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When The Last Sword Is Drawn Review

So, this show was really special to me; the first Yukigumi show I got to see live. This show means a lot to me, and I’m intensely attached to it – but because I had high expectations, I’m probably ironically also a lot more critical of this show than I was of others that I’ve seen this summer. But let me be clear, while I have some critical notes (mostly to do with the writing), I love this show. I love it so, so much and it will forever mean a lot to me. I cried every single time and found something else to love each show. Please be aware this review contains ALL OF THE spoilers, as I will discuss large portions of the plot in detail. Please forgive me my meandering rambling, as it turns out I have a lot of feelings about this show, and this is both helping me remember everything I saw as well as forming a kind of review. I will also cut this up in two parts because I’ve realised that I ramble on so much about Last Sword that putting MyuRev directly after it would make for a very long read. So, without further ado, here we go. SPOILERS AHEAD.

We open in the early Meiji period, during the preparations for a special international event. For this event, Mrs. Bishop (Maisaki Rin), is teaching a collection of Japanese ladies (geisha and students) a western-style dance. While Hime is having an absolute blast speaking in the most ridiculous weird English you’ve ever heard, they are interrupted by Matsumoto Ryoujun (Nagina Ruumi), his wife Toki (Chikaze Karen), and other entourage, who exposit about the setting for a bit. During a discussion about the opening of Japan to the world, a group of thugs interrupts them quite rudely. Amongst them are Kiraha Reo and Kujou Asu (in the first of both of their two roles in the play). They try to hurt those present but are foiled by the appearance of Saitou Hajime (Asami Jun) and Ikenami Rokusaburou (Agata Sen). The thugs, unaware of who Saitou is, attempt another attack. When however, it becomes evident that they are fighting the Saitou Hajime, they turn tail quick as they can. Big shout-out to Asu here, who creates a moment of utter hilarity by the ridiculous sound she manages to make upon learning Saitou’s name. Only she can make that sound, and it also speaks to Kari and Asu’s talents as actors how much fun they are to watch in this super brief scene. After the thugs have disappeared, we meet Oono Mitsu (Asazuki Kiwa) and her husband Oono Chiaki (Aya Ouka), both medical practitioners. Mitsu walks up to Saitou and shows him a photo of her father, Yoshimura Kanichiro (Nozomi Fuuto). He used to be in the Shinsengumi, as Saitou was, and Mitsu wants to hear from him about her father’s life. Matsumoto and Ikenami involve themselves in the conversation, and the scene shifts from the ‘modern day’ to the time in which the story takes place, beginning in Yoshimura’s youth, before he ever joined the Shinsengumi…

Having discussed this first scene, it brings me to my first real critical note. The scene as described above forms the framing device for this story – the characters we are introduced to in this moment return throughout the story to serve as exposition fodder and comment on the proceedings, while the sets are often being changed. While on the face of it, this kind of framing device can be a very good storytelling tool, I dislike the way it is employed in this musical. The way this is staged is very static, borderline boring, and usually nothing more than a group of people talking in front of a curtain. Rather than frame the story, to me it interrupted the flow of it instead. Although Agata Sen and Maisaki Rin do their utmost best to put some funny and interesting moments in these scenes (with various shenanigans involving English (Hime) and flirting (Agachin), which are certainly entertaining), they can only do so much to mitigate the way the scenes are written. Part of the problem here, as I see it, is that the framing device really is just exposition, and makes no real emotional connection to the story. While for example the script does state that Matsumoto (Kacha) has met Yoshimura, you never get to see that happen on stage. If a friend hadn’t told me explicitly he says this, I would not have known. Here showing, rather than telling, would have done a much better job bringing the stories together, if you ask me. Moreover, because Aasa, Agachin and Ayana -the people that actually knew Yoshimura in the play - all play both their young and old counterparts (so in the story proper as well as in the framing device) they disappear from the framing device about halfway through the play, removing even more of that emotional link to Yoshimura. This is especially stark because when Chiaki disappears, so does Mitsu (who is not played by the same actress in the story and the framing device), which means that the person who asked for the story in the first place is also gone. Suffice it to say, I wish the writing and staging of these scenes had been a lot more imaginative and allowed for more if an emotional connection to the main characters of the plot. This is honestly my major criticism of the show. I have some other nit-picky things that I’m annoyed by, but this one actively lessened my emotional investment in the story, which really is a shame because the story itself is phenomenal.

Now that that’s out of the way, back to the plot (and me gushing about Yukigumi)! As I said, we just went back in time, but not only that, we’ve moved. The scene opens in Morioka, Nambu, on Yoshimura (Daimon), meeting with his soon-to-be-fiancée Shizu (Maaya Kiho). We find them at the moment he asks for her hand in marriage, which she gladly accepts (after some teasing). The affection between them pretty much bursts off the stage, their smiles so wide and happy. We also quickly learn that while Yoshimura isn’t rich, he is both very happy and very well liked. He is a teacher, and as some of his students show up to tease him about Shizu, you can tell that they are incredibly fond of him and respect him a lot. This theme of Yoshimura as a teacher will return later in the play, and always remains a large part of his character. Daimon is instantly likeable, with a kind wide smile and slightly sheepish attitude. As Yoshimura leaves, we meet Oono Jiroemon (Ayakaze Sakina), the lord of this region and Yoshimura’s childhood best friend (As well as Chiaki’s future father, but he hasn’t been born yet). Saki, in this role, also gets abused as an exposition device during various parts of the play, which I think stems from the fact that there is simply too much story to actually play out in 1.5 hours. Jiroemon approaches Shizu and talks with her about their history. As it turns out, Jiroemon and Yoshimura grew up together, as Jiroemon was the illegitimate son of the previous lord of the region. He has since been adopted, and his status has been elevated. While he also had an interest in Shizu, he seems happy for her and Yoshimura, and the friendship between them is very firmly established. Jiroemon is a character very stuck between different worlds, responsibilities, and desires. The following scene sees him meet with his mother (Rika Masumi), whom he is no longer supposed to visit and who has to live away from everyone else due to the situation they are in. There are a few moments when he meets her in this show and honestly, it’s like those scenes are designed to hurt me specifically, as parent-child relationships, especially when being torn apart by something, really get to me. Jiroemon loves his mother a lot, but he cannot really be with her, and in this moment the concepts of the conflict between loyalty to loved ones and duty to the clan are first introduced, which will turn out to be of great importance in Jiroemon’s storyline. We also get a very funny moment, where Jiroemon’s mother decides to tease him about how it’s good that Shizu rejected him. Saki’s face when she does this is really funny and I look forward to being able to see it again when I get my bluray.

All of this is set-up to the inciting incident of the story: we skip some time, and Yoshimura and Shizu are now the parents of two children; Kaichiro (Ayami Sera) and Mitsu (Irodori Michiru – Mitsu is the only character that actually has two different actresses for her story and framing-device selves). As Yoshimura and Jiroemon discuss the death of Yoshimura’s mother, Kaichiro runs onto the scene, telling them that Shizu has tried to drown herself in the river. As it turns out, she did this because she got pregnant again, and there isn’t enough food to feed them. Because Yoshimura’s mother knew this, she starved herself to preserve food for Shizu and the child. The scene is absolutely heart-breaking – the expressions on everyone’s faces as they learn what’s going on are horrified and it’s clear everyone wants to help. Daimon really sells the horrified and shocked father and husband, while Kiichan is so incredibly desperate. I don’t even think her makeup changed but it’s like you’ve seen her age in this single transition – this is a mother who would have died for her children in a heartbeat and the fact she failed just hurts her more. Young Kaichiro and Mitsu assert they don’t need that much food, and Jiroemon and his manservant Sasuke (Touma Kazuki) exchange horrified and helpless glances as they watch the proceedings. Daimon’s pained face is almost too much to bear. Shizu means everything to Yoshimura, and Daimon and Kiichan really both sell that relationship as well as the intense pain this family is going through. The pain all of the characters is palpable and as resident tragedy-troupe, honestly who better to show it. While Ayami Sera is still very young and needs to learn a lot, she tries her very best with her role and in general I feel does a pretty good job as an uppity but desperate teen. Sometimes she resorts to yelling a bit, but I think with some time she’s gonna do just fine. Michiru makes a surprisingly good young child – to be honest she completely made me forget she wasn’t actually as young as she was playing sometimes and whenever she cries she absolutely breaks your heart. The silent horror of Jiroemon and Sasuke is also very well played by Saki and Touma, and taking a moment to really look at everyone’s responses is more than worth it. This death, as well as a famine that follows shortly, causes Yoshimura to make the decision to betray his clan and become a lordless samurai, working for the Shinsengumi. Jiroemon tries to stop him, but eventually secretly has Sasuke bring him a letter of permission. While this is absolutely not allowed, and if found out would make Jiroemon guilty of a crime, in this case he chooses the wellbeing of his friend and his friends family over his duty to the clan he leads. This scene is very interestingly staged – we see Yoshimura and his family on centre stage, tearfully saying goodbye to his children, as Jiroemon stands to the side of the stage, watching them quietly. A distance is appearing here that won’t be bridged for the rest of the play, and the hurt at Yoshimura’s departure is obvious in everyone who stays behind.

To talk about the staging for a moment; I love, love, love it (barring the stupid framing device *cough*). The sets are really stunning, and very period appropriate. While they sometimes look deceptively simple, they are very suitable for the story and in all cases work to bring out the best in the production. They are well used by the performers, and never overshadow the people on stage while at the same time transporting you to the world being put on the stage. Whenever we are in Morioka, or in Jiroemon’s domain, a wooden-looking simple backdrop shaped like inverted triangles (keeping with the Shinsengumi outfit pattern as a theme, it also gets lit up blue when we move to the Shinsengumi) is used. Almost all of the sets make use of wood and dark and brown colours, with rare but important exceptions. The sets in Mibu, Edo and Osaka (And all Shinsengumi storyline sets) are more complex than the ones in Morioka – but still mostly wood tones. There are various versions of houses used, which really give a very traditional Japanese view. The stage is also used very well. There is a revolving set, used during a battle scene halfway through the play, with a gate in the middle. It turns during the fight and the performers run through and around it. It makes for very dynamic staging with very good fight choreography that is very interesting to watch and keeps your attention, and what’s more, the matte paintings/backdrops are absolutely gorgeous both in colouring and use. I really hope it comes across well on the bluray. I will probably mention more specific staging related matters as they happen in the play, because there are many things deserving of attention. One thing that I really loved which I’m unsure you’ll be able to hear on the recording, is that you could hear it when the sets where changed – I don’t know if this happens often, but I did not hear it in any of the other three Takarazuka shows I saw on this trip, leading me to believe this was specific to this particular play. The sound is a kind of heavy creaking you hear on the movement of wood, and while to some it might take you out of the story, to me it actually made the theatre itself feel older and hence more part of the play.

I’ve skipped around a little in timing (the scene I’m going to be describing here technically takes place before Yoshimura actually leaves, but for the sake of an easier review that worked better). But! It is time to meet the Shinsengumi!! The first time we meet them (in the past, that is) is accompanied by the friggin catchiest song in this musical. All of the songs are incredible, and though there aren’t very many they get about 5000 reprises, each more emotional than the last. Not so with the Shinsengumi song. This song slaps. I’ve listened to it on repeat so often now; it’s really good if you want to get hyped up or if you just want to smile (it’s also the only song in the play that won’t make you utterly sad if you hear it once you’ve seen the entire play). It also showcases the powerful sound that is Yukigumi right now. Holy cow did Daimon whip this troupe into singing shape, I haven’t heard them collectively sound this ridiculously good since Kimugumi, and it’s glorious. After Hijikata Toshizou (Ayanagi Shou), Saitou Hajime (Aasa, as established), and Okita Souji (Towaki Sea) have their moment opening the song on the ginkyou, the chorus sets in and you’re just kind of blown back in your chair both by the amount and quality of the sound they’re making. It doesn’t quite come across on the iTunes recording, so I hope the bluray mixing is better. It’s not just this group, by the way. Daimon, Kiichan and Saki all sound incredible and the emotion that they get in their voices for all of their miserably sad songs is amazing. But, to get back to the Shinsengumi. We get to meet them here for the first time, in a scene where they have to pose for a photo. While many of the Shinsengumi characters technically don’t get that much to do, everyone has managed to actually give their respective guy quite a lot of character. Here, we once again get to meet Asu and Kari, as Ogawa Shintarou and Itou Kashitarou respectively. These are much more substantial parts than their other ones, both with significant plot function. It was really nice to see them both play to their strengths and really bring their characters alive. Mana Haruto plays the leader of the Shinsengumi, Kondo Isami, and Kumichou Souno Haruto gets the dubious yet hilarious honour of playing Tani Sanjuurou, one of the comic relief characters. Tani is not particularly clever or brave, and spends his entire time in the play getting up to a variety of dumb shenanigans. During the posing scene, Asu tries her best to get a geisha to join them in the frame, making faces and generally capturing your attention a lot. But the real fun with the Shinsengumi comes in the scene in which Yoshimura shows up to join them. As the group are seated around the stage, drinking sake and having dinner, various shenanigans take place. What happened here often differed per day, which is why I really want to talk about some of it. On our second viewing, I got a good look at Hitoko, sitting in the left-hand corner of the stage, trying to drink her drink as a younger Shinsengumi member kept trying to pour Souji his sake. This was very much not appreciated, and Hitoko grabbed the sake-bottle herself and insisted on pouring her own drink instead. As a geisha is massaging her shoulders, the younger member decides to take decisive action! And…. massages her right arm. Of all the things. Hitoko’s face is priceless, and I wish I knew what was happening in that corner on all the other days as well. The thing that drew my attention most in this scene is what is going on in the centre, at the very back, where Kari’s Itou is seated along with a few geisha and newly adopted Shinsengumi member Shuuhei (Manomiya Rui) now belonging to the Kondo family. What happened back here kind of progressed as a story throughout the days that we saw the show, and it was really funny. On the first day, after Itou pours Shuuhei a drink, he has to pour one for Itou. This goes… awry, as he pours way too much into the cup. Itou has to drink the drink extremely carefully, and does so while half-glaring at the poor young man. The second day we were there, instead of pouring, Shuuhei looks at the cup, looks at the bottle, and then quickly shoves them both into the hands of the geisha sitting behind him. The third time, to our great delight, he got it right! Kari had a wonderfully proud look on her face, and it was the best thing to get to sort of ‘finish’ their storyline on our last viewing. I’d also love to know what happened on other days. Now while all of this is going on, in the foreground Yoshimura has met Saitou, and is telling him about his family back in Nambu. This does not sit well with Saitou, who promptly decides to murder Yoshimura, because he doesn’t like him. As he gets Yoshimura away from the party, Souji (Hitoko) follows. There is a close connection between Souji and Saitou in this play, but honestly, I’m unsure if he follows to protect his boyfriend Saitou from Yoshimura or the other way around. It all ends alright and they don’t in fact kill one another, and Yoshimura’s place with the Shinsengumi has been established.

At this point the story goes into various snapshots of life in both Morioka (too few of them, to be honest) and with the Shinsengumi over time, that I will attempt to not spend 500 years talking about. Yoshimura, still a teacher, teaches sword fighting to the younger Shinsengumi members. This scene, in my opinion, is a good example of how to use exposition. A lot is made clear in this scene about the loyalties and politics of the Shinsengumi, while also allowing a number of fun character moments, such as for example Agata Sen’s Ikenami, who is a real star in making you pay attention to her even when she’s not the focus of the scene. Here, we also see Yoshimura being established as a money-hawk – asking how much he will be paid. He isn’t afraid to ask for money at all even if it embarrasses him, as he sends it home to his family, to try and support them. However, all of this hard work is for nothing, because as the scene flashes back to Morioka we once again meet Kaichiro and Mitsu, as their money is being stolen by two other villagers (one of whom is the amazing Satsuki Aina, who shines brightly in this scene). Shizu intervenes before Kaichiro attacks the women to get the money back, and the family ends up having to sell one of Yoshimura’s possessions to get by. Kiichan seems so tired in this scene. I’m continually impressed by how well she plays her characters and how diverse they all are. Shizu is definitely a character that speaks to me, and the way she tries to comfort her on-stage children is so real and painful to watch. In general, I found the parent/child relationships and interactions in this play really interesting and very well done. The three main players all have children halfway through the play and they are all diverse and interesting parents with interesting relationships with their kids. It’s also actually kind of really cool to have main characters of the age where they get to have kids that are teenagers or grown, as often the main characters in theatre (especially in Takarazuka) are of a younger generation than that.

Back over at the Shinsengumi, Ogawa (Asu) is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for a committed offence. Tani (Souno Haruto) has to assist him in this, but as the Shinsengumi leadership does not trust him, they decide to have Yoshimura be the backup. This scene is really well staged and ends with Yoshimura having to take over. Asu really stars in this moment – As she starts “cutting open her belly”, the expression of pain on her face is honestly kind of scary. She even opens a fake blood bag and it kind of looks like she’s bleeding from the stomach, which is really cool and I’m glad they’ve been using this more often. She runs around the stage in a stumbling panic, blindly swinging her weapon around her. Her death comes when she and Daimon run behind a screen Kabuki style and using lighting and shadows it actually looks like she’s been beheaded. Tani has utterly failed in his job, for which some of the Shinsengumi are calling for his death, but this ends up not happening (Saitou is clearly displeased). Yoshimura is, of course, handsomely paid by Hijikata, allowing for a fun interaction between Shou and Daimon. Shou does a lot with this character, who really doesn’t get to have a great amount of either stage time or well-developed written character, but she really leans into the sort of tired fondness for the chaotic duo that is Saitou and Souji, as well as Yoshimura. She’s charismatic and fun to watch, even in the scenes that are honestly, in writing, kind of boring. Thank you Shou, for bringing your A-Game even when the role you were given doesn’t deserve you.

As this play essentially bounces up and down between two places, we do indeed return here to Morioka, where Jiroemon, his retainers, and his son Chiaki are about to leave for Osaka. This is, at least for the first half, once more kind of a piece of exposition, which Saki’s character really suffers from. However, once the initial discussion with the retainers is over, the conversation turns to Yoshimura and his family. What I really like that Saki does in this play is that she very clearly switches between Jiroemon’s two “personalities” – the person he is with his family, the person as whom he grew up, and the person he is when leading his clan. Her voice goes a little softer, her facial expression goes from stoic to concerned, and the way she interacts with Ayana (Chiaki) and Touma (Sasuke) is really nice to watch. They seem very close and the way Saki and Touma act it makes me wonder if they imagine Jiroemon knew Sasuke before he was adopted as legitimate son, on more equal terms. Sasuke seems very attached to this family, as well as to Yoshimura’s. We also learn here that Chiaki is friends with Kaichiro, and that he knows well how this family is doing, as his father asks his opinion on their wellbeing. Ayana seems to struggle a little with what tone to give to Chiaki as a character, but I think her young version is much better than the grownup Chiaki we see in the framing device. It seems to me that she’s not sure what to do with the narration, but knows much better how to show the more extreme emotions of a worried teenager, as they are easier to get across.

From a family meeting to an assassination, we return to the Shinsengumi, who are preparing to ambush Itou (Kari) and a faction of the Shinsengumi that have betrayed the others. This is one of the scenes I mentioned earlier, which is really well staged and makes great use of the set. Can I just say that Kari sure looks menacing when she wants to, and it’s really great. Suwa Saki, one of Itou’s supporters, features heavily in this scene. As the two factions of the Shinsengumi fight, the stage keeps changing and rotating and pausing on different scenes. In the middle of a fight, we get a ton of really important moments and things that have nothing whatsoever to do with it, but still really work. The first that comes to mind is that this moment brings us the first time Souji’s coughing (which has been happening for a while) gets so bad that he collapses on the floor, and Saitou has to save his life. The interaction between Hitoko and Aasa is really good, they have a lot of chemistry and you really believe that these two characters care a ton about one another. Where Saitou is basically a dick to everyone around him, he allows Souji the nickname “Hajime-kun” and instantly jumps in to protect him when needed. Another, very different but fun moment finds Itou and Toudou Heisuke (Suwa) running into Tani (Souno). As he tries to defend himself with the lid of a barrel, they simply laugh and kind of leave him alone, not bothering to really fight him. What I really love is that when Daimon finally shows up and basically decides the battle, is that she bows to everyone she ‘kills’, quietly apologising to them. After it’s all over, and Kondo and Hijikata have won (mostly thanks to Yoshimura), the men walk off. All except Saitou. It is implied heavily that Hijikata is perfectly aware Saitou hasn’t joined them, and is actively making sure Yoshimura doesn’t stick around to see him. Saitou, holding a clear grudge, murders Tani.

The end of that scene actually is followed by a very dumb joke, which I won’t spoil but which does bring me to something else that I really wanted to mention, and that is that this show is funny. For such a sad story with so much death and fighting, it has some genuine humour in it. This is something that I think in comparison to the movie (I can’t speak to the book it’s based on since that hasn’t been translated) it does better – the movie is one continuous stream of sad situations that are generally serious, but the play actually includes a fair amount of jokes and comedic moments that break up the tension and actually get laughs from the audience. I actually really appreciated this fact and I think it’s one of the shows strength’s - it’s a tragedy, but it’s not without humour!

The play also really switches between scenes based on conflict (Asu’s death, Kari’s death), and character-based scenes mostly grounded in emotions and relationships between the characters, which I think is strong storytelling and keeps the story interesting. However, I am very ambivalent about the next story beat. This is the plotline of Kiichan’s second character, who I believe originates from the book (based on googling) – a woman named Miyo who looks a lot like Shizu and has fallen in love with Yoshimura. While I actually like the scenes that involve her for various reasons, the fact they gave Kiichan this second role feels weak to me – it comes across as very much of an “oh shit we didn’t give our top musumeyaku enough to do, I guess we should give her a double role”, which as a solution I don’t like on the sheer principle of it. I would much rather they had actually given Shizu, as a character, a proper amount of development and presence in the play, as most of the emotional centre of the story is in Morioka. In this way, Kiichan now has two characters who both get underdeveloped, which I feel is a shame. That notwithstanding though, Kiichan is great as Miyo, who is so very different from Shizu, and she actually makes it feel that way too. Miyo has a very different personality, which Kiichan gets across in the few seconds that make up her first scene, and the moments she and Daimon have together as this duo just drive home more just how much Yoshimura loves his wife, which is very touching. If it had been up to me, I would have much rather had more time in Morioka than this outing with Miyo, but I do also see its merits. The first time she appears is very brief, while bullying her uncle into trying to get Yoshimura to marry her, before we move back to Daimon, who is having a one-on-one interaction with Aasa for the first time this play.

This scene is really, really, really good. It’s super funny and it was something I was really looking forward to. Yoshimura is waiting for Saitou next to Tani (Souno Haruto)’s dead body, and makes clear in a very funny exchange that he knows exactly who killed Tani. Aasa’s grumbled responses to Daimon’s dry, matter of fact explanation of why he knows what he knows are gold, topped off by a grumbled reference to Musashi (wondering if he’s left-handed) when Yoshimura insists Saitou is the only left-handed member of the Shinsengumi are very, very funny. Angry, Saitou looks poised to attack Yoshimura when he hears Yoshimura hasn’t told a soul; he just wants money. In the scene that follows, Saitou, having just had to pay 20 ryo, is bullying his three friends (amongst whom Souji) to each give him 5 so they share the price, when Hijikata shows up and gives them 20 ryo “to go drinking”, implying for a second time that the entire murder was at his behest. Shou plays this moment very well, with a clear amusement at the entire situation. This scene is also used as an adlib moment, and though I didn’t catch all of the things said during these, the adlib from our second viewing is forever going to stay with me. The entire play long Hitoko’s Souji has very affectionately referred to Saitou as ‘Hajime-kun’ and seems to be the only person who is allowed to do this. Her Souji is very young, seems generally kind and sweet, and is clearly Saitou’s favourite person. The dynamic Aasa and Hitoko create between these two characters not only humanises them, but also makes you want to see them be happy and okay. There is a lot of the classic the-grumbly-asshole-and-the-ray-of-sunshine dynamic in their relationship (despite the actual historical people they’re playing definitely not being that), and it comes off really well because not only do they use specific names for each other, they also always come to each other’s aid and are found close together. Anyway. While Souji calls him Hajime-kun, everyone else always says Saitou-san. During this scene, after Shou has left, their other two compatriots, Harada and Nagakura (Tachibana Kou and Machi Yuuka), pipe up and imitate the way Hitoko says this – jokingly joining in a chorus with the three of them and calling Saitou ‘Hajime-kun’. Aasa was not expecting it. You could see the vague beginnings of a laugh in the corner of her mouth, as the entire audience started laughing. But! She caught it very well, and grumbling angrily told them it was definitely Hajime-sama, to them.

I’ve been calmly not talking about the framing device constantly popping up, since I explained how I feel about it at the beginning of this review, so from there I’m taking you directly to the next scene between Daimon and Kiichan: the marriage interview with Miyo. While I’m not a fan of the fact they used this character to prop up Kiichan’s stage time and didn’t give more attention to Shizu, this is a touching scene. As Hijikata and Kondo, who seem to have come to care about Yoshimura’s wellbeing and want him out of war’s way, try to convince him to marry Miyo and leave the Shinsengumi, Agata Sen is having a blast in the back, her character Ikenami listening in on the proceedings and getting progressively more annoyed. This culminates in Ikenami defending Yoshimura’s love for Shizu from the others, which is intensely sweet and lovely to watch. Yoshimura runs off, and Miyo follows. Their moment together is very lovely and very sad, accompanied by musumeyaku dancing to imitate fireflies. I was reminded of similar moments in hoshiai, which of course instantly got me emotional. I felt quite bad for Miyo, to be honest, as all Yoshimura can do is talk about Shizu. These are two people that will never end up together, but do have a clear connection. Kiichan plays Miyo maybe a little ditzy, but also very kind and sweet. She is a lot younger than Shizu is at this point, but her main motivation seems to be that she does not want Yoshimura to die, and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her character. The staging and choreography of the scene is lovely, and as Yoshimura rejects her and remains with the Shinsengumi you can already start to tell that this story won’t have a happy ending.

After a brief passage-of-time song sung by Jiroemon and his retainers as well as Miyo’s family, which I actually really like because it has a really good beat and makes me want to sing along, we get to see the Shinsengumi go off to fight in the coming war. This moment also sets up an important plot point: Jiroemon stating his uncertainty on which side to take in the war, something which will become instrumental later on. He wants to do what is best for his clan, and does so by being careful and not picking a side too soon. From this point on, everything falls apart. The Shinsengumi are losing the war, Okita gets so ill he has to be taken off the battlefield (historical Okita died of tuberculosis), and they run out of food. Yoshimura walks around, handing out a small amount of rice balls to the others (leading me to watch Agachin through my opera glasses to see where she would leave her plastic rice ball, which turned out to be in her sleeve). As he’s handed out most of them, he walks up to Saitou, and offers him the final rice ball. Saitou doesn’t notice and eats it all. Upon realising Yoshimura now doesn’t have anything to eat, he gets extremely angry and yells at Yoshimura that he’s an idiot and that he should survive all of this. This is supposed to be a very emotional moment (which is how it’s also played in the movie), where Saitou really admits for the first time that he actually cares about Yoshimura. Sadly, it fell pretty much completely flat for me. This is in no way the fault of either Daimon or Aasa, but absolutely a problem in the writing. In the movie (and presumably the book), there have been moments before where Yoshimura and Saitou have positive interactions that show that they are bonding, even if Saitou remains a grumbly bastard and doesn’t speak about it. Yoshimura does nice things for him and shows care, and because the movie is narrated by Saitou a lot of the time you also get to actually learn that Saitou comes to respect Yoshimura for not only his swordsmanship but his loyalty and honesty. Here, none of that is present. This is largely due to the fact they decided to not give Saitou to the nibante of the troupe and therefore had to seriously cut down his storyline. The problem with this, for me, is that it removes one of the large emotional anchors of the story and makes this final moment feel empty and unearned, no matter how hard they try. And since Aasa has played the character pretty much as a straight asshole to everyone except Okita, this sudden turn doesn’t really make sense. They’re basically banking on the audience liking Yoshimura as a character enough to assume Saitou secretly has to feel that way too, despite having been blackmailed by him and having tried to kill him in the past. This gets even worse in the next moment, which is perhaps a combination of one of the best and worst moments staging wise. As they are ambushed by enemy forces, Yoshimura throws himself into battle one final time. In the movie, Saitou tries to stop him but is shot in the leg and has to watch his friend run into certain death, yelling “don’t die” after him (a line now generally given to Saki’s Jiroemon, and here to Shou’s Hijikata). As Yoshimura runs into battle, I think we are meant to focus on only Daimon, but when you look at the Shinsengumi things don’t look as they should. Aasa is pulled away by another Shinsengumi member but doesn’t really struggle at all. Agachin, who is clearly the most anguished person in this moment, is also pulled away, and the rest just sort of walks off as Shou’s Hijikata watches things happen. It felt very awkward to me, and I feel like it would have maybe been better if they actually had people to fight their way off stage with, or if they got shot and stumbled off, or anything really, that’s more than making space as quick as possible.

Things do improve once they are off stage, with a beautifully choreographed fight scene in which Daimon gets stabbed and shot multiple times, ending in a sort of classic Jesus-pose centre stage before the lights drop. We briefly recess to the framing device, which informs us that three days later, Yoshimura shows up at Jiroemon’s door in Osaka. Two government officials yell from the side stage that anyone harbouring (Shinsengumi) refugees will face severe punishment, and the next scene opens in the dark, on Jiroemon’s angry voice telling Yoshimura that he shouldn’t have come. While I dislike the framing device coming in between that drags you out of the emotion a little, this moment is gold. Saki really got her voice to sound intimidating and low, and I actually startled a little when I heard her speak here for the first time. I feel like she really made Jiroemon her own, and actually made him a compelling character, which I was initially a little worried about because he didn’t seem very interesting from what I saw of him in the movie. She still suffers from being used as exposition-man a lot, but when she gets to have emotions, boy does she go for it. As Yoshimura begs, heartbreakingly, to be allowed to go home, Jiroemon remains cold and unfeeling, telling him that he shouldn’t have come and that he cannot allow him to come home to Morioka. He tells Yoshimura that the only option he has to give is to let him commit seppuku, after which he sends away his retainers. This moment is heart breaking, both Saki and Daimon are super into it and it’s also one of Ayana’s best moments, as Chiaki begs his father to show mercy. The moment everyone has left, Jiroemon’s entire demeanour changes. His voice goes from this harsh, cold tone to a soft sadness as he kneels on the ground with Yoshimura, and asks him sadly, almost with a desperate undertone, why he did not go with the other Shinsengumi members to Osaka castle. The only reason he cannot help is that he cannot take a ‘traitor’s’ side and condemn his entire region, but god is it clear that he wants to. It’s really impressive to see Saki just flip that switch like that, and Daimon is equally heart breaking, even at some point apologising that he will stain the tatami mats. Jiroemon decides to make Yoshimura a last meal (because “You can’t die on an empty stomach”), and also offers him his own sword to use, as Yoshimura’s has been bent and damaged so much by all the fighting (so badly that it was tied to his hand and Sasuke and Chiaki have to untie it at the beginning of the scene). As Daimon struggles her way across the stage and counts the money that she made for her family, Kiichan appears on the ginkyou, singing softly with her mind on her husband far away. The moment Yoshimura takes the sword and kills himself, Shizu’s slipper breaks. At this point, the entire theatre was filled with sniffling people, as none of us were immune to the horror and heartbreak of the situation, and it just kept getting worse! When they find him the following morning, it turns out that Yoshimura used his own sword so that Jiroemon’s can be given to his son. Not only that, he also didn’t eat the rice balls that Jiroemon prepared for him. The sight of Saki cradling a ‘dead’ Daimon and pressing a rice ball against her mouth is absolutely horribly sad and: 1. Heck Daimon is way too good at playing dead that was kind of frightening, and 2: the miserable sound coming from Saki’s mouth hurts and I didn’t sign up to have my heart broken into 5000 tiny pieces by this show. Though, on second thought, I am a Yukigumi fan, so I guess I did.

Of course, the sadness isn’t even over, because now Jiroemon and Chiaki have to tell Yoshimura’s family. They bring them Jiroemon’s sword as well as the money, and of course, like father like son; Kaichiro wants to go off to fight in the war, leaving his sister Mitsu in Chiaki’s care. The poise, grace and dignity that Kiichan manages to showcase while also on the verge of sobbing is amazing, as she hugs her youngest son close and tries to hold herself together for her children. Jiroemon too decides to go off to war, too torn up about his friend’s death to remain neutral in this war. There is yet another heart-breaking moment here where he goes to find his mother, and actually breaks down crying with her. There isn’t a second reprieve between any of these scenes, so it’s just a cryfest for a good 10 minutes as all the major characters suffer. Kaichiro and Jiroemon run into each other, and while Jiroemon tries his hardest to dissuade Kaichi from fighting, he is unable to do so. As Saki walks across the ginkyou singing the reprise of one of the songs from the beginning of the play, you see her intense sadness, as she sometimes smiles and seems almost resigned to the idea she is going to die in the war. On one of the days we were there, she was full-on crying. By now, this song has been reprised so often that you’re really familiar with it, so you know what to expect of the melody. However, before Saki is able to finish the song or even get to the chorus, she gets shot and sinks into the stage. The expression on her face is almost a smile of relief, which honestly is the most painful option she could have gone for. This moment is super startling, even when you expect it or see it coming. I jumped in my chair all three times that I saw it in the theatre, partially because you just always sort of automatically expect the chorus, and partially because the sound of the gunshot was really loud. Either way, it was a really well executed moment, that finishes both the most painful and probably the best sequence from the play, starting with Daimon running into the fray and ending here with Saki’s death.

Now it could have ended here, but of course that’s not what we’re doing. Instead, here we come back to our final moment in the ‘present’, which is, like the first moment of the play, one I don’t actually mind. As Matsumoto and Saitou finish their story, Mitsu asks them of their opinion of their father. We get the closure on the characters that are still alive and learn what happened to all of Yoshimura’s kids. Mitsu tells us that Shizu has died and that her younger brother is working to create rice that will survive bad winters (something that of course instantly got me crying again). In a weird, clear hierarchy related twist, Kacha gets to sing the final solo of the play, introducing the final song in which the entire cast is on stage, with Shizu and Yoshimura reunited after death. They reprise the very first song of the play and left all of us sniffling in our seats during the break.

Main Cast

Nozomi Fuuto is really great in this part. I have to admit that when I first saw the movie, my mind immediately screamed that this was a Chigi kind of character, and I wasn’t sure what I’d think of Daimon doing it. But she was absolutely wonderful. Her Yoshimura almost always has this smile on his face that I can’t quite describe well but that just instantly endears him to you, and while he does have a ruthless streak he comes across as a good, just and loyal person. Daimon speaks with an accent for this part, and while it makes it a lot harder to follow what is going on, it also really adds to the character and to how different he is from the rest of the Shinsengumi, and always ties him to Morioka, even when he isn’t there. Like I said before, I really love that all three of the main characters are parents in this play, and seeing Daimon interact with Amichan and Michiru was really good. Her dynamic with Kiichan, in the few scenes they have together, really captures that long-married couple that knows each other in and out which I love. They seem super comfortable together and respond to one another very well. I feel like the money-grubbing aspect of the character could have been explored a little more, but that’s not on her at all and entirely on the writing, because when she gets the chance she does really sell it.

Maaya Kiho too was phenomenal. While her double role leads to two underdeveloped parts, she does a stunning job with the arguably shoddy material she was given. Her Shizu starts out so young and hopeful and in the span of a single time skip goes from that to at her wits end. She is heart wrenching to watch in her near-suicide scene, and generally is also really good at playing a mom. She is very comforting to her children and very in control of her emotions, except for that single scene when she’s lost all hope. I wish we had gotten to spend more time with Shizu! Miyo, whom for reasons I already explained I care for a little bit less, was also very well done. Kiichan affected a totally different walk and way of speaking (also switching to a different accent) and did her best to create a personality for a character we really only get to see for two very brief scenes. She seems very sweet but also stubborn, and maybe a little spoiled, not listening to her uncle at all. I was generally very impressed by how different she managed to make her two characters.

Ayakaze Sakina had a pretty difficult part to play but did it incredibly well. I will admit to having been very bitter when the casting choice came out to make her a ‘best friend’ type character again rather than give her Saitou, but I can honestly say that I’m super proud of what she did with this part and that she actually managed to make me care about Jiroemon, which I didn’t before I saw this play. While she is burdened with a lot of expositional nonsense, when she gets to show her emotional range, she really brings it home. In the play as it is, I’m glad she’s not Saitou, as his character really got stripped down and seems to be there mostly because he looks cool. It seems like Saki did her best to really understand the complexities of Jiroemon and show him from multiple sides. A thing that I really love is that she very much does her best to show his struggle with the two things he wants to be loyal to: his clan and his friend. He’s not a perfect guy, and he struggles with making the right choice a lot. At first, he usually ends up choosing Yoshimura over the rules he lives by, even if he does it in secret (like the letter of permission), but then in that final moment he cannot make that choice and it is clear that it kills him. The one big advantage of casting Saki in this part is that you get to have her and Daimon share the final scene in Osaka leading to Yoshimura’s death, which they absolutely excelled that. Their chemistry was really good, and they broke my heart into a thousand pieces. Saki is very good at showing Jiroemon’s soft side, and her complete collapse at the end over having ‘killed’ her best friend is really good and also had me in tears every single viewing. She managed to both play Jiroemon as very intimidating at times while also being very emotional and almost gentle at others and I really liked that. She was also very good at the parental thing! Her interactions with Aya Ouka as Chiaki are touching and work well, in my opinion. Saki always has some mom-vibes with the younger yukigumi members anyway (especially in her BD+N episodes), so that translated really well to being a father on stage.

Ayanagi Shou got kind of shafted. She may be sanbante in name they aren’t exactly giving her the roles to match and I hate it. She’s such a talented actor, and its being wasted on roles that don’t allow her any depth. Hijikata doesn’t exactly have a lot to do and the things he does have are not generally very interesting scenes. She too ends up having to do a lot of exposition. However, she did a stellar job with what she did have and for the most part actually made me care about Hijikata. She’s doing a really good job at playing a moody, severe, slightly older character who secretly kind of likes the people he pretends to be above. She’s a strong performer and she’s really present on stage, and that is definitely needed for a character like Hijikata. She had a good rapport with Mana Haruto (which comes as no surprise), and her smirks were pretty golden. I actually liked her a lot in the marriage interview with Miyo, as in that moment she seems to really show a lot of care for Yoshimura. She generally seemed quite fond of Daimon’s character anyway, which I also really appreciate, as it ties Yoshimura more closely to the Shinsengumi.

Asami Jun as Saitou surprised me. As I said before, I was extremely bitter about this casting choice, but she did a good job! I didn’t really expect to like her Saitou much, but she’s quite good at playing a grumpy jerk and her annoyed looks at Daimon were great fun to watch. She makes good faces and is a convincing grump, and her adlib moments are a lot of fun. And then there is her relationship with Hitoko, which is really good! Hitoko and Aasa have a good dynamic between the two of them and definitely make Saitou and Souji come across as boyfriends very close friends. They’re a joy to watch when they’re on the stage together and they clearly have a lot of fun with it too. My only big complaint here is what I mentioned before, and what leads me to saying that I am both less and more bitter about this show’s casting choices. I think that as the roles are at the moment, Jiroemon makes a very solid nibante part and Saitou is a sanbante part. The reason I’m more bitter is that I was really fond of the dynamic between Saitou and Yoshimura as it plays out in the movie, and by cutting this part down to sanbante-size that entire plotline basically got eliminated and/or replaced by the Saitou and Souji dynamic, which really removes a large part of what could have been another emotional core that now, to me, falls very flat (and also that Shou didn’t get a sanbante sized part). That isn’t to say that is on Aasa, because again, I think she did a good job as Saitou and I like the way she chose to play him.

Towaki Sea really shone as Okita Souji. The part, on paper, isn’t particularly big, but she did a really great job with it and was very enjoyable to watch. Her Souji was entirely more sympathetic than he has any right to be and I found myself very invested in his story in the play. She has a really good time fussing around in the background and exchanging glances with Aasa, and the way she says ‘Hajime-kun’ made me smile every single time. God, I am going to miss this kid. I know, I do, I really do, that this is a good career move for her, but it hurts to see yet another promising Yuki kid being taken out of Yuki. I still miss Reiko and I’m going to miss Hitoko just as much. I know she’s going to do great in hanagumi and do awesome things, and I know I will be watching. You go, Hitoko, go get them.

Aya Ouka also had a fairly hard part to play, and I felt like she struggled with it a little in the framing device scenes, where she seemed unsure of how to present herself – which I can’t really blame her for considering they were hard scenes to deal with. Her Chiaki in the actual story was much better, if perhaps a little yell-y. I liked her dynamic with Saki and she did a pretty good job having to play an anxious teenager. Her care for Kaichiro and his family was clear and that was nice to see. I think she has a lot more development to do, especially in her acting, but she was enjoyable to watch and I think she did a good job.

Agata Sen knocked it out of the park as Ikenami, very present and constantly vying for attention even when she was somewhere in the background. This kid is going places, and Ayana needs to watch out with this one breathing down her neck. She was extremely entertaining to watch and got up to a ton of shenanigans with various other Shinsengumi folks. It was clear her character grew very attached to Yoshimura, seeing him perhaps as a bit of a father figure, and that emotional attachment was really good to see and anchored Yoshimura a bit more to the Shinsengumi. Her final scream of ‘Yoshimura-san’ as he runs into battle was very good and I love her shenanigans during the wedding interview when she is sneaking around in the back trying to listen in.

Nagina Ruumi as dr. Matsumoto was present in the story, but absolutely irrelevant to it. I feel bad saying it and it’s not her fault either, but you could literally delete his character, and nothing would change at all. It’s like someone belatedly realized Kacha would be joining them and quickly wrote an extra character into the story for her to play. He had neither a real connection to the story nor the characters, and yet ended up being the primary narrator. It’s a really strange situation to put someone in and I don’t really understand why they did it. I think she did her best with what she had, and she seemed into it at least, but there just wasn’t that much to get out of this character and I don’t really understand why they wrote him in and didn’t just give her someone else or make Old Saitou a different role from Young Saitou (which would also have allowed him to stay in the framing device). Yukigumi is pretty full as it is at the moment, and I don’t think there really was a good place to put her, but it would have been nice if they had done something better than this. Because of this, there isn’t really much to say about Kacha, as besides narrating she didn’t really do much.

Other Notable People

Maisaki Rin was really fun to watch as she pulled out her most over-the-top English and sprinkled it all over her sentences. She seemed to be having an absolute blast and did a really good job with her part.

Souno Haruto’s Tani-sensei was a very funny character that allowed her to get up to all sorts of shenanigans that she seemed to be seriously enjoying and that I had a blast watching. I’m very sorry to say that most of what my brain has affectionately dubbed the ‘Shinsengumi Background Bullshit’ will probably not make it onto the disc because it’s hilarious and a lot of it was Souno.

Touma Kazuki had a surprisingly large part as Sasuke, Jiroemon’s personal attendant. While she doesn’t say much, she gets to be in all the scenes Saki is also in and forms a very nice steady background presence in the play. She and Saki have a very good rapport and Sasuke not only cares about the Oono family a lot but also about the Yoshimura family, and is often the messenger between Jiroemon and Kanichiro. I really enjoyed watching her, and I’m glad she had so much to do.

Kiraha Reo was well, her amazing self. Fuu. I spent so much time watching her in the background and following Itou’s storyline. She is really good at making herself seem so much taller and more intimidating than her size gives her a right to be, and her voice is really powerful. I really liked her as Itou and I was glad she got to have such a substantial role in the plot. She and henchie Suwa Saki were really good together and her final death-scene was really good. Her background shenanigans with Manomiya Rui were really funny and she was just on point the entire play. Her menacing smiles and scary and do exactly what they’re meant to, and I want to watch her all the time.

Kujou Asu was really fun to watch in both of her parts. I’ve already given a shout-out to her brief stint at the beginning of the show, but her seppuku scene was amazing. The way she stumbles across the stage in a great panic while blindly using her knife to slash around her was truly impressive, and even though honestly I knew nothing about her character in that moment I cared, because she’s just amazing at getting that emotion across. Also, holy f she’s short? I thought I knew how short Asu is, but I was mistaken. It’s even more clear in real life how incredibly tiny she is and if she isn’t lying about at least 5 of her supposed 168 cm I will eat a hat.

Ai Sumire rocks and I loved her solo. I’m so glad she got to lead a song in this. I didn’t talk about this before, but she got to do a transition song between two scenes, leading a number of geisha. It’s really good. Please let her sing more Hankyu!

Mana Haruto did a really good job as Kondo, and while her role wasn’t particularly big or impressive, she herself sure was. I love how much stage presence she has. She had a really good moment with Agachin during a Shinsengumi scene where Ikenami is trying to get Kondo’s attention but he’s just not really having it, and it’s very funny.

Machi Yuuka has such a big, goofy smile, and did a really good job as one of Saitou’s useless henchies.

Irodori Michiru made a really good seven-year-old child. I was extremely impressed by her acting in this show. I very often don’t really like how zuka portrays children, but she didn’t annoy me for a second. Instead I absolutely forgot she wasn’t actually a child. Her mannerisms are spot on and she does a lot while sitting on her knees, which makes her seem smaller and like she isn’t too tall.

Suwa Saki has a really good scar and a lot of swagger, and a very good dynamic with Kari. I had a lot of fun watching her being grumbly in the back a lot.

Yume Maoto honestly didn’t get anything to do as Shinsengumi member number 20, but I love her, and I want to mention her at least because she made really good faces in the background and her round face makes her very easy to spot. She often gets annoyed at the shenanigans in the front, and just generally makes me happy.

Ayami Sera was Kaichiro, Yoshimura’s son, and I think she did a pretty good job. This is I think one of her first more substantial roles, and she seemed to still be a little nervous, but I think she handled it pretty well. The nervousness works for the kind of character Kaichiro is, and the scene at the end where he goes off to war and meets Jiroemon on his way there is really sad and I thought she did a pretty decent job with it, though she needs more time to grow.

Final Assorted Thoughts

I’ve already said a lot of stuff in describing the plot, so here a last brief roundup about further thoughts that I don’t think I’ve verbalised yet.

Something I really loved about this play was that the energy of the cast and how they played their characters was very different every day we were there, and that the background cast found other shenanigans to get up to every day. I’m pretty sure most of the shenanigans haven’t made it onto the disc, so I hope to have at least given you some of the things that happened on the back of the stage. One of the things that really influenced the energy on stage was that just after our first viewing, it was announced Hitoko was moving. We went again the day after the announcement, and boy, were they all emotional. Scenes where the first time they had been slightly teary eyed you could now hear some performers properly cry through some of their songs. Hitoko herself was also extremely emotional – as she came on the first time for the Shinsengumi song her eyes were glassy, and you could hear her voice choke up a little. While the two other times I was there I didn’t really start crying till they end, that day they absolutely caught me from way earlier, and I started crying when Daimon had to leave Morioka. They were just all extremely emotional that day and it made the story hurt all the more (which is not a bad thing).

I think I’ve said this before, but holy heck Yukigumi can sing. Especially when the entire troupe is singing, you’re just blown away by the sound!! I didn’t think they could sound even better in real life than on recordings, but they do. Daimon and Kiichan together just harmonise so beautifully. Saki’s voice has this lovely soft warm quality that I really like, and just in general they sound really good.

All in all, I really liked this play. I have some nit-picky problems and some pet-peeves, and I think that it suffers from structural issues related to the writing, but Yukigumi was phenomenal and elevated what they were given to a play that I really cherish. Their acting was beautiful, and I got attached to characters I didn’t expect to care about at all. I have a real issue with the framing device, and I would have made some story choices differently, but I also really love the final product. It took me some time to let go of some of the things I really wanted to see, and appreciate what it became instead, but I honestly really do. The sets and the music are utterly gorgeous, and I regularly wake up with one of the songs stuck in my head. When I need to hurry up and get something done, having the Yukigumi Shinsengumi crew yell “aaaahaaaaahhhhhhh shinsengumi wa” in my ears does the trick just right. There are plenty of funny moments for this not to just be a sad cryfest but to also have a fun time, and I think those are very well balanced. I expected a very top-heavy play, but it actually turned out to be fairly good to a number of actresses who don’t normally have super large roles (Kari, Asu, Touma). I think it needs to be your cup of tea, but it definitely really was mine. While on the one hand I think I may have some rose-tinted glasses on because this was my first live Yuki show, on the other hand I also know that I am much more critical of this than I am of shows I have less of a stake in, so I think I ended up in the middle. As you can see, I definitely had A LOT to talk about… XD

Thank you, Yukigumi, for being your wonderful selves (and making me cry on the regular).

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