2016.10.25 Honoo no Mirage: Boogiewoogie Review!
On Tuesday I finally went to my last two shows of the month - it's been an absolutely CRAZY month! And let me tell you, the craziness started BEFORE the show even began!
This play is the 3rd installment for the series and the basic plot is (this is gunna be so shitty, I understand the plot completely in my mind but explaining it is hard):
Kase and Naoya are reincarnations of past feudal war lords, and it is basically their job to live in through different reincarnations and different generations and times fighting against evil spirits that are tring to get revenge or are posessing other people. Every time our main characters die, they take on another's body and life.
Did that make enough sense? Does that sound interesting enough? Good!
Oh and one more small thing; every time they get reincarnated they have a decision between taking on this body's person's memories and possibly losing their own, or throwing away that person's life in order to keep on to who they are as a person. Complicated right? Sorry!
And they (Sho and MakiChan) had said on a stream that even first timers will understand the story and plot of this installment so I didn't have to worry about watching any of the others before seeing this ^_^
The PreShow
Well I just sold my soul. I came with 30,000 for the day and I was stood at the front of the counter trying to figure out how to save 400yen cos I'd gone over my budget. But in my defense the DVDs I bought are my Christmas presents -- but now I'm paying for it because I have no money to afford all my senkou tickets for this month =[ so I might have to cancel a few tickets (including my Seto one) if I hit...
^^ Everything I bought... I regret nothing!!
^^ The freebies <3
^^ My christmas presents!
Now onto theseating. I got an aisle seat for the first one which is awesome! And my second seat wasn't too bad either which is nice ^_^ Got a good view whatever =]
Also before the show, they announced that the play is 2hours and 30mins without a break which shocked me a little... also a girl next to me was writing a letter and was writing her address on the back of her letter envelope. I've never thought of doing that!! Most of my Japanese friends go 'why do you not write your line or your email in your letters'? and my only answer is 'Cos it's like a rule not to!' But the more people ask me why I don't, the more I think 'why the fuck not' because in reality if the actor has a brain, he ain't gunna contact a fan is he?! If he does... he's an idiot. In my opinion haha anyway...
ALSO! There was a specific announcement on the blog before the show performances even started which stated 'do not look at your pamphlet until after the show and if you do look, please do it somewhere where others won't see it,' yet some mother fucker sat next to me was flipping through the pamphlet wide open! I tried so hard not to look! But it really made me angry that they clearly hadn't seen the twitter OR blog announcement of it.... -_- respect the system!
Anyway! Now onto the show!!
The Show
**Quick note. I made 39 mental notes during my second viewing of this stage BUT I've forgotten at least 10 of the points so sorry! Wish I had the balls to sit with my notebook and quickly write notes as I watched plays...
CAST
Actual Main Characters:
Kase - Tamita Sho
Naoya - Aramaki Yoshihiko
Other Main Characters:
Mari - Tsukui Minami
Ryo - Fujimoto Ryo
Sasaki - Kasahra Shinji
Other Characters:
Kuchiki - Masuda Yuuki
James D Handou - Hayashi Shuji
Cain - Saikawa Koji
Ryanchi - Ando Ayaka
Kanezaki - Nishijo Yoshimasa
Mizutani Atsushi
Enemble:
Okamoto Ruri
Saiou Masako
Ikeuchi Risa
Sugawara Takeshi
Ogasawara Tatsuya
Kitamuta Kai
Yuasa Masayuki
First thing I noticed; the music and the projection mapping! The projection mapping is very good! I really like the opening graphics and it's so cool how they introduce everyone while using the projection mapping and the power spell things are super cool too! And the music is amazing! I really hope they put it on a soundtrack CD!! Seriously, it's so good and very empowering and very actiony. The theme music?! OMG give it to me now!! BUT in contrast to the music which is very empowering, the play itself is very slow and there's like no action in it. Which really surprised me because I was expecting a lot of action and fight scenes and a lot of powers being used etc. but it wasn't this at all! So that really shocked me the first time and disppointed and bored me a little the first time around. The second showing I knew what I was getting into so could enjoy it a little more.
I really enjoyed how the stage worked too! First: not a lot of stairs! So naturally my anxiety wasn't playing up xD Also they would open sections and pull out whole settings which was cool and simply pull them back to change the scene and such. And of couse the projection mapping helped with setting the scene (the switches between the settings where they would have black and white shots of old Shanghai and in another Tokyo Tower being built etc. so beatiful!).
(Most of my negatives are mainly from my first viewing.) At the end of the first show I was also a little confused because I felt the first half didn't have anything to do with the actual main story of the play which took place in the second half of the stage! Also the main characters are literally non-existent in the first half of this show which again is a little disappointing. BUT turns out that it's true that it's not really suppose to relate to the main plot of the stage. The first half of the stage is just simply showing previous lives of three out of our five main characters. Seemingly, according to my friend who I spoke to after the stage, this whole first half is there to make up for the lack of backstory of the three-non-main-main characters we got in the previous two plays. So in a sense I get why this first half way needed but personally, I could do without those three MC's back stories. The only two people and characters that matter are the two actual main characters am I right?!?! xD
Also I was expecting it to be very action packed and that just didn't happen so I was a little disappointed there too... anyway! To the good stuff!
Showa 33 (1958) So the stage opens with everyone going about their normal way but then Sho comes to the center and with a spotlight and we see Kikuchi begging for help and that he can feel himself changing and Sho is yelling at him trying to help. Then we switch to the bar; this bar is essentially the HQ for these main characters to gathered at. And it's between the bartender and Ryo and the bartender asks why he's been so into Photography lately and he goes to tell him but it blacksout and we go to the first flashback/history story: It's Ryo's backstory of how he became a photographer, and we start by him going to Shanghai a year earlier in Showa 32 (1957) and he gets tangled up in a robbery but then is rescued by a Chinese actress and she says in exchange for money, he should become her bodyguard so he agrees. And naturally over the course of time he falls for her and one day he goes to one of her photoshoots and feels like he could do a better job and one of the staff said 'have you ever picked up a camera? You should try it...'. Then one night a letter comes to the actresses place with a ring inside and we're not sure what it means but it then leads to someone setting her house on fire with her inside and Ryo runs in (using his magic to back the flames) to save her and turns out that some guys are after her (I didn't catch why) and the ring was actually from her past lover who she had a son with and she would like to find her son again. Ryo swears he'll help her find her son and then they'll live happily together. And thus we come back to the bar and he says 'and that's why I call my camera after my lover: Ryanchi' and the scene ends with the camera left solely on the bar counter and a simple spotlight on it and I thought that was super beautiful <3 It's a really cute story! And probably my favourite of the three mini ones we got.
There is one point where Ryanchi is kidnapped and Ryo goes to save her and exchanged information in a letter in exchange for her life and in the second show he dropped the letter (he was on the top stage) but it landed in front of him so he had to use his foot to kick it down which made me giggle a little xD
The second story is set in Showa 20 (1945) which is Mari's backstory where she's lost her mother during the war and there a girl next to her in a shelter sings to her to calm her down and promises to teach Mari the song. Then one day (2 years later I think) she finds American/Japanese soldiers and she attacks them because of her hate for them letting her mother get killed and so she gets taken in for interrogation but it's with a super sweet American boy named Bradley Cain and turns out he only joined the army so he could be sent to Japan because he loves the country and was once there before the war broke out and that's why he knows Japanese. Turns out a woman called Saeko-san taught him and he's come back to Mari's village to try and find her. So Mari agrees to help find her as well as allowing him to enter her school's Choir. But Mari is warned by Naoya - who's currently taken over a body who goes by 'Yamaguchi' and is a 40 year old bus driver - that there's a spy in the Japanese army and suspects it's Cain. Anyway, the girls in her choir, Mari and Cain decide to go and see the fireworks together but on the day, Cain is late because of work and one of the docks/warehouses is bombed and Mari runs in (just like Ryo, she uses her powers to take the fire out of her way) as Cain is trapped inside, to save him. He's left unconcious in the hospital, suffering from severer burns, Mari sings to him to hopefully wake him up and it does rouse him and turns out it's a song he'd made that he'd taught Saeko, and Saeko is actually the girl who'd comforted Mari during the war! And thus they reunite <3 This story was really nice. I really enjoyed Cain's back story and I thought he was such an adorable boy <3 he deserved to be loved. BUT there's at least 4 parts where Mari is singing and at least two of those moments could really be cut out; just felt they were a waste of time. Also just the actress playing Mari in general; don't like her, never have, and that's all I'll say about her.
The first time I saw this story, it took me til the second scene with Naoya to realise it was MakiChan as a 40 year old man! I think he pulled off the look very well and he did the older man slow, deep, kinda rusky voice very well! I was impressed with his acting as an older gentlemen ^_^
Then we go back to the bar where Kase and Mizutani's character is. I can't really remember what was said but it's really funny because Yuasa is going about closing up the bar as it's the end of the night and he puts all the chairs up but Mizutani takes one and sits down on it. When he stands back up Yuasa immediately takes it and put it back up then goes back stage to get a mop. When he comes back Mizutani is sitting on the chair again and his facial feature is hilarious xD Finally Mizutani stands up again but this time when he puts the chair up he uses too much energy and it hits the other chair and the chairs almost go all over the place and Mizutani is like 'you idiot!' and leaves the bar xD at firt I thought the guy had done it by accident but turns out it was actually part of the script. The timing and genuinity of it is really good! During thid conversation Mizutani asks Kase to make him a special cocktail that has his Enthusiam in it and so during this part Kase tries to make him one. Mari comes in after working and he asks her to try his cocktail. Naturally the cocktail is super bad and I REALLY, really hate this scene. Her reaction is SO cringe worthy. Either the crowd were laughing (god knows how they found it funny) or were silent like me just totally unimpressed at her failed comedy. It really is ridiuclous and makes me angry at how bad her execution of that comedy part was. And then she leaves and Kase tries the cocktail himself, thinking it's not really that bad and once he's sipped it, he is kinda taken aback at how bad it is << now THIS part was funny!
Now to the final flashback and final part of the first half: It's about Sasaki (still in Showa 20 I think) and he gets caught up in an incident and he's a trained doctor but can't save the woman who's been shot too close to her heart but then Kanezaki comes in and fixes her up but only after the other guy in the incident promises to pay for the operations. So Sasaki is pretty much disgusted that Kanezaki will only work if there's money to be offered to him. But then it turns out the only reason he's so money-motivated is because his sister fell into a coma 13 years ago and he's still not figured out nor has enough confidence to perform the surgery to bring her back. So Sasaki offers to help him. And then we're brought again back to the bar in Showa 33 and he explains how she's getting married this year and he can't believe how long ago it was. It's a rather depressing story and there's a plot line about possibly kidnappings and cosmetic testing that I really think should've been cut out but the actual main point of that story I really enjoyed.
Another general comment is that every time we change to a different time period or to a different flashback, we have chapter titles that are put up on the screen which is real nice.
And thus back in the bar in Showa 33, Sasaki and Kase are talking (Kase works as the bartender there) when Naoya comes in and Kase pours him a drink while Sasaki leaves. Mari comes in dressed up and Yuasa is setting up the bar for the night. Mari performs on stage in the background to two customers while Naoya and Kase talk about *wracks brain* I literally cannot remember sorry. But it was probably just a general talk about their pasts and such. Oh they do mention Mari and how they wish they could be more like her with her confidence and her lightness. Then Mizutani comes in and Kase prepares his cocktail; Mari warns him but surprisngly it's very good but Naoya mentions that they should add Mari's Selfishness into the drink as well as Kase's Enthusiasm xD Then everyone leaves except Naoya and Kase. Kase pours Naoya the rest of the cocktail and Naoya likes him. Again I can't remember really what they talked about (sorry) but I do remember the ending when Naoya goes to leave and Kase says 'Stay. Drink we me,' and Naoya is like 'I'm not good with alcohol' and Kase says 'you can sleep on the floor,' meaning he can stay with Kase(!!!) and Naoya says 'the floor?' 'better than sleeping outside,' and it fades to black <3
Then somehow in the space of seconds Kase's actor Sho has somehow managed to change clothes and is now in handcuffs at the front of the stage with the other main four sat around him and he's in front of some godly judge being judged (duh). And it goes like:
God/Spirit/Judge/Thing: Your name?
Kase: Kase Kensou
G: That's not your real name
K: No it's not
G: Then what is your real name?
K: Uesugi Kegatora
*My brain is a little fuzzy here but we get around to how many times Kase has been reincarnated*
K: This is my 10th body
G: This is your 10th time?!
*Essentially this trial/judgement is to see if he should be allowed to continue*
3 of the other members say he's essential and must continue but Naoya turns around and says: This guy is a liar! He never tries to save anyone even though he keeps being brought back and the only reason I keeps coming back is because of him!
And I don't really remember the rest of this scene but obvious Kase isn't destroyed or anything.
It's a visually beautiful scene and a little scary and the music is great and I really wish I remembered it more =[
And now we enter what I fell is the second part of the stage which stays entirely in Showa 33 except the first part which is Showa 30. We start with Naoya waiting outside a house which is Yamaguchi's house (remember previously in Showa 20 he was in Yamaguchi's body) and he can hear the mother/wife yelling her heart off 'get out!' and Kase is pushed out from the left side of the stage. He bows deeply before turning around to see Naoya.
Naoya: Thanks for coming to my funeral
K: Are you Noaya?
N: Yes
K: Who are you this time?
N: Kasahara Naoki
So as you can tell. Naoya has died as Yamaguchi and thus transitioned into his next body which is Kasahara Naoki. As they go to leave the location Naoya falls and says 'Sorry I'm still not used to this body'. Naoya is getting used to life in his new body when a letter turns up at the bar addressed to Naoki which simply has an address and 'give Naoki back' and so they do to the place and turns out there's a girl there who is super happy to see Naoki but obviously Naoya doesn't have Naoki's memories yet so has no idea who she is. Unfortunately evil spirits posess the customers in the bar and they have to fight them, the girl is naturally scared off and is like 'you're not Nao-cha. Where's Nao-chan?!' and runs off.
Later Naoya gets memories of her and 'remembers' who she is and so in apology invites her to the fireworks that night. There they have a wonderful time when he asks 'how did you find the address to send me the letter?' and she says 'what letter?' and he says 'did you not write on to me?' which she denies. Thenthe girl says 'do you remember out promise?' under pressure he quickly says 'I'll go buy us something to eat. On his way, he meets up with Kase and tells him that it wasn't her who sent the letter.' He comes back with food and eats commenting that the food is good but she takes a step back from 'why are you eating that? Nao-chan hates eggs. You're not Nao-chan are you?! Who are you?! You're not the Nao-chan I know!' and she runs away. Kase quickly sweeps in to stop him from going after her and takes him away from the festival. Naoya is in obviously in mental pain when he suddenly remembers why Naoki doesn't like eggs,
Naoya: if I'd remembered sooner then I wouldn't have caused her pain
Kase: you mustn't remember who Naoki is
N: why? I must! You saw how upset she was!
K: If you remember Naoki's memories then you'll lose who you are!
N: Is that bad?!
K: I don't want you to lose who you are!!
It's a very touching moment <3
N: what do you mean?
To which Kase complete avoids answering.
**BTW!! This anime/book series is not BL but it's definitely put with a 'slight BL' warning on it but the only time the stages get evenly implied-BL is when Naoya and Kase are fighting cos they always get real close and grab each other and say beautiful things like above! <3 I was expecting it to be rather BL-y but in reality, it's really not.
Naoya tries to leave but Kase stops him so he grabs a hold of Kase's gun and points it to him before leaving. After he leaves Kase is surrounded, drugged and kidnapped. Naturally the 4 main members go to find Kase and they do that by finding a guy who had been hanging around Yamaguchi's house suspiciously and he had the address to the hideout in his notebook which Naoya gets off him after pointing Kase's gun to his house.
They run over to the hideout, but before that Kase is beaten up to crap and pretty much left for dead. It's in this moment that Kase has this real dark moment where his true self finally comes out and he starts seeing past enemies and people he's killed and he's literally begging 'why do I have to keep on living?!?! How long will I keep on living for?!' Naoya bursts in and gets him and is like 'You can't die here. You're mine!' <3 and he tries to get Kase up but Kase wraps his (still handcuffed) arms around Naoya (can't remember what he says) but then goes to bite Naoya's neck and it fades to black. Both times I was like 'WHY YOU BITING HIM!?!?!' but also don't stop >.< This is seriously my favourite scene in this entire play; Kase's freak out when he's alone? Scary moment, amazing acting, very chilling and it just hits the feels perfectly and to finish the scene with him leaning into Naoya for what seems like a bit? Of course I'm gunna love that moment too!
After they get him back safely and it's back at the bar where everyone is arranging Mizutani's character's birthday surprise. Kase and Naoya have a moment to themselves where:
Naoya: what was that back there?
Kase: That? ... oh nothing
N: No it wasn't... that was the real you in that moment
Kase naturally doesn't reply. Then Mari comes over to them and asks Naoya to help with the decorating and puts the red pompoms on Naoya's chests like boobs xD Mizutani comes in and they try to hide the cake and everything and it's super cute!!
The very last scene is Kuchiki talking to James and Kuchiki has remembered that he's Nobuanga and (from what I could hear) James is the reincarnation of Ranmaru(?!) and he's like 'we need to get rid of them' and it ends with the five members facing him and Kase yelling 'NOBUNAGA!' and they take a step forward and BLACK OUT.
And that's that!! ^_^ I do still think a break was needed. They could've easily fitted one in just after or before Kase's Judge Trial thing because that's when I feel the stage changed in feeling and story. I also felt like everyone wanted a break too; everytime it went black between scenes a lot of us were moving.
Also there's A LOT of fog used during this stage, like a ridiculous amount and I'm rather shocked they didn't inform people BEFORE the performanes even began! Because what if someone with asthma was on the front row! Luckily no one had an attack or anything and nothing happened so that's good but I'm so surprised that there didn't say on twitter or on the website nor were there any signs around the theatre either! They did put up an announcement on the blog but like 3 days after the performances started!
Finally, I would like to take a moment to say a critic of MakiChan (I know shock horror!) and it's super minute but in my opinion; this poor boy cannot shout/yell. MakiChan has a naturally very soft and calming voice and he can very easily speak in a high voice but when he tries to yell, his voice is just too soft and he can't reach that volume or power that's needed when yelling. He damn well tries but yes he definitely can't do it >.<
AfterTalk
An aftertalk took place at the end of the afternoon show and during curtain call Sho was like 'there's an after talk so please... STAY SEATED! .. Maki do you have anything to say?'
'....SIT!' xD
The after talk was mainly full of skits from the older cast rather than the two main actors which were funny but naturally I'm not going to keep mental notes of what they said or did. I do know Kuchiki's actor was talkng about how easy he found it to grow a beard for his role xD But Sho did talk about how his clothing from previous shows were ruined so the jacket he wore this time was handmade especially by one of the staff which is super impressive!
I think I've said everything I wanted to say...
---
And now for a compulsory MakiChan spam because he's freaking gorgeous!!
He's so cute right!!! I also love him and Sho together!! They're from the same company and they've done some streams with each other a lot lately and they get along really well and Sho is a really nice guy too and I like how they've done these three stages together and I think it's great and it's very obvious watching them on stage that they (at least) get along very well with each other <3
BTW... he's mine so stay away! xD
---
This was a lot easier to write than Okimesu xD thank god!
Enjoy!!
This play is the 3rd installment for the series and the basic plot is (this is gunna be so shitty, I understand the plot completely in my mind but explaining it is hard):
Kase and Naoya are reincarnations of past feudal war lords, and it is basically their job to live in through different reincarnations and different generations and times fighting against evil spirits that are tring to get revenge or are posessing other people. Every time our main characters die, they take on another's body and life.
Did that make enough sense? Does that sound interesting enough? Good!
Oh and one more small thing; every time they get reincarnated they have a decision between taking on this body's person's memories and possibly losing their own, or throwing away that person's life in order to keep on to who they are as a person. Complicated right? Sorry!
And they (Sho and MakiChan) had said on a stream that even first timers will understand the story and plot of this installment so I didn't have to worry about watching any of the others before seeing this ^_^
The PreShow
Well I just sold my soul. I came with 30,000 for the day and I was stood at the front of the counter trying to figure out how to save 400yen cos I'd gone over my budget. But in my defense the DVDs I bought are my Christmas presents -- but now I'm paying for it because I have no money to afford all my senkou tickets for this month =[ so I might have to cancel a few tickets (including my Seto one) if I hit...
^^ Everything I bought... I regret nothing!!
^^ The freebies <3
^^ My christmas presents!
Now onto theseating. I got an aisle seat for the first one which is awesome! And my second seat wasn't too bad either which is nice ^_^ Got a good view whatever =]
Also before the show, they announced that the play is 2hours and 30mins without a break which shocked me a little... also a girl next to me was writing a letter and was writing her address on the back of her letter envelope. I've never thought of doing that!! Most of my Japanese friends go 'why do you not write your line or your email in your letters'? and my only answer is 'Cos it's like a rule not to!' But the more people ask me why I don't, the more I think 'why the fuck not' because in reality if the actor has a brain, he ain't gunna contact a fan is he?! If he does... he's an idiot. In my opinion haha anyway...
ALSO! There was a specific announcement on the blog before the show performances even started which stated 'do not look at your pamphlet until after the show and if you do look, please do it somewhere where others won't see it,' yet some mother fucker sat next to me was flipping through the pamphlet wide open! I tried so hard not to look! But it really made me angry that they clearly hadn't seen the twitter OR blog announcement of it.... -_- respect the system!
Anyway! Now onto the show!!
The Show
**Quick note. I made 39 mental notes during my second viewing of this stage BUT I've forgotten at least 10 of the points so sorry! Wish I had the balls to sit with my notebook and quickly write notes as I watched plays...
CAST
Actual Main Characters:
Kase - Tamita Sho
Naoya - Aramaki Yoshihiko
Other Main Characters:
Mari - Tsukui Minami
Ryo - Fujimoto Ryo
Sasaki - Kasahra Shinji
Other Characters:
Kuchiki - Masuda Yuuki
James D Handou - Hayashi Shuji
Cain - Saikawa Koji
Ryanchi - Ando Ayaka
Kanezaki - Nishijo Yoshimasa
Mizutani Atsushi
Enemble:
Okamoto Ruri
Saiou Masako
Ikeuchi Risa
Sugawara Takeshi
Ogasawara Tatsuya
Kitamuta Kai
Yuasa Masayuki
First thing I noticed; the music and the projection mapping! The projection mapping is very good! I really like the opening graphics and it's so cool how they introduce everyone while using the projection mapping and the power spell things are super cool too! And the music is amazing! I really hope they put it on a soundtrack CD!! Seriously, it's so good and very empowering and very actiony. The theme music?! OMG give it to me now!! BUT in contrast to the music which is very empowering, the play itself is very slow and there's like no action in it. Which really surprised me because I was expecting a lot of action and fight scenes and a lot of powers being used etc. but it wasn't this at all! So that really shocked me the first time and disppointed and bored me a little the first time around. The second showing I knew what I was getting into so could enjoy it a little more.
I really enjoyed how the stage worked too! First: not a lot of stairs! So naturally my anxiety wasn't playing up xD Also they would open sections and pull out whole settings which was cool and simply pull them back to change the scene and such. And of couse the projection mapping helped with setting the scene (the switches between the settings where they would have black and white shots of old Shanghai and in another Tokyo Tower being built etc. so beatiful!).
(Most of my negatives are mainly from my first viewing.) At the end of the first show I was also a little confused because I felt the first half didn't have anything to do with the actual main story of the play which took place in the second half of the stage! Also the main characters are literally non-existent in the first half of this show which again is a little disappointing. BUT turns out that it's true that it's not really suppose to relate to the main plot of the stage. The first half of the stage is just simply showing previous lives of three out of our five main characters. Seemingly, according to my friend who I spoke to after the stage, this whole first half is there to make up for the lack of backstory of the three-non-main-main characters we got in the previous two plays. So in a sense I get why this first half way needed but personally, I could do without those three MC's back stories. The only two people and characters that matter are the two actual main characters am I right?!?! xD
Also I was expecting it to be very action packed and that just didn't happen so I was a little disappointed there too... anyway! To the good stuff!
Showa 33 (1958) So the stage opens with everyone going about their normal way but then Sho comes to the center and with a spotlight and we see Kikuchi begging for help and that he can feel himself changing and Sho is yelling at him trying to help. Then we switch to the bar; this bar is essentially the HQ for these main characters to gathered at. And it's between the bartender and Ryo and the bartender asks why he's been so into Photography lately and he goes to tell him but it blacksout and we go to the first flashback/history story: It's Ryo's backstory of how he became a photographer, and we start by him going to Shanghai a year earlier in Showa 32 (1957) and he gets tangled up in a robbery but then is rescued by a Chinese actress and she says in exchange for money, he should become her bodyguard so he agrees. And naturally over the course of time he falls for her and one day he goes to one of her photoshoots and feels like he could do a better job and one of the staff said 'have you ever picked up a camera? You should try it...'. Then one night a letter comes to the actresses place with a ring inside and we're not sure what it means but it then leads to someone setting her house on fire with her inside and Ryo runs in (using his magic to back the flames) to save her and turns out that some guys are after her (I didn't catch why) and the ring was actually from her past lover who she had a son with and she would like to find her son again. Ryo swears he'll help her find her son and then they'll live happily together. And thus we come back to the bar and he says 'and that's why I call my camera after my lover: Ryanchi' and the scene ends with the camera left solely on the bar counter and a simple spotlight on it and I thought that was super beautiful <3 It's a really cute story! And probably my favourite of the three mini ones we got.
There is one point where Ryanchi is kidnapped and Ryo goes to save her and exchanged information in a letter in exchange for her life and in the second show he dropped the letter (he was on the top stage) but it landed in front of him so he had to use his foot to kick it down which made me giggle a little xD
The second story is set in Showa 20 (1945) which is Mari's backstory where she's lost her mother during the war and there a girl next to her in a shelter sings to her to calm her down and promises to teach Mari the song. Then one day (2 years later I think) she finds American/Japanese soldiers and she attacks them because of her hate for them letting her mother get killed and so she gets taken in for interrogation but it's with a super sweet American boy named Bradley Cain and turns out he only joined the army so he could be sent to Japan because he loves the country and was once there before the war broke out and that's why he knows Japanese. Turns out a woman called Saeko-san taught him and he's come back to Mari's village to try and find her. So Mari agrees to help find her as well as allowing him to enter her school's Choir. But Mari is warned by Naoya - who's currently taken over a body who goes by 'Yamaguchi' and is a 40 year old bus driver - that there's a spy in the Japanese army and suspects it's Cain. Anyway, the girls in her choir, Mari and Cain decide to go and see the fireworks together but on the day, Cain is late because of work and one of the docks/warehouses is bombed and Mari runs in (just like Ryo, she uses her powers to take the fire out of her way) as Cain is trapped inside, to save him. He's left unconcious in the hospital, suffering from severer burns, Mari sings to him to hopefully wake him up and it does rouse him and turns out it's a song he'd made that he'd taught Saeko, and Saeko is actually the girl who'd comforted Mari during the war! And thus they reunite <3 This story was really nice. I really enjoyed Cain's back story and I thought he was such an adorable boy <3 he deserved to be loved. BUT there's at least 4 parts where Mari is singing and at least two of those moments could really be cut out; just felt they were a waste of time. Also just the actress playing Mari in general; don't like her, never have, and that's all I'll say about her.
The first time I saw this story, it took me til the second scene with Naoya to realise it was MakiChan as a 40 year old man! I think he pulled off the look very well and he did the older man slow, deep, kinda rusky voice very well! I was impressed with his acting as an older gentlemen ^_^
Then we go back to the bar where Kase and Mizutani's character is. I can't really remember what was said but it's really funny because Yuasa is going about closing up the bar as it's the end of the night and he puts all the chairs up but Mizutani takes one and sits down on it. When he stands back up Yuasa immediately takes it and put it back up then goes back stage to get a mop. When he comes back Mizutani is sitting on the chair again and his facial feature is hilarious xD Finally Mizutani stands up again but this time when he puts the chair up he uses too much energy and it hits the other chair and the chairs almost go all over the place and Mizutani is like 'you idiot!' and leaves the bar xD at firt I thought the guy had done it by accident but turns out it was actually part of the script. The timing and genuinity of it is really good! During thid conversation Mizutani asks Kase to make him a special cocktail that has his Enthusiam in it and so during this part Kase tries to make him one. Mari comes in after working and he asks her to try his cocktail. Naturally the cocktail is super bad and I REALLY, really hate this scene. Her reaction is SO cringe worthy. Either the crowd were laughing (god knows how they found it funny) or were silent like me just totally unimpressed at her failed comedy. It really is ridiuclous and makes me angry at how bad her execution of that comedy part was. And then she leaves and Kase tries the cocktail himself, thinking it's not really that bad and once he's sipped it, he is kinda taken aback at how bad it is << now THIS part was funny!
Now to the final flashback and final part of the first half: It's about Sasaki (still in Showa 20 I think) and he gets caught up in an incident and he's a trained doctor but can't save the woman who's been shot too close to her heart but then Kanezaki comes in and fixes her up but only after the other guy in the incident promises to pay for the operations. So Sasaki is pretty much disgusted that Kanezaki will only work if there's money to be offered to him. But then it turns out the only reason he's so money-motivated is because his sister fell into a coma 13 years ago and he's still not figured out nor has enough confidence to perform the surgery to bring her back. So Sasaki offers to help him. And then we're brought again back to the bar in Showa 33 and he explains how she's getting married this year and he can't believe how long ago it was. It's a rather depressing story and there's a plot line about possibly kidnappings and cosmetic testing that I really think should've been cut out but the actual main point of that story I really enjoyed.
Another general comment is that every time we change to a different time period or to a different flashback, we have chapter titles that are put up on the screen which is real nice.
And thus back in the bar in Showa 33, Sasaki and Kase are talking (Kase works as the bartender there) when Naoya comes in and Kase pours him a drink while Sasaki leaves. Mari comes in dressed up and Yuasa is setting up the bar for the night. Mari performs on stage in the background to two customers while Naoya and Kase talk about *wracks brain* I literally cannot remember sorry. But it was probably just a general talk about their pasts and such. Oh they do mention Mari and how they wish they could be more like her with her confidence and her lightness. Then Mizutani comes in and Kase prepares his cocktail; Mari warns him but surprisngly it's very good but Naoya mentions that they should add Mari's Selfishness into the drink as well as Kase's Enthusiasm xD Then everyone leaves except Naoya and Kase. Kase pours Naoya the rest of the cocktail and Naoya likes him. Again I can't remember really what they talked about (sorry) but I do remember the ending when Naoya goes to leave and Kase says 'Stay. Drink we me,' and Naoya is like 'I'm not good with alcohol' and Kase says 'you can sleep on the floor,' meaning he can stay with Kase(!!!) and Naoya says 'the floor?' 'better than sleeping outside,' and it fades to black <3
Then somehow in the space of seconds Kase's actor Sho has somehow managed to change clothes and is now in handcuffs at the front of the stage with the other main four sat around him and he's in front of some godly judge being judged (duh). And it goes like:
God/Spirit/Judge/Thing: Your name?
Kase: Kase Kensou
G: That's not your real name
K: No it's not
G: Then what is your real name?
K: Uesugi Kegatora
*My brain is a little fuzzy here but we get around to how many times Kase has been reincarnated*
K: This is my 10th body
G: This is your 10th time?!
*Essentially this trial/judgement is to see if he should be allowed to continue*
3 of the other members say he's essential and must continue but Naoya turns around and says: This guy is a liar! He never tries to save anyone even though he keeps being brought back and the only reason I keeps coming back is because of him!
And I don't really remember the rest of this scene but obvious Kase isn't destroyed or anything.
It's a visually beautiful scene and a little scary and the music is great and I really wish I remembered it more =[
And now we enter what I fell is the second part of the stage which stays entirely in Showa 33 except the first part which is Showa 30. We start with Naoya waiting outside a house which is Yamaguchi's house (remember previously in Showa 20 he was in Yamaguchi's body) and he can hear the mother/wife yelling her heart off 'get out!' and Kase is pushed out from the left side of the stage. He bows deeply before turning around to see Naoya.
Naoya: Thanks for coming to my funeral
K: Are you Noaya?
N: Yes
K: Who are you this time?
N: Kasahara Naoki
So as you can tell. Naoya has died as Yamaguchi and thus transitioned into his next body which is Kasahara Naoki. As they go to leave the location Naoya falls and says 'Sorry I'm still not used to this body'. Naoya is getting used to life in his new body when a letter turns up at the bar addressed to Naoki which simply has an address and 'give Naoki back' and so they do to the place and turns out there's a girl there who is super happy to see Naoki but obviously Naoya doesn't have Naoki's memories yet so has no idea who she is. Unfortunately evil spirits posess the customers in the bar and they have to fight them, the girl is naturally scared off and is like 'you're not Nao-cha. Where's Nao-chan?!' and runs off.
Later Naoya gets memories of her and 'remembers' who she is and so in apology invites her to the fireworks that night. There they have a wonderful time when he asks 'how did you find the address to send me the letter?' and she says 'what letter?' and he says 'did you not write on to me?' which she denies. Thenthe girl says 'do you remember out promise?' under pressure he quickly says 'I'll go buy us something to eat. On his way, he meets up with Kase and tells him that it wasn't her who sent the letter.' He comes back with food and eats commenting that the food is good but she takes a step back from 'why are you eating that? Nao-chan hates eggs. You're not Nao-chan are you?! Who are you?! You're not the Nao-chan I know!' and she runs away. Kase quickly sweeps in to stop him from going after her and takes him away from the festival. Naoya is in obviously in mental pain when he suddenly remembers why Naoki doesn't like eggs,
Naoya: if I'd remembered sooner then I wouldn't have caused her pain
Kase: you mustn't remember who Naoki is
N: why? I must! You saw how upset she was!
K: If you remember Naoki's memories then you'll lose who you are!
N: Is that bad?!
K: I don't want you to lose who you are!!
It's a very touching moment <3
N: what do you mean?
To which Kase complete avoids answering.
**BTW!! This anime/book series is not BL but it's definitely put with a 'slight BL' warning on it but the only time the stages get evenly implied-BL is when Naoya and Kase are fighting cos they always get real close and grab each other and say beautiful things like above! <3 I was expecting it to be rather BL-y but in reality, it's really not.
Naoya tries to leave but Kase stops him so he grabs a hold of Kase's gun and points it to him before leaving. After he leaves Kase is surrounded, drugged and kidnapped. Naturally the 4 main members go to find Kase and they do that by finding a guy who had been hanging around Yamaguchi's house suspiciously and he had the address to the hideout in his notebook which Naoya gets off him after pointing Kase's gun to his house.
They run over to the hideout, but before that Kase is beaten up to crap and pretty much left for dead. It's in this moment that Kase has this real dark moment where his true self finally comes out and he starts seeing past enemies and people he's killed and he's literally begging 'why do I have to keep on living?!?! How long will I keep on living for?!' Naoya bursts in and gets him and is like 'You can't die here. You're mine!' <3 and he tries to get Kase up but Kase wraps his (still handcuffed) arms around Naoya (can't remember what he says) but then goes to bite Naoya's neck and it fades to black. Both times I was like 'WHY YOU BITING HIM!?!?!' but also don't stop >.< This is seriously my favourite scene in this entire play; Kase's freak out when he's alone? Scary moment, amazing acting, very chilling and it just hits the feels perfectly and to finish the scene with him leaning into Naoya for what seems like a bit? Of course I'm gunna love that moment too!
After they get him back safely and it's back at the bar where everyone is arranging Mizutani's character's birthday surprise. Kase and Naoya have a moment to themselves where:
Naoya: what was that back there?
Kase: That? ... oh nothing
N: No it wasn't... that was the real you in that moment
Kase naturally doesn't reply. Then Mari comes over to them and asks Naoya to help with the decorating and puts the red pompoms on Naoya's chests like boobs xD Mizutani comes in and they try to hide the cake and everything and it's super cute!!
The very last scene is Kuchiki talking to James and Kuchiki has remembered that he's Nobuanga and (from what I could hear) James is the reincarnation of Ranmaru(?!) and he's like 'we need to get rid of them' and it ends with the five members facing him and Kase yelling 'NOBUNAGA!' and they take a step forward and BLACK OUT.
And that's that!! ^_^ I do still think a break was needed. They could've easily fitted one in just after or before Kase's Judge Trial thing because that's when I feel the stage changed in feeling and story. I also felt like everyone wanted a break too; everytime it went black between scenes a lot of us were moving.
Also there's A LOT of fog used during this stage, like a ridiculous amount and I'm rather shocked they didn't inform people BEFORE the performanes even began! Because what if someone with asthma was on the front row! Luckily no one had an attack or anything and nothing happened so that's good but I'm so surprised that there didn't say on twitter or on the website nor were there any signs around the theatre either! They did put up an announcement on the blog but like 3 days after the performances started!
Finally, I would like to take a moment to say a critic of MakiChan (I know shock horror!) and it's super minute but in my opinion; this poor boy cannot shout/yell. MakiChan has a naturally very soft and calming voice and he can very easily speak in a high voice but when he tries to yell, his voice is just too soft and he can't reach that volume or power that's needed when yelling. He damn well tries but yes he definitely can't do it >.<
AfterTalk
An aftertalk took place at the end of the afternoon show and during curtain call Sho was like 'there's an after talk so please... STAY SEATED! .. Maki do you have anything to say?'
'....SIT!' xD
The after talk was mainly full of skits from the older cast rather than the two main actors which were funny but naturally I'm not going to keep mental notes of what they said or did. I do know Kuchiki's actor was talkng about how easy he found it to grow a beard for his role xD But Sho did talk about how his clothing from previous shows were ruined so the jacket he wore this time was handmade especially by one of the staff which is super impressive!
I think I've said everything I wanted to say...
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And now for a compulsory MakiChan spam because he's freaking gorgeous!!
He's so cute right!!! I also love him and Sho together!! They're from the same company and they've done some streams with each other a lot lately and they get along really well and Sho is a really nice guy too and I like how they've done these three stages together and I think it's great and it's very obvious watching them on stage that they (at least) get along very well with each other <3
BTW... he's mine so stay away! xD
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This was a lot easier to write than Okimesu xD thank god!
Enjoy!!