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funjoushi · 3 years

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Souma-hen, niconico stream write-up/review

So! All of a sudden without having really planned it, I ended up watching the Niconico stream for both the tokyo and kansai closing nights! It was my first time watching one of these streams and I had a ton of fun! So now, I’m gonna share all my opinions as well as some general summaries of what I remember from the show!

Over all thoughts: I really enjoyed it! Production wise it very much continued in the style of the two Shitan remakes as far as lighting and staging. I actually found it to be far more consistent tone and feel wise, largely, because this show is a fully new production! Which does mean that, unfortunately, no songs from previous shows made an appearances. However! That doesn’t keep the show from still feeling like a hakumyu production!

For one thing, the opening song, while it is technically a new song, it is very much reminiscent of Yaisa! Which i found to be interesting, because the show overall seemed to be leaning more heavily towards the shitan rebrand, and yet moments like that called back to the first era of shows.

The play felt both more low-energy in some places while still having an absolutely blistering pace. The music leaned very heavily on rock and metal, but also included several more specific varairties of rock. This kept the show feeling overall more cohesive. So no, there were no sudden latin-fusion or hip-hop numbers this time...But there were still many stand out musical moments.

Like before, Chizuru and her father have many japanese folk-inspired melodies. Same with Kazama, whose new character theme also features many japanese pentatonic scale figures. There was still heavy use of piano and light usage of synths which I think kept from being too overbearing when they were used. I do miss the usage of more japanese folk instruments that came in more heavily with Shitan, but I still enjoyed it over all.

Gosh, there is so much I want to mention. Teruma as Sannan; he nearly stole the show. Every single scene he did, he was absolutely giving his all, to the point I was worried he would hurt his voice! I am seriously impressed on how he has continued to elevate and refine his Sannan performance. Most of the people in the nico streams with me were begging for a Sannan-hen and honestly I would love that too.

They also had several cute moments of Sannan+Heisuke. I do love how the musicals seem to emphasise how close they were, them both having originally come from the same sword school before joining the Shinsengumi. The interpersonal conflict between Sannan and Hijikata was also even more explosive and full of tension. Teruma’s scenes with Hijikata were insanely gripping every time. Recently I learned that the speculation around the historical death of Sannan was due to a power struggle with Hijikata, and so these scenes feel very evocative of that.

Speaking of actors~ I cannot overstate how completely and utterly thrilled I am that Suzuki Shougo has reprised his role as Kazama! I always enjoy it the most when actors are clearly completely enjoying their time in a particular role, and Suzuki relishes his every moment on stage. His performance is even more enthralling than in his orignal run of Kazama-hen in 2014 and I can only hope that he gets more opportunities to reprise the role in the future.

Other performers notes: Once again, Higuchi Yuuta, following in the tradition of Ikeda Junya--All but stole the show at certain points. He’s not as featured in Souma hen as he is in Kazama and Hijikata, but he still stabbed me directly in the heart with his flawless mix of warmth and pain.

I am a fan of Chizuru/Heisuke, and so I was disappointed with how Heisuke-hen seemed to get screwed over, so I am always grateful for these moments even if they hurt.

Some other notes is that, while I did like the show overall, it did feel rough at some points, and other points I really wasn’t clear on the timeline of what was happening when/why. Which is fine for people who know the story, but I likely wouldn’t try showing this musical to people unfamiliar, like I would with Kazama-hen. It did feel rushed at times and the scene transitions abrupt, but I ultimately didn’t mind, since once again this show is pushing on 3 hours and they are clearly trying to cram in as much content as physically possible. At this point though they might as well just upgrade to a three act format with two intermissions.

Speaking more on the stagecraft; Like with both shitan plays, the use of the staging for visual storytelling is exemplary! Compared to the pre-shitan plays, it is much easier to absorb themes and emotions through the staging alone. Like with this shot from the planning of Itou’s assassination, where Okita’s gradual uselessness from his illness is displayed visually.

I am sure that this show has gone through development and workshop difficulties, since it got suspended during its original planned run. And as always they are trying to make the repeating plot points of act one more interesting every time, which I appreciate. Seeing how this play has continued to add more detail and emotion to the plot points makes me excited to see what they can do next!

Now, to focus on the real heart of the play, Souma himself!

When I initially watched the tokyo show, i had not finished souma’s route in the game, but upon my watch of the kansai show I completed the route, basically compelled by how compelling i found Souma to be in the play.

Their relationship is overall very adorable and touching. The staging and writing also often has them positioned on the stage delivering exposition together, showing them almost as two parts of a greater whole.

I used to find the blood drinking scenes to be awkward at best and embarrassing at worst, but since Hijikata-shitan, they seem to have figured out how to make them upsettingly effective. The relationship and chemistry between Chizuru and Souma was also very good and very convincing.

One thing that super stuck out to me about them in particular: I am also just a huge fan of analysing the musical structure; and so the differences in how they used musical themes this time around were extremly interesting. For one thing, the show overall is completely new music(almost, there are two BGM tracks reused from shitan). I was a little sad about it at first, but deeply appreciated how they continued to use the music in new ways.

Overall, the music is much less focused on individual character themes and motifs; and like the original saito-hen, we have people being more associated with their relationships. I found that to be extremely affective, and the focus on the bonds between people really helped the show hit home even harder.

In previous shows, I had noticed that they don’t use song reprises as often as you might see in broadway shows. However, in this play the use of song reprises is absolutely brutal. In particular, the new vague equivalent to “ano hi no chikai”, is repeated two other times and used to send off the show at the very end.

In regards to our main duo, one thing that absolutely took me off guard is that....Souma has no main character theme.

I was surprised too. He has no real equivalent to “Paint it Blood,” “Makoto no Hata” or any of the other main lead’s themes. There is one song that he sings and repeats several times throughout the play. however, he is not the one who originally sings it. Instead, it is Chizuru. Chizuru herself has a unique character theme and song which comes back and she shares with her father. But ultimately, she starts the play and she also ends it.

I just think that it’s so perfect. While Souma is the lead of this play, his whole story is about finding connection and meaning among friends. It’s not about him as an individual, instead it’s about what drives us to fight for what we believe in and who we love. The songs that he sings about wanting to find his meaning in life his “michishirube”, he shares with Chizuru.

And in the end, it really made Chizuru and Souma’s love arc feel extremely cohesive to me. There was no sense of either’s identity overriding the other, instead they were a pair of people in a difficult situation who both had to make sacrifices. And that too was reflected in the music that they shared together.

I so deeply hope that they release a soundtrack for this show, because i do honestly think it is the best music produced in the franchise so far. Not only its general quality and listenability, but the way it connects to and tells the story.

Not only that, but Umetsu Mizuki is absolutely luminous as Souma. He clearly takes some heavy influence from Kaji Yuki’s vocal performance in the game, but he adds to and fleshes out that vocal performance with his own physicality and mannerisms.

Matsuzaki Risa too, as Chizuru. Apparently, this is her first musical?! Her singing voice is absolutely stunning. But I could tell at times how she wasn’t quite used to the stage, but she still did amazingly. Additionally, she like Motonishi Sakiho(Kazama shitan) before her also is a hakuouki/hakumyu fan? and had been hoping to play the role of Chizuru for a long time. And so I am just very happy for her. And fortuitously so because Chizuru is handled the best and given the most focus on Souma hen in my opinion.

This show was really wonderful, and I am going to be in pain every day until the DVD is finally in my hands and I can watch/listen to it all on my own again.

Please, if you have any questions or just want to talk about this wonderful musical, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

While i was gone from hakumyu for a long time, I am finally back and glad to be back for hakumyu at it’s most exquisite.

#hakumyu #souma hen #hakouki #hakuouki #souma kazue #Yukimura chizuru #kubota hidetoshi #umetsu miizuki #shiina taizou #teruma #kikuchi shuuji #imata taira #matsuzaki risa #my stuff

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gula-melaka · 5 years

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Hakumyu Kitan Thoughts!

I still haven’t been able to watch Reimeiroku completely, so this will also include my thoughts on the new cast. Like many of you out there, I’m still kinda attached to the old cast, it’s going to be some big shoes to fill in. :’<

1. Serizawa’s face always reminds me of Scar from Lion King lol.

2. Matsuda Gaku is a very beautiful Hijikata. Probably fits the definition of an ikemen. That smirk too mmm...

3. Different Yaisa choreography... :’< I miss Ikeda Junya wuuu.

4. It’s hard to compare with Hirose Daisuke’s Okita, but I think Aramaki Yoshihiko has his own flavour. Less playful, less mad, but more serious and proud. I like the excessive twirling of his sword though, hehe. Still the drama queen, of course.

5. We’re back to that awkward phase where Sanan doesn’t exist, and no one is explaining wtf is a Fury and the Water of Life and what’s its impact on the Shinsengumi.

6. While we’re on that topic, some of the story elements and narratives changed too. It was kinda odd at times (e.g. Kodou asking Okita to lead his Fury army). Some others (e.g Hijikata’s near-death conversation with Serizawa) are interesting adds.

7. The new KINNNIKU song has A+ choreography and A++ kinniku mmmmm.

8. Yamazaki gets featured quite abit. :’> *press F*

9. Hijikata’s breakdown though. </3

10. Sano actually using his sword!

11. Harada route preview! I liked how they slide it in, kinda like Heisuke’s interactions with Chizuru in Kazama-hen. But seriously, Sano’s short wig is bugging me... >< Why is if flipped out like that? How is it that they make it look bad again? orz Such injustice when he had such a cool scene. :’<

12. I thought the ending stage with the Sakura background was really beautiful. And all the Shinsengumi in their Eastern costumes. And here I am, thinking about how many Sakura petals they had to prepare to scatter all over the stage for that entire sequence. xD

13. Demmit Kitan, I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS AGAIN. Just when I thought it’s the Hijikata route, it’s Kazama-hen / Yukimura route again. QAQ

14. The true MVP

15. Never really realized how silly Heisuke’s upper arm and thigh guards are until the musical pokes fun about them. xD

16. Matsuda Gaku during the curtain call is really adorable, hahaha.

Hakumyu Kitan wasn’t too bad! It was a good introduction to the new cast, for me. It was a nice mix of old and new songs. Of course I miss the old cast and old songs (boku wa ken da~), but things must change. Meanwhile, I shall keep watching Hakumyu and believe in the things that doesn’t change (hahaha).

#hakuouki #hakumyu #hakuouki musical #shinsengumi #matsuda gaku #hijikata toshizo #harada sanosuke #higashi keisuke

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yukimuraruki-art · 5 years

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Kashiwagi Yuusuke as Shiranui Kyou - Harada Sanosuke-hen

Size: A4 Medium: Derwent Graphite pencils, Derwent Charcoal pencils, Sakura gel pens - silver, Derwent metallic pencils, Winsor & Newton Pro Markers Series: Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan (Musical version, Harada Sanosuke-hen) Character: Shiranui Kyou (Kashiwagi Yuusuke)

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All Likes and Reblogs are welcome and very much appreciated ♡

Don’t Repost, Trace, Recolor or change this drawing in any way without permission. Please also rate the drawing on Pixiv. Alternative on DeviantArt.

A sign of life!I've moved again and the house we live in now is like a trillion times better than the tiny flat we have lived in for the past 7 month. Although I would have liked to avoid the stress and the money of another move. Oh well... So I started this actually December 2018, when I first watched the Harada-hen of the HakuMyus. Finally! I have to admit, that I really, really hated Sasaki Yoshihide's acting as Kazama Chikage, I absolutely enjoyed the dynamics between Harada Sanosuke, Shiranui Kyou and Yukimura Chizuru. I strongly dislike the Harada route in the game despite for Chizuru being absolutely badass with her words and attitudes. She is absolutely gorgeous but I can't with Harada's stereotypical talk about guys having to protext their ladies and that the ladies absolutely have to settle down, have a family, make babies and all that. At least not to that extent. I mean, I know that Edo-period Japan had a strict pattern of gender roles as well, I feel that the whole route was a single emphasize on that aspect. I could live with every other route, however I never played Kaze no Shou through the lack of a PS Vita xD The main reason I was looking FOWARD to Harada Sanosuke-hen was indeed Shiranui. Because we get to see so much about Shiranui, his backstory, his kinda love-hate with Harada and as he argues with Chizuru... I love everything about that. I could really enjoy a route where you just befriend Harada as your partner in crime or soemthing, because I guess that Shiranui and Harada would be best mates and every time they are in action they'd high-five and something would explode behind them xD But now, back tó the drawing. As I mentioned I started this in 2018 and then, being totally moved by Kashiwagi's Shiranui especially when he held his graduation speech. So I decided to draw Kashiwagi Yuusuke as my favourite gunslinger bae. It wasn't easy especially because Kashiwagi Yuusuke has a little bit of a squint in his eyes and every time I draw people who squint, I wonder if I just should correct it... but no that would be wrong. I actually bought some charcoal pencils to draw this, but when I just had the rough sketch down on the paper, I realized that I couldn't use the charcoals anymore because I put them in some box with my water colours etc. So I had to do it in graphite, mostly. I wasn't happy about it since graphite always has that shine to it. But well... I did some of the whites and highlights with charcoal when I finally got my stuff back last week. The cherry blossom in the background is done with a base of Pro Marker (Pastels) and metallic pencils. That's why the scan came out quite unique with different hues of the pinks and reds. I have to admit that I am very, very fond of this piece. I think I want to offer this soon as a fine art print.

Commissions Open

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kirakirachiizuru · 6 years

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[PART 1] HAKUMYU LIVE2 - SPECIAL GUEST EXTRAS - Matsuda Ryo

I am doing this just for fun ^^ Because I like translating the Tokuten (extras), than the Honpen (stageplay) :p I know LIVE has been around for a while but just in case ^^ I will skip some parts… because they talk too fast / not so important / interesting :p If I have the time and if anyone wants to read this, I will make the rest with Izawa Yuki, Yamazaki Shuuto, Gomoto Naoya & Yazaki Hiroshi too ^^ (i edited this with photos lol yesterday tumblr was being ugly and jealous i couldnt upload anything)

PART01: Matsuda Ryo-kun (12/08, Kyoto, NOON)

[01:25:22]

Mori-Producer: Today’s guest, Matsuda Ryo-san!

Ryo: IS EVERYONE HAVING FUN?

*fanscream*

Ryo: NOT ENOUGH! DO YOU LOVE HAKUMYU?

*fanscream*

Ryo: Awesome! Once again, I am the previous Saito Hajime actor, Matsuda Ryo.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

M-P: So it has been 2 1/2 years, since your last stage, since Kazama-hen

R: Yes, that was the last one for me, and the Fukuchou (commander / Piroshi). And you see just now I have been watching from the side-stage and a lot of memories came in.

R: Yes my debut performance was the first ever Hakumyu after all (Saitou-hen). I’m so happy and now everyone is turning their penlights into Blue colour. Aa~ thank you~ (in his Kansai-ben /aaaaaa XD)

*fanscream*

R: I love everyone (* Minna suki ya de~ aaa kansai benn XD) ! I’ll give you this *hands over his uchiwa (fan) to one front seat fan). It is a festival after all right. I can’t throw it (the fan) to the seats it’s dangerous okay.

M-P: It is definitely amazing right. It was the first ever Hakumyu, and without that there wont be Hakumyu today right (i rephrased this XD i think he mentioned Matsuda Gakkun, like without Ryo-kun first Hakumyu, there wouldnt be Hakumyu today for anyone else~)

*Digest / clips of Ryo-Saitou played on screen*

After that…

R: You know just now I received a LINE message from Yamazaki-san / Piroshi.

AUDIENCE: ‘What did he saaay?’

R: ‘Good luck for the LIVE’ and he wrote that all in Hiragana. lol but that’s so him XDD

So I replied, I’ll do my best!

R: No no *sheepishly*, but you see in the digest just now (clips from prev musicals), it is thanks to everyone - casts, staffs, those who have been loving Hakumyu.. oh but Hakuouki (the anime/game) is amazing in the first place right.

M-P: He is definitely a zachou (lead) who practiced more than anyone else, yet never shows a tired face *more praises*

R: (laugh) thank you!

Then Mori-Producer said that seems like it started from Ryo-kun, a passionate and powerful Zachou, and from that on the next ones too inherited that.

R: Eh, wait I feel like crying already.

M-P: That’s fast.

R: Before I was in Hakumyu, I went through an audition and at that time, I was auditioning for Heisuke’s position.

ME & FANS: WHAAT?????

[01:28:01]

R: I was aiming for Heisuke and I really didnt think that I would be Saitou Hajime and that time Mori-san’s impression was really interesting

M-P: I thought he will definitely fail this :p

It was like he was screwing around. What did you do again?

And then Ryo-kun explained that there are some things that needs to be done. I think he needs to act out a scene in which everyone needs to take turn and then he gets cut down by another. And he have to act out a dying scene.

[1:28:45]

R: I never had any experience of sword fight lessons or anything, let alone how to act out a death. So when I was cut down, UWAAA— (run and plops on floor) and I just stayed in this position (on floor) and I looked at the person and the producer angrily said ‘Die now!’

(Chii: BAHAHAHA ;;;;;;)

M-P: I really thought you will fail but you managed till the end and Im glad it is you.

R: Aaww

M-P: How about acting out Saitou Hajime’s line now? *pass a Katana*

R: WAAA, it has been a while since I last held a Katana *slips it on his obi* (mind you, it is left side which is actually ‘wrong’ because he is Saitou Hajime known for left-handed samurai XD). Ok Mori-san be the Chizuru okay.

*acts out Saitou’s line* (AAAAAA AAAA) *looks at Mori-chizuru lol*

R: EH, this katana is the other way round (lol)

M-P: Any scenes that’s most memorable for you?

R: (he said the scene when he fought with Kazama)

*Then it became an awkward scene when Shougo-Kazama came out.*

R: Hi, it is.. a first time so I’m Matsuda Ryo *steps back*

Shougo-Kazama: Hmph.

R: Seems like his eyes is killing me. Then, I can take him on now. Everyone, he is now weaponless.

S-K: *came back with a Katana* R: Ok lets go with ‘that’ scene. Get it? ‘That scene?’ …. Aren’t you laughing, you okay?

(LOL Shougo is facing Ryo-kun so the face is not visible :P)

*Acting out the sword fight* But it doesnt seem to go well XDDD

S-K: ... sure you can do it? :p

[01:33:30]

*Shiranui is called out*

Shiranui: I didnt hear about this

(maybe this was not part of their plan haha because the talks are partly scripted :p)

R: Hi! Hey hey hey! *making a gun with his hand and then ignored by the two Onis* XD

S: Who’s that?

S-K: I have no idea

R: Where’s that other person.. bald one?

S: Koudou

(actually and usually the casts are all watching from the side-stage ^^ HAHA so im thinking they didnt planned it out other than Shougo-Kazama meeting Ryo-kun XD)

….. Koudou: Shibu shibu shibu shibu *t/n: reluctant, reluctant (LOL XD)

[01:34:30]

R: Definitely they are amazing first-generation casts right

M-P: Ok time is running out. *fans went EHHH~~*

S-K: I will read a letter from my good friend, Suzuki Shougo (lolol.)

R: Oh you two are such close friends eh. (LOL)

S-K: He is… *stiffled laugh* (AHAHAHAHAHA) S-K: *reads the letter to Matsuda-san* ^^ Matsuda-san I heard you are making appearance on Hakumyu’s stage after a long time today, how are you feeling? It has been 5 years since we have known each other. You who are a younger brother, we had fun praticing, drinking and fooling around together. Compared to that time, I earnestly think you’ve become such a splendid actor as Matsuda Ryo…….. (cont) (It is such a warm letter, and I am not good with such beautiful piece so let’s leave that to your imagination :P)

S-K: That’s what he wrote *keeps the letter in his sleeve* M-P: You’re not giving the letter to him?

S-K: Later (XD) : [01:37:18]

R: *speeches* Ok I cant anymore, if I stay here any longer I will cry. Thank you, have fun everyone!

FIN

Here are some other interesting facts from the rest of the special guest corner (that I might or might not translate):

[1] Gomoto Naoya-kun auditioned for Hijikata Toshizou’s position (HAHAHA but Mori Producer was like, Nope okay you can stop during the audition :p)

[2] Izawa Yuki-kun was sooo pressured to be the 2nd Hijikata-san, because Piroshi / Yamazaki Hiroshi was a strong one, too good. And then he said at that time, he always had Kondou-san (Taira-san) to pamper and calm him down. And when asked how, he acted it out: *walks to Kondou-san and hugs* ‘Im scared~ Piroshi was so good~* And Taira-san would hug pat him and say ‘It is okay, just be yourself, you own version of Hijikata Toshizou’

[3] On the recording day of Hakumyu Reimeiroku, Piroshi came to watch. And Izawa Yuki-kun was like ‘AAA how dare he came today why did he have to come today of all days’ XD But then at the end, when he showed his fist towards Piroshi in the audience seat, Piroshi returned his air-fistbump (AWW). He said he was happy and touched ^^

[4] Izawa Yuki sheated his katana and fans went ‘UUU~~’ and he said ‘Wow LIVE is so nice, I didnt do anything but sheating my sword and I get such reaction :p

[5] Izawa Yuki said he had such a blunder during Hakumyu performance like there were times when he tried to sheath back his sword and the scabbard had moved the other way. So this one time, he put it in, and like oh god it wouldnt go in so while acting the play he slowwwwly slowwwwly took it out, and BAM! put it back in one go :p

[6] Ryo-kun said some of the blunders he made during Hakumyu was (1) There was a part Amagiri was talking and he was supposed to come out, and at one time he was just sitting at the side-stage not realizing it was his moment to come out. And suddenly Ikeda Junya-kun (Heisuke), came running ‘OI YOUR TURN GET OUT THERE’ and he was like wth and ‘WHY?’ and Junya furiously said ‘YOUR TURN’ and he was like ‘WHAT? !!!’ *late sudden realization* XDDD

(2) There was a day he said he forgot his Katana (LOL) and that was the part he was supposed to fight Kazama (such important scene LOL). And he saw the ensemble Suga-chan and just ‘defeat and grab away his Katana forcefully’ and continue his act LOL. (you would know Suga-vhan if you’re a fan (said Ryo-kun), bcs the longest ensemble member to join Hakumyu from start till to-date).

[7] Izawa Yuki-kun said he was always feeling so pressured (lol poor one XD Piroshi was awesome after all keke) but Kondou-san (Taira-san) helped him like you know he is a historical figure and Taira-san looks just so realiable like the real one, but then one day during practice, they were practicing Shinsengumi’s first appearance during YAISA and when it is his turn to come out with Taira-san suddenly he heard a loud DODOON noise and when he looked to his side, Taira-san stumbled and fell down very unsightly LOL (you can see this clip in Toudou-hen’s extras) :p

[8] Imata Taira-san (Kondou-san) is known for getting tongue-tied and calling character names wrongly like: Saitou-KYUN, Sousuke (Heisuke), Heiji (Souji) :p

[9] Mori-producer said when he first met Ryo-kun he judged him like ‘Can this kid really talk properly’ (Because Ryo-kun is a Kansai-person so he has an accent). And Ryo-kun said Now I can talk normally and fluently (without the accent) :p

#hakumyu #hakuouki musical #hakumyu LIVE 2

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sambart93 · 5 years

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Final 31 [2018 Edition] Day 31: 2018 Resolutions Wrap Up

Here we are! We are on the final day and it’s now time to see how well I did over the year! My 2018 Resolutions are here, so without further ado...

1. 20 Doramas/SPs - (PASS) I succeeded this one!! I was very happy to finally get back into the world of doramas and such. While the beginning of the year was strong, I started watching doramas just because my friend wanted me to watch along with her and unfortunately, all her choices were absolute rubbish. So hopefully next year I can watch just as many, but watch much better ones.

2. 20 Movies - (PASS) I marathoned whole series of movies this year which felt so great! I managed to watch about catch up with Jinro Game, and watch almost all the Yamikin Dogs movies too! I also got to watch some long overdue stuff like Tomodachi Game and Survival Family which were so good! I am happy with the movies I saw this year. Next year looks even more promising though!

3. 12 Books - (PASS) I don’t think I could’ve done this if I hadn’t gotten behind and then marathoned about 2 years worth of Shingeki no Kyojin manga. That alone was about 6 or 7 volumes of content xD I had either really good or really shit books this year. Of course my main man Sanderson never failed me once! And this year I started to read all his work from the beginning which has been fun! Also finally read some LONG overdue books: Frankenstein, Dracula, Leviathan Wakes, Ready Player One, Alice in Wonderland, A Torch Against the Night. SO MANY GOOD BOOKS! I already have lists of the top 5 and top 36 books that are my utmost priority for this next coming year. 36 isn’t entirely impossible but it’s definitely a challenge for me, but I am excited!

4. Keep Up with Reviews - (FAIL) I’m going to be honest, reviews take a LOT of time, and I can’t exactly concentrate all that well when I’m at home. One review takes at least 4 hours, and when I have events every week, it really cuts down how much time I have to get these things out. I still have reports/review from JUNE that I still haven’t even started! I am seriously cutting down on outside events next year so hopefully I can catch up and keep up. I do love writing reviews but I just wish I had a better environment and more time to get through them all. Also me marathoning whole Korean Variety shows the last 6 months of this year have NOT helped. One episode is always about 90 minutes and I watch like 2 to 3 episodes every day so.... yeah that really sucked up a lot of the time I could’ve spent writing. I’ll sort it out, I promise!

5. Oshi Stages/Events Only - (PASS) I feel like I ONLY went to Oshi stuff this entire year... I’m trying to think of one play that didn’t have an oshi in it... even Tenimyu technically counts cos FUCKING HIGA, AM I RIGHT?! ... and I really thought it’d be saving me money; turns out NO! Because instead of going to seven DIFFERENT plays, I’ve just been going to the same oshi play 2, 3, 4 times instead! That is not productive Alex! So while I got very picky and more focused on my plays, I didn’t exactly save much money. BUT this year (especially towards the end of the year) I definitely didn’t feel like I had no money - unlike this time last year where I was in serious poverty and was scraping the barrel of all my bank accounts just to get by (yes I am shameless, and yes I really should admit the severity of my money spending), which means my money handling definitely got better which is good, but it’s still not at the level I want it at - we’re a LONG way off that. Luckily, I found more plays and production companies that I didn’t like this year (I’m looking right at you MARV!), and a lot of my favourite series either finished or no longer feature my oshis (TouStage, HakuMyu, K Stage, EnStage (for now) etc.) which means I should have more money staying in my bank account next year as well as more fucking time to sort out my mental health (it’s been very very bad the last 3 - 4 months, and money worries definitely don’t help)! PHEW!

6. Keep Complaints to Self and Be Positive on the Outside - (FAIL) I feel this hasn’t improved at all, especially at work. I know I shouldn’t be this vocal and this negative but my stupid brain works too fast for my common sense to kick in, and I end up complaining before my brain can say ‘hang on a minute bitch’ and then I feel like the worst fucking person afterwards. And, as mentioned above, my mental health has really been struggling since November so that’s not helped my negativity at all (one day I’ll probably open up about how bad it’s been but not right now, because I’m still dealing with it). But at least I am always trying to better myself on this one.

7. Travel Twice - (PASS) I definitely did this! I went to Sendai TWICE, I went to Nagoya, Osaka, Hakone, I finally went to Odawara (and Odawara Castle), I went to new places in Tokyo: Kichijoji, Nakameguro, Yomiura Land, Asakusa, Ikebukuro Aquarium. While it was all internal in Japan, I still managed some new places which makes me happy! But hopefully next year I have at least one external travel!

8. Save Money! - (MORE FAIL THAN PASS) I did manage to save some money: I started saving ALL my coins that weren’t 100 yen and that managed to total about 30,000yen by the end of the year which is great! But I am still very much financially unstable. And yes it is completely and entirely my fault. But at least I’m no where near as unstable and poor as this time last year! I’m not spending whole nights lying awake hungry and worrying about the fact I can’t afford food for the next 2 - 3 days unlike last year which is amazing progress (not really but...). While I did find out that saving coins is a great way for me to save up money, I am still not saving decent amounts every month. Hopefully next year is that year! This year I’ve managed to sort out some priorities and find out ways of cutting down on my spending, and I feel like next year I’ll be able to really hold my control on it, moreso than the last 2 years.

9. JLPT - (FAIL) HA let’s not talk about this one. I had every intention of doing the JLPT in December and I did seriously studying in July, August and beginning-September, but then SuJu came along and decided to do concerts the weekend of the exam so my brain went ‘fuck it! Not like you’re ever gunna pass anyway’, so I never applied and I stopped studying all together xD I haven’t picked up a book since September. I really have zero motivation to study Japanese anymore. And I’m going to be honest, the main reason I’ve lost all my motivation to study is because I have no fucking place TO study. I can’t study at work because people keep coming to my desk and my anxiety finds that extremely humiliating, embarrassing, and distracting to be discovered studying; I don’t have a spare desk in my room so I don’t want to study there; I don’t want to study in the living room because my roommates could come in at any moment which is again embarrassing, distracting and worrying; I can’t study at a restaurant or cafe because the air-con is fucking freezing and it’s just a different way of wasting and spending more money than necessary. I have NO place to study, so how can you (I’m speaking to the universe) expect me to take a fucking JLPT exam when I can’t even find a fucking place to study?! You see the pickle I’m in?

10. No Clearfiles, No Non-Fav Fandom TShirts or Bags - (PASS) I did it! And to be honest, I completely forgot I wasn’t buying these things anymore, I just naturally DIDN’T! Which is great! I am definitely stretching this buying ban far next year (you’ll see in tomorrow’s post), but I am excited and happy at how easy this has been!

11. Keep up with Dancing and Stretches - (PASS) I have whole weeks where I exercise ridiculously every day/night, and then some weeks where I’m doing the bare minimum, but at least I’m always conscious of how much I’m exercising and I’m always trying to keep myself in check when it comes to exercise. So I’d say this one is a success. I’m still enjoying stretching, I’m still enjoying my dancing, I enjoy walking so much. This is going well!

12. Spend Spare Time Studying - (FAIL) We already went through this; I stopped studying; K-Variety has taken over my life. No time or motivation to do such things!

TOTAL: 7/12 PASSED! - A little over 50% which is not that great but I personally feel like I made progress even in some of the failed sections which is great! I hope I can be more successful next year! But I think we can all agree that my mental health is definitely the biggest thing ruining my motivation and goals right now. So let’s get that sorted first!

What were your goals this year? Did you succeed? How did you do? Let me know below!

My 2019 Resolutions are all set and ready to be posted tomorrow morning! Thank you for sticking around the entire 31 days even though my fandoms stretch far and wide, I hope at least some of the posts you could relate to.

#final 31 days of the year #final 31 days of the year 2018 edition #2018 wrap up

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mandilo · 6 years

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Stage and Musical ask game

i was tagged by @allyyyyy0619 and this idea is really fun ! i really likes going over all that i remmembered. And remember this is my opinion and doesn’t mean i am more right than you !

1) I am quite recent on the internet, i came to this wonderfull world from being an Xjapan and a tokusatsu fan, the first contact with musicals was 1 or 2 years ago through a french youtuber who made fun of shonen anime and showed a little tennimyu. I found it funny but not i don't like sports shonen very much. I started really looking into hakumyu a little under year ago because i wanted to look into more roles played by junya ikeda, and it was a whole new world opening for me.

2) The first question leads naturally to the second : the whole reason i started japanese musicals is a lack of Ikeda Junya series or movies... He is a good actor and i love his communicative smile and energy.

3) For stages i loved, it’s more complicated but i’ll stick to streams or dvd out this year :

- Tousute saien (thanks in part for the subtitles since it's one of the first butai i watched and loved so much i tried some without)

- Tousute 2 (i loved the dvd version more than the stream and am impatiently waiting for the subs)

- Pattaliro even if i need subs for the madness of the middle portion i laughed so much seeing it.

- Rengoku ni Warau (The previous stage is stellar and this one is on par with it and has a very good cast)

4) Concerning least favorite, i'll repurpose the question as the ones i couldn't watch until the end but it doesn't mean it's bad, just not the ones i loved and could not tear my eyes from despite my limited japanese :

- Black rose alice (hard subject matter)

- Digimon butai (on my to watch list since summer but the puppets bug me)

- Diamond no ace stages (a sport that i know nothing about the stage lost me completely)

5) For the musical that were released(stream or dvd) this year the top 3 is difficult but these are my obsessions :

- i need to cheat on the date for this one : the entirety of Toumyu since i fell in love with shunya at first viewing and the entire first team in general.

- Hakumyu harada-hen (first stream purchase ever after loving the first 6 hakumyu)

- Ensemble Stars Judge of Knights

- B-pro theatre comes at quite close 4th place...

6) Least favorite musicals is easier, again it doesn't mean bad just those i watched at most twice and don't plan seeing again :

- Rusted Armors, probably because of the “rap” portion and the struggle to record it.

- Heinemyu i don’t know why, i’m just okay not seeing it again

- Kingpri (i can't get “behind” a certain scene)

7) Favorite actors frankly i have to do 2 rankings, my darlings and the genuinely good actors i like :

1 Ohira Shunya

2 Sakurai Keito

3 Kashiwagi Yuusuke

4 Higuchi Yuta

But when it comes to best roles this year :

1 Suzuki Hiroki

2 Aramaki Yoshihiko

3 Suzuki Shogo

4 Kuroba mario / Ryuji Sato (can’t choose)

8) For me Mario, Ryuji and Tsubasa in a smaller mesure are out of this pool. Rookie or rising star actors :

1 Kashiwagi Yuusuke (not had the best choices in stages but osomatsu-san seems a winner for him)

2 Sana Hiroki (this kid has a bright futur)

3 Ohira Shunya (i think he is about to outgrow the rising star category and i have high hopes for him)

4 Spi (i can’t belive Toumyu was one of his first japanese musicals)

9) For butai related drama/movie i won't be original but only for this one a won't cut on the 2017 date :

- Five (mario and ryuji of course)

- Hakuoki ssl series and movie (and tengentally the stages)

- Ayamekun (because of mario)

- counting sheep and shake the balance (someya toshiyuki, tomoru akazawa and chantomo)

- messiah polar night (well i'm still trying to collect the pieces of my heart over this one)

10) For the best singing voice these are the names that imediately pop in my mind :

- suzuki shougo

- sato ryuji

- ogoe yuuki

- sakiyama tsubasa

- spi

11 ) I’ll be brutally honnest on the one that had to grow on me :

Toumyu mihotose live portion has taken a lot of time in the year to grow on me but let’s admit it’s not a good idea to watch touken ranbu sai 2016 and mihotose back to back because of the godly level of ryuji/mario/ogotan/shunya.

12) Well, hard question this one since i barely watch anime and read manga but for the properties adaptations i am curious about :

- Donten ni Warau gaiden (more of the series of warau is good)

- Final Fantasy would be fun

- XXX holic maybe already done i don’t know !

13) I'm not in a lot of fandom but hakuoki and touken ranbu are very welcoming

14) I’ve been in the fandom for around 10 month only.

15) As a recent addition, i love how open is the international community on tumblr. I have been really nice welcomed and found people to discuss with and i will do my best to be less shy when toumyu comes to paris again !

#what i like #i loved doing this

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sakurasakiyama · 6 years

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End Of Year 2.5D Butai/Musical Ask Tag Game!

This is a little ask tag game and I was tagged by the maker of the questions @allyyyyy0619! (Who also tagged me in the Hakumyu Tag Game a while back!) Thank you for tagging me in it (and for also tagging me first off the rank xD) and I’ll try my best to answer all of the questions you’ve given me!

A reminder to everyone that this is all MY OWN OPINION! So if you disagree with something, please keep that to yourself as I’ve had quite a few people judge me and I don’t really need the negativity! So without further ado!

1. Firstly, how did you manage to find out about 2.5D butai/musical? Which butai/musical was your first and your impression of it?

I managed to find out about the 2.5D World after watching an anime called Dance with Devils. I saw that there was a musical for it as there was a little digest of it on YouTube, and I really wanted to watch it. So my first musical happened to be the first Dance with Devils Musical. And my first impressions of it were not actually that bad if I recall. I was a bit picky a year ago, but I actually happened to have loved it overall for the scenes, actors, characters, the actors singing abilities and the story line they made based on the anime that I love. And it included my now favourite in there too xD

2. Who was your first favourite 2.5D actor/actress? Why?

Sakiyama Tsubasa! (What else is there to say xD) He has become my favourite for the way he acts and takes on his roles. He has only been in the business for 3 years and I hope to see him grow in the upcoming years! His smile, personality and his normal/singing voice are so heart warming, calming and relaxing; and he can be quite the deep person at times... As well as be immature which always brings a smile to my face after a bad day xD

3. Top 3 (or more) favourite butai of the year?

1. Touken Ranbu -Akatsuki no Dokuganryuu- 2. Pataillro 3. Yuugeki 4. Dansui! 5. CHaCK-UP

All of the stages I have seen this year I have loved so much, but I decided to name these as my top 4 that I could think of! xD

4. Top 3 (or more) least favourite butai of the year?

I have loved them all so I can’t pick any out that I didn’t like ><

5. Top 3 (or more) favourite musical of the year?

1. Rengoku ni Warau 2. Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta~ 3. Starmyu

Again, I have LOVED everything I have seen this year that is a musical but I would name these as my top 3!

6. Top 3 (or more) least favourite musical of the year?

Again, I have loved all of them so I can’t pick any that I didn’t like! ><

7. Top 3 (or more) favourite actors/actress of the year?

1. Sakiyama Tsubasa 2. Sato Ryuji 3. Kuroba Mario

I have soooo many other favourites but I’m picking them as my top 3!

8. Top 3 (or more) rookie actors/rising actors whom you’ve high hopes for in the future?

1. Sakiyama Tsubasa 2. Asato Yuya 3. Miura Hiroki

Although Tsubasa is slowly on the rise, I still have high hopes for him in the future. Asato Yuya is known but he hasn’t really been able to make a proper name for himself besides in the YowaPeda fandom & in Osomatsu-san. And Muira Hiroki has been doing really well in his career so far! I can’t wait to see where he goes to next!

9. Top 3 (or more) favourite butai/musical related drama/movie of the year? (Option 2)

Just be aware that I am still quite behind in the movie/drama department so some of my pickings are at least a year or two old!

1. GARO -Yami wo Terasu Mono-, Ikeda Junya & Aoki Tsunenori. (And Oota Motohiro & Matsuoka Koudai making a 1 episode appearance each!) 2. FIVE, Sato Ryuji, Kuroba Mario & Matsuoka Koudai 3. Corpse Party -Book of Shadows-, Ikeoka Ryosuke, Mizuishi Atomu & Aoki Tsunenori.

10. Top 3 (or more) actors/actress that you think have the best singing voice?

1. Sato Ryuji 2. Sakiyama Tsubasa 3. Suzuki Shougo 4. Ogoe Yuuki 5. Kuroba Mario 6. Miura Hiroki 7. Arisawa Shoutarou 8. Imari Yuu

There are soooo many more that I absolutely love, but I thought I should stop at 8! xD

11. A (or more) butai/musical that you didn’t initially love, but has/have grown on you?

And again, I have loved all of the butai’s/musical’s I have watched or seen so far this year so I can’t really pick one out! ><

12. Top 3 (or more) anime/manga/game that you would love to see being adapted into a butai/musical in the future?

1. Kaichou wa Maid-sama 2. Magic-Kyun Renaissance 3. Akuma no Riddle

These 3 animes are some of the main favourites I love! So it would be nice to see a stage adaption for at least one of them!

13. Top 3 (or more) favourite fandom on the year?

1. Toumyu 2. Tenimyu 3. Tousute

These are basically my 3 main fandoms but I would like to explore other fandoms over time!

14. How long have you been in the 2.5D fandom?

I have only been in the fandom for 1 year as of this month! xD

15. Lastly, what is your overall opinion of the 2.5D fandom so far?

If I have to give my overall opinion, I really love this fandom! The word 2.5D has been expanding for so long now that it’s basically it’s own brand. And the fans that you get to meet is wonderful! Although you do tend to get the ones that are a bit rude, the good always outweighs the bad! I hope this fandom continues to grow and I can’t wait to meet more people in the fandom! ❤

I’m not going to be tagging anyone! So if anyone wants to do this, feel free to do so! xD

#2.5D Butai/Musical Ask #Tag Game

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rachelgalsan · 6 years

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Butai asks!

Nobody tagged me but I wanted to do it so :3

1. Firstly, how did you manage to find out about 2.5D butai/musical? Which butai/musical was your first and your impression of it?

Thanks to a friend of mine who is in the sword hell. She introduced me Touken Ranbu and then she said there were musicals and a stage too so I decided to check it. Tbh I first watched the stage because I wasn’t interested in musicals at all (lol and now musicals are my favourite thing to watch) and I inmediately fell in love with it. I didn’t expect to like it so much… But when I saw toumyu, that feeling increased. I was speechless and well, now I’m into this hell.

2. Who was your first favourite 2.5D actor/actress? Why?

Kuroba Mario!! I must say Mikazuki Munechika is my favourite character of Touken Ranbu so it influenced me too… But when Mario started singing that’s what made me love him. His voice. It’s so… soft and tender. Plus the way he portrays Mikazuki is amazing!

3. Top 3 (or more) favourite butai of the year?

Joker Game

Touken Ranbu Akatsuki no Dokuganryuu

Judge of Knights (does it count as a musical?)

4. Top 3 (or more) least favourite butai of the year?

Uh… I don’t know???

5. Top 3 (or more) favourite musical of the year?

Shinken Ranbu Sai 2017

Mihotose No Komoriuta

B-project: Over the wave

6. Top 3 (or more) least favourite musical of the year?

Idk

7. Top 3 (or more) favourite actors/actress of the year?

My three stans(?

Matsuda Ryo

Suzuki Shougo

Kuroba Mario

8. Top 3 (or more) rookie actors/rising actors whom you’ve high hopes for in the future?

KIZU TSUBASA

Matsuoka Koudai

Miura Hiroki

9. Top 3 (or more) favourite butai/musical related drama/movie of the year?

going with Option 2: The drama/movie currently does not have a stage adaptation for the time being but has at least one 2.5D actor/actress in it. If you chose this option, please state the name of the actor that made you watch the drama/movie

Megadan!!! (Kuroba Mario, Wada Masanari, Arisawa Shoutarou and Tamaki Yuki)

10. Top 3 (or more) actors/actress that you think have the best singing voice?

Suzuki Shougo

SPI

Sasaki Yoshihide

11. A (or more) butai/musical that you didn’t initially love, but has/have grown on you?

Joker Game. Like… I watched it without subs the first time and I dropped it because I couldn’t understand anything (I hadn’t watched the anime neither so I was so lost) but when I tried to rewatched again subbed I FELL IN LOVE AND NOW IT’S ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BUTAI ;___________;

12. Top 3 (or more) anime/manga/game that you would love to see being adapted into a butai/musical in the future?

Mmmm… What about… JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE? Or Magi. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA It’d be very interesting!!

13. Top 3 (or more) favourite fandom on the year?

Hakumyu fandom

Toumyu fandom

Enstute fandom

14. How long have you been in the 2.5D fandom?

Only this year!!

15. Lastly, what is your overall opinion of the 2.5D fandom so far?

Like every fandom, there are good and bad things about it. But… The community is very warm and helpful, and very generous too. If it wasn’t for those who share their copies, I wouldn’t be in this fandom. I don’t have enough money to buy a DVD, so I’m so greatful ;;

One thing I am sad about it is that in my country there aren’t many people interested in 2.5D plays/actors. As you see, my English is not great so my vocabulary is limited. I would love to know more people who speaks Spanish and fangirl with them^^

That’s it :D I’m tagging @mashigiwho ~

#butai ask #personal

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shenanigumi · 6 years

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Tagged on this blog (by @yuutolovesturtles) ages ago!! I wrote out the following responses ages ago, too, so this is kind of a window into the past as of several months ago…

Rules: Answer eight questions and tag eight people.

Last movie I watched: Start to finish? uhhhhhhhh… my attention span is shot but I think it was “Hero”, you know, the one starring Jet Li with music by Tan Dun.

Last song I listened to: “LOVE Medley”, from HakuMyu LIVE, because of the video I just posted.

Last book I read: I can’t even remember, to be honest.

Last thing I ate: A bagel. At like 1:30am last night. Maybe I should get some food in my system today…?

What time period would you want to travel to: Technically speaking, I’m good where I am, thanks; the past sucks and the future is scary. Authorially speaking, 19th-century Japan seems as good a place as any based on the fic I’m writing.

Fictional character I would hang out with for a day: Only a day? I’d hate to pick someone I like if it’s that short a time. Maybe I’d hang out with Kazama so my life seems super awesome once he leaves again. Also, so I can interview him with the Utmost Respect.

If I could be anywhere right now, where would I be?: I… uh, don’t know. Home in my PJs doesn’t feel awesome enough to say here, but I can’t exactly think of anywhere else, either.

Current fandom obsession?: [looks around at blog] You tell me.

I think the reason I didn’t post all that till now was because I didn’t have it in me to tag anyone and didn’t want to break any rules. And I still don’t, but I’m clearing out my drafts in preparation for getting back into the swing of things, so I’m just gonna have to live with it. That said, if you do want to do this, please do it, especially if we don’t interact very often! I’m genuinely interested.

#personal #tag meme

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masayume85 · 7 years

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I know this may be outdated but to kill my curiosity I want to ask your opinion about: -All actors Heisuke, Saito, Sanosuke -All Hakumyu Musical (from saito hen-shinsengumi kitan hen) Thankyou! ! !

I am so sincerely sorry it took me so long to answer this but let’s get this going, shall we? :)

Friendly reminder: My opinions are my own. Any criticisms I have are not meant in disrespect. I love these actors and these productions, please never think otherwise.

~Toudou Heisuke~

1. Ikeda Junya (Saitou-hen ~ Heisuke-hen) - I don’t think I could ever have a negative thing to say about Junya. He’s sunshine incarnate, talented, and pretty gosh darn sexy, and he’s brings such a high level of quality to every role he plays that it’s hard not to love him. He’s the fun-loving, caring, and devoted Heisuke that we all know and love from the game. It was so great getting to see him take on the lead role in Heisuke-hen as he had definitely earned it. Junya is just an amazing actor.

2. Ozawa Ren (Reimeiroku ~ Shinsengumi Kitan) - While I think Renren isn’t the best singer, when I translate Heisuke from game to real life Renren is kind of what I picture. He’s such a ball of energy though. And SMILEY! Good gosh, I feel like it’s prerequisite that all Heisuke’s have nice smiles. I think he brought a good energy to the role and I really enjoyed him for the brief period that he got to be a part of the productions (before Ensemble Stars swallowed him lol).

3. Kizu Tsubasa (HakuMyu Live 2) - Talk about another cutie. He’s joining the cast at such an odd time, not actually being a part of a storied musical in HakuMyu Live 2, but I hope to see more of him in Sano-hen? (*crosses fingers*) He definitely can dance and sing (he’s part of a musical group) and he has a good energy, but with only one show under his belt it’s kind of hard to get a strong opinion on him yet.

Basically though, I love all the Heisuke’s! I have not met a Heisuke actor I didn’t like. This includes the SSL live action :)

Putting the rest under the cut because this got loooooong. (No joke I have been at this post for about a week).

~Saitou Hajime~

1. Matsuda Ryo (Saitou-hen ~ Kazama-hen) - Ahahaha, yeah, much like Hiroshi, Ryo is basically Saitou to me and it’s going to take a lot for me to find anyone who can even remotely come close to doing the character the same justice. Ryo is such an incredible actor and it’s so funny because he takes on Saitou’s almost monotone mannerisms and makes it look so effortless. The first time I heard Ryo being natural and himself it was such a shock because of how easily he slips into “Saitou-mode”. He’s just perfect, hands down. I get why he has a huge following.

2. Hashimoto Shouhei (Heisuke-hen ~ HakuMyu Live 2) - Okay, I know I’m probably unreasonably picky but I’ve never been able to like Shouhei’s Saitou. Which is going to sound like I don’t like Shouhei, but I do–I mean, have you seen him? He’s adorable and I want to cuddle him. But where Ryo was able to naturally assume Saitou’s persona, Shouhei feels forced to me. You can tell that he doesn’t normally speak like that and when they had him sing “Kawaranaimono” in HakuMyu Live 2 I just... no baby, no. As adorable as he is and as good as I know he is in other shows (clearly he appeals because he’s been a busy boy lately) he just doesn’t feel like Saitou for me. It’s been several musicals now and I was hoping that my opinion might change with time but it hasn’t :/ He’s a cutie but he’s just not Saitou.

~Harada Sanosuke~

1. Ono Kento (Saitou-hen ~ HakuMyu Live) - I have to be honest, the only thing that ever keeps me from saying that the original cast is perfect is probably Kento. I adore Kento but much like Shouhei he never really fit the role of Sano to me (weak emphasis on this being solely my opinion and not something people should take to heart or anything). And I honestly didn’t realize just how much I felt this way until he left and the role had to be recast. Maybe it’s because I identify him much more with other roles he’s done (thank you Messiah) but while his energy and chemistry with Junya and Shuuto was perfect, when forced to rank Sano actors he’s probably my least favorite.

2. Igarashi Maasa (Kazama-hen ~ Heisuke-hen) - Then we have Maasa. When he came along in Kazama-hen I remember specifically thinking, “Now this is more like Sano.” I adore Maasa, he’s such a lovable nerd and he handled being a newbie into a primarily original cast with such ease you’d think he’d been there all along. I only wish he’d gotten a chance to stick around longer ❤

3. Higashi Keisuke (Reimeiroku ~ Sano-hen) - Ahahahahahaha. What was life before I knew Keisuke? No joke, looking back on everything, I think the reason we never got Sano-hen when we were supposed to could be because there might have been the feeling, in the deciding factors of the show, that there wasn’t an actor who could carry the story. Now, this is literally only my theory and it’s probably wrong anyway, but it stems mainly from a blog post Keisuke wrote after Sano-hen was announced (back in August, wtf Marvelous where is the rest of the cast announcement?!) where Keisuke mentioned that Mouri (the director) told him that he, “wants to make Sano-hen with Keisuke.” Again, I’m probably entirely wrong and I know all of this sounds completely unfair to Kento or Maasa, but given that they just scrapped everything and started over, there’s always going to be guesses as to what happened.

Anyway, (christ this got away from me) Keisuke is such a good Sano it basically borders on disgusting. He has a voice gifted from the heavens and oh my god have you seen him? Basically, I’m planning to fly halfway across the world to see Sano-hen in person because I just have to see this myself. It’s been a long time coming and expectations are high but I’m confident knowing that whatever happens at least Keisuke will be amazing.

~Okita Souji~

1. Hirose Daisuke (Saitou-hen ~ Kazama-hen) - So, anyone who knows me, or has followed me for any length of time, knows that I have a weird, complicated relationship with Souji. He’s not my favorite and I’m not really into guys who threaten to kill people for fun but y’know, when it comes to the musicals you better believe the instant Daisuke is flirting with the audience I am shrieking with the rest of them. Dainyan is just. so. good! Okita-hen was my first taste of the Hakuouki musicals and Daisuke just did such an incredible job. I never thought anyone could be more Souji than Daisuke.

2. Aramaki Yoshihiko (Reimeiroku ~ HakuMyu Live 2) - Enter Aramaki, and then I promptly had to rework my thoughts. Please never make me choose who I like more as Souji. I can’t do it and I won’t do it lol. I don’t know how I can elaborate more. Granted, if they ever have Aramaki sing in English more they really do need to work on his pronunciation, but he moves sooooo good! *_*

~Nagakura Shinpachi~

1. Miyazaki Shuuto (Saitou-hen ~ Kazama-hen) - I will forever miss Shuuto and he’s rolling r’s and the fire he brought to role. When I think of the cast change I always feel like Junya, Maasa, and Shuuto were the ones who seem to have been short-changed, but it was Shuuto’s blog post after the fact, especially, that really made me think they weren’t quite done with HakuMyu. That thought will probably forever sadden me, but it’s really been great to see him keeping busy with other productions. Shuuto was such a great Shinpachi and I’ll always secretly be hoping that they’ll bring him back.

2. Ino Hiroki (Reimeiroku ~ Shinsengumi Kitan) - Of course, that’s not to say that Hiroki isn’t a good Shinpachi either. He didn’t stick around long (because man his star rose fast) but I think he really did his best to carry the mantle. I remember early after the Reimeiroku cast announcements Hiroki was so excited to get to finally be a part of the musicals, since it was something he long wanted to be cast in. I can’t express how adorable his enthusiasm was. This kid had been admiring the Hakuouki musicals for a while and so he said when he got the call that he had been cast that it was like a dream come true. He really wanted to do justice to Shinpachi and to please the fans even during a difficult time and I think he managed to succeed. I will always have fond feelings for Hiroki.

3. Fukuyama Shodai (HakuMyu Live 2) - This boy didn’t give me any in-costume selfies to work with lol, which is so unfortunate because he’s another cutie (when are these guys not though?). It’s still too soon to really make any definitive comments on him. I feel like he did well enough in Live 2 but I probably need to watch it at least another fifty times like the others before I’m sure XD

#kuro71 #not tagged because personal opinions

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something-wild-cat · 7 years

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Just out of curiosity... What are your biases in the 2.5D fandom? And favourite stage too? :o

Hope you don’t mind if I answer this publicly, since hey, I don’t get very many asks like this, haha.

The honest answer to everything is I have no clue half the time; if you ask me again in a couple months time I’ll probably have changed my answers lol. Currently though, I’m obsessed with all things Hakuouki and Touken Ranbu… which means that gosh I love Hakumyu and TouSute/TouMyu (If you’d like a rant as to why I love them, I am more than happy to scream about them~). K Project/K Stage deserves a special mention here as well, though I’m not nearly as involved with it as I am the other two. I want to keep the list short, but I will also mention that I am slowly but surely diving into Tenimyu hell, so don’t expect me to get out of there anytime soon. 😅

As for the biases… Occasionally I’ll get confused about who has and hasn’t been involved with 2.5D (I watch too many things) but Aramaki Yoshihiko and Someya Toshiyuki are always biases I will be able to list. And Matsuda Ryo (take that, @my rl friend). And Ogoe Yuuki is also slowly gaining a special place in my heart, thank you TouMyu. ❤️ Gosh, just… everyone is so talented, really; those are just four that pop into my head, and I don’t want to make it too long so I’m not going to explain exactly why I love certain actors at the moment, but… yeah. They’re all just super talented and I love them all. 😊

Thanks for asking!

#answering things #chambrayislington

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sambart93 · 6 years

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2018.01.01 Kuroshitsuji Musical: Tango on the Campania [Review!]

Official Site here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Video Coverage 1, 2

CAST and CHARACTERS

Furukawa Yuta as Sebastian Uchikawa Reo as Ciel Uehara Takuya as Grelle Mikata Ryousuke as Ronald Harashima Motohisa as Snake Okazaki Momoko as Elizabeth Takagi Shun as Fred Abberline Terayama Takeshi as Sharpe Hanks Utsumi Akiyoshi as Edward Akisono Mio as Francis Nasu Kozo as Alexis Kawai Ryunosuke as Ryan Stoker Izumi Shuhei as Undertaker Sasaki Yoshihide as Druitt

Non-Spoiler Review

This is a very HIGH production with very HIGH production quality. It's also very faithful to the original story. The dancing and ensemble are super professional, the singing and song have some amazing moments, the setting and the apparatus' and how they've moved around the scenes and used in different scenes are great. The projection mapping was great also. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters, the costumes, the funny moments. It was a very, very enjoyable stage. This stage is loved by so many people for many different reasons; the production value, the fans of the actors (especially HideSama and Uehara, they both got woo'd at the end when I went), fans of the anime and manga like myself. This series has been in the works for almost ten years (apparently ten years this year) so of course you're not going to be disappointed by what they produce. I am thoroughly pleased with the performances and characters of Ciel, Snake and of course, the ridiculous Druitt! Also the dancing ensemble are absolutely phenomenal in this; I could not stop watching them; their dances were either very very fluid like a dead corpse would be (because that's what they were playing) or very robotic (just like a zombie would be) and it all fit perfectly. While I was originally upset that Tamaki wouldn't be coming back at Snake, I immediately fell for Harachan's Snake; he did perfect! And damn Ciel's Reo is just a phenomenal actor and he will go far; some of the notes he him in the songs actually gave me goosebumps and impressed me a thousand times over. I could go on, but I don't want to spoil anymore for you. If you're already a fan then you're gunna watch it regardless of my review right? xD And if you're not a fan yet, seriously, just give the manga a shot and if you sort like that, then watch the first season of the anime and then if you're sure you like the world and characters enough, (while I do love the absolutely mess and ridiculousness of the first few stages) start from the 2015 stage! You won't be disappointed. Rating: 8/10

SPOILER REVIEW!

As I mentioned in my 2018 Resolutions, I realised how shitty, critical, and negative I was getting in my reviews, so this year I'm being more objective and writing more about the positives; also, every　time I see a play I'm going to ask on twitter what things YOU want me to focus on and write about too so it's more balance and not only pleasing me, but then you're also getting stuff you want to know about the stage out of me, so follow @sambart93 for those! Now to the review!

STORY

Also mentioned above, the stage is very faithful to the original material, so if you want to know the plot to this one either read the Luxury Liner Arc or just go to the synopsis here. This is probably my SECOND favourite Arc that I've read (to be honest I haven't kept up with any of my manga series these past 13 months or just including Kuroshitsu... I'm sorry!) in the Kuroshitsuji series and for the stage to be so faithful to the original material made me so happy!

THE POSITIVES

PART ONE [About 1 hour]

My seat was Row V, which actually ended up not being bad at all! It was a lot closer than I thought.

There's a scene where the doctor shows an audience of him bringing a corpse back to life, and the dancing by the ensemble girl in that scene is absolutely amazing! I can't describe it but it was so fluid and matches the music perfectly, I was so impressed!

There's a titanic pose with Ronald and Grelle was great! Ronald really didn't want to do it but was forced to. And then soon after (or during this scene) Grelle is singing, and Ronald is just clapping behind Grelle so unimpressed - I was dying with laughter.

Most of the songs this time around are very good too! Some of my favourites from the first part is the main Campania song, Druitt's solo and I quite liked Ronald's solo too! Sebastian’s solo song is amazing too! He has a LOT of high notes to his in it. He sings the song about 3 or 4 times throughout the stage, or at least it feels like that.

I really like how this stage is gruesome too and not holding back on the projection mapping blood spurts and lots of red colour and use of red fabric to show that it's just pure blood shed going down on this boat - maybe I enjoyed it a bit too much? xD

Even when I first read the manga, I've always loved Lizzie’s badass moment and it did not disappoint on stage ever - it was great seeing her kick ass.

I really really do like this Ciel. I felt this way the first time I saw him last year but this time around really solidified it for me! He has a lot of potential and I think he will go very far if he continues to pursue acting. A part of me really hopes his voice doesn’t break and that he doesn’t grow for like another ten years so he can constantly be our Stage Ciel xD

A small thing, which is also in the main story (to my memory), I love how Ciel is in pretty-decent-sized heels throughout this, whereas Lizzie is just in flats xD I found it totally adorable!

For those who were worried about Hidesama - because I personally haven't seen him since he was on crutches for K-Stage - HideSama is walking, kneeling, and such smoothly and fine so I guess he's pretty much okay now. Although I do feel like he was limited in the types and amount of dance moves he got so I guess he's still not 100% and/or he's just be cautious for a decent amount of time, which is a good idea! And of course he was absolutely ridiculous as Druitt! I was most impressed with his voice! I knew he was good at voice acting since I've seen how different his voice is in real life compared to in TouStage compared to in HakuMyu, but he ONCE again changed his voice for THIS stage and I was so surprised and impressed! He's really talented with his voice! No wonder he also gets voice work too! But yes, his character was ridiculous as ever and had my cracking up with the things he did even when he wasn't the center of the stage or story at the time.

Oh and I really, really like the new Snake too! I didn't realise when it was first announced who the hell it was. But about 10 minutes into the stage I realised who the damn actor was and I got super excited straight away! I should never have doubted or been pissed at him! He's such a great actor and he did not disappoint at all as Snake! I ended up super super liking him like straight away! AND it was his birthday today! So HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY!!

The stage and the apparatus’ are flawless as usual. I was fascinated at watching the ensemble pull the apparatus' around and seeing how they had used every inch of the parts to make something relateable and useful for the actors. The staging and parts of the set were amazingly well done - which is expected I know...

Also, the outfits are great!! I think that's just me really like the Victorian Era and clothing but I love the clothing from this series and seeing it in the flesh is always so great to see!

The way Mikata, Uehara and Izumi swung their weapons around with so much control but also with such smooth motions was so amazing!

PART TWO [About 1 hour]

Druitt had two solo songs; one in each part. but his solo in part two had me cracked up! Especially the opening of it which his hip thrust and the echoing of his high voice and the colourful, flashing lights. It was so funny and ridiculous. It was also the only song which had audience participation and it got all of the audience clapping which I enjoyed and was fun. He danced and moved more in this solo compared to his Part One solo which made me even less worried about his leg ^_^

Grelle forced Ronald to do the titanic pose at the end again and he was so reluctant, it was so funny! I also think this is how they END the play which is just the best way to end it >.<

The Undertaker Scythe's is SO badass and looks so good in real life! I was so fangirly inside when I finally saw his Scythe IN THE FLESH! I've been waiting for this Undertaker reveal in the stage series for a while! Also I LOVED how he swapped out a normal blade for his Scythe behind his back, it was so smoothly done!

Going back to how much I love this Ciel; Reo hit some seriously BIG notes towards the end! I was so freaking impressed!!! If he keeps up with all this training and such, his voice is going to be amazing! It's already amazing because I didn't think 12 year olds could hit such high notes but he did, and he blew me away when he did it!

I really, really, really loved the dance ensemble in this one! I was so fascinated and enticed by them and their fluid and robotic movements really matched the whole dead bodies and zombie theme very well! They totally added to the whole thing and made the stage so much more entertaining and fun to watch thanks to their talents! There was one particular female dancer (she got a lot of the main dance parts) which was so damn good, I couldn't take my eyes off her. I need to find out which one it is. But the dancers all have blindfolds on for most of the stage - being dead bodies and all - so it'll be difficult to find out WHO.

Ciel always has the best outfits! I've always wanted to cosplay him. I've always wanted to own his clothing. This stage didn't change my feelings about his outfits at all; only increased them xD

The scene/moment just before Ciel and Seb's back story was so great! The ensemble were holding Reo and Yuta mid air and it was like a slow motion of them trying to grab each other's hands before Ciel gets consumed by the zombies and just as Seb gets stabbed in the back with the scythe. It was an amazing moment! I loved it!

CURTAIN CALL

Three rounds of applause, speeches after the second round, and standing ovation at the third round.

It was Harachan’s birthday so we sang Happy Birthday to him, and he was yelling thank you at the Undertaker who was right next to him (xD) and deep bowing on the floor to the audience in thanks. He was so sweet! He was like 'I've never had so many people wish me happy birthday! I think this will be a great year!'

HideSama spoke at the curtain call and a bunch of the crowd wooooo’d when it was announced he'd be the one speaking. He spoke about how he saw the circus one last year and felt, at the time, that he wanted to return to the world, and said he's glad he’s back after two years. And at the end he put on his Druitt voice and yelled 'TADAIMA/I'm home'.

Yuta also mentioned that apparently it’s their 10th anniversary for KuroMyu this year!

THE NEGATIVES

I try and keep a positive spin on the points somewhat:

While I did love the Elizabeth badassery scene, I couldn't help but notice that it was lacking in TouStage/HakuMyu/KStage-level-like sword fighting choreography. To a normal viewer, they probably wouldn't notice but in my eyes, the choreography was simplier and slower and looked a lot more like acting-fighting (like the ensemble obviously running into her swords to land the hit rather than it feeling like a flawless move from the character) to what my eyes are used to seeing. It doesn't take away from the fact that Elizabeth is really a sword fighting badass and that's the moment in the manga I really started like Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, the only ones I couldn't warm up to is Lizzie’s family. For some reason I just didn't take any liking to Francis or Alexis. I think I least liked their song too - oopsies. Her brother was okay though, and I liked how protective he was of Lizzie because it got really funny, like when Ciel safely brings her to her family and he's like 'take her and make sure she gets off safely' and he's like 'of course I will! I'm her brother! But I won't mind if you don't make it out alive okay? *bye*' it cracked me up!

Final note; I felt the first part was a lot stronger than the second half. Especially because a large chunk of the second half was dedicated to Ciel and Seb's back story and once again we got that contract scene at the start of the back story. Personally, I wish they wouldn't redo this scene every stage. Also I felt the crowd getting restless around me when the backstory starting going for like 20 or so minutes. I think a large majority of us wanted to get back to the main, present story. It wasn't a bad backstory at all; the song Ciel and Seb did during it, with the use of the projection mapping, was really good and creative, and Seb's 'kuso gaki / this little shit/brat' bitching was amusing, but it was a little too long.

GOODS

I only bought the pamphlet and the photobook and I've already put a lot of the photos throughout the review, but I'll put the rest of the others that I liked here:

And that's all! Did I do well keeping positive and objective?! Now the real challenge is, can I hold this up?! We're only one day into 2018!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!

#furukawa yuta #uchikawa reo #uehara takuya #mikata ryosuke #harashima motohisa #utsumi akiyoshi #kawai ryunosuke #izumi shuhei #sasaki yoshihide #kuroshitsuji #kuromyu #namashitsuji #黒執事 #生執事 #review

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sambart93 · 6 years

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Top Things I Did This Year

More like things I'm thankful that happened xD This year has been absolutely incredible and as far as stages and actors are concerned, I've been pretty damn lucky and got to experience so many amazing things! So here's some of the massive highlights of this year!

1. Went on a Bus Tour!

I've always wanted to go on a bus tour and what's even more amazing is that I managed to get onto MakiChan's Bus Tour! It was such a great two days! MakiChan is just so sweet and so much fun to be around! Also we got cheki's with him, he went around talking to people on the bus stops and lunch times, he came around to everyone's room and did pretty much whatever we requested of him, he must've been absolutely shattered by the end but he was still full of energy and smiling and having fun! I legit cried when he waved us off at the end.... I do hope if he ever does another that I can go again!

2. See TouStage Live

While I only ever appear to complain about TouStage; I absolutely love the series and Touken Ranbu in general and I do think of myself as bloody damn lucky that I've managed to see the LV three times this year (Saien, Akatsuki and Jyoden) as well as go IN PERSON twice (Akatsugi and Jyoden) ALSO I feel pride for the fact they performed at Odawara castle which is literally ONE stop away from where I live! I do feel blessed, I've always felt blessed for how many times I've been able to see this stage series.

3. Went to ALL my Oshi’s BDay Events

Well at least to all the Oshis who DID Birthday Events (HirokiKun and Tomo didn't do one this year but has said he will next year and I only knew about YuuKun AFTER his birthday!). I've been to Domoto's, JP's and MakiChan's! I was also able to go to ShoSans! To be honest, I wanted to get to all the major TokiEnta's boys' birthdays (including Shouta and KishiTaku) but just didn't have time, so hopefully next year I can reach that goal of going to all TokiEnta's Boys' Birthday Events! xD But I'm super happy I managed to get to all my oshis'! Hopefully next year too!

4. Safely completed MakiChan goods collections every time

This one is really silly but MakiChan's characters are super popular; Kuro (K), Ritsu (Ensemble), Manba (Touken), Okita (Hakuouki) so trading and being able to get one full set of his trading goods is super, super difficult! But by a miracle I managed to do it every time! And I'm super thankful that I could! Hopefully next year too!

5. Able to see almost all of KAT-TUN in some form.

KAT-TUN were unforutnately forced to stay on their Hiatus this year for the entire year, but thankfully all three boys got solo events and things that allowed fans to go and see them! So in the end, I saw SOME form of them. I went to Ueda’s play for my birthday ON my birthday and it was a lot of fun and very funny and Ueda did amazing! I watched Kame’s movies and doramas and they were great, also I managed to go and get his concert goods even though I couldn't go to the actual concerts. AND I watched Nakamaru’s show which was absolutely ridiculous and hilarious and one of the best entertainments-ness things of this year. It still cracks me up thinking about it! xD

6. Multiple Showings

Again, I am super duper thankful that I got to see HakuMyu 4 times, Hatsukoi Monster twice, and K Stage 3 times -- while I may not hit for things like TouMyu, EnStage etc. I’m super thankful that for the slightly less popular shows that I’m able to go a ridiculous amount of times! And they were all ones MakiChan was in too! So I felt I could properly support him in quite a lot of things this year even when other things it was more difficult to do! These kinds of chances keeps my motivation, love and support for him going strong!

7. Finally Meeting UeChan!

I was so freaking nervous and I've liked him for a long time (well not really technically) and he was everything I expected him to be like and he was so professional and lovely! It's like a dream meeting him...

8. Unexpected Chances

A few things happened this year that I never thought or imagined possible; for a start:

- The TokiEnta events and seeing the Shachou between events or even seeing him at MakiChan events and him remembering and acknowledging me ^_^

Other unexpected things like:

- A Haisute actor helping out at JP's event and just being able to talk to him and have a proper conversaiton with him! And lets not forget THAT Domoto Birthday event and what happened there!!

- Things like YuuKun yelling 'you're not going back to England are you Alex?!?!?' are just amazing chances and experiences!

- And Domoto thanking me for 'always sending letter' to him *dead*

- And HirokiKun always taking time to properly talk to me after his events and stages too and remembering what I've told him in letters etc. And doing things like taking my hands and going 'oh they're so cold! Are you okay?!’ and then the next time I see him, he’s like ‘are they cold again this time?! No? You sure? Oh, I'm glad' *dead*

- ANNNND freaking MakiChan on the bus tour patting my head and saying 'I like you' literally inches from my face during his 'going around the rooms' and EVERYONE fucking knowing the next day xD while it definitely wasn't true, I still feel super special and happy that only I got that from him!

- ALSO lets not forget Shosan sitting on my chair during TokiEnta Events!

I literally could go on with the amount of unexpect but amazing chances I've had this year! I hope everyone else can have just as many amazing experiences as I do, if not more!

And just to bring it all back to reality:

9. Friends Not Abandoning Me

I can be a super shitty person and I can be super snappy and negative towards the, but they're still by my side, still wanting to spend time with me, still wanting to hang out whenever we get chance and I am always and will always be thankful that they still accept me and don't mind me being in their lives *now I start crying* I'M LOOKING AT YOU ALKOI AND TONBO!

10. Seeing My Grandparents

I may not say it much but I absolutely love my grandparents and I miss them much much more than I do my parents (I can skype my parents whenever and more often than I do my grandparents, and they’re still young and healthy enough to come and see me). They can't travel anymore so I'm super thankful how much I'm able to see them whenever I go back home, even though I'm usually in a pissy-jet-lagged mood. But I love them with all my heart! I think about them every day and I always count down the days to when I can next see them! I always want to see them!

11. See My Friend Getting Married

The first person in my group of friends got married this year and I'm going to be honest, I cried inside the ENTIRE fucking day. This is a friend who I've been friends with since we were 8/9 years old. We've been through some stuff together, we've also had bad times and times we weren't talking but we’ve also had a lot hilarious and fun times. And seeing her in that dress on her wedding day; I died inside. And she deserves all the happiness and all the success! And her partner is just the sweetest person ever! I'm seriously like a proud father giving a daughter away, that's how I feel about this situation. And I wish her nothing but laughs, safety and happiness in the future. Seeing her get married also made me realise, few friendships last, but the ones that do; they REALLY last and me and her are definitely one of those friendships <3

What were some highlights of your year?

I'm gunna go and get rid of these tears of joy from everything xD

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sambart93 · 7 years

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2017.06.12 Touken Ranbu Stage: Akatsuki no Dokuganryu [Review]

2017.07.03: Guys I’m going to be honest... I do/did NOT want to write this review. I was so so so so so excited for this stage that my expectations and the story I had in my head were just impossible to reach. 2017.07.23: I still don’t want to post this but it’s done so I will.

SO this review is going to be somewhat different. I’ll split it up: My NON-SPOILER review will be written after I’ve seen it a second time so it’s more fair. Then the spoiler review will be split into: My Expectations, My Experience on June 12th and how it went on July 14th. I hope it’s not too confusing!

***Seriously guys, be prepared for negativity in the June 12th one.

Official Site here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Video Coverage 1 My Honnoji no Hen Saien Review here

CAST and CHARACTERS

Suzuki Hiroki as Mikazuki Munechika Aramaki Yoshihiko as Yamanbagiri Kunihiro Wada Takuma as Kasen Kanesada Naya Takeru as Sayo Samonji Higashi Keisuke as Shokudaigiri Mitsutada Hashimoto Shohei as Taikogane Sadamune Kento as Tsurumaru Kuninaga Ino Hiroki as Ookurikara Tomita Sho as Date Masamune

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: If we take out all the biasness: this stage is a solid good second installment; as usual the staging, the lighting, the projection mapping, the script, the lines, the costumes, the action are all high quality. The story is emotional as expected, and it has more comedy moments than the last one. We get a lot more development on the characters and their relationships. Naturally there’s conflict between the swords too which makes it more interesting. There’s a few shockers here and there too so be prepared with tissues. However, I personally found this stage way too long and rather underwhelming. I read spoilers before the show and had this hugely different story built in my head. Adding that with my impossible expectations; I found this stage just okay. I also wanted it to be super dark which I didn’t get so that’s why my personal review of this is somewhat negative. If you want comedy, you’re gunna love this stage. If you wanted gritty and dark like me, you’re not going to like it as much. I DID enjoyed it more on my second viewing and understood the story a lot more and found more parts that I liked. Also this stage really helped solidify my love for Sayo and ShoSan <3 and, I really do like Ino as KuriChan. BUT I still found it too long, a lot of things (especially involving the projection screen) could’ve easily been cut out to make the story more bearable, and it wasn’t nearly as dark as I wanted, nor did the actual story beat the one I’d made in my head. I am also disappointed by how much of the comedy was actually completely scripted. Non-Bias Rating: 8.5-9/10. Bias Rating: 7/10

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Phew! Now to get to the nitty gritty of this review... psst. It’s freaking LONG. Almost as long as the play itself so you’ve been warned.

SPOILER REVIEW

MY EXPECTATIONS: So I was a bad girl and read some of the spoilers on twitter after the very first showing of this stage. And the two that stuck with me were: Kuro/Black-Tsurumaru and All of Dategumi shiken’d. So in my mind I made this story of: Everyone except Manba and Sayo go into the past and during that trip, Tsurumaru decides to turn bad and betrays all the swords, thus has to fight the rest of Dategumi (along with Kasen) and actually breaks them all and they all essentially die. This leaves Jiji who has to defeat and break/kill Tsurumaru. In the end, Jiji is the only one out of the six of them alive to return to Honmaru.

I had a fucking badass story - did I not?! And sadly... I was very, very wrong and this did not happen at all.

What REALLY happens is: The enemy attacks all 6 of them, and this forces all the dategumi to shiken. THEN one of the enemies takes Tsurumaru, who sacrifices himself so the other swords are safe, and possess him hence how he becomes Black Tsurumaru. So the other five have to fight Enemy-Possessed-Black-Tsurumaru and, for some reason, defeating Tsurumaru only defeats the enemy and does not equal to Tsurumaru being destroyed; in fact he’s absolutely fine and back to normal in the end.

Surely mine’s still the better one, right? I still think so at least. How did I come up with a better and darker story than Sue-freaking-Mitsu?!

ALSO! In the last stage, so many times Jiji is like ‘you’ll be fine if I’m never not here.’ and ‘I think everyone’ll be fine so long as you’re here (Manbachan) even if I’m not’. SO - correct me if I’m wrong, does this or does this not, imply: JIJI IS SUPPOSE TO FUCKING DIE/BE BROKEN SOON?! So I also went in with the expectation and hope that Jiji would die this time too. But he doesn’t! So what the fuck was all that in Honnoji no Hen all about?! So yes, another disappointment on my side.

I also had the expectation of this being very, very dark. In the first TouStage we got this very dark, depressing, question life mood. SO I was expecting this one to be dark, if not, darkER than Honnoji no Hen and honestly that’s what I wanted. I wanted ‘heart ripping, cried until you weep’ Messiah/HakuMyu style pain. But I didn’t get it! I was only sad/shocked/emotionally affected in ONE scene and for about only 30 seconds. TouStage 2 is not dark at all. It has WAY too much comedy for what I wanted and expected. So that’s another thing I was disappointed in.

High expectations + thinking of a much better (in my opinion) story + wanting something dark + set ups from the last stage not being fulfilled = ALL led to me being overly disappointed and very blasé and underwhelmed about this stage for a long time. Even now I’m still very in my head and trying to figure out how I feel about this.

And now you know why I’ve held off writing this review for so long.

ANYWAY! Now lets get onto this like scenes that happened, higawaris and stuff.

Warning: Excessive language coming up. Also, if you like Kasen then I highly suggest you skip the two-ish paragraphs where I talk about him; because I hate him and have nothing good to say about him.

PS. On June 12th I had done a full day of work, had been up since 5am and I was tired as fuck. So unfortunately I walked out of that theatre feeling ‘thank god that’s over. I was so bored...’ I had no emotional attachment to this stage at all. Sorry....

June 12th:

Part One

There is a scene towards the beginning of the play with Shokudaigiri and Taikogane (eventually Kasen does turn up). There’s quite a few moments here. The first is when Taiko first, first comes out, I think Shouhei slipped/tripped a little going up the slope. But I can’t really confirm this without a second viewing. Then, Taiko sees Shoku and goes running towards him and TonChan ended up spinning Taiko around a lot and he landed ON his farming tool xD Then towards the end of this scene Taiko like spins a root or herb in Kasen’s face.

Another thing I felt was a mistake is the first scene with Jiji and Tsurumaru where I think Jiji accidentally spoke too fast and cut Tsurumaru off a little bit so Tsurumaru jumped a little when he got cut off -- but this very well feels scripted too. Soon after this scene Manbachan turns up and of course Tsurumaru tried to scare ManbaChan, but he got used to it so Tsurumaru yelled again, but there was no reaction. Tsurumaru’s only idea after that was to lift Manba’s cape up and hug him from underneath. ManbaChan was not pleased xD but it was a good moment.

And then the opening comes and, I shit you not, they DON’T do ‘Hajimeyou’ what the actual fuck!?!?!? What. the. actual. fuck. And the opening and ending songs are not good this time around.... they’re very... underwhelming in comparison to Honnouji no Hen. I don’t like them. Yeah the music overall isn’t as good this time.

We quickly get to the new segment called MITSU’S KITCHEN and here he’s making Zundamochi. ManbaChan had the cutest apron/kappougi on over his Uchiban and cape. He was helping Shokudaigiri -- although to be honest all Shoku did was explain the instructions and ManbaChan had to grab the plates of food which weren’t in the right order so he was frantically searching behind the kitchen counter. And for the final plate, ManbaChan couldn’t find it and mouthed ‘nain da // it’s not here’ to which Jiji stood up and pulled the plate out of his top. Then Shoku and the team were talking about something, I wasn’t pay attention because ManbaChan walked to the right hand of the stage, knelt down and sulked for a bit, before he overheard them talking about Sayo and he pretended that Sayo was in front of him and tried to pat his head. Then he tried to undo his apron. It was a hilarious sight to see. He tried to grab it from the back and that didn’t work so switched his hands over and then part-way through his struggle, Ookurikara walked in and saw ManbaChan. ManbaChan stopped what he was doing and looked at him, Kuri-chan had to cover his mouth and look away a little so he didn’t laugh, and the entire audience cracked up. Then ManbaChan moved to the other side of the room and struggled to undo his apron while stood up. I have no idea what the main discussion was about. I was so focused on laughing (a lot) at ManbaChan and his damn apron.

We jump to another scene where ShoSan and co. have been drinking and they walk through the aisles. ShoSan did his staple, sitting on everyone’s seats and almost on them. He did it with like the 3 or 4 right-side aisle seats at the front. I couldn’t help but die with laughter because that’s so ShoSan xD He also started talking about zundamochi -- apparently it’s Date’s favourite sweet(?). Soon after this fun time though ShoSan gets serious and starts yelling. That was well done acting.

There’s a cute scene where Taiko and Shoku (and Tsurumaru?) watch Kurichan train and Kuri’s like ‘I know you’re there’ xD

NOW, Lets get to the problem child: Kasen. I fucking hate this son of a prick bitch. Oh my fucking god. I never liked him in the game and I got super, super pissed off at him in the stage. Kasen is such a pompous prick! He’s such an arsehole. Especially, OH MY GOD, especially when Kasen is on the roof with Sayo, and Sayo is like ‘why don’t you apologise to Ookurikara?’ and his answer is ‘why should I apologise?’ what a cunt. Oh my god, I cannot. I don’t understand how people like him. He’s a complete prick. Sorry if you like him but fuck me... I was about ready to get out of my seat, go on stage and murder Wada during one scene that happens later (I’ll get to it)! Kasen is just.... I can’t...

Anyway, back to getting my blood pressure down...

***

A comedic thing that didn’t happen on purpose was the freaking set breaking down. It wasn’t as obvious in part one but there was one moment in part one when the sets were changing over and part of it got caught on the edge and they couldn’t pull it properly off stage for ages.

Jiji is once again suspicious as hell in this stage. He has a scene towards the end of part one with Manbachan and he says ‘Manba ha kako janaku mirai. / Manba is not the past, but the future’ which is like ‘hurry up and die already Jiji then!’ He’s been dropping hints for two (technically 3) stages long that he’s gunna up and disappear or get broken/die. If you’re not gunna live up to the expectations writing team then don’t put these things in! I know Suzuki brings in a lot of money for you, and I know Jiji is like one of the most favourited sword in Touken but come on!!! Just kill him off already! At least that’s what I want! xD It’s at the beginning of this scene where ManbaChan is worrying about how he’s going to talk to Sayo, and Jiji opens his arms and is like ‘sunai ni nare! // be more honest and open’ and also says ‘do you want a hug?’ but of course ManbaChan doesn’t take the offer xD he should’ve done though. But then the scene turns scary when Jiji gets super angry and yells at ManbaChan. It was a totally believable moment and was some superb acting on Suzuki’s part. But yes, Jiji is suspicious as fuck still. Speaking of suspicious! Tsurumaru is too! Towards the end of part one he says something like ‘it’s you (Jiji) who I want to surprise the most’ to which I was like ‘ooooh my story/expectation of him choosing to turn into Black-Tsuru is gunna happen!!’ but obviously it didn’t -__-

I also want to touch on how adorable Manba is every time he tries to talking to or imagines talking to Sayo! He’s so adorable and nervous and just doesn’t know what to do! It’s cute as hell! And also when Sayo is there, Sayo is just like trying to get out of the situations and walk away from Manba xD both of them are adorable!

OOOH! And also Tsurumaru suggests they go on a picnic, while on their trip into the past, to help the fix the bonds between them. Trust Tsuru to come up with that idea. So they go on their history travel trip and take a freaking picnic with them. Shikudaigiri brings a blanket but it only fits him and Taiko on! xD and then Taikogane used the rolled up picnic mat as a guitar and pretended to play it, but no one reaction; the guys on stage nor the audience, so he looked to the audience and encouraged us to clap. And so Taiko walked off a little embarrassed xD Actually there’s a lot of breaking the fourth wall and looking towards the audience this time around which usually I’d enjoy but for TouStage; I don’t want it.

So after this scene we see Sayo sneak off and on his own. He finds Oookurikara and here Sayo explains about his (sword’s) past and here the projection screen came down -- in fact the projection screen is used a lot this time around which really pissed me off. Anyone who plays Touken KNOWS what happened to Sayo and KNOWS the history of his sword; we don’t need a 10 minute (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One-style) animation explaining what happened to him! A WASTE OF TIME. He could’ve easily just explained it to him without the screen -- what the fuck... Oh dear I’m getting angry again... AND THEN after Sayo tells his story we see that Kurichan is finally ready to open up and talk about his master but FUCKING KASEN!!!!! (here we go) FUCKING KASEN WALKS IN ON THEM SO FUCKING SHUTS KURICHAN DOWN AND STOPS HIM! FUCK SAKE! HE WAS ABOUT TO FUCKING OPEN UP AND YOU FUCKING WALKED IN!!! OH MY FUCK GOD! FUCK YOU KASEN! You COMPLETE fucking stubborn PRICK! Ugh I hate him so much... Okay I need to go and calm down again.

***

Unfortunately the first half felt like the longest 70 minutes of my life. I was just spending it going ‘come on... come on... get to the fighting! Lets get to Black Tsurumaru already!’ but of course that isn’t going to show up until part two but still, with my brain on ‘impossibly high expectations’ mode, the first half went so slow that I couldn’t really enjoy it. I was thankful when the break came -- this is why I hate breaks because my brain is constantly like ‘okay, break here? No, okay.. break here?! No okay... here?!’ where as, when there’s no break, I can just watch it start to finish and not worry about the story’s half way point or where the break might pop up. My brain is weird...

OOOOO! One more thing that pissed me off about the end to part one; I know he’s the Zachou and I know he’s a super duper famous actor and Jiji is super duper famous but for fucksake, stop putting Jiji/Suzuki at the end! We get it, he’s popular so he has to have the last line and has to be the last on stage -- ugh. Just don’t please. It just made me role my eyes at how predictable they were. He was like ‘ooo I wonder what’ll happen next’ *cue break* just *sigh* bitch please. Don’t get me wrong: I like Suzuki but just the way Japanese stages are OBVIOUSLY structured and have this Japanese hierarchy going on, really does piss me off. God forbid someone relevant to the MAIN story like Shoku or Date closes part one of the stage.

Part Two

Moving on... seeing Date get angry was a very good scene! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Great acting on ShoSan’s part.

So a main part of this story is: because the swords keep failing to stop Date from being killed and such, they keep being sent back in time to relive the same day. Because of this plot point, we see almost the exact same scene about three times before the time loop stops. And I swear to god: I almost lost my shit when they showed the same scene for the third time. I literally slapped my hand against my head and whispered ‘oh my fucking god’ in the middle of the theatre. I was about to walk out. We didn’t need to see the (almost) same scene that many times. You could’ve cut it and saved like 10+ minutes.

Seriously, this stage didn’t NEED to be 3 - 3.5 hours long; SO much could've been cut out. It's SO LONG. They could’ve figured out the time loop quicker - FUCK, Jiji knew the entire time! Why didn’t he just fucking tell them?! They didn’t need to reshow the same scene every fucking, we didn’t need all this Sayo Animation Backstory shit. We didn’t need all these comedy scenes - I don’t even want this much comedy in my TouStage! Just fucking cut Kasen out completely please <--- okay this is me being dramatic and bias, he kinda is needed for the story. This easily could’ve been cut down by a good hour if I’d gotten a hold of the script!!! Just saying TouStage team! Hire Me! xD

Another rant over... now to the shocker of the stage!

***

There was only ONE moment I was shocked and physically gasped at; Sayo getting attacked. I had no idea it was going to happen! He stops one of the enemies from attacking the other swords and takes the hit and seriously, his face when he looks towards the audience as he gets struck down -- my poor heart! I was HEARTBROKEN! This was the only time I cried the entire play. I was so dumbstruck. And because of this shocking moment; I have no idea what happened between this scene and when we get back to Sayo because I was too in my head going ‘is he alive?! is he okay?! hurry up and get back to him!’ so those 10-20minutes we spend away from Sayo, I’ve no idea what happened, I didn’t care; only Sayo mattered at that moment. Seriously, his face when he gets struck is BURNED into my head. It’s the stare you give when you take your final breath or when you realise ‘fuck this is gunna kill me’ type stare. It’s so terrifying. Huge kudos to Naya for this acting.

Going back to these doors not working! It was hilarious in part two! So after Sayo is okay, ManbaChan is like ‘lets go back in’ and he goes to the door but it won’t open (it’s like mechanically operated?) so MakiChan improvs and says 'Let's go around’, but the door partially opens just as they left the stage. Also at the end of the stage, (I think) KuriChan goes to open the door but again it malfunctions and he’s like ‘what’s with this?!’ and everyone is dying of laughter and ManbaChan was like ‘you gotta go around’ xD

Sayo’s almost being killed was the one thing that very emotionally hit me, but also seeing the Manba x Sayo fight hurt my heart somewhat. However, I really hate that (but I totally understand why) they split the two battles (Date vs DateGumi and Sayo vs Manba) up into sections so we constantly switched between the two, but I was just like ‘I really don’t care about DateGumi, just get back to Manba and Sayo’s fight already!’ So because of that I essentially missed the big fight; so personally it would’ve been better if they just did Manba vs Sayo from start to finish in one go and then go onto the DateGumi fighting; just for concentrations and impatient’s sake. I didn’t enjoy seeing Manba and Sayo fight; it made me sad. I knew neither would get seriously hurt but I love both of them so my poor heart... luckily they figure it all out in the end ^_^

Which reminds me! We have a scene after Sayo’s big attack, of Sayo recovering in bed (again -- call back to the Honnouji stage!) and ManbaChan goes to his room and is still struggling to talk to him. So much so, that Manba ends up talking to himself, very loudly -- Sayo can hear him the entire time -- and it’s very funny. Manba starts off very calm, trying to figure out how to talk to Sayo, but then he starts getting flustered and stands up and ends with ‘I can do it! Because 俺は偽物じゃない！・Ore ha nise mono janai!・I’m not a fake!’ and his does his staple cape flip. Everyone was cracking up laughing and Sayo is in bed looking at him weird like ‘I can hear you’ xD It’s a good moment. I love his cape flip every single time <3

By the way, I found it so fascinating and interesting how Japanese people pronounce Kebiishi compared to us foreigners. I know a lot of foreign people pronounce it (including myself) just like KBC but hearing them pronounce it; I was fascinated. It’s pronounced like ‘Ke (like KEttle)-BEE (as in the animal)-she (as in female)’ which is weird.. right? Just me? Okay!

After DateGumi shinken, I really loved the very loud booms/bangs we have when the Danshi attack. We get these huge blasts of sound and these green light attacks. It very good and you can feel the bangs in your seat; very fun!

Before I talk about the end, little side note: KuriChan completely won me over in this stage! I was always pretty ‘meh’ about KuriChan in the game. In Hanamaru, I really loved his part in the garden (where he missed getting attacked by the three bothers chasing that stupid bird xD) where he smiles to himself, and when they tried to play Host with him that one time. But overall Kuri never really stayed in my mind. But in this! Oh my, I am SO proud of Ino. Maybe it’s because previous to seeing this stage I read an interview where he was very open about not having much confidence and doesn’t think he’s a good actor, so my heart went kinda soft on him and wanted him to do well. Hence why I spent the entirety of the play (when ManbaChan wasn’t on stage) focusing on him and I really do like Ino’s performance and I really like his KuriChan! Also he ran past my side during one of the fight scenes. Although I agree with others: that tan is not the best. And I’m annoyed KuriChan has the most conservative Shinken form ever -- where’s my skin?! xD But yes Ino as Kuri, I could watch all day. I really really like this KuriChan!

Tsurumaru’s Shinken form is soooo good! Kento really suits the one arm sleeve look <3 also I giggled because when he got captured by the enemy, the ensemble guy (in the enemy suit) had his hand over Kento’s nipple xD made me giggle.

So it ends with, all the swords being fine (unfortunately) and Tsurumaru is back to normal, and Shoku brings out this ramen stand. Taiko tries to do the noodle flip and the noodles went everywhere and he’s like ‘...oops?’ And Shoku is just panicking that noodles are all over is counter now xD They gave the noodles to KuriChan which is adorable! And something happens that causes Sayo to smile and it’s the most adorable thing ever! Naya smiling is just the purest and cutest thing in the world anyway <333

And thus it ends with ManbaChan Jiji and Sayo, and Sayo is all dressed up and ready to go on a little journey by himself. He said he’ll be back though.. although I think it means he WON’T be back in TouStage 3 =‘[

Final side note: Shohei/Taiko's shorts xD holy moly they are SHORT and TIGHT. How did they not rip?! I’m fascinated how they didn’t rip! AND! There's like NO room to hide your boy parts yet he managed! What the.... xD

In true TouStage style they ended with an umbrella song Outro but oh my god, I almost died laughing. Just before this scene, it faded to black and two people in the audience started seriously clapping before very quickly realising that no one else was. They must’ve been so embarrassed. I was dying in quiet laughter in my seat. The umbrellas have changed a little this time (black and gold?) but were again very beautiful. But like I said earlier, the song wasn’t so great.

---

So yeah as you can see, I did enjoy a lot of parts but I told you: I wanted DARKNESS. I wanted PAIN and TEARS and ALL BAD THINGS from TouStage but I didn’t get it. While I may have laughed a lot and said a lot of positive things about this stage; this is not what I want from TouStage. I just wasn’t invested or emotionally moved this time around. I left that theatre SO fast and spent the entire train ride home like ‘why am I so full of...nothing’ I had literally no mental or emotional comments to make that night after it finished. But like I said RIGHT at the beginning: my expectations and what I wanted were crazy and none of what I wanted happened so I was left super shocked and on a major down...

I was actually very angry at myself for feeling so meh and underwhelmed and (god forbid) disappointed in this installment. So...

‘Underwhelmed’

is the right word for my experience of TouStage 2.

I’m not excited for the LV, I kind wanna cancel my BR preorder -- but I’m a dedicated MakiChan fan so I can’t cancel it to be honest. All I’m hoping for is that I have a better experience the second time around at the LV. That’s all.

Anyway... you can immediately see how the LV went here:

July 14th:

So I was able to enjoy it this time!!!! It’s still... alright, in my opinion and it’s still VERY long. But thanks to seeing it a second time around I got to see what was different and such from the previous showing. So here are my notes:

*A LOT of what I thought was adlibbed was actually scripted to a tee - a little disappointing. For example Shokudaigiri spinning Taiko around at the beginning, and Taiko spinning the weed in Kasen’s face. Also Mitsu’s Kitchen is completely scripted except for Ookuri’s reaction to Manbachan. Everything was exactly the same in both shows I saw.

*I love how Sayo just walks away from ManbaChan whenever ManbaChan tries to approach him in the beginning xD

*After Tsurumaru grabs ManbaChan under his apron, Jiji asked (maybe not only this time?) if ManbaChan was in a rebellious stage / Hankouki ka? xD

*I picked up this time that Kasen and Sayo had the same owner in the past and that’s why it’s always Sayo and Kasen paired together because they have history together? *reads Touken wiki* ahhh! They were both in the Hosokawa family for a time and that’s why they have the connection.

*Kasen’s owner is Hosokawa Tadaoki, yet he calls him Sanseisan for some reason(?!)

*I got confirmation that Shohei DID trip up during the opening scene on the 12th because he went up the stage fine during the LV

*Jiji IS meant to speak over Tsurumaru during that one scene so that wasn’t a mistake on Hiroki’s end.

*I was able to pick up this time that, during the picnic scene, they talk a lot about Donguri (= Acorns) as part of a comedy joke. Then later Jiji tries to also find Igaguri (= the shell around the acorn xD) and that annoys ManbaChan even more. Also Jiji’s cute little flag when they go on the picnic.

*Taiko sang a slightly different song during the picnic this time but it sounded very similar to the one I heard.

*I really like some lines (sorry if they aren’t 100% but my memory xD): ・Tsurumaru (to Jiji): もっと驚かせるのはあなただ。/ I want to surprise you more. ・Sayo to Kuri: 聴かせてありがとう / Thanks for listening ・ManbaChan to Jiji: 近侍を変わってくれ / Please switch roles with me ・Jiji: 大きいの試練 / This is a big trial ・ManbaChan to Jiji: 普通のじじじゃんあい / You’re not a normal old man ・クソじじ / Kuso Jiji ・Date: てんかになりたかったんだ。/ I wanted to rule Japan.

*One question: Why is it only Jiji who remembers they keep reliving the same day?!

*Ohhhh! During one of the fights, I thought something went flying off stage but I don’t really have any evidence and no one else mentioned it.

*ShoSan didn’t sit on anyone this time during the drunk scene, but this time he put the zundamochi on top of one guys’s drink xD

*Holy moly you guys, I fell for ShoSan even more thanks to this LV. He did such a great job! Also his costumes are freaking gorgeous! I’m so thankful for the amount of ShoSan close ups we got!! Not only did we get good shots when he was being angry and being possessed and crazy but DAMN his final scene where we see him die -- thank you for that close up -- it really hit me in the heart. Just every time he came on, I just got more and more in love with his performance and his clothing. Like jesus serious props to the costume team, his costumes are so beautiful! When you watch the DVD/DMM Stream just look at how beautiful and colourful his outfits are! DAMN!!! But yeah, ShoSan slaying it as usual in acting.

*Did I already mention how gorgeous ShoSan’s costumes are?! xD

*When Sayo starts panicking when they meet Date and they couldn’t think of a good reason as to why there were there is totally adorable!

*I have a note here that just says: “Kento being all sexy”... wasn’t he sexy MOST of the time?! xD

*I am impressed with Jiji/Suzuki’s fighting at the end BUT it annoys me that Kasen and Jiji come RIGHT at the end to save the day -_-

*Cos I’m a perv, I noticed Ino had his armpits shaved. Don’t ask me how I got the shot xD

*Sweaty ShoSan was a great sight to see too <3

*I REEEEAAALLLY like Ino as Kuri. Like REALLLY like! I never gave much attention to Kuri til I saw Ino as him and I love everything that Ino does as Kuri!!! Sorry, not sorry xD

Back to more meaty comments?

*Still hating on Kasen at full speed.

*I burst out into laughter during the LV when Sayo got that killing strike because we hear Kasen go ‘SAYO!!!” and then the camera decided to zoom super fast into Kasen’s shocked face and I found it to be the funniest thing I’d ever seen; it was like a shot from a very bad ‘Who Done It?’ Mystery tv show. I felt bad for everyone around me but it was honest reaction, I found it absolutely hilarious.

*I understood this time around that Tsurumaru essentially sacrifices himself in order to save the other swords from becoming Black/Bad BUT it’s still no where near as cool as what I had in mind. It’s a good enough plot point and I appreciate Tsurumaru doing that but ....

*The end scene is half scripted and half not; the whole giving Ookuri and Manba ramen is scripted and Taiko attempting to dry the noodles is scripted but he did it twice this time and it really caused a ruckus xD There was also an off screen part with Tsuru and Kuri where Tsuru wanted some of the drink and tried to steal Kuri-Chan’s but then you could just hear Tsuru’s mic ‘give me some’ and Kuri refuses. I wish that’d been on camera xD I’m so glad for all the Sayo close ups we got at the LV. When he smiled at the end, EVERYONE in the audience (in my cinema) whispered ‘kawaii’!’. Too right he’s kawaii! I liked him BEFORE it was cool!

*I actually cried this time! I remember crying but I don’t remember when... I think it was when ManbaChan and Sayo are half way through their fight and Sayo is just on the floor broken and yelling “why can’t I be stronger” =‘[ I almost cried at ShoSan’s final scene too.

*The music is just not.... good this time. It’s alright but nothing like actually getting my ear attention. I did notice they used the same battle music as Honnoji no Hen in this one.

*Turns out MY audience (June 12th) clapped at the wrong time. During the LV, the audience started clapping before the umbrellas came out, but we didn’t start until they started bowing DURING the ending umbrella song.

*The curtain calls at the end PISSED me off. I get people had to get the last train so they couldn’t spend a long time talking but DAMN they literally just said ‘Hi I’m ~ thanks for coming’ and that’s all! It was so unemotional too. And because it was so rushed the audience there were confused when it ended and just carried on clapping, (and we too) assuming we’d get a 3rd or 4th curtain call but nah, lights went up and announcements were like ‘thanks for coming! that’s all!’. It was SO weird.

----

And I am done!

How much do you ALL hate me now?!

I seriously want to read everyone else’s review of TouStage 2 so if you have one or know of someone who wrote one: PLEASE LINK ME!

23 notes · View notes

sambart93 · 7 years

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2017.05.18 Kurobara (Black Rose) Alice Review!

Someone remind me WHY I bought a ticket to this? Oh yeah I was on a slight Sugie high because of Messiah and him being cast in StarMyu and I’d seen and shook hands with Yuusuke the week senkou tickets for this came out xD

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Videos 1, 2, 3, 4 PreOrder DVD here

Cast and Characters

Ishiguro Hideo as Demitri Le Vander Fowski Iriki Mari as Alice / Annieska Akimoto Ryuutaro as Reo Sugie Taishi (aka Taishin) as Kai Kashiwagi Yuusuke (aka Kashi or Yuusuke) as Reiji Nozeki Yutaka as Ikushima Kouya Hachiya Ami as Kiwakawa Azusa Fujiwara Akino as Akane Nazuka Kaori as Narusawa Touko Ensemble

NON-SPOILER REVIEW:

Overall: This is definitely not a play for everyone; it’s long and the pacing, writing and story is strange. BUT Sugie and Kashi really shine in the show as do their character and newbie Nozeki Yukata did a great job too(!). For the most part I was totally into it and entertained and I was heartbroken in some parts and I personally was not bored nor felt uninterested. ALSO! This is definitely a NSFW stage. To put it simply: there’s implied sex, there’s implied rape, there’s murder, there’s physical abuse, lots of actually kisses. It’s not a happy play. It’s DARK and as you can tell NSFW! Luckily for me I freaking loved all this darkness and I thought the implied sex scenes were very sexy and very well done. I liked it; I don’t think most people did and I don’t think most people will but I enjoyed it. Kashi and Sugie FTW though seriously! Rating: 6/10

Some preshow and staff complaints comments first:

I ended up being on 15th row (which is almost the middle row) and I had an aisle seat which was great. Although the step behind me was creaky as fuck and every time the male staff walked down the steps it made a HUGE noise which was super distracting every time they showed people to their seat during the show -__- the women staff managed to quiet, why can’t the men?! Ugh... anyway I was super happy with my seat BUT (and this is a BIG) but I was the ONLY person on my row and there were only about 4 audience members behind me. The theatre was dead. I’d say the first 10 rows were almost full and then the remaining rows had like one or two people. You could have easily fit everyone into just the FRONT section of the seating area. I felt so bad for Sugie and Yuusuke BUT it was the 10th out of their 14 performances in the show, it was a Thursday night and it started super early (usually they start at 7pm during the weekdays so Japanese people can still get some forced overtime done before they go to the play) at 6:30pm so that didn’t allow many people to be able to go. But I still felt bad for them because the play wasn’t all that bad! And there were a LOT of kankeishas filling up the seats too >.<

Anyway I’ve rambled on way to much. To the spoilers!

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SPOILER REVIEW:

It’s going to be a little all over the place but I’ll try to make it as structured as possible...

STORY AND STAGE

They did something similar to Shunkinsho were the last ten minutes before the show started, the ensemble came out and walked around the theatre and greeted the guests and played little tricks on one another and everything.

The main story itself is very simple: A girl who was in a car accident and killed was brought back (but in another person’s body) and she has to choose a vampire mate to reproduce with before the rose marks on the vampire’s disappear and they die. At first she’s like ‘I’ll just sleep with you all and get it over with’ but they tell her to take her time and choose carefully. << This scene is actually funny because at the moment she suggests just sleeping with them all Reiji and Kai are in the middle of drinking tea and it makes them spit it out in shock xD and they’re all like ‘no! take your time! choose carefully!’ which I think is sweet. And thus quite a few of them attempting to win her over but ultimately she’s too stuck on her old love and is attracted to the biggest dick head on the plant who has anger issues.

I will definitely tell you, a lot of people will not like this play. It’s definitely not a normal story and it has a lot of questionable motives and situations and with the implied rape and such, I can see some people being uncomfortable with it. Also the writing and pacing itself is not good and it drags at times, especially when they decide to do Demitri’s entire history smack in the middle of the show and there’s no break. I can imagine most of the play dragging for some people (and some were even asleep in the theatre! Especially the boys xD) but luckily for me I was totally into it. I really enjoyed it!

However, the honest saving grace of this story is the actors and the side side characters. Seriously Sugie and Yuusuke SAVE this stage with their improvised comedy and their fluffy and happy characters lighting up the stage and making the story a little brighter. Their backstory is definitely the most interesting but it was also emotionally ripping for both the characters and me. The scene after Reiji remembers what happens in the past, and him and Kai are just clinging onto each other and crying, my poor heart <3 their poor hearts! Taishin and Yuusuke did an amazing performance and it felt really raw and realistic </3

A lot of the background action is great too. I spent more time focusing on anything BUT the main characters in the scene because what everyone else was doing was more interesting. I feel like Yuusuke adlib’d a LOT in this. A cute example of Reiji being the best is when he’s talking to Alice and Reo is trying to reach out to Alice (to put a hand on her shoulder or something simple like that) and immediately Reiji grabs Reo’s hand and put it’s down. And then Reo tries again and Reiji stops him again - it’s such a cute moment! xD It’s not with malcontent or anything, he just likes Alice and is being a cute child with a crush <3 ALSO! Reiji constantly had this cute but awkward smile, it looked really cute but also slightly fake and it was cute! It made me giggle too. I’m not used to Yuusuke being so smiley or at least innocently smiley because his smile in HakuMyu is like fun and evil/smug!

Lets get the ‘Why this is NSFW’ information out of the way. So I briefly mentioned in my non-spoiler review that there is implied sex, implied rape, murder, physical abuse and lots of kisse, which super surprised me because at least one of the actors is a BABY (he’s like 17) AND there’s no age restriction on the tickets! If it was going to be this dark and this implicatey I think it should’ve at least had a certificate 15 warning. Maybe it’s my old age but anyone who’s not at least high school age (and even then Japanese kids at 15 aren’t mature enough) should not being watching this.

The first sex scene we have is with Alice and Kouya after they reunite - to which I was freaking out like ‘he’s only 17! He’s baby! Why’s he doing this?!’ But also ‘yeah go Yutaka!!’. The sex scene was always the same pattern. it was get ontop of the girl, lean into her, kiss her and then fade to black. There’s also Demitri x Azusa, Reo x Touko and Kai x Akane. I guess you could say Demitri and Reo had a thing too. There’s definitely times where Reo forces himself on Demitri and he drinks Demitris blood while Demitri just stays flat on his back and accepts it and Reo also kisses his hand multiple times so they definitely have something going on too.

Actually, the Kai x Akane is the rape scene. It happens in their past and Kai is jealous because he likes Akane but she’s in love and in a relationship with his sickly brother Reiji and he gets way over jealous and when he and Akane are finally alone he’s like ‘leave me brother, he’s going to die soon anyway’ and she refuses but then he grabs her, throws her down (at this point Japanese separator is brought over them and we can only see their silhouettes and he throws open her dress and gets on top of her and starts to move his hips and then fade to black. The next moment is Reiji opens the door to see her with the bottom half of her kimono up and undone, and Kai with the top of his kimono undone and Reiji loses it, grabs his gun and kills her then his Kai and finally kills himself. Told you this play was crazy!

The physical abuse is the rape and another is that Demitri slaps Alice HARD at least once. Tut tut tut.

There’s so many kisses in this play too. I was shocked when the first one was Kai (Sugie!) and Alice! It happens pretty much 5 minutes into the play and Kai is just watching over Alice as she’s sleeping and she wakes up from her dream/nightmare and thinks it’s Kouya and just kisses him as soon as she wakes up and he’s like ‘ummm thanks but....?!’ xD

The only guy who doesn’t get a kiss scene or a sex scene is Reiji! Which made me so upset because I love Yuusuke and he deserves some action for once! xD

I hated that Alice chose Demitri in the end. He literally spent the entire play either being angry at her, yelling at her and being angsty and moody for 150minutes. The only time he was nice to her was right at the beginning when he’s like ‘you have to carefully choose one of us’ and right at the end after she chose him. Ugh it just didn’t make sense why she would choose him. He was a right arse. He did not deserve her choice! She had so any amazing moments with Reiji and Kai and I was so desperately rooting for Reiji and Alice as end game but alas as these things go (of course) the two MCs just have to end up together while Kai is left trying to keep Reiji cheerful =‘[ but having said that I wouldn’t’ve wanted her to choose Ka or Reiji either because after she chooses, she has to sleep with them so she can get pregnant and then the guys just die soon after so he can like be reincarnated as her baby. It’s weird right.

ACTORS

Ishiguro Hideo: I was honestly scared of this guy. Seriously, I was (and still am) convinced that he’s a method actor and/or honestly has an anger problem. His character has a lot of angry scenes and at one point he smacks his hand on the human-made table:

and with his power and the weight of his hand, it almost made the top of the table fly off them. I freaked the fuck out. And another part is when his character is having a mental break down and he was going around the stage screaming and so frantically, and practically threw himself up the stairs and then fell over with a smack up the stairs. Again I was freaking out. I was genuinely like ‘is this guy mentally stable and okay to be acting? Especially near my precious Sugie and Yuusuke?!’ BUT he was totally fine and smiley during the curtain call and everything SO he’s either a fucking damn good actor when it comes to angry roles or he seriously does need counselling. I’ve never been honestly scared of an actors performance before but it happened here. I’ve seen him do a few things but mainly on TV (Gokusen, RESCUE, Hanzawa Naoki etc.) and he clearly gets a lot of work so he can’t be that bad right(?) BUT I don’t know his real personality or got a feel for his personality. If you know he’s a genuinely decent or crazy guy then please let me know!!

Kashiwagi Yuusuke and Sugie Taishi: My note on my phone for Kashiwagi and Sugie is:

‘THEY ARE TO PRECIOUS FOR THIS WORLD!’

Seriously guys! They played twins in this with Sugie as the older twin and their storyline was so good and I loved their chemistry and the brought the comedy relief and they were so good! I cried at their storyline, especially towards the end of the play because A. we find out about their past and B. they like have a head on towards each other. My poor feelings for both of them and their storyline </3

Kashi messed up one of his lines. He was supposed to say something like ‘Otoko ha otoko no ie. Onna ha onna’ but he ended up saying ‘Onna ha Otoko no ie.’ apologised for it in the aftertalk but Sugie was like ‘nah it was cute so it’s alright’ xD You see what I mean about these two having a great friendship!!

I also giggled because, until this stage, I didn't realise that Taishin and kashi were close/similar in height and that they’re both (as they same but in comparison to me, no) small xD

Nozeki Yutaka: Yutaka you guys! Yutaka did a great job and for a new / young actor. His character was a little shit but god he did so well! His character, Kouya, at first is this innocent high school kid who’s in love with his teacher (who is Azusa who becomes Alice) but they get into the accident and the only way he can be saved is when a vampire picks them both up and she naturally has to become Alice in exchange for the vampire saving his life. So, Alice is the reincarnation of Demitri’s lost lover who left him and died decades (maybe even centuries) ago. But once Kouya is saved, he’s become very introverted and angry and a little shit. He’s very cold towards Alice and doesn’t really care for her or for anything. I really enjoyed his character ^_^ very strangely... xD

Iriki Mari: Alice is pretty you guys! She looks better up close than far away. Same with Akimoto, he looks silly from afar but when he went past me he looked pretty xD

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AFTERTALK

HAHA my note here: ‘Guys remember when I used to not like Taishi?’ If you guys don’t know, I used to really not like Taishi just because (I’m awfully shallow and) visually (especially when he has dark hair) he looks really sickly. But the moment (I think it was just after the first TouStage Shoen) I saw him with blonde / light brown hair, I was like ‘this boy is gorgeous!’. Taishin is unfortunately too damn pale to keep his natural hair but the moment he has lighter hair he looks amazing! And just after that, I started the Messiah series and, his immediate entrance into the show, I fucking loved his character straight away! This little shit! I fell in love straight away! And his cute curly hair! <3 Then I saw him for the first time (in real life) as himself during the Messiah Akatsuki aftertalk and I fell in love; he’s so energetic and so fun and I love how he actually faces his coworkers when they’re talking during the aftertalk (see more of my review here). He’s also very funny <3 and then I saw him at the aftertalk in this. Him and Yuusuke have this amazing chemistry(!), and Taishin’s so fun and he just gives such good vibes off; you can always feel the energy coming from him <3 and slowly but surely I saw him in StarMyu and TouStage Saien and just... I really like this boy now <3 PIC SPAM ROLECALL!

He’s so adorable!

Okay to the aftertalk!

I didn’t realise there would be an aftertalk this night but there was! It was Sugie, Yuusuke, Akimoto and Nazuka Kaori (who turns out to be a seiyuu!).

The opening to the aftertalk was so funny! Left to Right it was Taishin, Akimoto, Kaori and Yuuuske. After Yuusuke, Kaori and Akimoto introduced themselves, Taishin was like (and I quote) ‘YOU’RE NOT GENKI ENOUGH!’, so they proceeded to yell their introductions and finally Taishin just introduced himself normally and Akimoto was like ‘hang on! You made us do it!’ xD

The first discussion was about Kaori and her seiyuu work and how different seiyuu work is compared to doing stage. Then she asked them if they had any seiyuu experience and Kashi talked about how he’d done it once and was shocked that, even though he was putting a lot of effort and volume into his voice, it came out pretty flat and quiet. He also said you can search for the video on youtube and laugh at it, but I don’t remember the title that he said... then Kaori challenge the guys to do their best seiyuu voice in the situation of a kokuhaku (confessing your love). Personally I think Yuusuke’s was the sexiest and the best but she said Akimoto’s was the better fitting one for seiyuu work. It was like a cool and calm and deep. And then fucking Taishin, he had the voice of an elementary school boy and said ‘Shu-ki da yo’ and everyone died laughing. They made him do it again and we all died laughing again xD

Sugie and Yuusuke have such good chemistry with each other! << I’ve already said it a billion times! Their interactions were gold <3 they also spoke about how they’ve been friends for so long that they do feel like brothers except in the play it’s strange that Sugie is playing the older brother xD BUT one of the questions during the aftertalk was:

What is something about Sugie / Yuusuke that makes him feel like an older / younger brother?

Yuusuke’s answer said that Sugie is super cute when he eats because a lot of the time he’ll fall asleep part way through eating xD and Sugie said that sleeping is more important than eating “and that’s why I’m so short unlike my siblings!” and Yuusuke was like “what about me?! I eat properly and my brother is 180cm!”. Sugie immediately said ‘you sure he’s your brother?’ (implying Yuusuke is adopted) BURN Yuusuke xD

Sugie said the younger brother thing about Yuusuke is when he drinks and Yuusuke admitted he’s getting to an age where he no longer remembers what happens when he drinks, to which Taishin replied “I know. I’m always there” xD apparently they go drinking together a lot.

Seriously these two you guys!! xD

And that’s the Aftertalk done!

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GOODS

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And I’m done! Still got a ways to go with ALL the other reviews though. I think I’d down to 6... oh dear >.<

#kashiwagi yuusuke #sugie taishi #akimoto ryuutaro #akimoto ryuutarou #ishiguro hideo #nozeki yutaka #nazuka kaori #stage #stage play #review #柏が祐介 #杉江大志

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