Dream Boys @ Imperial Garden Theatre, 2011/09/10, 13:00
(As usual, feel free to quote, translate, link etc.)
Let me start with a couple of disclaimers. I arrived in Japan yesterday (2011/09/09), am working on little sleep and a lot of jet lag, and I wasn't here for DB2009 so I can't comment on anything that happened then - though there were an awful lot of changes from 2007/2008. I apologise to those of you on my f-list who love Juniors because now that everyone who used to do the show is either no longer a Junior or is doing Shounentachi at the moment, the only one I recognise from the cast is Juri (and he was hard to miss). I took 32.5 sides of notes, but as I can't read half of what I've written, as per usual, they may not relate to what I actually type. Plus Kame was really, really distracting.
Also, for some reason I emerged from the theatre with an overwhelming love for Koki, but more on that later.
Slightly nervewracking start to the day as ina and I hid in the shade outside the theatre, waiting for the others to arrive with our tickets. rindiggfelt had first choice of tickets, naturally, and the rest of us did a lottery. Ina picked extremely well, which meant the two of us wound up in Row Q, 1st floor, with seats pretty much in the middle of the theatre. mienai1582 and Rin were on our right, with Rin on the aisle, which nearly proved fatal thanks to Koki. misao_duo and littleraindrops were over in the far right block - also putting them closer to the Koki side of things.
It all started with a clock, of course. The 2011 clock sat at the left side of the stage, while a dancing girl and a couple of fools (no, really, they looked like court jesters) danced on the stage, and acrobats bounced around like flying fish just below. One handed a jester a giant key, which he used to wind up the clock - all the way back to 2001.
According to the pamphlet, Kazuya, Koki and Yuichi were in an idol group ten years ago. I'd pay good money to see an idol group sing 'Next Dream', which is exactly what they were doing to start with, in their white sparkly costumes. (Said costumes included long white skirts.) Koki took the lead first, then Kame, and there were lots of female dancers in the background. Koki and Nakamaru stood in the front, while Kame lurked at the back, and I tried to wipe the moisture away from my eyes (under my glasses) because I was so happy to hear 'Next Dream' again. This song reduced me to tears in 2007 - I couldn't listen to it for six months afterwards without being overcome, that's how much I love it. I have to admit that one of the changes I'm not thrilled about in 2011 is how it has been supplanted by 'Aishiteru kara' as the main song for the play.
Off came the clothes to reveal their colour coordinated costumes underneath: Kame in red, Koki in blue, and Nakamaru in a rather unflattering yellow and black ensemble which Koki was kidding him about. My notes here say: boys were in silver, girls were in white, and Nakamaru was very enthusiastic. About what, I'm not sure. Nakamaru beatboxed; Koki removed his blue jacket and one of his gang behind him put it on. I love how even before he was "the champ" he still had devoted followers. While he and Nakamaru messed around on the left, Kame stood on the right, staring off into nowhere and looking pretty moody. You know the look. I think he caught it from Jin after too many episodes of Cartoon KAT-TUN.
Kame wasn't interested in backstage hijinks (I'm sure that must've broken a few hearts) and when the women came in to talk, he wasn't interested in pursuing a path with Koki and Nakamaru either. Not the most enthusiastic idol group member ever, our Kazuya. Admittedly, if that meant working under Makoto's thumb, I wouldn't be keen on it either. The woman is not easy to live with.
Some twit in the audience kept calling out "Kamenashi-kun!", which didn't endear her to anyone around her. Seriously, did she expect him to reply?
Giant picture frame on the stage. Now, this appeared a lot, so I will explain. You know those fancy white and gold frames you would use to frame a painting? They had one of those, which took over pretty much the entire stage, and it was assembled in chunks. Parts were moved in over time. I have no clue which Junior posed in the corner of the frame and sang that song that starts "When I was seventeen...", but he was kind of off-key. Girls flew overhead. I think, anyway. I've written two lines on top of each other here, but I think that's what it said.
So, the three group members followed different paths. Nakamaru still wanted a musical career, so he became a singer, albeit without success. Koki became a boxer. I never could figure out what Kame was supposed to have done, but the pamphlet tells me he didn't really do anything... Er, my notes here say that Koki looked really good in jeans and a leather jacket. I mean, c'mon, the bad boy look seriously works for him, especially with the spiky blond hair. He could look like that for the rest of his life and I wouldn't complain.
Forward to 2011, where a movie is being made about Koki's life. Evidently he did a hell of a lot in those ten years, to warrant being immortalised on film. What do you do when you need someone to play a boxing champion in your movie? Why, you hire a guy who's never finished anything in his life, of course! Casting Kame to play Koki in the movie is perhaps not the wisest choice you could make, but he sure looks pretty.
Shirtless Juniors did a boxing dance and were joined by Nakamaru (beatboxing, of course). The yellow shorts + black vest combination wasn't particularly flattering, I have to say, and the black and orange shoes didn't help. But the boy sure can move when he has to.
Kame emerged on a platform in his yellow gold hoodie...er, sorry, glittering gold hooded robe, which shed sparkles as he rose up in the air. That's Kame, spreading the shiny wherever he goes. (Or their costume budget was cut this year and the robe was cheap, one of the two.) Down on the stage again and now minus the robe (i.e. shirtless, and my god, the things his homerun project has done for his physique...) he sang 'One Night' quite happily until Koki - still gorgeous in the jeans and leather jacket - interrupted with his gang. He wasn't too thrilled about the casting.
Nakamaru was doing the theme for the film, and Koki had a go at him for his involvement, but it was just a job, honest! Kame stalked off in a blue robe, job done. He'd had enough.
As you all probably know, Koki's real life younger brother, Juri, was playing his brother in the musical, which I find fantastic for two reasons. One, it gave the whole thing a real sense of family, which is what Dream Boys is all about (no, really, it's like an American soap opera), and two...Juri is almost as tall as his brother. It's hilarious. Koki's gang made like they hadn't seen him since he was *this* tall.
Plenty of changes in the bridge scene. (Again, I can't speak for 2009, so I'm comparing to 2007 and 2008.) While they set up the bridge in the background, Koki talked about how he never thought boxing could hurt, but when it does he can't cry, something like that.
The bridge rose into position in smoke, with dancers in green in the background. No random violinist, no coming out over the audience, and sadly, no fishies. But I want to be a fish, Kame! 'Hoshi no Hikaru Sora' was, of course, very beautiful and touching. Makoto popped out to duet on it with Kame, and spoiled the atmosphere by telling him how thanks to boxing, Koki's body had become a mess, and so it was best to have his career continue on thanks to this movie etc. Nakamaru, unfortunately, was in debt to the producers of the movie, and to help him out, Kame had to return to the cast.
Scene changed to Koki's gym, where he was coaching his young friends - so well that almost all of them ended up on the floor, actually. I really liked how they showed the gym. In keeping with their assigned colours, there was a giant blue wall, and it had a massive gold lion head on it. All was well until Koki's head injury kicked in. Alas, the champ had taken so much punishment over the years that he had limited lifespan left, and suffered from what looked like a horrible bout of tinnitus. Whatever, Makoto showed up to needle him about it. Nakamaru arrived...and Kame casually sauntered in, playing a little with the bags, and suddenly discarded his nonchalance to drop down to the floor and beg Koki to be able to continue filming. Of course Koki's gang were in fits of laughter over this.
Koki agreed on one condition - that Kame face him in the ring. Of course, being Koki, he rapped a challenge at him. We didn't really get 'Fight Man' - more an instrumental version - which then led into 'Anarchist'. (Which I love, btw. If you haven't seen it on Shounen Club, stop wasting your time reading this and go watch it.) The performance was wonderfully violent, and the lion's head burned with projected fire. I have a note here that says things that looked like monsters from Blake's 7 did flips around him. I think I was referring to ones that looked like they were covered in strips of paper from head to toe, flying loose, only in green.
The stage divided with Kame on one side, Koki on the other, and Juri rapping with some mini Juniors? Kame's sweetness and Koki's roughness sounded wonderful together, I have to say.
No more park scene - instead we had a baseball stadium! With a bench, randomly in front of it, where Kame sat with his guitar and sang 'Aishiteru kara'. It's the first time I've been to see Kame play guitar, and it made me very happy. ^_^ Juri sat down next to him and they sang together. Juri appears to have inherited his older brother's love of touching Kame, because he kept patting him on the shoulder. The Tanaka clan probably have a shrine to him or something.
Juri had the two mini Juniors with him and there was a lot of teasing going on about family, as the kids were of the impression that they didn't need any. Trust Kame to warp the conversation to talk about underwear. Now he's lost Fujigaya he needs new Juniors to perve on, clearly. Juri had a coughing fit because of course, this being Dream Boys, he's got a limited lifespan too - his heart, though you could be forgiven for thinking he's asthmatic. He insisted it was just a cold, which was a cue for he and the two kids to sneeze on Kame. Charming, though they did apologise very cutely. Kame said normal kids who have a cold wouldn't want to play catchball, so are they youkai? (Insert drama promo here...) He, Juri and the two kids played catchball as the stage turned around.
Nakamaru appeared to do 'Film' (I think? The intro's pretty distinctive and then I don't recall the rest), dancing with some Juniors, before Makoto turned up and switched on the jukebox in the corner to play 'Aishiteru kara' for them. Guess which song they'll be using for the movie's theme and the band's debut? Makoto didn't tell them that Kame wrote the lovely lyrics.
While Kame was bandaging his hands in the corner, ready for the fight, Nakamaru told him about the debut. The women talked about the match, and then the announcer came on. I'm guessing it was Casey Anderson, since the English was perfect and there were none of the random American guys in the cast this time, but I couldn't tell you for sure.
Koki came out first, and this is where the fatal part came in - he walked right past us, or rather, past Rin, because she was on the aisle. The shock lasted for many, many hours. The man is seriously gorgeous. Kame came down the other side, and we weren't actually that many seats from his aisle, either, which was nice.
The match was...well, it looked like Kame kept trying to divest Koki of his shorts. I wouldn't put it past him. Kame went down *a lot* - he's not a boxer, he just plays one on TV - except when Koki's head started ringing again.
Then we had something different. The centre of the ring rose in the air and the two had a slow-motion fight above the stage in the dark. When it settled back down into position, the green lights came back on and they continued at normal speed...up until the final blow.
Makoto "examined" Kame's glove to find the piece of metal responsible for knocking Koki out. Juri was desperate to know it wasn't true, while Koki got carted off on a stretcher. Juri's about Kame's height too. It's when he gets to Junno's height he's not going to be able to play these roles anymore...
The press came out, and so did Madam Ran, to tell Kame to enter the world of masks. Makoto sang her little evil song.
Circus time! There were tiny clowns on the stage - evil in midget form. Also, some not-very-coordinated juggling. Madam Ran got in an argument with one of Koki's gang - Iwamoto? - who was just off the stage, and couldn't come in because he hadn't got a ticket. First he produced a locket(?) rather than a ticket, and then he found a ticket stuck to the elbow of his jacket - but it was for a Takarazuka performance. Close, but no cigar. He ran past us on his way out.
Kame, in his mask and hideous orange and purple pierrot costume, did a slow-motion walk around the inside of the giant picture frame, which had made a reappearance. This included walking upside down. The mask fell off, the picture frame "caught fire" and Kame hovered in the air as it was pulled apart. Female dancers danced below him on the stage.
No risky tightrope this time, though we did hear the song. The aerial acrobatics this year are somewhat different from previously. Not much over the audience at all, no pole dancing with 'Will Be All Right'.
We did, however, get the cubes from 2008. Kame lost the orange and purple outfit, thank goodness, in favour of red and silver. Green cubes projected on the stage, while Juniors twirled real ones and Kame somersaulted inside one in mid-air. He's very flexible, in case anyone was doubting this.
Then...new part for me, but I gather this was from 2009, and it keeps sending Sandra off into fits of rapture. The projections changed to an eerie forest (hello, LIPS!) while Koki's gang kept hunting for Kame (and getting attacked by monsters). It just isn't Dream Boys if there isn't a random coffin in the middle of the stage, and that told me it was time for...
Lost My Way! Kame did look deliciously mysterious in his dark suit and little white mask, and my brain stopped functioning (along with pretty much every cell in my body) while I watched him dance. This was the first time I'd seen it performed and I like it better than the vampire version - masks are so much more sinister than fangs!
So, coffin. You know the drill. We get a Kame in the coffin (with cute little red batwing mask, now), then a Koki in the coffin, then the coffin levitates and opens in mid-air, revealing a guy who is supposed to be Kame (and indeed, looked pretty good in the part) who gets dropped in the water tank. Tank catches fire (no gunshots this year!), and the real Kame ran past us on the left, now in black and white. They attached the harness to him so he could hover over the audience a little, and then came the amazing triangle Chinese thing you've probably all seen on the news clips.
I'm not sure which was more alarming - the smell of burning, the young army in uniform on the stage, the fact that someone somewhere had screwed up so one of the girls was not where she should be, hanging off the triangle goody, or Kame's insane professionalism and dedication to work for being able to do such stunts. I am in awe of the control he has over his body, and cannot wait to watch the whole thing again with binoculars.
I have no idea what happened after that - too stunned - but when Kame was back down on the stage again, Iwamoto went after him, and out came the knife. Nakamaru tried to intervene - and he was the one who ended up stabbing Iwamoto. Yep, another change. If they'd kept it as usual, it would've been Juri, who actually had surprisingly little to do in this musical and showed no interest in boxing.
Kame, bless him, told him to go back to the studio and keep himself in the clear. He threatened the cops with the knife, then dropped it, let himself get cuffed - but when Juri collapsed, he broke free from the police and jumped off the stage.
Interval! There was much OMGOMGOMGOMG from various quarters.
Kame emerged from below the stage, with thunder, lightning and rain, to perform 'Bad Dream'. This was pretty spectacular, actually, because the projections changed as he danced - sometimes he conducted them - and we got all sorts of cool things, like knives, planets, suns going nova, psychedelic spirals, fractals and blue tornadoes. Some Juniors showed up to dance with him - they're lucky he didn't seduce them all right then and there, is all I can say. Or possibly unlucky, depending on how you look at it.
He ran off when they started projecting a cityscape. Juniors in the audience, still looking for him, and when they found him running across the projected rooftops some gave chase. Kame was wearing like a black raincoat, with gold and silver rainbow sparkles on the inside. It was fabulous. Completely useless for stealth, but fabulous!
When the chase ended, Nakamaru and his group were having a TV performance, but he didn't feel like singing, wanted them to cancel. The band persuaded him to go ahead, however, and they did a nice version of 'Aishiteru kara' which was part dance, part cruise ship, part flamenco.
Popular song, that, because Koki sang it quietly to himself in the hospital. Now, everyone tells me there was an earthquake during the hospital scene, but neither Pat nor I noticed at all! Apparently I was scribbling notes so hard that I didn't notice any shaking?
Juri showed up in a wheelchair, looking pretty healthy for a guy who's supposedly about as close to death's door as his brother, and Koki gave him his glove. The brothers told each other to hurry up and get well, to get out of hospital. After Juri left, Nakamaru appeared, said they were still looking for Kame. He filled Koki in on the business with the knife; Koki filled Nakamaru in on the fact that Kame's glove hadn't had any metal in it. They sang 'Aishiteru kara' together, with Nakamaru crying, until Koki died. No single red rose flung dramatically down from the ceiling this year - multiple white flowers instead.
The 'All of Me for You'/'Fight All Night' combination never fails to please, as the search continued for Kame. He turned up after they finished, had a childhood flashback to his busy mother being cold to him. Speak of the devil, she showed up, in the form of Madam Ran. They argued, Makoto turned up for the women to duet on 'Get It'. At first the women sang while Kame danced with - and got felt up by - a couple of girls in the back - and then he joined them at the front.
After the song finished they argued, the police appeared on the left and tried to shoot Kame but Madam Ran got in the way. I'd always wondered why there was a random gunshot and now it finally makes sense! (Even if not much else does.) Kame ran off, still being hunted high and low, and Makoto threw the useless money she'd no doubt obtained from her fiendish machinations off the edge of the stage before walking off with Madam Ran. When the police tried to shoot Kame again Nakamaru attempted to intervene again. No one got stabbed this time.
Kame ended up flying free in the air - upside down for a bit - and then swung back towards the stage so Koki could catch his arms and pull him up from behind. Aww. So, place between worlds, because Kame's not dead yet and if Koki has his way, he won't be - he's got a job to do, and that's to make sure Juri gets Koki's heart so he can be healthy. There were still beautiful girls in white, but no Dylan impersonations, no money anywhere, no random promotions and a decided lack of ad-libbing. When did they decide to do Dream Boys so much by the book? What's the point of playing it straight in this of all musicals?
Still, it was very sweet. While girls danced with helium balloons, Kame and Koki sang 'And I'll Be There'; Koki up on the platform, Kame down below on the stage, extending their hands to each other. Koki's platform eventually sails away - he gets the last line.
Not quite the same picture frame this time. This looked like half of one, with cracks all over it. More gang fighting. Even Nakamaru got in on it this time, and acquitted himself fairly decently. Makoto, Madam Ran and Iwamoto appeared. Confession time! The truth about the stabbing and the origin of the knife were revealed, along with the truth about the boxing match, and Kame turned up to announce that Koki's heart was being given to Juri to make him well.
Cue Kame soliloquoy about doing things for others, leading up to him thanking his mother, looking glamorous at the top of the stairs. Koki, also dressed in shining white, hung out up top on the far left while Kame sang 'Kizuna' to the tune of 'Next Dream'. Lots of shiny dancers moving slowly in the background. Koki and Nakamaru picked up the song, the Juniors came up to sing on the stage and Kame reappeared at the back, also sparkling now, to sing 'Kizuna' some more. He introduced Madam Ran, then Makoto, and walked down the steps with them. (There's a big white set of steps set in the Dream Boys "castle".)
Koki came down from above and sang 'Next Dream' with Kame and Nakamaru while the three of them flew over the audience. Kame stayed in the air the longest. The picture frame returned, Kame finished with a twirl (such a showman), and then they projected a lovely European-looking temple or something for 'Chousenja', which was just Kame on some steps in the centre of the stage. He didn't do any of the cute little interjections this time, sadly. During the song, gym pictures were shown in the background. Nothing related to Juri, who presumably did not take up boxing!
The bell tolled for the end of the show...and the start of Showtime! Koki lay on a bed in the centre of the stage, then got up and did a fantastic dance segment with some Juniors. I swear, at times it was like seeing a blond (and short) Jin, because some of those moves look a lot like things I saw in February... No singing.
After Koki, we heard Nakamaru beatboxing in the darkness, over in the corner, with four Juniors to keep him company. He did a bit without the microphone, which we could hear just fine, and thanked us too before using the mic again. Then he introduced 'Step by Step', looking pretty good in blue jeans, white shirt, a silver tie and a silver jacket with sparkles on. Very debonair.
And then...oh, this is one of the things I'm very glad I read spoilers for. A group of swordsjuniors slew a silhouetted general, then out came Kame at the top of the steps, hair tied back, woman's kimono firmly in place...and big, clunky boots on his feet. Oh well. It didn't spoil the fun. It was, of course, '1582', and what it lacked in dramatics (nothing will ever beat Domucon for me) it made up for in prettiness. He flew in the air with a scroll for a bit, having lost his female outer garment, flying through sparklers (not real ones, this time), and finally shrugged the male half of his outfit off one shoulder at the end to give us a glimpse of all that muscle again. It's okay, Kame. I know you're the man.
After Kame's musical history lesson, Koki...didn't do much, really. He sat on the edge of the stage, attempted to sing 'One on One'...and choked off. His resulting giggling fit and humiliation lasted through the rest of his duet with Nakamaru, who had to do all the work. They were so cute together! They stood on blocks a little way down the aisle and waved at the audience, and then they waved at each other. love this combination.
The two of them danced to the start of 'Run For You', then Kame and some Juniors appeared to perform it with them. Kame really let the side down, outfit-wise, in some long blue shirt thing that looked like he'd already gone home for the evening and thrown on the first thing that looked comfortable. Koki, on the other hand: black pants, blue shirt, grey waistcoat. Yummy. Even Nakamaru was looking elegant in blue jeans, white shirt and grey waistcoat.
Long MC segment, in which they: talked about past Dream Boys (mentioning Yara, Yabu, Subaru - "Shibuyan" - and Tegoshi), Ueda giving Nakamaru a fruit basket as a birthday present, Gantz, formality regarding names (using Pi, Tackey and Matchy as examples), and what they're called at home. Of course Kame cannot be 'Kame' at home, because they are all Kames! Um...stuff about the new TV show, Kame's drama, Nakamaru's drama.
After the MC, Madame Ran and Makoto performed 'Andalucia ni Akogarete', with a bunch of dancing girls.
I don't recall the final song from previous years - people who went to DB2009, is 'I Am Always Here' from there? Kame, Koki and Nakamaru performed this in black suits with sparkly collars and shoulder corsages. Photos of the three guys showed on the screen while they sang. Nakamaru looked awesome in the pics!
Intros for entire cast, instrumental 'Next Dream' playing, Kame leading the bows, lots of rainbow lights, and there was a standing ovation. Last thing on the screen was 'Dream Boys' written in rainbow colours over DB2008's chained heart. Nakamaru waved cutely at us as the curtain fell for the last time.
This year's show felt a bit different from previous years, not just because of the family angle (KT are family too, after all) but the lack of ad-libbing and just plain nonsense, changes in acrobatics (not having A.B.C.-Z means one of my favourite scenes never happens), and of course changes in songs. Dream Boys never disappoints, but I think you learn to get excited about different things each time, just take each show as it comes and enjoy it for the shiny, magical experience that it is.
Let me start with a couple of disclaimers. I arrived in Japan yesterday (2011/09/09), am working on little sleep and a lot of jet lag, and I wasn't here for DB2009 so I can't comment on anything that happened then - though there were an awful lot of changes from 2007/2008. I apologise to those of you on my f-list who love Juniors because now that everyone who used to do the show is either no longer a Junior or is doing Shounentachi at the moment, the only one I recognise from the cast is Juri (and he was hard to miss). I took 32.5 sides of notes, but as I can't read half of what I've written, as per usual, they may not relate to what I actually type. Plus Kame was really, really distracting.
Also, for some reason I emerged from the theatre with an overwhelming love for Koki, but more on that later.
Slightly nervewracking start to the day as ina and I hid in the shade outside the theatre, waiting for the others to arrive with our tickets. rindiggfelt had first choice of tickets, naturally, and the rest of us did a lottery. Ina picked extremely well, which meant the two of us wound up in Row Q, 1st floor, with seats pretty much in the middle of the theatre. mienai1582 and Rin were on our right, with Rin on the aisle, which nearly proved fatal thanks to Koki. misao_duo and littleraindrops were over in the far right block - also putting them closer to the Koki side of things.
It all started with a clock, of course. The 2011 clock sat at the left side of the stage, while a dancing girl and a couple of fools (no, really, they looked like court jesters) danced on the stage, and acrobats bounced around like flying fish just below. One handed a jester a giant key, which he used to wind up the clock - all the way back to 2001.
According to the pamphlet, Kazuya, Koki and Yuichi were in an idol group ten years ago. I'd pay good money to see an idol group sing 'Next Dream', which is exactly what they were doing to start with, in their white sparkly costumes. (Said costumes included long white skirts.) Koki took the lead first, then Kame, and there were lots of female dancers in the background. Koki and Nakamaru stood in the front, while Kame lurked at the back, and I tried to wipe the moisture away from my eyes (under my glasses) because I was so happy to hear 'Next Dream' again. This song reduced me to tears in 2007 - I couldn't listen to it for six months afterwards without being overcome, that's how much I love it. I have to admit that one of the changes I'm not thrilled about in 2011 is how it has been supplanted by 'Aishiteru kara' as the main song for the play.
Off came the clothes to reveal their colour coordinated costumes underneath: Kame in red, Koki in blue, and Nakamaru in a rather unflattering yellow and black ensemble which Koki was kidding him about. My notes here say: boys were in silver, girls were in white, and Nakamaru was very enthusiastic. About what, I'm not sure. Nakamaru beatboxed; Koki removed his blue jacket and one of his gang behind him put it on. I love how even before he was "the champ" he still had devoted followers. While he and Nakamaru messed around on the left, Kame stood on the right, staring off into nowhere and looking pretty moody. You know the look. I think he caught it from Jin after too many episodes of Cartoon KAT-TUN.
Kame wasn't interested in backstage hijinks (I'm sure that must've broken a few hearts) and when the women came in to talk, he wasn't interested in pursuing a path with Koki and Nakamaru either. Not the most enthusiastic idol group member ever, our Kazuya. Admittedly, if that meant working under Makoto's thumb, I wouldn't be keen on it either. The woman is not easy to live with.
Some twit in the audience kept calling out "Kamenashi-kun!", which didn't endear her to anyone around her. Seriously, did she expect him to reply?
Giant picture frame on the stage. Now, this appeared a lot, so I will explain. You know those fancy white and gold frames you would use to frame a painting? They had one of those, which took over pretty much the entire stage, and it was assembled in chunks. Parts were moved in over time. I have no clue which Junior posed in the corner of the frame and sang that song that starts "When I was seventeen...", but he was kind of off-key. Girls flew overhead. I think, anyway. I've written two lines on top of each other here, but I think that's what it said.
So, the three group members followed different paths. Nakamaru still wanted a musical career, so he became a singer, albeit without success. Koki became a boxer. I never could figure out what Kame was supposed to have done, but the pamphlet tells me he didn't really do anything... Er, my notes here say that Koki looked really good in jeans and a leather jacket. I mean, c'mon, the bad boy look seriously works for him, especially with the spiky blond hair. He could look like that for the rest of his life and I wouldn't complain.
Forward to 2011, where a movie is being made about Koki's life. Evidently he did a hell of a lot in those ten years, to warrant being immortalised on film. What do you do when you need someone to play a boxing champion in your movie? Why, you hire a guy who's never finished anything in his life, of course! Casting Kame to play Koki in the movie is perhaps not the wisest choice you could make, but he sure looks pretty.
Shirtless Juniors did a boxing dance and were joined by Nakamaru (beatboxing, of course). The yellow shorts + black vest combination wasn't particularly flattering, I have to say, and the black and orange shoes didn't help. But the boy sure can move when he has to.
Kame emerged on a platform in his yellow gold hoodie...er, sorry, glittering gold hooded robe, which shed sparkles as he rose up in the air. That's Kame, spreading the shiny wherever he goes. (Or their costume budget was cut this year and the robe was cheap, one of the two.) Down on the stage again and now minus the robe (i.e. shirtless, and my god, the things his homerun project has done for his physique...) he sang 'One Night' quite happily until Koki - still gorgeous in the jeans and leather jacket - interrupted with his gang. He wasn't too thrilled about the casting.
Nakamaru was doing the theme for the film, and Koki had a go at him for his involvement, but it was just a job, honest! Kame stalked off in a blue robe, job done. He'd had enough.
As you all probably know, Koki's real life younger brother, Juri, was playing his brother in the musical, which I find fantastic for two reasons. One, it gave the whole thing a real sense of family, which is what Dream Boys is all about (no, really, it's like an American soap opera), and two...Juri is almost as tall as his brother. It's hilarious. Koki's gang made like they hadn't seen him since he was *this* tall.
Plenty of changes in the bridge scene. (Again, I can't speak for 2009, so I'm comparing to 2007 and 2008.) While they set up the bridge in the background, Koki talked about how he never thought boxing could hurt, but when it does he can't cry, something like that.
The bridge rose into position in smoke, with dancers in green in the background. No random violinist, no coming out over the audience, and sadly, no fishies. But I want to be a fish, Kame! 'Hoshi no Hikaru Sora' was, of course, very beautiful and touching. Makoto popped out to duet on it with Kame, and spoiled the atmosphere by telling him how thanks to boxing, Koki's body had become a mess, and so it was best to have his career continue on thanks to this movie etc. Nakamaru, unfortunately, was in debt to the producers of the movie, and to help him out, Kame had to return to the cast.
Scene changed to Koki's gym, where he was coaching his young friends - so well that almost all of them ended up on the floor, actually. I really liked how they showed the gym. In keeping with their assigned colours, there was a giant blue wall, and it had a massive gold lion head on it. All was well until Koki's head injury kicked in. Alas, the champ had taken so much punishment over the years that he had limited lifespan left, and suffered from what looked like a horrible bout of tinnitus. Whatever, Makoto showed up to needle him about it. Nakamaru arrived...and Kame casually sauntered in, playing a little with the bags, and suddenly discarded his nonchalance to drop down to the floor and beg Koki to be able to continue filming. Of course Koki's gang were in fits of laughter over this.
Koki agreed on one condition - that Kame face him in the ring. Of course, being Koki, he rapped a challenge at him. We didn't really get 'Fight Man' - more an instrumental version - which then led into 'Anarchist'. (Which I love, btw. If you haven't seen it on Shounen Club, stop wasting your time reading this and go watch it.) The performance was wonderfully violent, and the lion's head burned with projected fire. I have a note here that says things that looked like monsters from Blake's 7 did flips around him. I think I was referring to ones that looked like they were covered in strips of paper from head to toe, flying loose, only in green.
The stage divided with Kame on one side, Koki on the other, and Juri rapping with some mini Juniors? Kame's sweetness and Koki's roughness sounded wonderful together, I have to say.
No more park scene - instead we had a baseball stadium! With a bench, randomly in front of it, where Kame sat with his guitar and sang 'Aishiteru kara'. It's the first time I've been to see Kame play guitar, and it made me very happy. ^_^ Juri sat down next to him and they sang together. Juri appears to have inherited his older brother's love of touching Kame, because he kept patting him on the shoulder. The Tanaka clan probably have a shrine to him or something.
Juri had the two mini Juniors with him and there was a lot of teasing going on about family, as the kids were of the impression that they didn't need any. Trust Kame to warp the conversation to talk about underwear. Now he's lost Fujigaya he needs new Juniors to perve on, clearly. Juri had a coughing fit because of course, this being Dream Boys, he's got a limited lifespan too - his heart, though you could be forgiven for thinking he's asthmatic. He insisted it was just a cold, which was a cue for he and the two kids to sneeze on Kame. Charming, though they did apologise very cutely. Kame said normal kids who have a cold wouldn't want to play catchball, so are they youkai? (Insert drama promo here...) He, Juri and the two kids played catchball as the stage turned around.
Nakamaru appeared to do 'Film' (I think? The intro's pretty distinctive and then I don't recall the rest), dancing with some Juniors, before Makoto turned up and switched on the jukebox in the corner to play 'Aishiteru kara' for them. Guess which song they'll be using for the movie's theme and the band's debut? Makoto didn't tell them that Kame wrote the lovely lyrics.
While Kame was bandaging his hands in the corner, ready for the fight, Nakamaru told him about the debut. The women talked about the match, and then the announcer came on. I'm guessing it was Casey Anderson, since the English was perfect and there were none of the random American guys in the cast this time, but I couldn't tell you for sure.
Koki came out first, and this is where the fatal part came in - he walked right past us, or rather, past Rin, because she was on the aisle. The shock lasted for many, many hours. The man is seriously gorgeous. Kame came down the other side, and we weren't actually that many seats from his aisle, either, which was nice.
The match was...well, it looked like Kame kept trying to divest Koki of his shorts. I wouldn't put it past him. Kame went down *a lot* - he's not a boxer, he just plays one on TV - except when Koki's head started ringing again.
Then we had something different. The centre of the ring rose in the air and the two had a slow-motion fight above the stage in the dark. When it settled back down into position, the green lights came back on and they continued at normal speed...up until the final blow.
Makoto "examined" Kame's glove to find the piece of metal responsible for knocking Koki out. Juri was desperate to know it wasn't true, while Koki got carted off on a stretcher. Juri's about Kame's height too. It's when he gets to Junno's height he's not going to be able to play these roles anymore...
The press came out, and so did Madam Ran, to tell Kame to enter the world of masks. Makoto sang her little evil song.
Circus time! There were tiny clowns on the stage - evil in midget form. Also, some not-very-coordinated juggling. Madam Ran got in an argument with one of Koki's gang - Iwamoto? - who was just off the stage, and couldn't come in because he hadn't got a ticket. First he produced a locket(?) rather than a ticket, and then he found a ticket stuck to the elbow of his jacket - but it was for a Takarazuka performance. Close, but no cigar. He ran past us on his way out.
Kame, in his mask and hideous orange and purple pierrot costume, did a slow-motion walk around the inside of the giant picture frame, which had made a reappearance. This included walking upside down. The mask fell off, the picture frame "caught fire" and Kame hovered in the air as it was pulled apart. Female dancers danced below him on the stage.
No risky tightrope this time, though we did hear the song. The aerial acrobatics this year are somewhat different from previously. Not much over the audience at all, no pole dancing with 'Will Be All Right'.
We did, however, get the cubes from 2008. Kame lost the orange and purple outfit, thank goodness, in favour of red and silver. Green cubes projected on the stage, while Juniors twirled real ones and Kame somersaulted inside one in mid-air. He's very flexible, in case anyone was doubting this.
Then...new part for me, but I gather this was from 2009, and it keeps sending Sandra off into fits of rapture. The projections changed to an eerie forest (hello, LIPS!) while Koki's gang kept hunting for Kame (and getting attacked by monsters). It just isn't Dream Boys if there isn't a random coffin in the middle of the stage, and that told me it was time for...
Lost My Way! Kame did look deliciously mysterious in his dark suit and little white mask, and my brain stopped functioning (along with pretty much every cell in my body) while I watched him dance. This was the first time I'd seen it performed and I like it better than the vampire version - masks are so much more sinister than fangs!
So, coffin. You know the drill. We get a Kame in the coffin (with cute little red batwing mask, now), then a Koki in the coffin, then the coffin levitates and opens in mid-air, revealing a guy who is supposed to be Kame (and indeed, looked pretty good in the part) who gets dropped in the water tank. Tank catches fire (no gunshots this year!), and the real Kame ran past us on the left, now in black and white. They attached the harness to him so he could hover over the audience a little, and then came the amazing triangle Chinese thing you've probably all seen on the news clips.
I'm not sure which was more alarming - the smell of burning, the young army in uniform on the stage, the fact that someone somewhere had screwed up so one of the girls was not where she should be, hanging off the triangle goody, or Kame's insane professionalism and dedication to work for being able to do such stunts. I am in awe of the control he has over his body, and cannot wait to watch the whole thing again with binoculars.
I have no idea what happened after that - too stunned - but when Kame was back down on the stage again, Iwamoto went after him, and out came the knife. Nakamaru tried to intervene - and he was the one who ended up stabbing Iwamoto. Yep, another change. If they'd kept it as usual, it would've been Juri, who actually had surprisingly little to do in this musical and showed no interest in boxing.
Kame, bless him, told him to go back to the studio and keep himself in the clear. He threatened the cops with the knife, then dropped it, let himself get cuffed - but when Juri collapsed, he broke free from the police and jumped off the stage.
Interval! There was much OMGOMGOMGOMG from various quarters.
Kame emerged from below the stage, with thunder, lightning and rain, to perform 'Bad Dream'. This was pretty spectacular, actually, because the projections changed as he danced - sometimes he conducted them - and we got all sorts of cool things, like knives, planets, suns going nova, psychedelic spirals, fractals and blue tornadoes. Some Juniors showed up to dance with him - they're lucky he didn't seduce them all right then and there, is all I can say. Or possibly unlucky, depending on how you look at it.
He ran off when they started projecting a cityscape. Juniors in the audience, still looking for him, and when they found him running across the projected rooftops some gave chase. Kame was wearing like a black raincoat, with gold and silver rainbow sparkles on the inside. It was fabulous. Completely useless for stealth, but fabulous!
When the chase ended, Nakamaru and his group were having a TV performance, but he didn't feel like singing, wanted them to cancel. The band persuaded him to go ahead, however, and they did a nice version of 'Aishiteru kara' which was part dance, part cruise ship, part flamenco.
Popular song, that, because Koki sang it quietly to himself in the hospital. Now, everyone tells me there was an earthquake during the hospital scene, but neither Pat nor I noticed at all! Apparently I was scribbling notes so hard that I didn't notice any shaking?
Juri showed up in a wheelchair, looking pretty healthy for a guy who's supposedly about as close to death's door as his brother, and Koki gave him his glove. The brothers told each other to hurry up and get well, to get out of hospital. After Juri left, Nakamaru appeared, said they were still looking for Kame. He filled Koki in on the business with the knife; Koki filled Nakamaru in on the fact that Kame's glove hadn't had any metal in it. They sang 'Aishiteru kara' together, with Nakamaru crying, until Koki died. No single red rose flung dramatically down from the ceiling this year - multiple white flowers instead.
The 'All of Me for You'/'Fight All Night' combination never fails to please, as the search continued for Kame. He turned up after they finished, had a childhood flashback to his busy mother being cold to him. Speak of the devil, she showed up, in the form of Madam Ran. They argued, Makoto turned up for the women to duet on 'Get It'. At first the women sang while Kame danced with - and got felt up by - a couple of girls in the back - and then he joined them at the front.
After the song finished they argued, the police appeared on the left and tried to shoot Kame but Madam Ran got in the way. I'd always wondered why there was a random gunshot and now it finally makes sense! (Even if not much else does.) Kame ran off, still being hunted high and low, and Makoto threw the useless money she'd no doubt obtained from her fiendish machinations off the edge of the stage before walking off with Madam Ran. When the police tried to shoot Kame again Nakamaru attempted to intervene again. No one got stabbed this time.
Kame ended up flying free in the air - upside down for a bit - and then swung back towards the stage so Koki could catch his arms and pull him up from behind. Aww. So, place between worlds, because Kame's not dead yet and if Koki has his way, he won't be - he's got a job to do, and that's to make sure Juri gets Koki's heart so he can be healthy. There were still beautiful girls in white, but no Dylan impersonations, no money anywhere, no random promotions and a decided lack of ad-libbing. When did they decide to do Dream Boys so much by the book? What's the point of playing it straight in this of all musicals?
Still, it was very sweet. While girls danced with helium balloons, Kame and Koki sang 'And I'll Be There'; Koki up on the platform, Kame down below on the stage, extending their hands to each other. Koki's platform eventually sails away - he gets the last line.
Not quite the same picture frame this time. This looked like half of one, with cracks all over it. More gang fighting. Even Nakamaru got in on it this time, and acquitted himself fairly decently. Makoto, Madam Ran and Iwamoto appeared. Confession time! The truth about the stabbing and the origin of the knife were revealed, along with the truth about the boxing match, and Kame turned up to announce that Koki's heart was being given to Juri to make him well.
Cue Kame soliloquoy about doing things for others, leading up to him thanking his mother, looking glamorous at the top of the stairs. Koki, also dressed in shining white, hung out up top on the far left while Kame sang 'Kizuna' to the tune of 'Next Dream'. Lots of shiny dancers moving slowly in the background. Koki and Nakamaru picked up the song, the Juniors came up to sing on the stage and Kame reappeared at the back, also sparkling now, to sing 'Kizuna' some more. He introduced Madam Ran, then Makoto, and walked down the steps with them. (There's a big white set of steps set in the Dream Boys "castle".)
Koki came down from above and sang 'Next Dream' with Kame and Nakamaru while the three of them flew over the audience. Kame stayed in the air the longest. The picture frame returned, Kame finished with a twirl (such a showman), and then they projected a lovely European-looking temple or something for 'Chousenja', which was just Kame on some steps in the centre of the stage. He didn't do any of the cute little interjections this time, sadly. During the song, gym pictures were shown in the background. Nothing related to Juri, who presumably did not take up boxing!
The bell tolled for the end of the show...and the start of Showtime! Koki lay on a bed in the centre of the stage, then got up and did a fantastic dance segment with some Juniors. I swear, at times it was like seeing a blond (and short) Jin, because some of those moves look a lot like things I saw in February... No singing.
After Koki, we heard Nakamaru beatboxing in the darkness, over in the corner, with four Juniors to keep him company. He did a bit without the microphone, which we could hear just fine, and thanked us too before using the mic again. Then he introduced 'Step by Step', looking pretty good in blue jeans, white shirt, a silver tie and a silver jacket with sparkles on. Very debonair.
And then...oh, this is one of the things I'm very glad I read spoilers for. A group of swordsjuniors slew a silhouetted general, then out came Kame at the top of the steps, hair tied back, woman's kimono firmly in place...and big, clunky boots on his feet. Oh well. It didn't spoil the fun. It was, of course, '1582', and what it lacked in dramatics (nothing will ever beat Domucon for me) it made up for in prettiness. He flew in the air with a scroll for a bit, having lost his female outer garment, flying through sparklers (not real ones, this time), and finally shrugged the male half of his outfit off one shoulder at the end to give us a glimpse of all that muscle again. It's okay, Kame. I know you're the man.
After Kame's musical history lesson, Koki...didn't do much, really. He sat on the edge of the stage, attempted to sing 'One on One'...and choked off. His resulting giggling fit and humiliation lasted through the rest of his duet with Nakamaru, who had to do all the work. They were so cute together! They stood on blocks a little way down the aisle and waved at the audience, and then they waved at each other. love this combination.
The two of them danced to the start of 'Run For You', then Kame and some Juniors appeared to perform it with them. Kame really let the side down, outfit-wise, in some long blue shirt thing that looked like he'd already gone home for the evening and thrown on the first thing that looked comfortable. Koki, on the other hand: black pants, blue shirt, grey waistcoat. Yummy. Even Nakamaru was looking elegant in blue jeans, white shirt and grey waistcoat.
Long MC segment, in which they: talked about past Dream Boys (mentioning Yara, Yabu, Subaru - "Shibuyan" - and Tegoshi), Ueda giving Nakamaru a fruit basket as a birthday present, Gantz, formality regarding names (using Pi, Tackey and Matchy as examples), and what they're called at home. Of course Kame cannot be 'Kame' at home, because they are all Kames! Um...stuff about the new TV show, Kame's drama, Nakamaru's drama.
After the MC, Madame Ran and Makoto performed 'Andalucia ni Akogarete', with a bunch of dancing girls.
I don't recall the final song from previous years - people who went to DB2009, is 'I Am Always Here' from there? Kame, Koki and Nakamaru performed this in black suits with sparkly collars and shoulder corsages. Photos of the three guys showed on the screen while they sang. Nakamaru looked awesome in the pics!
Intros for entire cast, instrumental 'Next Dream' playing, Kame leading the bows, lots of rainbow lights, and there was a standing ovation. Last thing on the screen was 'Dream Boys' written in rainbow colours over DB2008's chained heart. Nakamaru waved cutely at us as the curtain fell for the last time.
This year's show felt a bit different from previous years, not just because of the family angle (KT are family too, after all) but the lack of ad-libbing and just plain nonsense, changes in acrobatics (not having A.B.C.-Z means one of my favourite scenes never happens), and of course changes in songs. Dream Boys never disappoints, but I think you learn to get excited about different things each time, just take each show as it comes and enjoy it for the shiny, magical experience that it is.