#furukawa is really stealing the show though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chibimyumi · 5 years

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I was rewatching some of the 2nd kuromyu and it hit me that Furukawa really spoilt us in every way possible with his portrayal Sebastian and It made me wonder what your opinions on Yuya Matsushita's sebas are?

Dear, deaaaar Anon,

I agree, Furukawa really did spoil us rotten ❤

Matsushita? Erm……….. well………. I guess the time has come that people will more concretely find out why my blog has zero Matsushita content despite aiming to ‘promote Kuromyu’ XD

Warning - Unpopular and PERSONAL opinion:

＊Disclaimer at the bottom of this post.

In 2009 I was very impressed to see my favourite manga turning into theatre, my favourite type of media. Despite being young and easily impressed at the time, even now 10 years later, I do recognise the pressure of a literal teen having to shoulder the pressure of playing an omnipotent demon butler in a wildly popular show. 2.5D actors are one of the most underpaid people in Japan. When it came to the casting of ‘the perfect butler’, they had to look for someone who:

could sing at least not terribly

act not terribly

looked not terribly

would be okay with basically no salary.

That’s how they ended up casting an 18-year-old Matsushita (a minor in Japan). The expectations were of course crushing, and Matsushita did not really manage to live up to these, mostly because of his very high pitched voice (which is not fair to condemn someone for).

According to many however, he looked decently handsome. Editor Kuma was aware of the limitations to this child-performer, and instructed Matsushita to play into what people did appreciate in him; his looks.

I don’t know whether it was Matsushita’s personal interpretation or the limit to his abilities, but to me, he never managed to show me any aspect outside ‘the handsome host-butler’. His singing was mediocre-good, his acting however was never believable to me. Though I was also painfully aware of the huge burden on his shoulders, so I appreciated him for what he was 1. The first 3D Sebas, and 2. A child working very, VERY hard in shouldering the impossible burden of the thirsty fandom.

When ‘The Most Beautiful Death in the World’ came out in 2010, I was stunned. It was such a major improvement in comparison to the first Kuromyu.

‘The Most Beautiful Death in the World’ was something that I loved at the time, and was my first reason to love Kuromyu. But now I recognise how ‘MBD’ is highly problematic and I can’t look at them anymore, mainly because:

The plot holes that… are just glaring XD (Eric: “I have an all-powerful Death Scythe with which I could kill a demon and without which I am basically powerless. Let’s throw it at him!” Sebastian: “I caught the all-powerful weapon from the reaper who is powerless without. Hm. Let’s not use it against him or keep it from him, but throw it back at him :D”)

The corset scene (where they made a CHILD actor moan and play in a scene with heavy sexual context for a huge audience’s hedonistic pleasure! Or even worse in 2013, where they made 14 year old Tanaka Taketo play the role of a seducer with an adult in the curtain call for Matsushita’s Birthday. And the boy had NO say in the matter. UGH, I still can’t believe the producers made a child who had no power to say no do something like that…)

Of course none of those were Matsushita’s fault, but retroactively these two factors did bother me so much I found myself unable to enjoy the musical anymore.

When ‘The Lycoris that Blazes the Earth 2014’ came out, I was thrilled to see what Matsushita would make of it, because finally he was given the chance to show ‘a real Sebas in a canon story’. Somehow, Lycoris 2014 almost became a ‘test for Matsushita’ for me: “will be prove himself a worthy Sebas now he has the chance?”

By 2014 however, the rising fame really started to get to Matsushita’s head, and he started showing the alpha-male macho behaviour I dislike most in people. Still I was curious to see the musical, so I did give him a chance.

In Lycoris 2014 however, it felt like Matsushita turned Sebastian into him, rather than himself into Sebastian. His spastic acting and unnecessary comic additions just didn’t do it for me. It was like he was trying to steal a show that was already his. What also bothered me was how he forced his voice way below his range.

I am obviously aware that this alpha-male behaviour and the forced low pitch are both the product of the bullying where people criticised him with: “He sounds like a helium balloon” or “He sings like a girl”, but these do not excuse the behaviour for me personally.

So in a nutshell, to me Matsushita reached the peak of his performance of Sebas around 2013 where he seemed to see what Sebastian is supposed to be and walked towards him. In 2014 however when he was finally cast in a canon-story, it became blatantly apparent – TO ME PERSONALLY - how not-Sebastian he was.

There is hardly any information about Matsushita after Lycoris 2014, but Matsushita announced his retirement from Kuromyu using the word ‘graduated’. When Furukawa was announced as the second Sebastian, Matsushita basically disappeared off radar, and did not make any Kuroshitsuji-related public comments until 2016 where he publicly acknowledged Furukawa.

“Actually…Today after I just rounded up the rehearsals for X4 I went to watch the evening performance for “Kuroshitsuji – NOAH’s ARK CIRCUS – ”.I liked the circus arc to begin with, so especially this time I rushed to see[the musical]. It was super fun, and above everything else, the cast, the music, set and illuminations were of an altogether different level than before, it was very glamorous and I enjoyed it a lot.To begin with, the musical I played my first lead role in at age 19 was this“Kuroshitsuji”. I’m performing in all kinds of productions now, but more than half of my acting careers up till now had been Kuroshitsuji.I’ve done this 4 times now, and last year I had the honour to baton-pass the role to the current Sebastian, Mr. Furukawa Yuuta. I have decided to officially retire from this franchise and it might be presumptuous for me to say this, but the “Kuroshitsuji” musical franchise I had been part of from age 19 really has gone up in quality, the scale has suddenly become so amazing too. It is now at a level I can’t ever reach myself, but still I’m happy for [the franchise]. Really. I’m very moved~[…] Already the new Sebastian has been established above anything else, and I’ve seen in him the Sebastian I always wanted to portray but never managed to. He is excellent.[…] - Matsushita Yuya

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＊Disclaimer: I am not trying to bash Matsushita. I know this can be rather sensitive to Matsushita-fans. I am merely sharing MY personal opinion since I was asked.

#Kuromyu #Kuroshitsuji #Black Butler #Musical #Furukawa Yuta #Yun #Matsushita Yuya #Yuya Matsushita #Unpopular opinion #But a very personal opinion #Lycoris that Blazes the Earth

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