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aja154ever · 6 years

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BSD Stage: Dark Era

I’ve been wanting to write a report aka feelings post about this stage play, but for days I wasn’t able to compose my words (and myself). I’m glad I found this review by our beloved @looking-for-stray-dogs and now please excuse me as I add my own thoughts (while trying my best to be coherent) on this. I encourage you to read her post first because more details about the play are written there!

Under the cut for spoilers! All photos are from official accounts

Stage is indeed a different platform and more than any of the adaptations - light novel, anime - this medium is the one that felt the most alive. Well literally ofc, but you know, you just feel the fact that... they are there. Odasaku, Ango, teen Dazai. In 3D human forms, breathing, hurting, falling apart inside... dying.

I was not near enough to see their facial expressions very very clearly, except for the scenes when they were very near the edge of the stage. So what hit me the most was the emotion in their voices - which I happen to be very particular with since I am a voice actor fan.

I liked that Odasaku here is more emotional than the one in anime.

His smiles. Oh my gosh. How much he enjoyed playing with the kids.

His voice. How it cracks more and more as he pats the head of each kid when he was saying good night to them. It was totally breaking when he was down to the last one, Sakura, which was akin to how our hearts have broken, too.

And yes, when Dazai was stopping him from going, Odasaku’s voice was cracking when he told Dazai that he wanted to be a novelist. I really felt how much he wanted it, but there was no way it could ever come true at that point. He was not just grieving for the kids; Odasaku was grieving for himself, too.

Ango. I don’t know what is it but Araki-san’s portrayal made me like Ango even more. He did indeed betray his friends, but he.was.very.much.hurting.too. I deeply appreciated that they included that epilogue scene in the novel when Ango was looking at the picture of the three of them together.

Mori. Yes! His voice was indeed very fitting and there were even times when he almost sounded like Miyamoto-san (anime VA). At some parts though, Mori and Elise’s appearance was somewhat distracting esp when I could’ve preferred to focus on the scene that was not about them. Like, Mori’s appearance is fine but Elise doing all the same grumpy reactions in the background was kinda off for me.

Music insert. Oh gosh. I couldn’t listen to Kaze ga Fuku Machi days after the play because the feels were too much for me to take in. This is my favorite BSD song, and the song’s lyrics are engraved in my heart and wow oh my gosh, I was not prepared that they suddenly played it during that scene. It was *heavy breathing* when Odasaku screamed after the kids exploded. And suddenly, I couldn’t see the stage anymore... for my eyes were filled with tears. I can’t compare Taniguchi-san (stage actor) and Suwabe-san’s (anime VA) screams during that scene, both are heart-crushing no matter what, but hearing it live on stage really pierced through my heart.

Reason Living. This is my second favorite BSD song, but as opposed to the previous one, I somewhat didn’t like where this song was inserted in the play. It was right after Odasaku died. The song was too lively and loud for that moment. Maybe nothing can replace Kaze ga Fuku Machi for me in this scene, but maybe it wouldn’t sound fit if they repeat the same song after using it in the screaming scene.

Dazai. *sighs* Where do I even start? I think I was one of the first people who shed tears during the play, and it was because of Dazai. It was just from their first scene, when Dazai was telling Odasaku about the stories of how he got his injuries. I know, that’s not a scene where anyone is supposed to cry, but gosh. Tawada Hideya’s acting. Contrary to Lea’s opinion that the Dazai in this stage is flirty, the message that came across to me is that this stage showed how much of a child Dazai Osamu was back then. The way he freely acts when he’s together with his friends in contrast to the demon prodigy of the Port Mafia. Sometimes we look at Mafia Dazai but forget that despite their experiences in the past, he was still young. And Odasaku understood that way before and way deeper than anyone else.

I really liked that they included that precious line in the light novel when Odasaku was talking to Gide, “That guy was just a child who’s too smart. Just a crying child who’s been left alone in the darkness, a world of nothingness far emptier than the world can see.” (translation by nkhrchy.tumblr)

This was my tweet after watching the stage play:

On the other hand, I have a very huge bias towards Miyano Mamoru as Dazai’s voice actor. While Hideyan did touch me in many scenes on his portrayal of teen Dazai, there were lines when I found them lacking. As Lea had mentioned, one of that was the scene when Dazai was begging the Mimic soldier to shoot him. He did yell, “PLEASE”, too strongly and loudly, I think, intending to drown Odasaku’s voice of stopping him. However I also thought that a soft, begging one would be more appropriate.

Another one is when Dazai told Mori that the reason he is going is that, “He is a friend.” I think the anime was more emotional in this one esp with the close-up of the peaceful look on Dazai’s face, and the silent pause.

Lastly, the Odasaku dying scene (ouch, how do we call that). Miyano Mamoru’s desperate but helpless trembling voice in that scene is imprinted in my heart and my ears - when I say I have it memorized, I mean it. Most probably because of this post (please listen to it with earphones): Odasaku’s Final Moments. So I’m sorry but I really couldn’t help but compare it so somehow, Hideyan’s acting in that scene didn’t give me as much feels as the anime did. However, seeing the light novel scene of Dazai lighting up Odasaku’s cigarette in that scene, then the anime scene of Dazai’s bandages getting pulled off, and lastly the scene fading out to Odasaku passing away on his friend’s lap with Dazai tilting his head up silently after - which then showed us his pained expression - was a good seal to the scene. I couldn’t ask for more. Oh.my.gosh.stop

And ofc, the final scene which Asagiri-sensei thoughtfully added. Dazai was back in Bar Lupin, in his ADA clothes, happily saying, “Odasaku, I found it! A job that saves people.” Odasaku appears, and Dazai continues... “Are you happy for me?” Odasaku doesn’t utter a single word, but smiles and pats Dazai on the head, and leaves.

This is giving me a thousand feels because I know, I can feel it, let me say it.

Dazai, Odasaku is very proud of and very happy for you.

This is just for me, but Odasaku saying nothing, but just pats his head while smiling? It’s giving me the feels that - at least one of Odasaku’s orphans made it.

*screams*

*inhales*

*picks up myself*

*exhales*

Over-all, it was definitely a very beautiful adaptation of the light novel. Lea has already pointed out a lot of things in her post above so I also didn’t mention the other details in this post. Can’t really say that it’s perfect, but the stage play adaptation was more than satisfying and really made me love BSD and Asagiri-sensei MORE.

Lastly, I leave you with this tweet...

#dazai protection squad #thank you so much odasaku #bungou stray dogs #bsd stage #bsd dark era #oda sakunosuke #dazai osamu #sakaguchi ango #my original content

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