"Shigoto wa itsumo tanoshii, tanoshii..."
"If God came to you and said you had the chance to change one moment in your life...
...could you tell him, 'I want to change this exact time, and this exact place'?
I sure as hell could.
But I can't go back to that time. I'm not allowed to be happy."
--Akihiro (Nagayama Takashi), DUST
Watching it a second time (and we won't go into how I totally misread the time and showed up 20 minutes late for a 5 PM start instead of 10 minutes early for a 5:30 start >_>) I actually appreciated that it was a really, really good show. I certainly liked it better than Hakase to Tarou, but then, I like those kind of depressing plays like Switch, especially when someone as talented as Nagayan is playing the lead.
For a short and really abbreviated synopsis, the show starts off in Tokyo, in the empty apartment of a guy named Akihiro. He's depressed, living alone, and ignoring phonecalls from his parents.
One day, a bunch of police/soldiers show up at his door and take him away to an island completely devoid of life except for a single, large factory/prison. There, he and other people who have been forgotten by society, who are unable to contribute to or refuse to contribute to society, are forced to work gleaning rare metals, known as "dust", from old televisions, computers, cellphones, etc. The work is hard, there is no reward or payment save for a bit of bread to tide them over until the next day, and while their foreman speaks very kindly and respectfully, he treats them all like little children, and they are not allowed to leave.
Taiki used to be a singer, but got into a rut and was sent off to the island.
Akina cut herself to forget the pain of her parents' fighting, and when they found out, they sent her away.
Mayu seems to have aphephobia (fear of touching) or perhaps mysophobia (fear of germs), as she freaks out whenever people touch her, obsessively washing her hands and going into hysterics. While she has little difficulty interacting with the others in the factory socially, her "sickness" made it hard for her to be in a regular learning environment in school, so her parents sent her off to the island. Taiki is in love with her, but she doesn't seem to notice.
Atsushi...I don't really remember why he was sent here XD;;; He really wants to help people out, though, and gets very angry when people don't pay attention to him or show appreciation for what he's done.
Tatsuji (I think was his name) is a rough guy who gets into fights a lot. At one point in the show, he tries to rape Akina.
Akihiro (Nagayan's character) used to work as a salaryman in Tokyo. Throughout the show, you learn that he worked with his little brother, Tomohiro, in the same company, as his superior. Tomohiro had little drive and was always slacking off, and one day, Akihiro blew up at him and yelled that he was a good-for-nothing who wouldn't amount to anything, and he was better off without him. The next day, Tomohiro killed himself, and both Akihiro and his father blamed Akihiro for the incident.
This is the cast of characters, who are all stuck working to mine dust from old electronics. Fed up with the conditions, one day Akihiro rounds up the others and they all make their escape. But the island is deserted, and they find next to no food or water.
Slowly, as the days pass while they wait for a boat to return to the island (occasionally ships would come to bring new workers or trade guards), the characters succumb to their respective vices, driven by hunger and desperation. The foreman at the factory plays a role in antagonizing them as well.
Atsushi goes crazy and gets into a fight with Akihiro and Taiki, where he runs headfirst into a tree and dies. Tatsuji tries to rape Akina, and she crushes his skull with a rock in self-defense. Shortly thereafter, Akihiro snaps, and terrified and defeated at seeing him in that state, Akina slits her wrists and dies singing in his arms.
With only himself, Mayu, and Taiki left, Akihiro tries to make a break for it when they hear a ship arriving, but find themselves surrounded by soldiers with guns trained on them, and the foreman saying they'll never be able to leave, because they're all murderes. Taiki lunges for the foreman with a knife and is pumped full of bullets, and dies with Akihiro and Mayu watching over him.
The foreman and soldiers withdraw, and the lights go down on Akihiro holding his hand out to Mayu, and Mayu finally taking it.
So, yeah, not a happy show. But really good all the same. Plus, it was a musical, and the music was REALLY good. The funny parts were really quite funny (a feat when it was surrounded on all sides by really depressing material), and the sad parts were some of the saddest in recent memory.
Akina's death scene, as she stands there singing and choking while the blood gushes from her slit wrist with Akihiro holding her and rocking back and forth really hit me ;____; I don't think I got as choked up for any of the Switch deaths (or any of the dozens of other times people have died in shows of his :P) as I did for that scene.
The DVD and CD will be released April 1, and I'm wondering if the CD will be a live recording or a studio recording. Either way *_____*
So, in conclusion, I really did like Dust, and wish I could've seen it again >_< Ah well, guess I'll have to wait for the DVD!
...could you tell him, 'I want to change this exact time, and this exact place'?
I sure as hell could.
But I can't go back to that time. I'm not allowed to be happy."
--Akihiro (Nagayama Takashi), DUST
Watching it a second time (and we won't go into how I totally misread the time and showed up 20 minutes late for a 5 PM start instead of 10 minutes early for a 5:30 start >_>) I actually appreciated that it was a really, really good show. I certainly liked it better than Hakase to Tarou, but then, I like those kind of depressing plays like Switch, especially when someone as talented as Nagayan is playing the lead.
For a short and really abbreviated synopsis, the show starts off in Tokyo, in the empty apartment of a guy named Akihiro. He's depressed, living alone, and ignoring phonecalls from his parents.
One day, a bunch of police/soldiers show up at his door and take him away to an island completely devoid of life except for a single, large factory/prison. There, he and other people who have been forgotten by society, who are unable to contribute to or refuse to contribute to society, are forced to work gleaning rare metals, known as "dust", from old televisions, computers, cellphones, etc. The work is hard, there is no reward or payment save for a bit of bread to tide them over until the next day, and while their foreman speaks very kindly and respectfully, he treats them all like little children, and they are not allowed to leave.
Taiki used to be a singer, but got into a rut and was sent off to the island.
Akina cut herself to forget the pain of her parents' fighting, and when they found out, they sent her away.
Mayu seems to have aphephobia (fear of touching) or perhaps mysophobia (fear of germs), as she freaks out whenever people touch her, obsessively washing her hands and going into hysterics. While she has little difficulty interacting with the others in the factory socially, her "sickness" made it hard for her to be in a regular learning environment in school, so her parents sent her off to the island. Taiki is in love with her, but she doesn't seem to notice.
Atsushi...I don't really remember why he was sent here XD;;; He really wants to help people out, though, and gets very angry when people don't pay attention to him or show appreciation for what he's done.
Tatsuji (I think was his name) is a rough guy who gets into fights a lot. At one point in the show, he tries to rape Akina.
Akihiro (Nagayan's character) used to work as a salaryman in Tokyo. Throughout the show, you learn that he worked with his little brother, Tomohiro, in the same company, as his superior. Tomohiro had little drive and was always slacking off, and one day, Akihiro blew up at him and yelled that he was a good-for-nothing who wouldn't amount to anything, and he was better off without him. The next day, Tomohiro killed himself, and both Akihiro and his father blamed Akihiro for the incident.
This is the cast of characters, who are all stuck working to mine dust from old electronics. Fed up with the conditions, one day Akihiro rounds up the others and they all make their escape. But the island is deserted, and they find next to no food or water.
Slowly, as the days pass while they wait for a boat to return to the island (occasionally ships would come to bring new workers or trade guards), the characters succumb to their respective vices, driven by hunger and desperation. The foreman at the factory plays a role in antagonizing them as well.
Atsushi goes crazy and gets into a fight with Akihiro and Taiki, where he runs headfirst into a tree and dies. Tatsuji tries to rape Akina, and she crushes his skull with a rock in self-defense. Shortly thereafter, Akihiro snaps, and terrified and defeated at seeing him in that state, Akina slits her wrists and dies singing in his arms.
With only himself, Mayu, and Taiki left, Akihiro tries to make a break for it when they hear a ship arriving, but find themselves surrounded by soldiers with guns trained on them, and the foreman saying they'll never be able to leave, because they're all murderes. Taiki lunges for the foreman with a knife and is pumped full of bullets, and dies with Akihiro and Mayu watching over him.
The foreman and soldiers withdraw, and the lights go down on Akihiro holding his hand out to Mayu, and Mayu finally taking it.
So, yeah, not a happy show. But really good all the same. Plus, it was a musical, and the music was REALLY good. The funny parts were really quite funny (a feat when it was surrounded on all sides by really depressing material), and the sad parts were some of the saddest in recent memory.
Akina's death scene, as she stands there singing and choking while the blood gushes from her slit wrist with Akihiro holding her and rocking back and forth really hit me ;____; I don't think I got as choked up for any of the Switch deaths (or any of the dozens of other times people have died in shows of his :P) as I did for that scene.
The DVD and CD will be released April 1, and I'm wondering if the CD will be a live recording or a studio recording. Either way *_____*
So, in conclusion, I really did like Dust, and wish I could've seen it again >_< Ah well, guess I'll have to wait for the DVD!