Oh so Late KuroMyu Review
The large banner hanging outside of the ACT
After a three year absence, Kuroshitsuji was back! For the second run of the musical (The first stage production of Kuroshitsuji was actually a play with music and not technically a musical) they were bringing back the previous storyline and songs. Most of the actors except for Sebastian (Matsushita Yuya), Grell (Uehara Takuya)and Undertaker (Shuei Izumi) were recast. As a Tenimyu fan, the line up looked great as it was bursting with Tenimyu alumni as well as other actors I was familiar with.
The musical also seemed to be going for a bigger production It would spend two weeks at the ACT theater before moving to Osaka and instead of going to the smaller Brava theater that it was at previously it would move to the big and rather prestigious Umegi theater. Which I can say sold out quickly. They also had live viewings broadcast to various movie theatres around Japan. Not bad for a once rather humble production with a three year gap between shows.
Fortunately my friend and I got lucky in our pre-request lotto (I was going to see it in Tokyo with a friend who lives there she travelled to Osaka to watch the last show we saw together) so we didn't have to fight with everyone during gen sales. We unfortunately didn't get the 'Royal Seats' that were closer, more expensive and came with a small gift but our seats weren't bad and the ACT theater itself is gorgeous.
On the day of the show, the area was busy with fans and I was surprised (I still have a bit of a rural Japan mindset) to see other foreigners at the show. I even saw some in Kyoto's movie theatre for the live viewing. Which just goes to show the manga's and the musical's popularity among Japanese and non-Japanese fans.
So, the show? What was it like and how did it grow/change?
Well the first thing I noticed as I sat down for the show is that even the stage seems to have gotten an upgrade. The set up was nearly the same with the different levels, stairs and such but they added some extra details to the stage design and a nice backdrop that gave the set a bit more depth and opulence. They also had a few more set pieces and what felt like more people. Though comparing the pamphlets it seems the ensemble is the same size.
The story itself was little changed though as Jess commented the way the characters were played changed the nuances of the story a little to change it from more of a story about Eric's struggle to that of a more Alan perspective. I didn't really notice it during my first viewing, but during the live viewing I had to agree with it. And I think this helped me connect more to the characters, as I never quite enjoyed them to the level of others during the previous run. Though I'm also shallow enough to admit that being familiar with the actors also helped with the connection.
Also, since the story was little changed, I will try to curb my habit of summarizing the show and just talk about how the new actors did in the roles (what they brought, funny moments etc) and any stand out scenes - especially ad libs (Those I can remember now) and the songs.
Wish me luck and let's go!
The first character we technically 'meet' via announcement is William T Spears (Teruma - 6th cast Inui) but I'll save him for the rest of the shinigami and go straight to Ciel Phantomhive (played by newcomer and 2nd year JHS student Tanaka Taketo)
When we first meet him he's in a white sheet come toga and in a cage. He's young, adorable, fits the look and has a certain arrogance/evil in his acting that makes him a good Ciel. I especially enjoyed the close up in the live viewing that showed him laughing in enjoyment as Sebastian slaughtered all those who were there to watch him in the cage. Ciel is not a well-adjusted young man and we've been shown many times in the manga that he can be ruthless, detached and a bit evil though in both the manga and musical it's well balanced out with other faucets of his personality and the public performance of butler and young master that he and Sebastian put on.
His relationship with Sebastian comes across for both the butler and master aspect and the demon and owner of the soul the demon wants to have. It also never cross the line into shippiness even when it could have. Instead it stayed safely in the snarky banter zone.
Taketo's singing was good. His voice isn't that strong (yet) but I think that will come with a bit more experience and in time as he ages. He sounded nice when singing with Yuya, was able to hit all the right notes and sounded like the young Ciel should when singnig. That's really all I need in my Ciel as his singing is quite limited in the musical.
Which leads us to Sebastian. He was once again played by Yuya and as he's spent the last few years working on his pop career, his singing was pretty solid. He also seemed much more comfortable in his role as Sebastian and had improved his fighting moves quite a bit as they were much more fluid this time around. He was a bit chubbier in the face and waist than Sebastian probably should be but as Sebastian is a demon butler in a manga, it seems unfair to compare.
Because Yuya and Uehara (Grell) are two of the only members to be in the production from the first stage play, the two have wonderful chemistry and it showed especially during Grell's songs and other times when they could interact.
Somehow, Uehara was able to move in an even more anime fashion this time around as Grell. I won't lie, his little body wiggle is quite distracting. And because he's in red while most of the show is monochromatic he tends to steal scenes. I would say in some scenes he was bit over the top, but Grell himself is over the top. While his mannerisms, acting and voice are perfectly Grell, and Uehara's dancing is amazing, I will say that his singing is still his weak point and I think this is mostly because he's trying to sing in Grell's voice.
But if you're paying attention the singing during Grell's solo you are doing something wrong. He's once again in the same costume (more or less) as before and various couples dance provocatively around him. While watching at the ACT in different shows, Jess and I were both highly distracted by the male/male couple that had one lifting his partner up against the 'wall' and doing scandalous things with him. There's also a male/female couple, a female/female couple and a female/male couple where the girl is in the dominant position for the dance moves. Grell is nothing if not a champion for equal opportunity pairings. Though he does see himself as a girl and while he enjoys girl talk he doesn't want to get with one.
In the middle of his song, there's a bit of a dream sequence where Sebastian comes out with little red (angel? Devil?) wings and seduces Grell as they lounge on a small staircase as it spins about. Again, you can tell how comfortable they are with each other as Sebastian has no problem grabbing on to Grell and pulling him in close despite his little red get-up and dubious positions. William T Spears then comes out in his own little red wings and a red rose to try and win Grell away from Sebastian while Ronald, in red wings, runs across the second floor of the stage with a red ribbon (that seemed to always get tangled on him).
Needless to say they amped up the crack, the dancing and the sexy in Grell's song. If the AMAs had a fit with Adam Lambert's performance they would have imploded at Grell's sinful number.
As for the other Shinigami, they were all new this time.
I mentioned William T Spears twice now so I might as well start with the leader(manager?) of this group of shinigami. Teruma, used to exposition dumps as his turn as 6th cast Inui does a good job delivering the information we need and looks like he could run this crazy bunch of workers. And once again, thanks to his time with Tenimyu he was able to hold his own during the dancing despite his fellow shinigami having dancing backgrounds. He also seems to be working on his talking out of one side of the mouth thing he had going on as Inui. Still not perfect, but I noticed an improvement.
I should also mention that I totally ship his William with Ide Takuya's Ronald Knox (What? They're 100% shippy! Ronald keeps trying to go out on dinner dates with him). Ronald is adorable and I know that many were fans of Yosuke Crawford's version. But Takuya brings such a youthful energy and passion to his character that I challenge anyone to not fall for him. And since Takuya's expertise is rapping, they reworked the Shinigami song to include a cool rap verse which I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he wrote himself.
The song was changed in other ways, too. They know how popular and loved it was and I think they wanted to expand it and make it bigger and better than before. And they did this by adding a bit of a dub-step feel and dance break to it along with the rap. It's not bad. I rather enjoyed it even if both times I heard it I was all 'random dub-step dance break time!'. Fans of the original might miss them yelling out the numbers before the rules and the yelled Tamashi! The live-viewing version was more passionate than the one I saw earlier in the run with the boys at least emphasizing the numbers more if not quite yelling it.
The extended dancing time does make sense considering all of their shinigami are at least decent dancers with Grell, Masa and Rachii being quite experienced and skilled. They all got a chance to show off their moves during this song and the curtain call .
So be prepared, the song is different but still just as ridiculous and fun as the first time you experienced it. Go in with an open mind and enjoy.
Alan and Eric's recasting was probably the ones that had fans of the original most worried as Alan and Eric's arc is basically the heart of the story and their chemistry along with their singing during those tender moments could make or break the characters.
Since Masa (Alan) and Rachii (Eric) had been in plenty of things together before, I knew they would at least have the chemistry down. It was just getting them to bring their A game with the acting and to reign in any of the unique traits they have to their singing voices. If you ever hear Rachi sing full tilt as he likes, you will know exactly what I mean when I refer to his singing as a bit too Rachii. But basically it's this odd vibrato that can be a bit jarring if not used sparingly or in appropriate places. During Altar boyz? Fantastic. During a touching song to your ailing 'frend' that you just killed 999 people to try and save? Not so good.
Since I'm already talking about him, I'll do Eric first. His look was good but because of his face, he does look like a bit of a younger Eric than the previous though I think it matches the look of Masa's Alan well. I think he captured the character's motivations well, though maybe it didn't come off quite as strongly as the last one. His singing was wonderfully Rachii free during his solo and for the majority of the duet. It can slip a little into his unique sound when he gets to the higher notes but he held it back for the most part. It was just in Crystal Palace before the intermission where you can hear him going more Rachii sounding but as it was a group number I wasn't as fussed about it. In his solo song and duet, I think he had good chemistry with Alan and had a lot of feeling in his voice.
His dancing is amazing and his fighting was well choreographed and executed. If anyone takes any major flaws with his Eric it will just be that he's not Taisuke Saeki, the previous Eric.
Eric's counterpart, Alan, was played by Masa. I never really doubted his acting or singing though I admit to having some trepidations. Fortunately, when I first heard Alan's solo song, I was so swept away with how pretty it sounded and all of the emotions in the song that I forgot all about being worried about how Masa would sound as Alan.
His interpretation as Alan is a bit more manly than Matsumoto Shinya but that's to be expected considering Masa is a bit more manly and Shinya s speciality is apparently playing female roles in his acting troupe. I liked seeing Alan a bit stronger at the start, as it made it his illness all the more heart-wrenching. I also felt like Masa's Alan had a bit more agency instead of just following along. Though these are more subtle changes than anything big and Alan's character is mostly the same as the original. But for some reason (possibly because I was going in knowing the story, character and actor quite well this time) I felt much more connected to Alan this time.
I want to point out that Masa in a dress got a big reaction out of the theater when I saw it in the ACT and again during the live-viewing. The people near me were Masa fans and were dying from laughter at his look. They did a close up of him when they arrived at Crystal Palace as he says 'Eric' and caused us all to chuckle again.
And while it probably doesn't need mentioning, Masa's dancing was amazing during the couple times he got to showcase his skills. Most of the time however he was showcasing his grabbing his chest and writhing around in pain on the ground skills.
I should do the detectives next as we meet them much earlier in the show than we do Druitt, but they also have the most adlibs, so I'll come back to them and instead introduce you to the new Viscount Druitt played by Hide.
I think his look was amazing and he showed his love and passion for this character like he does any other character I've seen him play. I just didn't enjoy his interpretation as much as Fujita Ray's the previous Druitt. Though when I think about it, I'm not sure I overly enjoyed Ray's in parts, too. So maybe I'm just not fond of the poncy Frenchman.
I will give Hide credit though, even if I wasn't blown away by his Druitt, the reactions of the crowd around me were all positive. They loved his over the top mannerisms, the way he moved around the stage and chased after Eric-kun, his posse of guys - Yes, he has a posse of henchmen to do his bidding. Which really does make perfect sense for Druitt to have. They help him kidnap his birds, clap for him when he wants applause and do weird back up dancing, too. How helpful!
I enjoyed his song more in the live-viewing as I think he sounded better than when I saw him the first time and I think the subtle changes to the song's choreography works better for the song and the character.
So basically, while I didn't love him as Druitt, I think everyone else will. So go forth and be amused and enjoy!
Continuing on the trend of new characters (it's an easy trend, 90% of the cast is new), Ciel's household staff are also new. This time around Finnian is played by Takuya Kawaharada, Mey-Rin is played by Saki Matsuda and Baldroy is played by Noboru Mashio. They all do an amazing job at bringing the manic energy to all of their scenes. They try so hard to be helpful...
They also had some cute adlibs. In fact, the first scene we see them in, they're chasing after the mouse and failing. Sebastian steps in and Baldroy narrates what he does to it with astonishment. I especially like the one that is catch, throw, eat?! And hit. He then goes on to say it was a nice smash and make bad puns like shitsureishiSMASH instead of shitsureishimasu. Orz
As they do the clean up they exchange more bad puns. Some clever, some groan inducing and some I didn't get. (I need to study more!)
Oh, and because I don't know where to put it, I'll shove it in now. In the morning breakfast scene, Jess said that in the live viewing when they zoomed in on the newspaper Ciel was reading, the headline was about up and coming Tennis stars. Considering the number of Tenimyu family members in the show, it's highly amusing.
And if you are looking for more bad puns than the trio are delivering, have no fear. We have our detective duo. Terayama Takeshi as Sharpe Hanks and Takagi Shun as Fred Abberline. Oh boy, do they bring the puns.
I found they were a bit more energetic and covered the stage a bit more than last time. But I imagine their weird adlibs were about on the same level. Meaning, I got some and didn't get others so I can't really judge how effective they are. But the people in the audience who I assume did get the jokes, seemed to enjoy them and were laughing.
In the live-viewing, Sharpe was going on about this bakery and the cream bread and just kept bringing on the jokes and puns. Sharpe also continues to fail at getting his facts straight about the case but does impressively list a bunch about Ciel. Who make an appearance giving us a break in the puns. Sebastian and Ciel come to get information on the latest murders but once they leave, they go back to the jokes. Sebastian also makes a joke about this bread (pan).
Later in the second act, when they're in their dresses and before the start of the party, they have more adlib time. In the live-viewing, Sharpe decides to give Abberline advice on how to be a girl. It basically consists of Sharpe getting Abberline to run around the stage in a 'girly' fashion while going 'chu chu' at everyone. He was also lying down on his stomach while kicking his legs in the air behind him, too. It was ridiculous and I feel like it would have gone on forever if the opera hadn't started. They also got us do the chu chu sounds too.
When we get to the Undertaker scene he of course wants to be amused before he'll share anything. So Sebastian winds up to do the echo joke and the Undertaker stops him before he can (I think the first time I saw it, Sebastian did it but it was pretty pathetic)
We then go into his song and during the live viewing he throws in a couple kansai-ben phrases which the audience in my theatre loved.
Undertaker loved it to, shared the advice and then slides off the stage. He didn't even really participate in the 'chess' game on the stage again this time.
Also, the Undertaker is still awesome, creepy and far under utilized in this story. Alas.
Since I'm trying to refrain from summarizing the story since it's the same, I'll just say that the second act was fabulous and the opening was suitably scandalous sounding and the fight scenes seemed a little more epic and fast paced than last time.
The musical of course ends with Sebastian carrying Ciel off to bed with the voice over and demonic music playing. As in the first musical I appreciate ending on the ominous note as it reminds us that no matter how protective or tender Sebastian may be at times, he's still very much a demon and Sebastian and Ciel are master and lord only until the contract is fulfilled.
The curtain call than begins with the shinigami song playing once more. Ceil gets to do a small dance (with Alan and Eric showing off their skills with him) and Sebastian does the shinigami dance when he comes out, too. Those that didn't get to join the official line for that, made their own behind them... which was amusing to watch as it was a bit chaotic.
The first time I saw it, they had the official curtain call where they all come out to bow, quick thank yous and the whole cast does the shinigami dance before heading off. We got them back for a second curtain call and I think that was it before we headed out.
On the live viewing, since it was the last of the run, we got them out for a third time where they sang the shinigami song again... sort of. Different characters from the cast took turns singing different lines and having fun with it. They also all said little catch phrases... and Ciel, who is adorable (and weird) was all 'nyan nyan' at Sebastian as he was trying to sing. He's amazing for being able to sing with a straight face. It wasn't the most polished rendition of the song but they were all having a ton of fun with it and that made it a joy to watch.
During one of the curtain calls all of the main cast got to say their thank yous, too. Sebastian was going down either side of the line and asking each member to say something in turn. Though some of these I forget if it was in the speeches or shouted out in the song (sorry!)
When we got to Abberline, he got us all to 'chu chu' at him. And then he apologized for making the whole theatre do it.
Knox wants us to all go the cake buffet with him. And remains the cutest thing ever.
Druitt is a giant flirt and had fun flirting with everyone. And at the end of his speech, he got everyone to do the Phoenix pose! I think we all died a that. It was so sudden and out of the blue and shows just how much Hide loves the character.
Yuuya somehow forgot Uehara. As he was going along, other people noticed they skipped him but they were also thinking maybe he was saving him until near the end since he has been around for all the shows. But then Yuuya was about to wrap up and Uehara threw a Grell worthy fit about being forgotten.
Still not satisfied and wanting more, the audience at the Uemegi theatre kept clapping and got them to come out again. This time, they decided to let the ensemble say their thank yous. Though only one or two actually had mics. The first guy was so cute and enthusiastic though with his yelling. I don't know about at the actual theatre but for the live viewing, the sound guys were able to boost the general mic sound so we could hear their thank yous even when they weren't yelling. They also did a good job of turning the mics down so we weren't blown away by clapping between the speeches. Some of the ensemble were back from the previous 'Most Beautiful Death' and for others this was their first musical. It was fun that they got to give their thank yous.
I don't know if we got a 5th curtain call (I lost count) but the theatre did give them a standing ovation and lots of love. And I know that the people in the Kyoto theatre with me, enjoyed it too. There was a lot of excited chit chat as we were leaving.
So if you couldn't tell by my write up, I definitely enjoyed the musical. I think Masu and Rachii helped to connect and appreciate Alan and Eric's story more and I feel that on the whole it was superb. You can tell that it won me over as I already have my KuroMyu DVD on preorder. If you're going to buy it, I suggest getting a first print copy as it comes with some nice extras.
All of the stage photos were taken from the Smart Boys website and can be found here (along with one extra photo I didn't include)
And as always, apologies for any typos, weirdness or misremembered things.