not necessary to record the songs as all of them are professional actors who can definitely sing on stage. That being said, I fell in love with every single song in the show and thought they were all amazing.
Directing: I think a lot of very very wise decisions were made about this show. I was worried this show would either reflect too much on the previous cast or just not mention them at all and pretend it didn't happen. Luckily the stage did neither. I will get into more specifics and my spoiler review, but I think they handled it very well with having stuff for new fans, old fans and fans who would be irritated by seeing knew actors continue on jokes that previous actors started. In regards to other sides of the directing, I believe it was same as always, very good for the type of show it is. The comedy was very good but due to only having seen two shows I can't say how much was the directing and how much were the actors just being funny, because this is a very funny cast.
Casting: I believe every actor in this stage was perfect for their roles. This may be a controversial opinion but after seeing Dai and Yuuya act opposite each other I am very glad that Sana wasn’t brought back. They couldn't continue to have Tsune in the show as 2.5D does not have the kind of reputation yet where they can have an actor who has committed crimes in their shows and back him for if he ever did something again then it could do a lot of damage to the industry. Nelke and the 2.5d association are companies and in order to keep putting on shows and paying actors and all the staff they need money. And to have money, they need a clean reputation, at least while it’s still relatively low in popularity. I do not wish Tsune ill at all, I think he is an excellent actor, and I really hope that he does continue acting but I completely understand why he was not cast in this show again and why that led to a recast of most of the cast. I think that Sana was excellent as Maraich in every way he embodied the character. But having been in quite a few previous shows together Yuuya and Dai already had excellent chemistry, and I think it would have been quite odd to see Sana as Maraich acting opposite a different Bancoran. I can't imagine any actor having better chemistry with Dai’s Maraich than Yuuya’s Bancoran and visa versa. And I really hope that with the end of lockdown and quarantine, and everything calming down a lot in terms of physical contact on stages they will be able to show the bond between their Maraich and Bancoran even more. (They didn’t actually kiss, converse to what I’ve seen some people reporting about how Nelke wanted to pretend everything was fine by making them kiss.)
Well enough on them, the Tamanegi. I think all of them were completely perfect for their roles and they all handled it with enough seriousness to make the comedy different enough from the past cast and therefore make it their own but also for it to actually be funny. I cannot wait to see this group in more shows together and see how much funnier they can become. My only slight complaint, and it is very slight, is that one of the Tamanegi is 19 years old, therefore underage, and it made me slightly uncomfortable when he took his shirt off. as I am now an adult watching the show. Having not been an adult when I watched the previous two, I do rather approach it with different eyes and that was something that I wasn't very comfortable with but I do understand that everybody isn't me and it would have been a bit strange if only one of them didn't take their top off.
Other cast members included Damian, the Maaya man and Ataru the ‘singing princess’. Again, all three of them were amazing, I was especially impressed with Shouta as Damien as I believe he carriage the emotion that came with that role excellently. Knowing what kind of personality Shouta has off stage, it still makes it slightly weird for me to see him playing less-good characters but I cannot fault his acting. I will cover the other two cast members in my spoiler review.
Anything else: I think the staging was excellent, prop work was very good and they obviously worked very hard on this show.
That will do it for my spoiler free review underneath I will get into a lot more detail on things that I liked, disliked or just wanted to comment on.
If you're stopping reading here thank you very much for reading and I really recommend if you weren't sure about this cast and weren’t sure how much they'd put into these roles and how much they would love them I can assure you that these roles have been trusted to people who really love this show and are working very hard. If you are considering getting the DVD but aren’t sure, I really recommend that you do get it if you like Patalliro and don’t just want to see only the old cast.
If you have any more specific questions about the show, I will be happy to answer them so just drop me an ask.
Spoilers under cut (Warning, it is very long)
God, where to even begin. This show was so good. They combined old stage Patalliro, with new directing, a new cast, and a really interesting arc. I'm going to separate my review into story, acting, singing/songs and directing, as well as mentioning some extra stuff that I might think of at the end.
I will illustrate bits I’m saying with pics but pics cannot do this show justice. And I’ve bolded where I begin each section so it’s more easy to find.
So first, the story. As someone who doesn't know the exact intricacies of this arc, I do know roughly what happens I just couldn't remember all the specifics, I think the show was set out in a very non confusing way compared to other Patalliro content. They did make the story a lot more linear and wasn’t showing stuff that happened at the same time as other things too much which can sometimes hurt my brain. Even with all the flashbacks and flashforwards I felt it was really easy to keep track of what was happening when. The story had a very clear and defined beginning, middle and end, and I just thought it was very well done.
Acting, with occasional dips into directing and story when appropriate. As I said before the acting was amazing. I had chills, the entire scene with Damien, Maraich and Bancoran. I think they balanced the comedy and tension very well and didn’t try to undercut all the serious scenes with comedy which is my main complaint with a lot of gag manga/anime/stages. Except during Maraich’s more emotional song where one of the Tamanegi was still wearing bdsm gear which I thought was a bit hmmm. I’m not rly gonna cover Kato Ryo bc he just is Patalliro at this point.
Maraich and Bancoran, despite having very few scenes actually talking to each other, had undeniable chemistry. Dai and Yuuya, sold me on them being a couple immediately with the way they looked at each other and how they held each other. Their final scene before the end together where Maraich lay in a hospital bed and Bancoran was clutching his hand gave me so many emotions (First night he held his hand and final night he kissed him). I was 100% sold on how much they cared about each other, even if they might fight a lot in the end no one will ever love the other more than they do, and I think that that is what makes this couple so special. They have a true unconditional love for each other and they would, quite literally in Maraich’s case, throw themselves on a bomb for the other one.
Bancoran. I think Yuuya played Bancoran so well. You could see the character maturing before your eyes as we moved from 15 years previously to 12 years previously, to 10 and onwards until the normal time. And you could see the vulnerability he had with Damien and how that was still there but how he truly loved Maraich and that the vulnerability he has with Maraich is different. While Damien didn’t tend to let his guard down around Bancoran, his relationship with Maraich is a lot more give and take and I think he played all of that expertly. I know how much Bancoran cares about Maraich is a lot more vague in the original but I think that was partly as a product of its time and they somewhat had to make some humour out of these two men being in a relationship without flat out making fun of that aspect. So, I am very happy that the stage lets these character’s be in love and despite everything, truly show that they care about each other. Also, he did make me cry a few times when he saw Damien broken, Maraich with Damien as his heart broke seeing that happen to the man he loved but also breaking for the trust he put in a man he had once loved as well in the final scenes where he has clearly decided to kill Damien but is still holding onto a feint hope that maybe, he is not completely lost.
Mariach. Wow, just wow. He was not super present in the beginning, but he was the standout in the show in my opinion. His Maraich was so so different to Sana-chan’s Maraich and yet he was absolutely true to Maraich. He approached Mariach from a very different angle and I am so glad we are lucky enough to get both of them playing Maraich. He seems a lot more mature, like he has definitely been with Bancoran longer. He gives him more trust and isn’t as quick to be jealous as well as very quickly understanding Damien and how important he is to Bancoran, asking Patalliro not to tell him anything until they were sure which is different to how he acted about Bjorn/Andersen in the last show, they are different situations but I do think it represents character growth. He was a lot more aggressive in his fighting and anger though, as shown by his heavy metal solo as opposed to the softer ones of Sana’s. Despite all that he still was clearly in love with Bancoran and still showed his cute side. As well as expressing more deeply about his love for Bancoran with one of the Tamanegi but more on that in the Tamanegi’s bit. The scene with Damien was done so well by everyone involved. They clearly condemned Damien’s actions, showed how disgusting what he did was and created incredible pathos for Maraich while also showing Maraich somewhat unaware of what had happened and during the sex scene with Maraich and Damien, Dai showed Maraich’s desperation to hold on Bancoran and love Bancoran, so well, and it broke my heart.
Damien. I don’t remember too much of Damien from the original but Shouta played him excellently. He showed the progression of this man who loved Bancoran to a man who was willing to throw him away and murder him so well and it was believable despite not seeing almost anything except his interactions with Bancoran or Bancoran/Maraich’s feelings about him. When he held Bancoran at the end, asking why he was fighting so much and why he wanted Damien to kill him, despite Damien obviously being the villain you couldn’t help but feel sympathy for this man despite everything he’d done. (Also I think there is meant to be a parallel between him holding Maraich and him holding Bancoran)
The Maaya man. I thought the actor himself was very good, but I am a bit confused about why he was in the stage. All the Tamanegi played multiple roles, changing costume, and there is only one of him, so I am not too sure what the benefit from having a single Maaya man was but it’s a very small complaint and mainly about logistics rather than show quality. Especially as it certainly didn’t take away anything from the show having him there.
Nakamura Ataru – The singing Princess. Oh. My. Lord. Her voice was phenomenal, and she was gorgeous in every single outfit she was in, reaffirming to me that I am very pan (Not just attracted to the men in the play but also this gorgeous woman. I am not saying I am pan because she is trans). What was a surprise to me is that she was genuinely really funny. In the scenes where she was meant to be funny, I laughed a lot and she definitely has expert comedic timing.
The Tamanegi. I am going to separate a few of them who were reasonably important and group the rest in together.
So, the ones who did not play major roles in the show were: Emoto Koki, Ookubo Tatsuki, Sagawa Daiki and Hoshi Gouki. They were all very good, played their parts well and I don’t think they could have done better. It was very interesting to see Koki in a bdsm outfit but besides that there wasn’t anything super memorable about these actors’ parts.
Harashina Motohisa. Motohisa played the Black Tamanegi and served as somewhat of a leader for the Tamanegi in their scenes. Given that he was the only 2nd season Tenimyu actor in the cast and was the first name in the list of Tamanegi this was pretty much the role I expected him to play. He was very good, and his high voice was super adorable to hear after not hearing it much from his roles.
Okuda Yumeto. It was very surprising for me to see that Yumeto was the Tamanegi who travelled back into the past with Patalliro to see Bancoran’s past. Not only is he the youngest of the Tamanegi but he was also last on the list of Tamanegi names, I might be putting too much onto that list, but I did think it was gonna be kinda going from highest ranked to lowest and from most importance in the show to lowest. I was kinda right and wrong about that as the four most important were the two first names and two of the three last names. He did get to sing a little in the Bancoran and Damien jazz sex song, more on that later, and I thought what he did was good.
Nakata Ryouta. (Yes I am saving Tsukasa for last bc I love him). Out of the four he had the smallest role but still had a solo bit in their trio song (trio is the name for a song where 3 people harmonise and have solo bits if you didn’t know, bc lol I didn’t) and was somewhat important to Maraich. I thought he was very good despite it being his first stage show and he had a lovely voice. He and Tsukasa made such a cute couple.
Taguchi Tsukasa. Warning, he is my favourite actor, and I am extremely biased. He was the best actor in the show, no question.
Joking, he didn’t have too much to do so obviously he didn’t shine more than Dai-chan, Yuuya or Shouta for example. He had two scenes with Maraich and while he didn’t do much in the stage overall it was clear how much of an impact his character, Tamanegi no.35, made on Maraich. He confessed to Maraich his love for his fellow Tamanegi, no.19, and spoke of their love and how special they were to each other which was never ridiculed or made fun of but was an exceedingly human moment and as a lgbt person it really touched me. He saw the love Maraich had for Bancoran and he and 19 did everything they could to help him. Without them, Bancoran and maybe Maraich as well, would most likely be dead as they picked Maraich up and brought him to Bancoran as well as getting Plasma X’s armour to protect him. Maraich, so far in the stages, hasn’t really had a friend. He always has just had Patalliro, shown by Patalliro being called in the 2nd stage to help them with their argument despite Maraich not liking Patalliro that much and this Tamanegi offered help to Maraich without judgement, just empathy, and I thought that was really special. I know, due to the nature of this being based on a gag manga and knowing Patalliro, that in the next stage they will likely not get another scene together but I can hope as their second scene with 19, 35 and Maraich might be my favourite scene in all of Patalliro content.
I know Tsukasa is a massive Patalliro fan, in a live he said he went to the previous show between 4-6 times and I have rarely seen him smile as much as he did in the finale of this show. It obviously meant so much to him to be in a show he loved and I’m incredibly happy for him.
Singing/songs.
There were 9/11 songs in this show. (9 if you don’t count Cock robin and Foggy London Airport which Ataru only sang a little of on stage but is an album exclusive)
These were:
1. Wow Patalliro
2. I can’t see your
3. Maybe we could meet again? – Mata Aeru Kashira
4. Foggy London Airport
5. Sexy dudes!
6. To leak out – Moreru
7. Kiss me Bancoran
8. Cock Robin
9. Don’t overlook me – Misugosenai
10. My special person - Tokubetsu na hito
11. Forever Patalliro ~ Grand Finale
1. Wow Patalliro
This opening song was such a bop and I don’t think I will ever get it out of my head. It was very different to the previous first songs, much higher tempo and energy which I think was interesting as this show felt slower than the previous two shows which I thought was interesting. Shouta, Damien’s actor, was having so much fun dancing around in the bg and it was adorable.
2. I can’t see your
God Ataru’s voice. Her voice was gorgeous in this song. This was my favourite of the 3/4 songs she sang and this is from a person who doesn’t usually like ballads. The contrast between the fast pace of the first song and the slow pace of the 2nd song was so well done. And it was such a good song to have the cast list play during as kinda a more formal opening as the first scene doesn’t do much except to show that Bancoran is acting strange and so isn’t super related to the rest of the stage.
3. Maybe we could meet again? – Mata Aeru Kashira
I love the club singer vibe of this song and Maraich was so cute with Ban clapping along in the back. It was a nice soft scene before all the angst and trauma in the rest of the scene and it was really nice to see them on a date together.
4. Foggy London Airport
Don’t have many thoughts as I didn’t really hear much of this song, about 2 lines, but I’m sure it’s amazing if Ataru is singing it.
5. Sexy dudes!
I love all the Tamanegi songs so much and I rly liked how different this one sounded, much like all the songs in this show, I like how the Tamanegi are built up in this song to seem so good then they having the dumbest dance ever, it was amazing and the final day with all of them stripping killed me. Of laughter bc of Daiki wearing a shirt that made it seem like he had abs and of other things bc of Tsukasa stripping. (I think Daiki might not have been comfortable showing his fully chest so I’m glad they allowed him to just wear a pretend ab shirt)
6. To leak out – Moreru
I never imagined a sex scene in Patalliro would be shown by a woman dressed like a bush singing a jazz song as screens showed the characters sex faces as they were on a spinning bed or doing poses but here we are. The song itself was very good and I think it worked weirdly well representing what happened.
7. Kiss me Bancoran
God all the songs in this stage were just so good. Another absolute banger. Yuuya’s voice as Bancoran is divine and the choreography and everything work so well for this song. I also think he looks super pretty in his past Ban outfit and love that the song was done in that.
8. Cock Robin
Pretty much as normal. Maraich’s little leg lift is so cute
9. Don’t overlook me – Misugosenai
This was not what I expected from a Maraich solo in any way shape or form. But it works so well?? Maraich screaming into the mic as Bancoran plays the guitar and the Tamanegi do back up dance is just phenomenal, Dai’s voice works for the song so well and him pretending to be Damien and Bancoran and impersonating their voices as they had sex was hilarious, omg. This song was the song we didn’t want but we needed so much. By far and away my fav song in the show. I have listened to it so many times already and I am never gonna get bored of it.
10. My special person - Tokubetsu na hito
A trio song between Maraich, 19 and 35 about what you do when with the person you love the most and what you would do for the one you love the most, with the other Tamanegi as back up singers. Despite looking a bit silly with Koki in his bdsm gear in the bg, the emotion was there, and the three actors are such good singers. /not at all biased. Honestly, I died when I heard Tsukasa start to sing. I didn’t expect him to get a solo bit in this show and I was so happy that he did.
11. Forever Patalliro ~ Grand Finale
I rly like the new ending song. It’s upbeat and fast like the first song and has a different feel to the previous cast. I’m kinda glad that the final bit with the circle head things that look like the headframes from the manga was the only song they kept. They’re showing that they are moving on from the previous cast without erasing what they did.
Overall, I think this show has my favourite soundtrack. In the past two shows and the film there were a couple songs I didn’t love but in this one I loved all the songs!
Directing
Like I said before I think there were a lot of good calls in the direction. They had I think two or three references to Stardust, I think this was to partly reassure fans that they weren’t completely resetting the world and that this was a continuation and from what I remember maybe four or five recurring things.
1. Patalliro at the start being asked who he is, this definitely makes sense tho and I’m super glad they didn’t change it
2. Maraich’s legs shaking when Ban looked at him with his beam. I kinda liked though how they even changed the beam for Yuuya. Tsune’s was a contant beam whereas Yuuya’s beam is more short bursts. (in terms out sound and the projection of the beam light)
3. Patalliro recreating the most tragic scene from the play again at the end. I was a little unsure about them keeping this at first as it felt like a joke of the old cast but it was mainly something Kato Ryo did and he is still here to continue his joke so it makes sense to keep it. Also, in the finale he gave Damien. Maraich and Bancoran characters from tv to impersonate while doing their lines which made the scene very funny.
4. The final bit after the finale song with the head frames but I think it would be weird to remove this song in retrospect bc it is the song that mainly relates back to the manga. Also, they did change what the head boarders look like.
5. And obviously the two mangaka that are referenced in all the stages are still there bc that is something that came from the original. (Micchan sensei and the shojo mangaka one)
Except for that stuff, from what I can remember, mostly everything was new jokes which I rly liked. That they’re making new stuff for the new cast.
That’s it!
I still have so many other thoughts but the best thing I can say at this point is pls watch the stage! It is just as faithful as it was with the original cast and the quality has not dipped at all.
Thank you for reading my rly rambly thoughts and I’m sorry it trailed off at the end, it is quite late now.
I hope it inspired you to look into getting a DVD or CD or supporting the stage in some other way.
Official Site here
Official Twitter here
Official Online Shop here
Other Goods here
DVD? Wasn’t announced this time around...
Previous DVD here
CAST and CHARACTERS
Domoto Shohei as Gian/Jan Carlo
Sugie Masahiro as Bernardo Ortholani
Yamauchi Keisuke as Luchino Gregoretti
Terumi as Guilio Di Bondone
Sato Shinsuke as Ivan Fiore
Maniwa Ryosuke as Bakshi Christensen
Tsubochi Satoru as Jornese
Asakura Yusuke as David
Ensemble: Kaku Ryouna, Hashimoto Keita, Funabashi Hiroki, Sendo Yura, Shimoda Junki, Shimizu Hiroki
You can read the ShoEn/First Run Review here. But for the most part of this review, I’m just going to write what was changed and what I enjoyed, rather than a full ‘review’ style post. I think this time around I would change my rating to an 8 or 8.5 out of 10!
PRE-SHOW/SET
☆On my way to theatre, I noticed so many girls with blonde or pink or coloured hair and/or bright outfits and I immediately knew they were all coming to Lucky Stage. I stoodd out so much just because I was the most plain looking and plain dressed xD
☆They added a row Z smack in the middle of the theatre which proves just how sold out this damn stage was! How could you sell out so much that you even magically make an extra, previously non-existent row, and even that sells out and you have no Toujitsuken for most of the days?! I think that is phenominal, especially for a 'smaller' play disregarding huge series' like TouStage and TouMyu and Naruto etc. I am so proud they even sold out SantaMall Theatre!!
☆BUUT I’m annoyed we couldn’t reserve the damn CD! It wasn't being released until the Saturday's performances but I went the Monday... I wanted the CD! Why didn't they let us, who could only go to the Before-Saturday shows, reserve?! It made me sad.
☆The staging and set design is much better and bigger this time around! We have actual doors at the middle and back of the stage, instead of that underground rotating thing we had last time which was super annoying. So with these doors, it made it much easier and much quieter to switch the set behind them. Other than the big door change, it looked like it was set up the same way as last time too! But with there being scene changes, some of the later sets were either slightly different looking, change the set completely from last time or completely got rid of a set (change) for that scene.
THE SHOW
I'll try and be as chronological as I can be! The story and the scenes are all in the same order as the first run of the show was and there wasn't any big changes to the story either. But here are things I loved seeing again or enjoyed more this time around or were new higawaris (daily changes) and such.
☆When Ivan masturbated in the opening scene (again), instead of being lead down in the jail cell, this time he was standing against a wall. When he caught the rest of them watching, he ran towards them and then he wiped his ‘remains’ on Jan and Domoto yelled so loud over the music ‘TSUITA!!!! It’s on me!!!!’. I was absolutely dying of laughter!
☆Ivan did his three skits again towards the beginning of the stage when he's talking alone with Jan (just before a group meeting), and then got Jan involved but Domoto turned it on him and ordered ‘ippatsu gag! (meaning something like 'a one line joke')’ so Ivan shamelessly said ‘Bang bang bang, Ore ni bang! (Bang, bang, bang. Bang me!)’.
☆After the first group meeting, Ivan is hot headed so went to storm out, but Bernardo is like ‘the exit is the other way’ and Ivan yells ‘I KNOW!’ and turned around and went the right way. It was very well timed and very funny -- I don't think this was in the First Run.
☆I think it was also during this first group meeting when Ivan talks about Jan's gayness and how Ivan isn't gay unlike everyone else; suddenly all the Ensemble cast came on stage and into the meeting room, sitting on Bernado and such, and tried to entice Ivan！And one guy slapped his bare butt at Ivan. Oh my, I was dying!!
☆Speaking of the Ensemble cast, they were absolutely GOLD again, doing all the different roles like inmates and polite, gang members, civilians etc.
☆I am super happy that they brought back the Chinese worker character and them pretending not to know Japanese until the end and another member translating his Chinese again!
☆Also we got the Forcing Bernardo to eat scene again. This time he was just like ‘mmmm...mm....mmmm mmmm.....mmmm mmmm’ and Domoto was giggling because Bernado really couldn't talk; he had too much in his mouth xD
☆There was a change in the Lucino and Jan scene. Instead of it being in Lucino's bedroom this time and Jan finding the ring under the pillow and explaining about what happened; this time it took place in the normal meeting room and it's much later in the stage now when the explanation about his wife and child come out. But one thing in this scene that got us all was that towards the end of this scene, Lucino is cleaning up and putting the guns and such away, but Lucino got his bloody tie stuck in the briefcase! It was obviously by accidentally because he just casually commented ‘I’ve trapped my tie!!’ and he took so long to unlock the briefcase, take the tie out and lock it again. Jan had already walked off stage and then realised what had happened and that it was taking longer than it should've, so he came back on stage like ‘are you not ready yet?!?!’ which was a nice touch.
☆I have a note here from a moment of:
‘Just listen to me!’
‘-Ok’
I'm pretty sure it's after Ivan has another of his hissy fits and Jan yells at him and very (like a child getting told off) just agrees. Shame I can't remember because it clearly stuck with me after the show that night...
☆Another part is just before Jan explains the big and final plan to everyone (that leads to the climax fight of the stage), and Ivan walks out (at the beginning of this scene) on stage, notices the one spotlight on his side of the stage, and is like ‘wtf the fuck?’. He then stands in it and straightens his shirt and tries to look his best. It gave us all giggles.
☆AND it's during this final big meeting, where Jan forgets to tell Ivan his role in the plan, Jan’s like ‘oh.... I forgot about you! So you’ll be.... the Secret leader!’ And Ivan got all happy and was smiling out to the audience. This was also in the First Run but getting to enjoy and like Ivan more this time, I appreciated and loved this scene all the more this time around.
☆Speaking of appreciation, I really really enjoyed and understood the characters all the more this time around! Which led me to crying so many more times this time around too!
I got a lot more attached to Lucino this time so I was crying during all his 'past' scenes and when the story of his wife and child came out etc.
I really really felt like I understood Giulio more this time around; the first time, he just seemed to be cray out of know where which a sprinkle of backstory, but this time around you could see more of him trying to obey his father (or at least I understood and catched on quicker and more this time around with him development and backstory) and stuck between doing back things out of fear of wanting to please his father; wanting to stay a child because that's when he's most happy and feels more safe; and to stay one Jan and co's side because they accept him for who he is, even though he'd tried to hide this abused and cray side from them all this time. I really, really got a lot more upset during the Giulio attacking Jan scene this time and just cried so hard. But then in later scenes I was crying for Giulio because of what he has to deal and put up with etc. I also love how even though he's gone through all this shit, he's still able to have his childish and cute moments -- but that could be due to part-mentalising the bad so he can have an innocent and okay side.
AND, it's clearly obvious how much I love Ivan and ridiculous comedy beause of how much I've written about him here already!
And finally we have Bakshi who I AM IN LOVE WITH!! Absolutely in love! He ended up being my favourite character at the end of the First Run too but seeing him again, really clarified my love for him. I think he's absolutely great! But I did notice and realise this time around that he has a lot less stage time than I had remembered. BUT nevertheless! When he was on stage... it was great!!! I also realise this time around that he says stuff like 'Zokuzoku (translating to: thrilling or feeling creepy or shuddering etc)' which is exactly the same thing that Shiki from Dance with Devils says so it makes total sense as to why I ended up falling for Bakshi in the first place! I think he's great and such a little shit! I really hope that IF they do a second stage, they'll put his route in and we can see him and Jan get together *please!!*
☆For this Re-Run, we had a different ending for each character that is romantically involved with Jan. The day I went, I got Jan x Giulio's ending. It was super cute! It started with Giulio sat on the stairs picking the petals off a flower going 'He likes me... he hates me... he likes me... he hates me... like... like... like, like, like, likelikelikelikelike..' which was very funny and then Jan quietly came on stage asking Giulio what he was doing. It ended with Giulio feeling bad that he hurt Jan but Jan's like, 'it's okay, because I'll protect you,' and ends with them kissing.
☆It’s been a while since I’ve heard such an enthusiastic round of applause that just wouldn’t stop in the flesh. It felt so good hearing it and I bet they felt great hearing it too!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Argh it was so gooooood!!!! I cried so much more this time around!!!! I forgot how much I loved some characters and how funny some moments are!!!! I also got to appreciate some characters much more this time and it really is a good story, great characters, great action. It’s very good and deserves all the sold-outness that it got! Also I love what they added!!!!
I really, really hope we get a second installment, with the same cast and that we get more Bakshi and maybe even a Bakshi route!! PLEASE!!!
Review 2021 Kuromyu – Namashitsuji Secrets of the Public School Arc
Disclaimer: This is not an unbiased review so please proceed knowing that it is heavily opinionated.
2nd Disclaimer: I have never seen the anime or read the manga of Black Butler. All of my thoughts are based on comparisons to previous musicals and comments from fans about how accurate their portrayal is. I understand this may turn some people off my review which is understandable but I think an important thing for shows is how accessible they can be for people who don’t know the source material.
FREE OF SPOILERS
Overall rating: 8/10
Acting – 8/10
Music – 8/10 (I took an average of my song scores)
Ease of understanding – 8/10
Direction – 7/10
Overall Summary:
I think the show was excellent and showed respect to the old shows but also did quite a few new things. All the scenes and songs had clear thought put into them and the acting showcased these things very well. It was not quite like what I expected it was going to be like but now that I’ve seen it, I can’t quite think of what I expected. I think if you like 2.5D or if you like Black Butler or the actors in this show then you will enjoy the show quite a lot. It is not exactly the same as before from every standpoint apart from it being Black Butler so I would say don’t go in expecting it to be just the same.
I will move to a spoiler review under the cut but plainly, this show is very good and I think all the actors did a great job.
As I normally do I am going to give my thoughts on story, acting, songs and directing, then mention some extra stuff that I might think of at the end. I am sorry if I bring up the fact that I’m British and went to boarding school like my parents too much.
Story: The story was mostly pretty easy for me to follow, especially as a British person who knows about Cricket and boarding schools. I haven’t seen Campania so the dolls confused me a little at first but that is completely on me for not having seen the previous show. When watching I was very confused about what was going on towards the end but looking back on it that was mainly because of my migraine and not because it wasn’t clear. Scenes were set out well and the camera work was done in a way to make it very easy to follow along. But omg the cricket made me a little upset. It was super fun and all. But it was so inaccurate XD. I guess I now know the pain of people who like tennis when they watch the Prince of Tennis.
Acting: I am going to go actor by actor and give a rough overview of what I thought of them
Tateishi Toshiki as Sebastian Michaelis
I felt like we didn’t get a terribly demonic Sebastian in this show but otherwise I loved Toshi as Sebastian. He felt very elegant and reserved most of the time which contrast well with the times in which he was annoyed at Ciel. He wasn’t terribly present in a lot of the show but I did really enjoy him when he was on stage. His singing voice is excellent and I loved hearing him sing, will go into more about it later during the song summaries.
Konishi Eito as Ciel Phantomhive
I thought Eito was amazing as Ciel and he is my favourite Ciel so far. He showed Ciel’s switch between cute and normal so well and it really made me think about how good of an actor Ciel is. I don’t know how he did what he did to his voice but he makes himself sound like a young child with a slightly higher and scrapey voice than normal and it really makes you think that he is very young. I know many people were worried that they were casting an adult as Ciel because they wanted to sexualise him and this was not the case at all. He only showed any skin in the very first scene when in the cage and he had the sheet/robe-thing showing his shoulder. His singing voice is quite a lot mature than the previous two Ciels, for obvious reasons, and I think it really helped me enjoy his songs.
Okayama Ryousuke as Soma Asman Kadar
While I would still say I prefer Sho’s Soma, mainly bc Sho is one of my fav actors and I am biased, I really liked Ryousuke’s Soma. He was super energetic and friendly and really gave off this air of innocence as he believes Ciel’s reasoning for him to join Weston. His cricket was also very fun. His singing was pretty okay. I think this was as his singing suffered when he was trying to sing in Soma’s voice.
Ueda Kandai as Undertaker
I was honestly quite surprised how good Kandai was as Undertaker. I think his Undertaker voice got better as the show went on so I assume the reason it was less good at first was nerves. He wasn’t in it too much but I thoroughly enjoyed him in every scene he was in. I think I would love it if he learnt to sing in his Undertaker voice more but I also understand that is quite difficult so understand why he’s not doing that.
Sana Hiroki as Edgar Redmond
I thought he was very good as Edgar and carried the emotion needed for the more serious scenes, like the flashback about Derek, very well. He definitely emphasised the queerness of Edgar and had some rather flirtatious moments with Maurice and Joanne. However, despite being flirty and not seeming to be very serious, I completely bought it when he became serious and he played the shift very well (such as in the Maurice reveal scene). His singing voice is good.
Tazuru Shogo as Herman Greenhill
I thought Shogo was really good as Herman, even if it did feel like him playing a slightly nicer version of Sanada – his character from Prince of tennis. He was my 2nd fav of the four and I always enjoyed watching him in his scenes. He played the emotion in the Derek flashback amazingly and you could really see the pain in his eyes when he realised what he had done. His voice was really perfect for Herman.
Satonaka Masamichi as Lawrence Bluewer
I really loved Masa as Lawrence. I don’t know how accurate it is as he didn’t seem very sweet from what I read on his wiki page, but his Lawrence seemed quite tsundere. I loved his bit in the Cricket match when he was talking about wanting to win in his very last year. He also just seemed quite cute. I really enjoyed his singing.
Goto Dai as Gregory Violet
I LOVED Dai as Gregory. He definitely gave off the aura of being weird but he also seemed very sweet to Cheslock and the two actors had really good chemistry. He was really cute in his Cricket gear. He was by far my favourite of the prefects. Despite seeming cute and sweet to Cheslock he definitely retained the aura of mystery and you could never tell what he was thinking. His singing voice is pretty good but he didn’t have many solo bits.
Furuya Yamato as Clayton
While at the beginning I did get an intelligent stuck up vibe from Yamato as Clayton that kinda died away as the show went on and he became much more of a dork. I dunno how much of this is in character but to me it felt slightly like Yamato playing himself. As I think Yamato is an excellent actor, I was a little bit disappointed to see his character change quite a bit but I don’t know how much was him and how much was the direction. Since Yamato is known for comedy and his adlibbing I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually just direction and the route they decided to go down for this character, hence why they scouted Yamato. I know his singing voice may not appeal to everyone, but I really like it.
Nakajima Takuto as Edward Midford
Takuto was very good as Edward and I think he played his straightforwardness quite well. I love Takuto but I don’t think Edward had much to do apart from the cricket which Takuto did very well. His singing voice is excellent.
Warning: Tsukasa is my favourite actor, and I am very biased
Taguchi Tsukasa as Maurice Cole
Tsukasa was AMAZING as Maurice. He played the changes in his character so well and even though he’s not a very nice person I felt really bad for him during his breakdown as Tsukasa’s scream was heart wrenching. When he was pretending, he felt so light and sweet and then when he was being his normal self he dropped down his voice and even changed his accent slightly as well as changing the way he would stand and walk. Ngl I was not paying too much attention to other people when he was in the scene and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m biased or because his command of the stage is that good but I really felt his stage presence. I loved the way he repeated 2 O’clock to Edgar and the others and how he mirrored the way he did it with Ciel and all the subtleties to his acting were great. He didn’t get to sing very much but he sounded really good.
Fukuzawa Yu as Cheslock
Apart from Tsukasa I think Yu was my favourite in this show. He brought so much energy to Cheslock and I don’t mean making the character energetic, just that he always has so much power and feeling behind his lines and he was so good and cool! He had good command of the stage and worked so well with Dai to be the one the stands out and the one that fades into the shadows. He mostly rapped so I don’t remember his singing voice very much.
Uchino Fuuto as Joanne Harcourt
Fuuto didn’t really stand out to me very much and I don’t think he had very much to do. His singing voice was pretty good.
Hayakawa Iori as Macmillan
He served his part in the story well and was very cute and energetic which I liked. He kinda reminded me of doll a little. His singing voice was pretty good.
Yamaguchi Kooki as Derek Arden
He wasn’t in very much of the show but he played his part very well and even though we got so little of him being unpleasant the way he played it made me hate Derek immediately. I don’t think he got any solo singing bits?
Takahashi Shunichi as Johann Agares
He filled his role very well. The most impressive thing was his falling from the stairs, I was very worried he was going to hurt himself, so I was really glad he was okay as he went from pretty high considering there were lower stairs. His singing voice was good.
Songs: I really love Yu(vague) the composer of the show and he is my favourite music composer. I think he did a really good job with the songs on the whole. I think he did well making them seem different and new yet familiar.
Opening song – 7/10
I think this song was a good opener. I wasn’t too sure about it at first, but it got better as the song went on. Toshi’s voice didn’t sound to be working with the song at first but since he sounded fine later, I think it was just his voice wavering at first from nerves so I’m excited to see what he’s like in the last show. I like how they did short recaps of the previous shows from Lycoris to Campania so the fans are caught up on what has happened, especially since it becomes important when Undertaker comes back with the dolls at the end.
2nd song, I think it’s called ‘It’s perfect black’ – 8/10
I really like this song. I think it is a nice scene setter and is very well sung by everyone. The dance works well and kinda brings Druitt’s dancing to mind with some of it. The song features the full cast and is effectively the Pawn and Sword song of this show.
Welcome to Weston song – 10/10
My first 10/10 song. I really love this song and I already can sing along to it. I love the prefects singing and that the others sing the chorus for them. (Also partly love it for its reprise but I’ll get to that later) I love how rigid and together it sounds. By that I mean that everyone is singing their lines as quite cutting and the harmonies are very crisp. Everyone is perfectly in time and there is no deviation. The rigidness shows the formality and tradition of the school which is reinforced by the students marching around the stage to get to the places. This is the case for everyone except the prefects who have more flowy lines and they walk a lot more freely showing the school’s hierarchy. I also love the prefects pushing Ciel around and surrounding him which foreshadows how he his treated.
Only Prefect Four – 9/10
I might be slightly biased as a Mankai stage fan as this song sounds so like a Mankai stage song but I love it so much. It would be 10/10 but I think their harmonies at the end could be a bit tighter. I think the soft and flowery and upbeat music works really well after the last song. Kinda indicating that the prefects live in a different world to the rest of the school which kinda serves as storytelling so that later when they’re so surprised by Derek’s actions it makes sense as they feel kinda separate from everyone else and it makes sense that they wouldn’t know what was going on in the rest of the school. I also love how they each get their solo bits which tell you stuff about the characters. Edgar’s dance is really reminiscent of Druitt which I really love. Herman’s music is a lot less flowy with a base note and the dance, using cricket bats, really gives off an image of strength. Lawrence’s mixes classical music into the instrumental and it has a more traditional feel. The dance involves a lot of stepping and stopping showing a formulaic approach rather than being flowy or strong. Gregory’s music has a grand feeling to it and it goes lower. Gregory doesn’t move much while Cheslock is doing some hip-hop dancing next to him. And instead of singing a solo section he talks about how he wants to go to bed.
Yes, my lord – 10/10
My favourite song in this show. It shows Ciel being told to do things and him passing his chores to Sebastian and Sebastian getting more and more annoyed with him, even breaking and calling him a brat at one point. The upbeat tone is quite fun and it works really well as a montage song. I like how it goes from Ciel saying ‘Yes, Clayton-senpai’ (senpai is a polite suffix for names of people who are higher up than you) to dropping senpai to just saying yes then turning to Sebastian. It really showcases brat Ciel.
Soma’s song – 10/10
His song is all about being Ciel’s friend and it’s really cute and energetic. The outfits from Soma’s song in Circus and brought back and it has a similar instrumental to his song there. He messes around a lot more in this song, though. Even though he is now much older than Sho was when he played Soma through this song he feels far more youthful through the more relaxed choreography and the energetic music.
Ominous prefect song – 9/10
This song is so cool. I really like the sharp shapes being projected onto the back with lilac light and the softly ominous instrumentals. (it comes right after Edgar mentions ‘the secret of what happened that day’). The vice-principal walking around at the back is really interesting as it looks like he is monitoring them. And the other students walking around with lanterns gives the song an almost supernatural feel. And then Undertaker peeking out from the back at the end gives a more direct hint of what is going on.
Nightmare, opening reprise – 8/10
This is just a reprise of the 1st song but I like it a bit better because it is shorter and the choreography of the cultists surrounding Ciel’s bed is really nice.
The Headmaster’s decision – 10/10
I like the fast pace of this song as Ciel runs around to ask about Derek and keeps just being told it was the headmaster’s decision. The students moving and singing together, then encircling him reinforces Ciel’s feeling like there’s a secret that everyone knows but isn’t telling him. I also like the use of Derek’s actor walking around the stage, always just beyond their sight from where they are.
Cricket song, last song of Act 1 – 6/10
This song is good it’s just not super enthralling. I think it’s probably the weakest pre-interval song out of the Kuromyus. At the beginning Sebastian and Ciel’s mics got really quiet for some reason and the instrumental was a bit louder than them. It’s a nice gentle and weirdly happy and hopeful instrumental which is a bit at odds with the past two ominous songs and I can’t decide if I like that or not. Also, I think the harmonies are a bit off so hopefully that will be better by the final performance. A lot of the singers sound like they have tension in their voices so I think they were all pretty anxious for this song. I do like the song and it might go up a bit if they can get the harmonies in the final show because they got almost none of them in this show. (The one that they did get sounded really good though)
INTERVAL
Cricket tournament – 9/10
While the previous song was also more upbeat than the ominous songs I don’t think it worked due to being directly afterwards, as the first song of Act 2 I quite like that’s it’s more energetic as it gets you hyped for the 2nd Act. This is the song that some Tenimyu, Prince of tennis musical, fans are saying was inspired by Tenimyu. And I will say, it was 100% inspired by Tenimyu XD. Yana-sensei is a fan of Prince of tennis and Shogo, Herman’s actor, was cast in a role very similar to his Prince of tennis role then the Green Lion section literally has lines that are exactly the same as lines from the team Shogo was in. Also, the music during their bit is actually somewhat reminiscent of the music that team normally has.
[Yu(vague) is so good at changing types of music during songs ahh, the Green Lion to Scarlett Fox transition is just so good.]
Honestly, this song would be a 7 or 8 out of 10 without the Violet Wolf part bc omg that part slaps so hard. Gregory and Cheslock high-five and the music just switches to electronic disco music and they rap most of their bit. I love it so much.
Sapphire Owl’s bit is cool too.
Scarlett vs Sapphire Cricket match – 6/10
It’s pretty good. Solid song but isn’t too exciting. Soma’s solo bit is really cute. Main thing letting it down is the ‘It’s cricket’ refrain that is in all three match songs. I was already done with it after like 30 seconds in this song and this song doesn’t have anything else lifting it above like the others do.
Violet vs Green Cricket match – 8/10
Cricket match as a rap battle. I dunno why Violet House became a rap house but I love it and I love Cheslock rapping about his awesome pitch. Then he and Herman having a rap battle is just so fun. I don’t know if this is as fun to Black Butler fans who know the characters a lot better or whether it would be uncomfortable but I had a blast in this song.
Sapphire vs Green Cricket match – 7/10
I really like the beginning instrumental and the short song bit at the very beginning of the song but the refrain hit again so it couldn’t go above a 7 for me.
Victory song – 6/10
Not a bad song but I don’t think the harmonies were there for this one and so I’m excited to see it in the last show again and hear if they improve.
Weston Reprise – 10/10
Oh my god I love this reprise so much. At first it sounds very like the original song then as the prefects slightly lose it as they realise what they have done it becomes more out of sync and the music quietens and it sounds more acapella and they sound slightly like they’re losing it due to the horror of what has happened. And the scratchiness of Gregory’s voice making it sound like he’s going to cry really reinforces that they are just children and they cannot deal with something like this.
Fight song – 7/10
I love the Undertaker taking Ciel to the side and staring at him crazily and singing at him. Again, I could hear Toshi’s nerves and I hope that he can sing the song better in the final show. I really love the Undertaker and Sebastian’s duet though and I think their voices sound really good together and I love the blood refrain in the song.
Finale song – 7/10
A pretty short but solid refrain of ‘It’s Perfect Black’
Direction: I thought the direction overall was pretty solid. There wasn’t anything really innovative attempted I don’t think but I didn’t really feel like there was anything lacking.
Overall: I really loved this show and look forward to seeing the final show and I think this show set up the new cast well for future shows.
Do I recommend buying the stream and DVD?
If you are a fan of 2.5D, any of these actors or Black Butler I really recommend trying to see this show. (The final show with be on 4th April on theatre-complex.jp and you can buy a ticket with just a vpn) While it is very different I feel like it was fairly faithful to its roots but is also trying to grow into something new.
Lastly: If you have any questions about the show, any parts, any songs or about any of the actors feel free to drop me an ask and let’s talk about it!
Again, as always, this is not a bias free review. It is heavily opinionated and not objective.
Thank you so much to Suke, Vivi and Koursed from the Touken Ranbu discord who helped me with the story and some of my vocal assessments.
FREE OF SPOILERS
Overall rating: 9/10
Acting – 10/10
Music – 9/10 (average of all the song scores)
Ease of understanding – 2/10
Direction – 8/10 or 4/10 I honestly dunno. It depends on the next shows and the follow through for the storyline. If it is satisfying then I think this shows direction was excellent but if it falls flat then this show was kinda the beginning of that.
Overall Summary: Honestly, I dunno what happened rly but the music, staging and acting were excellent. The idol portion was maybe my favourite out of all the myus, and I really enjoyed all the new songs. The first half was fascinating, enthralling and a spectacle but almost completely incomprehensible as so little was clarified, and we were left with so many questions. I really recommend watching the show for yourself as no review I can write will adequately explain or demonstrate what the show was like.
Now I’ll have to get into spoilers to go any further into what the show was like
As I normally do, I am going to give my thoughts on story, acting, songs and directing, then mention some extra stuff that I might think of at the end.
Story: Please keep in mind that this show is complex, and I didn’t manage to catch everything, and I might be wrong about some things, but this is the best I could do, trying to get it out asap. I will only describe the first half bc the 2nd half has no story.
So, the entire show revolves around Suishinshi and he is trying to work out what Mikazuki is doing and what his goal is.
In the first scene he is in modern Tokyo and then a HRA person shows up and everything collapses. He says that his consciousness was stolen. Red threads are pulled all over the stage. Sand pours into a pile near the back of the stage and a girl in Noh mask and traditional clothes comes onto stage and dances at the back. It is unclear if Suishinshi recognises her. The music that she was dancing to suddenly disappears and she stares at Suishinshi and then she runs off. Kiyomaro quickly runs on and tells Suishinshi that there is a battle and then they go off together.
In the 2nd scene Kiyomaro and Suishinshi arrived in the 10th century and find two soldiers fighting HRA members. They are about to step in but Taira no Masakado arrives defeats them. The two are surprised but as the discuss that Mikazuki speaks to Suishinshi and tells him Masakado’s name then Suishinshi has flashes of the future of Tokyo/Edo and sees figures that are important to the city, the humans in this show.
But he is broken out of this by Buzen and Kuwana. Kiyomaro describes how Suishinshi said that he saw time moving like film unwinding like a movie. And it was so disorientating that he didn’t know where he was or when it was anymore. He says he’s been like that since their last mission.
Then Oodenta comes on and sings about being a Tenka Goken with Sohayanotsurugi. (I am mostly not going to include songs but it is their first appearance so I will here)
The two are in Tokugawa controlled Edo, at some point in the early 17th century, and they see Tenkai, one of Ieyasu’s advisors who is a monk, chanting and is repels the HRA. They mention that he sang a very old nursery rhyme, may be the one from Mihotose, and Suishinshi comes on and says that he has heard that song before. The film of the future of Edo plays again. But is a bit shorter.
Then it fades out and is replaced by fire and the sound of a sword being crafted. Samidare arrives on stage and sings then leaves and Murakumo does the same thing then they duet.
They are greeted by Kuwana and Buzen who tell them that Kotegiri and Matsui aren’t there at the moment. Then they take Murakumo and Samidare on a tour of the citadel.
Kiyomaro and Suishinshi come back on stage and Kiyomaro says it’s a good thing to have more allies. Suishinshi describes how Nikkari told him that it can be a good and bad thing. Kiyomaro then says that must be why he left on a trip. Kiyomaro then asks Suishinshi if there is anything, he can do for him and Suishinshi doesn’t answer but Kiyomaro takes that as a no and leaves the stage. Some of the film plays again then Suishinshi leaves too.
Kuwana comes out and is farming then Suishinshi comes back on and asks about the crops and so Kuwana tells him about a patch of grass as Buzen runs off stage chasing a mole. Kuwana tells Suishinshi that he is getting the fields ready for the rain and then Suishinshi says something about the world ending, I did not get this bit. Then the film plays again
Then it cuts to Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishuu talking. They talk about the future and some other stuff that I didn’t quite catch. Oodenta and Sohayanotsurugi come on and discuss the end of the Tokugawa government. Oodenta says if they had more spiritual power then they would have been able to last longer. And Suishinshi asks where he went after the end of Edo and the Tokugawa government.
Kiyomaro then comes on and asks the Saniwa about abandoned timelines and is told not to think about it as there are some things it’s better not to know.
Then we go to 1457 and see Ota Dokan supervising the building of Edo castle. Suishinshi wonders why Dokan decided to build a castle in that specific place. Dokan talks about enjoying the flowers and having a picnic there. Suishinshi then describes how as the seasons changed Edo went on to become the centre of Japan and his birthplace.
During Dokan and Samidare’s duet the little girl comes out again and dances then hands a big leaf she was dancing with to Dokan and leaves the stage again. Then the film plays again.
Sohayanotsurugi comes on fighting the HRA. He is joined by Oodenta, Murakumo and Samidare, Then Tenkai comes on stage again and repels the HRA. Suishinshi says he needs to make a boarder within himself between what is him and what isn’t him.
Buzen comes on stage and says he believes anything that can think and remember is living. Suishinshi asks him if that means that if there is no memory of a specific living thing then does it mean it didn’t live at all and Buzen says that he’s not a person who can answer that. During their discussion, the little girl in the mask returns.
Buzen leaves the stage and a full moon is visible in the back before it fades into the film playing backwards.
In the next scenes we are back at the building of Edo castle and Buzen is helping the workers pull a big stone along. Buzen has clearly been helping the group before as Dokan welcomes him back from his trip and says he wishes he could go on a trip too, but he’s too surrounded by war. He asks Buzen where he went and Buzen told him he visited the sea and says it would be nice if they could go together sometime.
Samidare comes to talk to Buzen and he asks him what Dokan is like and Buzen says he’s an amazing person and he would love to show him the future of Edo.
Suishinshi, Kiyomaro and Oodenta come on the stage and Kiyomaro seems to be asking Oodenta about Mikazuki. Oodenta wonders when they were first called the Tenka Goken. Then Suishinshi and Kiyomaro start talking about curses, sorry this bit was incomprehensible to me.
The curse may be in relation to Taira no Masakado who is believed to be a vengeful ghost who still plagues Tokyo today.
The next scene shows Suishinshi watching as Masakado fights off four people and then is shot in the head, killing him. As he dies Suishinshi wonders why he has to die. If they’re meant to protect history then why aren’t they protecting him. Whose history are they protecting. Many figures with the same outfit as him but bands over their eyes and long grey hair come on and surround Masakado changing him into what resembles the painting of his vengeful spirit. He then stares at Suishinshi and leaves the stage.
Suishinshi asks if this is also a curse. He says he has to make himself normal again. Saying his name is Suishinshi Masahide. However, his name that was written on the screen at the back melts away. It is replaced by Mikazuki’s name then lots of other Touken Danshi names play across the screen and disappear like they’re being erased. He calls out that his name is Suishinshi Masahide as the names fade into letters, the red lines cross across the stage again and the child with the Noh mask appears again.
In the next scene Dokan is about to be executed when the HRA save him and run off. Buzen sees this and waves at him. Dokan smiles and walks towards him, going to say something but Buzen jumps towards him and stabs him in the heart. He says that that is because that is what the history is. He says that he didn’t want to have to kill him even as an order then walks to him, closing his eyes. He laments that he never got to take Dokan to the quiet ocean. (A reference to Paraiso) Samidare says that he should be doing the dirty jobs and the next time Buzen should let him do it instead. Buzen says that it’s fine and that he wants Samidare to be able to just sing and dance. He asks him to perform for Dokan. The child with the Noh mask appears again and lays the leaf that she handed to Dokan earlier, on his chest.
The next scene has Kuwana farming again. He is approached by Murakumo who asks him what he’s doing. He explains that there is nothing there, so he has to prepare it for when the sun is bright, and the rain is beautiful. Murakumo reflects that rain is important for crops and Kuwana says that clouds are important too. Clouds and rain are in a circle where clouds will become rain, rain will fall then will trickle into the ocean. The water will then leave the sea and become clouds again. He says that they are all connected in this circle. Humans, history and all the swords. Kuwana tastes the earth and says that it is good earth. Murakumo says that he would like the make the field a field of Kerria but then goes back on this saying they should grow food as flowers aren’t useful as you can’t eat them. Kuwana says you may not be able to eat them, but they are needed, even in this world. Murakumo tries to eat some of the dirt and says that Kuwana is very weird for trying to eat the earth. Kuwana just laughs along and says that maybe he is.
We go back to Tenkai who Oodenta and Sohayanotsurugi are with. Then Masakado appears and tries to attack them. Finally, with Samidare, Murakumo, Kuwana and Kiyomaro’s help as well, they manage to defeat Masakado but apparently there are 6 more. Tenkai creates a spiritual barrier in the place where they defeated Masakado and Tenkai tells them they have to go defeat the rest. Sohayanotsurugi, Murakumo and Kuwana leave but Oodenta asks Kiyomaro if Tokyo/Edo always had that many monsters. He remarks, I think, that if a person lives for 100 years then they will become a Tsukumogami. (this is what I think I heard but it doesn’t rly make sense as a Tsukumogami is an object that becomes sentient rather than being a person hence why I am confused)
In the next scene Mikazuki is projected onto the screen and Suishinshi demands to know what he is doing. He takes out his sword and tries to fight Mikazuki, but the image ripples and he has to take some steps back, saying he knows Mikazuki isn’t the kinda of opponent he can fight against. He attacks it again and the image disappears, reappearing to the side. Suishinshi says that he is going against the river of history. He attacks that image, and it reappears on the other side. He says Mikazuki has taken on a very sad role in the flow of history then attacks the image again. The image appears on the back again and Suishinshi asks what on earth was Mikazuki trying to protect. He says that Mikazuki is doing something horrible and this time the image of Mikazuki blocks all of his attacks. Mikazuki brings his sword up and the instrumental of Hana no Utena can be heard then as he brings it down Suishinshi sees a flash of many of the humans who have been in Toumyu so far, including people like Yoshitsune, Sadachika and Souji. Then Suishinshi starts saying the names of flowers. I don’t rly know why. But as he is saying this the girl with the mask appears again behind the screen. Suishinshi asks if all the flowers were her doing and if she was making time move along. Then he seems to realise who she is and says ‘I see, you are-’ then it cuts off. The screen and sounds statics and Suishinshi falls to the ground.
In the next scene Kiyomaro asks the Saniwa if he can look after Suishinshi, saying he will definitely come back, making it seem like he is gone for a while. Kiyomaro says that Suishinshi is really amazing and the Saniwa agrees. Suishinshi then comes in and asks for permission to go after Mikazuki saying that his eyes looked so sad ‘at that time’. He says that with even a little time he might be able to lighten his burden. He says that history is like a big river but the small rivers coming off it can still be beautiful. The Saniwa then says he will leave it to Suishinshi. Suishinshi asks Kiyomaro to come with him and they leave together.
In the next scene Oodenta and Sohayanotsurugi are listening to gunfire and canons and talking about how Edo is ending (as it will soon be named Tokyo instead). Kiyomaro and Suishinshi walk on and Kiyomaro asks why they have come to the Bakumatsu time (the end of the Tokugawa government). Suishinshi says there is something that needs to be fixed in that time. Kiyomaro says that he will believe Suishinshi and follow him. Sohayanotsurugi and Oodenta come and join them and Suishinshi tells them about his plan. He takes out a map and indicates all the places in which Tenkai made kekkai and what the effect of those was, I couldn’t catch that bit. I couldn’t really understand the rest of the bit when it’s just the four swords.
Then Katsu Kaishuu comes on and is surrounded by HRA. He keeps spitting at them for some reason. The swords defeat the HRA and Kaishuu thanks them. Suishinshi asks him if he is trying to protect the Tokugawa government and he seems insulted by that. He says that it isn’t anything that small. He is trying to protect the world and says that it is his dream to go on a trip somewhere. Even if everyone he wanted to go with is dead. Suishinshi gets incredibly excited and happy and says that Kaishuu is really an amazing person. He then runs off but quickly runs on again and says that Kaishuu has a wonderful sword. (which is probably him as he was one of Kaishuu’s swords)
Kuwana and Murakumo come back on with Tenkai, fighting more HRA. Another Masakado comes on and they have to fight him. The four from the previous scene then join them as well. Tenkai then makes the final kekkai. Suishinshi asks him why he wanted to protect the land. He says that’s just his thing and he thanks them saying he was able to protect Edo because of them. Then he dies.
The next scene has Dokan with Samidare and Buzen as they look at the newly completed Edo castle, obviously earlier in Dokan’s timeline. Dokan asks if Samidare knows why it’s beautiful and Buzen says because of the people. Dokan agrees. A place that is built by people and lived in by people is beautiful. Samidare then asks if he thinks that then does he not find nature beautiful. Dokan says that he does because of the heart of that thing. Samidare then barks at Dokan and apologises, saying it is because he was so moved. When Dokan laughs he hides his face in his scarf which is literally the cutest thing ever. Suishinshi then suddenly appears and says that he has something to ask Dokan. He asks him why he decided to build Edo castle. Was it as a home or for battle? Dokan says maybe a little bit of both then recites a poem about Kerria and says that Suishinshi will understand what he means one day. Suishinshi and Kiyomaro leave. Buzen asks Samidare if he understands the poem and Samidare explains it – I didn’t understand the explanation though.
In the next scene Masakado is fighting off HRA and Suishinshi and Kiyomaro appear to help him. Suishinshi asks Masakado why he started the uprising and Masakado asks him why he’s asking him that. He then says there was another person who asked him that and a crescent moon is projected onto the back. He says Mikazuki called him a friend. Suishinshi tells him Mikazuki has taken a heart-breaking role upon himself and Masakado says that he knows. History is nothing but winners and losers. History is just things and people that are left over. Things like Suishinshi and Kiyomaro. The smell of flowers and the tone of songs. He wonders whether things that aren’t there anymore were ever there at all. He confirms with Suishinshi that he is going to lose the battle. He wants to leave behind the trace that he was there so no one can think that he wasn’t. He says Mikazuki is too kind. He then says some stuff I couldn’t get. He then goes to leave but Suishinshi asks him again why he started the uprising. He says it was all for a woman.
He starts singing and all the other humans join him.
In the next scene Suishinshi tells Kiyomaro that wherever he goes he can only see a crescent moon, never a full moon. He says history is just what the winners say happened, no one can ever know truly what happened, no matter how sad this may be. (As he says this the girl appears again, she is dancing in a circle of Kerria flowers). Even if his memories aren’t completely there, he knows that all of history is connected.
Then all the Gous walk on and the crescent moon appears. Mikazuki says as expected of Suishinshi. Mikazuki says Suishinshi doesn’t have to say out loud what he has worked out, his feelings are enough. Suishinshi was able to lighten his load. Suishinshi shouldn’t be sad for him because this is Mikazuki’s role. But there are things he cannot do so he needs help. Suishinshi and Kiyomaro have to become the link between the past and the future. The Gous have to be the ones to connect to people. Buzen is about the asks Mikazuki something when all the Gous double over as if they have a flash of memory like the film that Suishinshi has been seeing. Buzen looks horrified and asks Mikazuki if it could mean- but he is cut off by Mikazuki. Mikazuki laughs and remarks how beautiful the moon is and then leaves. Suishinshi and Kiyomaro say they have to fulfil their role then leave. The Gous then start saying confusing things. Murakumo says ‘a little, just a little’, Samidare says ‘Yes, the memory’, And then Buzen says ‘It seems like we Gou are-g’ then he is cut off.
The next scene begins the same as the first scene, with Suishinshi in modern Tokyo. And he says he finally knows who someone is, most probably the girl. The full moon is visible behind him and the dirt is falling from the ceiling again. He says, ‘So, you came here? But if this hadn’t happened and you could have chosen would you have come here at all? The curse, the kekkai. You must be frustrated. I don’t know why you did this, but I respect your determination. The people who were here and the people who weren’t, the people who came and the people who chose not to come, it’s not fun for them. Your feelings have reached me. Thank you. And I have a request, please don’t hurt this time, reality, or the things that you chose. It’s gotten across to me. It would be nice if it could be understood. Barriers aren’t just in people’s hearts. We will definitely meet again. So, don’t close off or hurt things. To achieve that goal, we will do everything’.
As he is speaking the HRA are pulling the red ribbons across the stage again and on his very last sentence all of the other swords join him.
In the next scene different swords come on and just small talk a little.
Kiyomaro and Suishinshi come on. Suishinshi says his mission is to make sure everyone is smiling. Kiyomaro then asks him about the girl and Suishinshi says he doesn’t know her name. The wonder what type of person she could be. Suishinshi says he thinks she is a person doing her best.
And that is the end of the first half.
Acting: I am not going to go person by person because honestly, [I have 0 criticisms for any of the actors. I cannot believe that this was the first show. The singing and acting was amazing.] I am leaving what I initially wrote as it was my first impression but as I dove into the songs a little more I realise there is a lot of room for improvement in the singing department.
The standouts for me were Samidare, Dokan and Masakado. I loved all three actors and thought they were excellent even among this incredible cast. I will also give a shoutout to Nagata Seiichirou, Murakumo’s actor, as I have seen him a lot in Prince of tennis where personally I really did not enjoy his acting or singing and was so pleasantly surprised to see how much he has improved. He obviously practiced so hard for this show.
Songs:
Obviously, I don’t know the song titles, so I am just gonna to refer to who is singing the song. (except for Touken Ranbu) I do have singing experience, but I do not know all the technical terms so please bear with me for what I am trying to express. This will be less in depth than my Kuromyu song review because I spent so much time on the story already and I really want to get this out soon.
Touken Ranbu – 10/10
I love the new accompaniment. While personally I was not getting bored of the previous Touken Ranbu I know people who were but I also now that I would not have been happy if they changed the song, so I am really happy with what they did. It feels nostalgic but also fresh.
Taira no Masakado solo – 7/10
I think the song is good and very well sung but Bishin wavers on the notes at the beginning a bit hence why it is only 7/10. It might change depending on the final performance. This song is really good but because of the way it is written it sounds pretty difficult to sing as it isn’t in lines that flow to get but more short phrases that, while being sung not spoken, sound pretty harsh to get out.
Kiyomaro and Suishinshi duet – 10/10
This song is beautiful and so well sung. Nobunaga and Seiya’s voices really compliment each other well. The gentle music and gentle singing works, really well with emphasizing how worried Kiyomaro is for Suishinshi. When I was watching it with people it was fun to see literally everyone be like ‘Well I guess I stan Tenpou now’ immediately.
Oodenta and Sohayanotsurugi duet – 9/10
This song is really amazing, and I like how different it is to the previous duet. It starts of with a beat that makes it sound like Oodenta is going to rap. Raita has one of the best voices in this show and he really showcases it in this song. He goes from singing higher to lower and nails both of them. The only reason why this is a 9 and not a 10 is that Masaki’s voice is definitely not as strong and he doesn’t sound great on some of the notes, hoping he can improve for the final show. The song is still 9 though because his solo bit is much shorter and his harmony with Raita sounds really good.
Samidare and Murakumo duet – 8/10
I know I haven’t given it 10/10 but this is my favourite song in the show. (I am very biased towards Gous and Yamazaki Shogo) This song is again, hugely difficult. It goes from quite low to very high and honestly it is no surprise that Shogo and Seiichan didn’t nail every single note on the first night. I am so excited to hear this on the album and on the final night. Shogo has some tension in his voice, probably from nerves, and this is not his best performance, but I know he will improve as the show goes on. Honestly, this song isn’t sad at all, but I started to tear up during this song. I was not a fan of Seiichan in Prince of tennis. I did not think much of his acting and singing and I have not re-watched any of his casts shows more than once. So, I was so happy here to hear how much he has improved. Not only his acting but his singing is world’s apart from a few years ago. It is abundantly clear how hard he worked to improve his singing and it has obviously paid off as he nailed this song despite it being rather difficult. Can’t wait for this song to become a 10/10 when Shogo can nail all of his notes on final night.
Kuwana solo – 8/10
This song is so adorable and sweet, and I love it but Tomoya sounds so nervous during the song. He misses quite a few notes and when he does sing it well his voice has a lot of tension in it. His high notes and transitions are a bit flat. I hope as the show goes on he can relax and sing this song to the best of his ability, taking it up to a 10.
Ota Dokan solo – 7/10
This song is really fun and is about the workers moving the rocks for Edo castle around. The chorus is really fun. I don’t think Dokan’s actor has the best voice ever but the song is written in a more traditional style which I think compliments his voice and brings out the best from him. Very solid song that I liked.
Samidare Dokan duet – 5/10
I honestly don’t know if it’s the song writer not exactly getting it for this song or if it’s the singers but for most of this song it really does not sound great. Their voices do not harmonise well for the most part, except one harmony that was quite nice. Dokan’s actor really doesn’t sound good in this song and I think the main reason it made it to even 5/10 was because Shogo managed to hit some of hit notes very well. I really really hope this song improves for the final show.
Tenkai solo – 7/10
I really really enjoy the Buddhist chanting. I think it sounds really good with the song. Tenkai’s actor does not have a very good voice but he doesn’t sing too much in the song and the chanting covers for him a little.
Buzen Dokan duet – 4/10
This is a reprise of Dokan’s solo but with Buzen singing the first half of the song. I really don’t think Yuta sounds good singing in this style. I didn’t hear much tension from either of their voices for this song so I honestly don’t know if this song will improve, the song style just doesn’t seem to fit Yuta’s voice. While I still really enjoy the chorus, I don’t think either actor sang this well at all and I am just glad there weren’t any harmonies in this song.
Buzen solo – 8/10
Yuta really redeems himself in this song. His voice sounds really great and the emotion is definitely there. While not every note is perfect, it is worlds better than the previous song. He really nails the bits that require more projecting of his voice, mostly, and he has a nice contrast between rough and soft.
Kuwana solo reprise – 9/10
This song is much shorter, so he basically gets +2 for every line that he nails. His voice wavers a little on the first line hence why it is a 9/10 but definitely getting there for this song.
Kuwana Murakumo duet – 7/10
I do like this song, but it’s not terribly well sung by Tomoya and Seiichan has his moments as well. I really hope this is just due to it being the first night as I see a lot of promise in the song and am very excited to hear it with a little more hitting the notes.
Taira no Masakado solo reprise – 6/10
I think they wrote this song as a little too aggressive as with the shouting he has to do as part of this song his voice suffers a lot. While I get it has to be aggressive because he is attacking them and is now cursed/vengeful spirit/HRA but I feel like they could have managed the aggressiveness with the song actually sounding good a bit better.
Oodenta Sohayanotsurugi duet – 7/10
Pretty good song. Pretty solid singing from both of them. It’s very short so I don’t really have many notes.
Sohayanotsurugi Oodenta duet – 7/10
This was pretty difficult to rate. Masaki’s voice is not amazing in this song, but he carries the emotion it is meant to have, really well. Raita is doing amazingly as always, and their harmonies are good I just didn’t feel like I could put it above 7 because of Masaki’s voice.
Full cast song – 8/10
The song starts off with just Masakado and then the other humans join in then the swords too.
I think the beginning solo bit from Bishin is his best singing in the show, he manages to do the shouting but still sound really good and I love his voice in this song.
I think Tenkai and Dokan’s actors also sound incredible in this song for the most part.
There is a little bit in the middle where some of the humans and swords sing individually and like everyone missed their notes and harmonies which brought this song down from a 10 because it starts and ends beautifully with incredible singing and harmonies. They just need to tighten the bit in the middle and make sure everyone is nailing their parts.
At the very end of the song Suishinshi has a solo bit and I wasn’t quite sure if it was the same song or a different song, but I included it with this one for now. Seiya sounds really good and it ties up the song well with well sung solo parts at the beginning and end.
Suishinshi solo – 10/10
Sung beautifully. Pretty short but there are not faults with it.
All sword song/End of first half song – 7/10
This song is beautifully written. The vocals are very hit and miss though. When they hit the notes, they sound amazing, but when they don’t it is pretty dire. For the most part the harmonies are good and I hope they can just perfect the solo lines.
INTERVAL
(I’m guessing the song title) Revolution – 10/10
Very solid start to the idol section. The music and dancing slap so hard. This song is really fun and just so great.
Sohaya Oodenta idol duet – 10/10
Masaki sounds so much better and way more confident here. This song is really really good and just sounds amazing.
Kiyomaro and Suishinshi duet – 7/10
It kinda seems like Masaki and these two have reversed. Masaki sounds much better in the idol songs and these two sound worse. Their slightly off-pitch for a couple of notes. The chorus, which is so adorable, is absolutely perfect but some of their solo bits aren’t the best.
Gou4 song – 8/10
The beginning doesn’t have the strongest vocals and I don’t really like the way it seems to be meant to sound at the beginning, but I quite like the rest of the song. Again, Yuta gets the wrong pitch occasionally when he sings but does seem like he’s working on it and getting better.
1st 2nd layer song – 10/10
They have a dance break section at the beginning and the music slaps as does the music for the entire song. It has a very modern feel to it but then it adds some jazz instruments and then Raita, who is a professional beatboxer, does some beatboxing and it just sounds so good. This song is more spoken than sung but no complaints about the singing.
2nd 2nd layer song – 10/10
Another really fun song. Pretty solid singing from everyone. I can’t really fault anything.
3rd layer song – 9/10
I do really like this song and it is a really different 3rd layer song to most of the ones we’ve had before. For the dance thing in the performance. (previous shows have had like ribbons, blankets and spinning lights) They had all of the swords playing the taiko drums. I would have liked maybe something that he hadn’t seen before as we have taiko drums in every 3rd layer song normally, but it was very well done. Not every note was perfect, hence why it isn’t a 10 but once they can nail that it will be.
Touken Ranbu reprise – 10/10
Just as good as the first one. Still loving the new arrangement.
Direction: All the blocking and choreography stuff was very well done. I am a bit nervous about that this show is indicating for the future of Toumyu and if the story doesn’t follow through this show is gonna seem much worse in retrospect so I think the director should be very careful as he continues with the next few shows.
Other things:
This really feels like the start of the Toumyu story arc. Of course, we had already got hints of it in shows like Tsuwamono and Kishou Hongi, but this has really kicked it off in a big way. I think what they have done is quite dangerous and may possibly alienate some people from Toumyu as this show was very complicated and a lot of Japanese fans were also extremely confused. I really hope people stick with Toumyu and that this arc is handled well and that confusing shows like this don’t become the norm. I am positively apprehensive.
Honestly, I did really like this show and I thought it was interesting, but I wouldn’t like to see any other Toumyu shows quite as complicated as this. I think it was good as a once off but I think I would be a bit put off Toumyu if they kept doing shows like this.
I will say I did not see the point in Oodenta and Sohayanotsurugi in this show. While both actors did very well, and their songs were for the most very enjoyable they played almost no part in the story. The only important role they had was one scene where Kiyomaro asks him about Mikazuki because they are both Tenka Goken but even if that he doesn’t really answer. I wouldn’t normally bring this up but since they had 8 people instead of 6, I felt like I should say this. I do think it was a bit of a mistake to go up to 8 for this show, especially as it was so complicated and so I think other things didn’t quite get the time they deserved because of Oodenta and Sohayanotsurugi being there.
Overall: Very good but also depends on where Toumyu goes from here.
GUYS! The drinking theme this time is’ drink every time I say ‘I want to punch (insert part of the Messiah cast or staff here)’.
Official Site here
Official Twitter here
Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Video Coverage
PreOrder DVD here
---
Cast and Characters
Izawa Yuuki as Ariga Ryo
Sugie Taishi as Kagami Itsuki
Nagae Ryuuki as Miike Mayo
Yamaoki Yuuki as Yuugi Kotaru
Hashimoto Shinichi as Kogure Jun
Yamamoto Ikkei as Hinamori Senju
Otsuka Kousuke as Dr.THREE
Kotani Yoshikazu as Kuroko
Yamada James Takeshi as Salyut
Miyagi Koudai as Souk
Araki Kentaro as Cheka
Nishino Ryuta as Tetsu/Tecchan
Toyoshima Kyousuke as Touya
Murata Mitsu as Hangedman
Nakahara Yuya as Ichijima Harumi
Ensemble: Hosokawa Akihiro, Kitamura Kai, Uraei Kenji, Hisada Yuki, Ishigami Ryuya, Sakamoto Kazuki, Takenaka Ryota
*
NON-SPOILER REVIEW
Overall: This was good. I enjoyed it all the way through, I was hooked and entertained. The action as usual doesn’t disappoint and there’s an (Koudai, and Itsuki x Ariga’s fight) amazing step up in the action and fighting scenes and techniques which I loved. I’m glad we got a LOT more info on the new cadets. However, (oh jesus here I go) I am thoroughly pissed off at everything Ichijima did -- I hate this guy with a passion if you didn’t know. I also feel there were too many storylines; we REALLY didn’t need those ‘two young ex(?)-terrorists on the run’ story line... and the second half of the stage with Ariga’s twist plot was a little stupid too. There was a bit too much repetition too; some couples fighting over and over. Also so many fires shot and no one died from them?! Come on! Someone should’ve died! About 4 people get at least two shots into their body and then go ages without seeing a doctor, by reality: someone (or most of them) should’ve died. And I didn’t really cry either -- the only time tears burst out of me was at a Mamiya reference.
Rating: 7/10
*
SPOILER REVIEW
Lets get started shall we....
Story
Itsuki has to get a surgery to remove the chip in his brain so that no one can control him again, yet the price would be that he might lose his memory in the process. All the while, their graduation mission ends up being ‘Kill Ichijima Harumi’. While that’s going on two guys have decided to betray their group and flee along with a disc that has a computer programme on it for nuclear(?) bombs, which Sakura end up deciding to protect; especially when it turns out Cheka is back and working with Hanged Man. Part of their mission is to go to an island with a tower named the Tower of Babel and infiltrate and stop the terrorists groups so they can reunite the south and north sides of the island -- especially when so many important natural resources are there. And then we get Salyut and Souk who are there so Salyut can find his father, but also get involved with Sakura once more.
--
As you can tell... there’s quite too many plots lines going on at once.
*
Izawa Yuuki and Sugie Taishi - of course they gave amazing performances, I wouldn’t expect nothing less and they gave nothing less. It was so great seeing them SO freaking close <3 3rd row was a lovely sight! Izawa is so freaking handsome <3 I understand WHY they did it but I think the whole Ariga ‘losing his memory and then working with his best friend (and his childhood friend, wtf?!) Hangedman’ was complete bullshit. They could’ve handled it a different way. It would’ve been ore interesting IF Itsuki had gotten the surgery, lost his memory and HE was the one taken in by HoppouRengo. Makes more sense to me in my opinion.
I didn’t cry at all in this until Ariga was like ‘I’m not alone... I have Itsuki... 間宮はここにいる / and I have Mamiya here (in my heart) too’ and I burst out crying and smacked my hand against my mouth. It was like a 30second burst of massive tears.
And I got VERY angry at Itsuki towards the end, when he walked on with a violin and then later takes the violin out and is like ‘I’ve been practising’ and starts playing it; why they keep trying to ruin Mamiya’s image even more?! I really do feel like the staff (after the stage where they killed Mamiya) got way more complaints than they anticipated and have kind of taken any moment to be like ‘we’re so sorry we pissed so many of you off with the Mamiya story line, so here’s any chance we can to mention him and hopefully you’ll forgive us?’ but it’s just worked the other way for me; just makes me more mad and when Itsuki pulled that move, I was about to get out my chair.
Another moment was that, there’s about 3 or 4 scenes of just Ariga and Itsuki fighting and there’s even a point (I think) where both of them are shot to shit yet they’re still alive while yelling and fighting each other -- wtf?! It got really repetitive.
The main plot itself was kinda of stupid with Itsuki like ‘But if I get the surgery, I might forget you Ariga’ it was OBVIOUS Ariga would stay by his side to help him remember?! SO what was the point of that whole plot line?! Jut get the surgery straight away and stop wasting our time with that plot line. I GET why it had to be in the stage but just... common sense! He’d make you remember and get to know him again!
I did kind of like the whole ‘Shirasaki and Yuuri are helping us!’ and it’s thanks to Neocromancer that Itsuki gets control of his brain again but just... that was a WHOLE stage ago; get over it with the Yuuri shit.
I really, really loved this one fight between Itsuki and Ariga where they really go at each other at full power: their fighting seemed SO realistic(!!!). I was actually worried they were going to hit each other; they used such power and at a fast speed, and it was such a good moment for fighting choreography that it really looked real! I can’t explain it.It was an amazing fight sequence though! I was super, super impressed!
Their ending was great too! Their grad outfits are so badass!
And someone sent Izawa flowers with a freaking violin in it!!
Nagae Ryuuki and Yamaoki Yuuki - which dumb fuckers thought these two wouldn’t be Messiahs? It was so fucking obvious. I can’t believe ANYONE would think any different. Yuugi even said in Akatsuki ‘I’d hate you to be my Messiah’ that’s Basic 101 of foreshadowing and storytelling and setting up the obvious plot line of them being Messiahs! It was so predictable my pet dog could’ve predicted it and I don’t even have a dog! That’s how obvious ti was! Anyway, I digress.
It’s actually super strange: I hated the new cadets to begin with but for some reason I really, really liked Miike in this one. I want to know more about him. And I like they were paired together (as obviously predicted!). They definitely set up some interesting plots with these two... First we have the whole ‘not wanting to be Messiahs’ yet by the end of this stage Yuugi is desperately trying to save Miike when he gets heavily injured, and Miike is like ‘I thought you didn’t want to be my Messiah... do you finally accept it?’, and then he next says ‘but unfortunately I’m not someone who dies’ which made me think back to Polar Night when he seemed to have supernatural abilities or something, so something else is going on with him. We also have a conversation of how Yuugi used to be religious but now he knows there is no god and Miike just flat out being ‘there was never a god. How could you believe?!’. We ALSO have Miike going a bit crazy and being like ‘I WANT TO BE KILLED BY YOU YUUGI!’ which to me was like ‘he more crazy than I was anticipating! But also that’s kinda sexy and I’m all about that...’ AND we also have Yuugi going ‘there’s someone I want to kill with these hands’ and Miike is like ‘you’re exactly the same as me funnily enough’ but out of ear shot of Yuugi. So they definitely caught my interest. I might carry on Messiah for them (especially if Koudai, James, Asato and Naoya -- jesus christ give me Naoya back please! - are back for the next stage), that’s how much their relationship interested me. I really, really hope it turns out that the person Yuugi wants to kill IS Miike.
Hashimoto Shinichi and Yamamoto Ikkei - I spent the entire stage going ‘Ask him Kogure! Ask him!! Tell him Ichijima! Tell him!!!’ but in the end Ichijima was like ‘you want to know if I’m your father? ... *whispers something inaudible* You are me’
And my reaction was:
Swear to god if he’s a genetically modified clone baby of Ichijima, I’m gunna punch the director in the face.
2017.09.06 Edit: Just realised I kind of didn’t talk about Kogure at all xD we got to see him being less stable and breaking down, after Ichijima kidnaps him and beats the living crap out of him, in this one which was great. I loved towards the end how hes’s like ‘I’m gunna find Ichijima and kill him’ so he’s been completely pissed off by Ichijima which was great to see! There’s also a scene towards the end where Ikkei helps him get to safety, but then both of them have the same thought of ‘fuck it’ and come running back ingot the theatre to help the other cadets. It’s going to be interesting seeing these two bond over their hatred for Ichijima. End Edit
And then we have Ikkei’s character who clearly has hate towards Ichijima and he’s not quite right in the head. He’s got a sadistic side to him; you can tell by the way he smiles when he fights. Unfortunately that’s all I picked up about him. I don’t know how he and Hashimoto will work as a pair BUT since both of them have beef with Ichijima and both hate Ichijima (bet they don’t hate him as much as I do!!!!!), I hope they do a double murder on Ichijima and then become like a badass anti-Sakura group...ooooh that would be fucking awesome! Rather than Terrorist-turns-Sakura (which we’ve seen before) it’d be great to see Sakura-turned-Terrorist group happen! I just really want Ichijima dead okay...
Otsuka Kousuke and Kotani Yoshikazu - this ended up being a pairing I was surprised to see and actually wanted. They were a good combination and Dr. Three just took all the crap and humour and jokes Kuroko had xD he even ended up joining in towards the end of the stage.
Kuroko... my precious Kuroko.... he had so much more comedy in this one! He hit so many of them with his slipper and it made amazing sounds and was very funny every time! He also ended up as acting leader of Sakura for a while which was awesome! I wish he’d stayed as the head... there was also a funny moment when Dr.Three tells him he has to become the boss (bosu) but all Kuroko hears is him being called ugly (busu) which was funny xD He also makes a joke of how tall the Tower of Babel is and says ‘that’s like 9000 Ichijima’s! It’s three times taller than skytree!’
But... I’m surprised we’re just going to ignore that he killed Misu-san though... it hasn’t affected him in Akatsuki OR this stage... I thought he’d be a bit... emotionally unstable but he was more energetic and fun as usual.
But I do love Kuroko and he kept everyone entertained ^_^ another time he sniffs Ichijima’s jacket and is immediately like ‘umm... I’ll go wash it’ xD
Yamada James Takeshi and Miyagi Koudai - Koudai really impressed me this stage. I’ve only ever seen him in Tenimyu and I knew he was playing a rather sexy guy in Brave10 and I knew he was in SSL but I haven’t seen either of those two, so I didn’t really have an opinion of him -- and in ALL honesty, I thought he was the same guy as the one who played Reiji in PuriSute... ANYWAY, I really liked his character in this! There’s any good things about him; he’s a good combination with James, I liked their interactions. His fighting style is both bad ass and sexy. He doesn’t use any weapons, just his fists and body and my oh my, did he use those legs to wrap himself around many of them... he was on top of quite a few of them some times too... it was real sexy... I think there was a part with him and Ikkei wrapped around each other and on the floor and rolled around and I was like ‘please do carry on’. I am very much looking forward to see more of his sexy fighting style xD
Another thing about him is even though he’s in loads of layers, you can still see how TINY his waist is and his nice his body is! I knew he was on a diet for Brave10 but that’s finished so surely he’s been eating normally again, but still he has a wonderfully slim waist! I couldn’t not look.
James was just as pretty as ever with that hair of his. And his face <3 so close, I got such a good look at him ^_^ I was surprised that his motivation this time around was to find his dad who was taken under Specter. I was even MORE surprised when he ends up offering and helping Sakura! WTF?! But we did get a few moments of Izawa and James fighting each other which I enjoyed obviously <3 such a shame we won’t see them two fight each other again =‘[ I’d pay just to have a stage of them fighting each other... I wonder who his dad turns out to be.... I’m sure it’ll get revealed and I’ll be excited to see!
But swear to god, they make Koudai and James the new Misu and Amane pair; I’m gunna punch the director in the face. Same goes for the new purple kids; if they become major roles and something similar to Amane and Misu; I’m gunna punch the scriptwriter in the face.
Araki Kentaro as Cheka - I was surprised how they brought him back! I thought he was going to be a flashback piece but turns out, he didn’t die in Akatsuki. Pretty sure he’s dead this time though, we saw him collapse this time around. He is a very sexy character and a very sexy man.... He did a great job. I can’t praise him enough.
Nishino Ryuta and Toyoshima Kyousuke - can we not? They were super pointless. Their story line was super ridiculous too. Their storyline was something like ‘they decided to run away from their terrorist group while still holding an important computer programme disc and get the protection of Sakura’. What the actual ********. We could just not have this plotline and the stage wouldn’t have suffered. Why.... WHY were they here?! And I almost lost my shit when Ichijima asked them if they wanted to join Sakura - I was like ‘PLEASE NO NEW CADETS!’ but they refused -- thank god. I hope they aren’t back in the next stage but they probs will be -__- they didn’t need to be in this. Them nor their storyline was needed..
Murata Mitsu - this guy is always amazing at whatever role he does. I was so happy to have him back in Messiah. But for GODSAKE. Can Ariga stop killing everyone he’s fucking paired with?! Ariga killed his Messiah Mamiya. He almost killed Itsuki multiple times in this one. And he ended up killing his old friend Hangedman in this! What the actual fuck. Y’know Ariga, YOU’RE the one who needs to be shot and killed; NONE of the ones you killed! *breathes* sorry...
Hangedman’s story ended up being somewhat very human and very real and sad and it kind of touched my heart and ended up liking him.... especially because there’s a cute, funny adlib/comedy scene between him and Ariga which melted my heart towards him (goddammit script writers! We’re supposed to hate him!), it was such a cute and good scene for them.
2017.09.06 EDIT: However, I am a little concerned and feel like this relationship was sloppy writing... Ariga has met Hangedman many times throughout the Messiah series but not once did he really seem to show he knew him nor imply or hint was even childhoods/best friends with him. Have I missed this point in a previous sage or did they really create this random relationship just solely for this stage and storyline? End EDIT
Nakahara Yuya - Ugh look who it is: Ichijima himself! First we get the mission to ‘Kill Ichijima’ came up, I was actually shocked; my mouth dropped down. But then he ended up being on the terrorist side and I was like ‘about FUCKING time this secret came out! I KNEW it!’ but then he does another switch-a-roo and IS actually on Sakura’s side and I was like ‘*flips table* FUCK this bullshit.’ because I have not once, not ever trusted Ichijima; it makes so much fucking sense for him to be on the bad side and for him to get killed by Sakura but oh no ‘hahaha just joking guys, I am really on Sakura’s side’ bullshit really pissed me off. AND THEN to make it worse he did that bullshit move to Kogure and THEN!! Ariga didn’t kill him! I gave the biggest fucking sigh and loads of people around me heard. I fucking want this tosspot dead asap! He should’ve been dead STAGES ago, but ‘due to popular demand’ the fuckers brought him back into Messiah! << I want punch the casting and director who made this decision. I’ve never liked him, he should die, he’s not a nice person, he’s manipulative as fuck, I HATE him. JUST DIE!
*takes a break*
*
EXTRAS
A gun went flying off stage tonight and some of them had to do finger guns because they were down a prop - seriously, how do you NOT have backups?! I’d have a whole stock of guns ready! During curtain call the first thing Sugie talked about was apologising for the gun falling of stage. It sounded like it didn’t hit or hurt anyone but they were very apologetic, but you could feel the whole room like ‘we really don’t care. Please don’t waste your time apologising. We don’t mind what happened,’ but obviously if it had been filming day, people would’ve been annoyed.
Also during curtain call, Izawa and Sugie both looked to the right at the same time and they both looked straight at me for a bit longer than they should’ve.... I was starting to feel the sweat xD
*
On the way home, I saw this guy with really nice hair in a bun and I immediately went “Araki?!... nah it won’t be... it can’t be.... *he turns to go down the stairs* HOLY SHIT IT IS ARAKI!! HE’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!! SHIIIIT I LOOK LIKE A STALKER!!! I LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE A STALKER!! I’M JUST GOING TO THE TRAIN STATION!!! WE’RE GOING TO THE SAME TRAIN STATION! OMG ARAKI!!!! ... be cool... be cool” I freaked the fuck out internally.
*
Speaking of idiots I want to punch; I want to punch myself! WHY did I preorder the DVD?! Seriously, I just ant the backstage and extra bonus disc stuff. I really don’t care much for this stage -- I’m sure in time it’ll grown on me and grown in my brain but right now, I’m kinda okay with never seeing this stage again. This one is supposed to be my last Messiah stage anyway so, trying to push those ‘throw away’ feelings to the front xD
*
There we go! My rather quick recap of Messiah xD I kinda wanted to get this out fairly quickly because, unlike most of my other reviews, Messiah is one that people actually read and want to know about.
2017.04.05 StarMyuMyu/ High School Star Musical: The Musical! [Review]
I got to see this beauty Wednesday afternoon! I really enjoyed the anime when it originally came out in 2015. In anticipation of this musical, I, of course, rewatched the anime earlier this year and still enjoyed it!! ^_^ so naturally, I was hyped for this musical! Especially because it has some amazing names in there such as Sugie Taishi, Suzuki Shougo, Sakurai Keito and many more!
Official Website here
Official Twitter here
Press 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Dress Rehearsal Videos 1, 2, 3
PreOrder DVD/BR here and here and here and here
CAST and CHARACTERS
Team Otori:
Sugie Taishi as Hoshitani Yuta
Yamanaka Shouta as Nayuki Toru
Arthur Lounsberry as Tsukigami Kaito
Suzuki Shougo as Tengenji Kakeru
Takahashi Kensuke as Kuga Shu
Team Hiragi:
Sakurai Keito as Rui Tatsumi
Kitagawa Naoya as Sawatari Eigo
Tanzawa Seiji as Inumine Seishiro
Takano Akira as Toraishi Izumi
Hoshimoto Yuzuki as Ugawa Akira
Student Council:
Hatakeyama Ryo as Hiragi Tsubasa
Kiyama Haruki as Otori Itsuki
Takizawa Ryo as Akatsuki Kyoji
Tsurimoto Minami as Yuzuriha Christian Lion
Taka as Sazanami Sakuya
Ensemble: Yamamoto Teppei, Takashi Yukiya, Yamauchi Ryohei, Sawabe Neo, Shinkai Rio and Obigane Ryota
---
Non-Spoiler Review: I think this is the most well produced musical I’ve seen live from 2.5. And yes that means I think it’s better than TouMyu in terms of dance and singing skills. This is very faithful to the anime BUT they’ve taken one major point out so they could put one entire season of the anime into a 2 hour 30 minute musical. Overall the actors performances were great and while some characterizations were off, I was completely in this world and was with these characters and I enjoyed myself immensely. If you’re a fan of the anime and the actors then you’re going to love this.
Rating: 9/10
---
I’ll try and remain un-bias BUT that ain’t going to happen, because in my opinion: I freaking loved it and think it’s the most highly produced musical I’ve ever seen in person! But anyway, onto the long review!
I was super lucky to get smack bang in the middle on the 8th row! It was surprisingly close! Also the girl next to me was Chinese and the girl in front of me is/was rank 581 on Ensemble Stars (a mobile game I am somewhat obsessed with).
Okay now to head into spoiler territory.
General/Random Comments:
Ohhhh a great thing about being smack in the middle and 8th row(!!!) is that it’s perfect height for where the actors naturally just look out blankly so it looks like they’re looking straight at you even though you can tell they’re just starring out into nothing in concentration but it was a nice feeling xD
By the intermission I was convinced I needed to get Shougo and Keito’s bromides and naturally once the show finished I did! ^_^ BUT one thing you all ought to know about me; I am a person who HATES intermissions. I cannot stand them. Unless they’re like TouMyu (or the last K stage)’s where it’s a break between the stage and the live, (those I can deal with) BUT any other type of intermission, I do NOT want. Because everytime there’s an intermission my energy and hyperness for the stage goes. I get drained instantly and slumpy. And the intermission in StarMyu was no different. The first half of this musical, I was pumped, I was loving every part, I was drinking it all in. POST intermission; I can’t even tell you what happened the first 10 or 20 minutes to be honest, I vaguely remember and knowing the anime I know what happened. However, due to the intermission, at the beginning of part two, I was so taken out of it and I started feeling uncomfortable and sleepy << this is what I call my ‘Post Intermission Slumb’ and it happens ALL the freaking time. So yes I would rather have watched this 2 hour 30 minute play without a break. Hell I managed TouStage which was OVER 3 hours without a break. PLEASE stop doing intermissions stages and musicals, for my concentration’s sake! *cries* xD
About the Performances:
Everyone is a really good singer. I was a little unsure about Sugie and Takahashi before they started but they were good; you can tell Takahashi has definitely improved once again since I last saw him, and while Sugie couldn’t really sing high notes, he matched really well with others; especially his duet with Otori their voices matches very well. Yuzuki sounded a little rough in his first song, but was fine in the rest of the songs. Also Yuzuki does my pet peeve of miming along to other people’s lyrics in songs... I really hate when people do that... it’s why I hated Fujigaya for KisMyFt2 for the longest time. I can’t stand people who mime to other peoples lines in songs... it’s a strange pet peeve I know but... moving on(!)...
The ensembles’ dancing was so flawless and fluid and fun to watch! Also, speaking of dancing, I really enjoyed Sugie’s solo part where he had to dance and he can dance damn well! I enjoyed it a lot!
Of course I shed a tear just after the boys learnt Otori had gone and Hoshitani is like a lost soul and all ‘but what do we do now?! We need Otori! I need Otori!’ and then when Otori turns up and is like ‘it’s not me you need, it’s your team mates’ and they do a duet together and yes the feels were hit.
BUT I’m a little annoyed they didn’t do my favourite Nayuki x Hoshitani scene. They started the scene where Nayuki is like ‘we need you! you’re our leader! Without you, I would never have gotten into this group! Without you, this team wouldn’t be as great’ and I was sat there like ‘come on with the ‘I like you’ Nayuki, come on!’ and Nayuki goes ‘I have something I want to say’ and I thought ‘it’s here!’ but he ends up saying something else and I was like ‘NOOOOO! You’re supposed to tell him you like him!!!’ so I was upset they cut that out BUT I can understand why they cut it out.... but still -__-
Also I wish we got full performances from Team Hiragi and Team Otori. How they did it was they would do the opening properly singing and performing, and then in order to cut to the council members talking, the music would quieten and their voice on the CD/song would continue quietly while they continued dancing and lipsyncing the lyrics. I just want FULL performances!! No one cares what the Student Council think!! Just give us a full performance! Having the constant switch between them properly performing and them pulling the spotlights on the student council was too distracting and we ALL know we’re there for Team Otori and Team Hiragi (both characters and actors) so why do that?!
Seriously that pirate performance!!!! I was looking forward to it ever since my friend, Emma, mentioned and reminded me that Team Hiragi’s theme is pirates! I love almost anything to do with pirates so when they came on, I was like ‘YES!!!!’ And we got to see them on boat which had been made from the stairs and apparatus’, and they got swords and were fighting as well as dancing and singing and it was so god!! They all sounded awesome together too!
Although, I feel like the ending was rushed a little. It felt like very quickly the storm came and very quickly Team Hiragi walked in and was like ‘here’s what you can do!’ and then Team Hiragi performed and straight away after that Team Otori performed and it ENDED as soon as Team Otori finished their song(!). Meaning that there were no competition results or anything. In fact they didn’t really even state it was a competition, just that they all had to perform. So that’s a major part of the plot that they took out to save time. But, as stated, I didn’t like that ending. I would’ve preferred there to be a little more; for example: they perform and Otori shows up and says they did well or like they finish performing and they’re like ‘lets continue and do better next time *star sign* yay!’ and finish. Just a bit more something rather than ‘perform *black out* curtain call’ which was a bit too quick for me.
I noticed and felt during the curtain call that a tear or two fell down the sides of my face, and I was like ‘what?...damn I enjoyed it that much?’ normally I’m completely aware of when I’m crying but they just slipped out this time to my surprise.
The curtain calls were so cute for several reasons! First was at the end of the first curtain call Naoya put his arm around Keito, and Keito put his around Naoya’s and they walked off xD Then during the speeches Sugie pointed out that three of the guys (Akira, Yuzuki and someone else) were still 19 and then he went ‘and then this guy. This 30 year old! Oi!!! 30 year old!’ and Kiyama had his back to Sugie and eventualy turned around and went ‘oh me? Nah I’m still 19 too!’ xD Then, at the end of the second curtain call I saw Keito and Naoya practically walk off holding hands <3 Keito waited til the view could be almost fully blocked, but he very obviously looked down to see where Naoya’s hand was and then latched on xD it was adorable!!!!
Individual Remarks:
Team Otori
Sugie Taishi as Hoshitani Yuta: As mentioned before, he wasn’t the best singer but he was good eough and he matched during duets and in group songs with the other members very well! I’ve seen him sing quite a few times and for some reason I still always sit and wonder ‘can this guy even sing?!’ xD
I think Sugie tripped up the stairs when he was on the phone to Shouta in the cat searching scene, but it was so funny and cute and it totally fit his character so it was okay xD also towards the end of the lunch box ‘fight’, someone (I think Akira) grabbed onto Sugie who then grabbed onto Kiyama (by mistake it seemed or too forceful than he should’ve) and Kiyama tried to get out of it and ran across the stage going ‘my hair!!’ xD
Yamanaka Shouta as Nayuki Toru: His voice is so high! It was a perfect fit for Nayuki and I think he did a great job as Nayuki too! Unfortauntely not as cute BUT he did the personality perfectly. Also he’s got really nice legs. Not the skinny rat ones like more Japanese actors (I’m looking at you Keito, Takahashi, dare I go on.), he has proper, decent looking legs that look like they’ve got some sort of muscle build xD and he’s short enough that his legs look cute haha ALSO fucking Takahashi is a giant! He looked so ridiculous next to EVERYONE, especially Shouta because of the eight difference xD good job TonChan didn’t do this stage >.< oh god help us in HakuMyu... by the way, I’ve met Ton-Chan, just rubbing that in there xD ANYWAY! I am happy with Yamanaka’ overall performance of Nayuki *thumbs Up*
Arthur Lounsberry as Tsukigami Kaito: Seriously, Arthur though must burn at least 3000 calories a day just from his blinking! I’ve never seen anyone blink so much in my life! I was starting to crack up because of how much he blinked xD Also, maybe it’s because Arthur is a newbie actor (?) or just because he wanted to make the character more serious but I felt his Tsukigami was very unemotional. He had the exact same expression the entire way through. His face just stayed the same, even when he was singing there was no alteration to his facial features which I found a little unnerving and makes me feel like he’s a bit of an amateur actor. BUT I am wiling to give the StarMyu Anime a THIRD viewing just to prove it is just part of the character rather than Arthur himself. I wanna give him the benefit of the doubt. But yeah, the lack of facial expression and/or change in his face, even when singing, was something that really drew my attention.
Suzuki Shougo as Tengenji Kakeru: Do I really need to talk about this mother chucker of a stage god?Seriously, Shougo... seriously! It’s Shougo! I could listen to him sing all day! He completely takes the room and his voice is so nice! Seriously, does he not have any solo singles or albums out?! I want them!! I want them all! And just as I predicted he looked MUCH better in real life as Tengenji unlike that AWFUL visual poster we got to begin with xD his bromides are nice too! *see bottom of post* Shougo did his job, he did a brilliant job, I thoroughly loved his solo song performance and his kimono costume and fan for it. Also the ‘acting’ scene with Takahashi with is momentarily them pretending to be Romero (Taka) and Juliet (Shougo) was hilarious. Shougo never backs down from comedy and always gives his all <3 OH MY! His cat scene too was COMPLETELY adorable!! <3
Takahashi Kensuke as Kuga Shu: Holy moly Takahashi! Whenever he was on stage too, I could not look away. He’s just LONG; his legs and arms are so long and skinny. AND it did not help that every movement he did was just so sexy; he was just dripping in sexiness seriously - and I don’t even think he was trying to be sexy all the time(!). BUT I also could not unsee Hachi and Ultraman in this face xD And, as said before, he towered over everyone which was super funny especially when he was stood next to poor Shouta xD
Takahashi played Kouga a bit more openly and more talkative than I would’ve wanted. In the anime Kuga is very reserved and a man of few words and only really speaks when necessary but in this I noticed Takahashi was WHOLE monologues and tons of lines, and I personally feel that’s NOT the Kuga I know BUT Takahashi is a suave and popular guy, I guess you just gotta give him more lines (so he gets more money). But on a positive, Kuga turned out to be such a sweetie and so adorable, for example: when he’s playing the piano and then eats ramen (which he actually did on stage!), but when he’s finished, his stomach rumbles (pretty sure this is a scene in the anime too) but denies to Nayuki that he’s still hungry but Nayuki makes him food anyway <3 ; another part is towards the end when Hoshitani learns that his luck for the day is really bad unless he shakes hands with someone and he pulls a hand out to Tengenji who rejects him, then to Tsukigami who also rejects him, and then Kuga holds his hand out but because Hoshitani has his back to him only the audience and Tengenji sees and everyone is like ‘awwww’ while Hoshitani and Nayuki decide to shake hands instead. But then an announcement comes out so Nayuki moves before Hoshitani can shake his hand so another awwww from the audience xD poor Hoshitani, but mainly poor Kuga xD
Team Hiragi:
Sakurai Keito as Rui Tatsumi: Keito... Keito is so freaking precious guys! First he super suits the whole short blonde hair and green eyes! Seriously he looks so good!! Secondly, Keito is freaking adorable, and his legs are so tiny! Thirdly, he can dance and sing and is so cute!!! Did a mention who cute, precious and adorable he is? Because seriously, he is! He did a great Rui which when I first saw the announcement, I wasn’t sure about BUT Keito really does have this softness and delicacy to him that i can now totally see why they hired him for Rui. Also during the fight scene between Hoshitani and Ugawa and Keito puts a hand in front of Ugawa or pulls him back and is like ‘no’ and how Ugawa just obeys him! I really liked their interactions with each other in the stage! And there’s a cute part/adlib with Tanzawa which I’ll mention later. Keito as a pirate seriously! I am so glad I got his bromides and his sakura bromide is the best! I kind like how awkward he looks in the bromides even though he DOES look much better in real life. He’s like Takasaki Shouta; more more handsome in person than in photos. Keito can do no wrong <3 Guys, I could VERY easily become a Keito fan, but I’m not gunna allow myself... for many reasons... but seriously... I really do enjoyed whatever the hell he does.
Kitagawa Naoya as Sawatari Eigo: I’m going to be honest, I purpose didn’t pay attention to him all that much BECAUSE I know my friend is seeing the stage for him very soon and I didn’t wanna pay attention and end up spoiling his performance for her ^_^ BUT what I will say is that I enjoyed his performance and he looked really good in the pirate suit and eye patch. He seemed to get along ell with everyone too ^_^ and suited his character. I don’t think he got as much stage time and lines as I was expecting though...
Tanzawa Seiji as Inumine Seishiro: Tanzawa was the comedy relief of the musical. In all honesty, actually, it got about 30 minutes into the musical, and I noticed there hadn’t been ANY comedic relief, and I was starting to worry a bit that this wasn’t going to have any Higawari’s or comedy relief or anything, but then this dumbo walked in and he was so sweet and silly and innocent, but he’s so dumb, but so funny!
Towards the end of the musical, Inu and the gang walk in to say they’ll help Otori team, and Inu throws his icecream (which is a plushie) up to Rui/Keito and unfortunately Keito caught the cream side rather than the cone side and the entire audience started laughing, and Keito just looked at his catch very unimpressed and without even cracking, and slolwly grabbed the cone side. Then Inu decided to climb UP the pole to get to the upper stage which was also hilarious because the pole is RIGHT next to the stairs which also lead up to the upper stage and Ugawa was just looking at him and the stairs like ‘use the stairs idiot’ xD
Takano Akira as Toraishi Izumi: As soon as he came on stage I immediately remembered why he looked so damn familiar. It’s so weird that I’ve seen this kid since he was like 12... he’s growing up so well! Also he reminds me a lot of Suzuki Katsuhiro in terms of how he looks. I really, really enjoyed (maybe a bit too much) his grey t-shirt that he wore when they were in their practise gear. His shirt is like wide at the top so you can get a good view of his collar bone and stuff - I am just a walking pervert aren’t I... he’s done quite a lot of 2.5 and I’d like to see his other performances, especially his Ichigo. Oh my! His profile is now EX-Dream5 member! So he left to persure 2.5 and acting instead?! wow.... oh wait, they disbanded last year?! Oh this all makes so much sense... anyway(!). I do this this kid will go far, he always had potential, even when he debuted as Dream5, so I’m excited to see what other stages and such he does in the future.
Hoshimoto Yuzuki as Ugawa Akira: I really don’t have much to say about him... I don’t know how to explain my thoughts on his as Ugawa without some people possible taking it the wrong way but the only ways I can describe it is; he played Ugawa very feminine and too feminine, which I never saw in his character in the anime, and I also feel like Yuzuki didn’t play him like a little shit enough. It just sounded like he was moaning the entire time rather than being a mean little shit that he is in the anime. He just wasn’t the juicy little shit that I wanted to back hand which I what you would expect from a performance of Ugawa.
Student Council:
Hatakeyama Ryo as Hiragi Tsubasa: I thought I knew Hatakeyama from somewhere! As soon as he came on stage I thought ‘he looked awfully familiar’ and while he does have the face that quite a few other actors have, when I saw his profile and saw he was in Brother’s Complex, I was like ‘that!!’ xD OH HE WAS ALSO IN SAIYUKI!!! THAT’S HOW I DAMN KNOW HIM!! He’s been in Haikyuu, Amnesia, Kuroko no Basket also, so he’s not exactly unknown xD
Kiyama Haruki as Otori Itsuki: You could tell as soon as Kiyama came on stage that he’s supposed to be in the west end and on broadway. His performance is/was flawless and so captivating, but also has a very narcissistic vibe, and full of ego that it’s obvious he’s from that side of the theatre world. I think he was a bit too egotistic for Otori. Nevertheless, I think he gave an amazing performance, and (like I said) his dances and his singing was flawless and you could not look away when he was on stage. Although BECAUSE of his background, at the beginning of the musical he got two whole (FULL!) songs to perform which I feel is unfair, especially when at the end, the two teams only get to do like half a performance. I understand that because of his background and experience, he’s more capable of pulling off a full performance or two but he is not the main character, so why does he get to do TWO full performances when the main guys got only half a performance? That’s where I think it’s unfair, but I understand WHY he got to do it. I just want to see my boys do a full song performance okay... =[
Not going to like, I didn’t pay even a milisecond of attention to these three; Takizawa Ryo as Akatsuki Kyoji, Tsurimoto Minami as Yuzuriha Christian Lion and Taka as Sazanami Sakuya, EXCEPT I strongly feel like Taka lipsynced the opening song while the other 4 were clearly singing, because he hardly moved his mouth... but other than that, I do not remember their performances at all.
And finally Ensemble: I already talked about how amazing their dance performances were and one of them did catch my eye but I can’t tell you who it is unless I research how tall they all all; pretty much the tallest one is the one who caught my attention.
---
And that’s my review done! I hope that was good enough ^_^
Now the goodies:
Look how adorably awkward Keito looks!! Also Shougo is freaking flawless and beautiful as usual <3
---
I hope you enjoyed that! Have a good evening, day, night, whenever you read this!ke
This is an absolutely fantastic show; being its main topic how alone we can feel even in a hyper-connected world. The story talks about Evan Hansen, a teen-aged boy with anxiety, social awkwardness, and no real friends who breaks his arm during the summer; and a boy in his same school, Connor, another teenage boy who is a rebel, junkie, and suffers from mental problems. When Connor takes his own life, by a series of unrelated events, Evan gets himself involved in a web of lies that give him a glimpse of the life he always wished he had, and can't help but get deeper into it, blind to the consequences.
The music, from the creators of The Greatest Showman soundtrack, conveys all the range of emotions throughout not only Evan's teenage episodes, but through all those he connects with as he continues to build a life that he believes is meant to help others, when in reality it is all for himself. And as good as the music is, actually watching the performances fills in some surprising blanks that lend a dose of even harsher reality to the situations - which call out the loneliness and awkwardness young people feel even in a world of constant connection - and how dangerous the mass influences can be if we don't watch what we do or understand that, anything that goes on line, is there forever.
The performances of the Tampa tour cast were PHENOMENAL - some, in my opinion, even better than the recorded original album cast.
Playwright J.B. Priestley’s social drama, An Inspector Calls, directed by Stephen Daldry (The Reader, The Hours, Trash, TV’s The Crown, Billy Elliot) and now playing in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, unspools a dastardly tale of one woman’s demise in sometimes shocking, sometimes compelling and often dreary and distracting…
