Gaijin Luck!!!
Last weekend was a good time to be a foreigner interested in Japanese small theater. Seriously, it was a jackpot of a weekend for me at least.
The epic theater experience started on Saturday afternoon with the *pnish* produced play called Reverse Historica (or 'Rebirth Historica'). It's actually the second time that this play has been performed, but I wasn't in Japan (or even interested in these things at all) when it was first made. This time it had a whole new cast in a whole new location, but was almost line-for-in the same. I've seen the original on DVD a couple times, so I was able to compare them. Conclusion: Amazing!
The basic premise of the story is that a group of guys are at an old shrine doing a film project on the scandal at Honno-ji, where Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide by his supposed friend, General Mitsuhide, who was in turn overpowered by Hideyoshi. Yes, this play required some knowledge of Japanese history to really get it, and I admit to doing a bit of research before going. So! What happened. In order to spice things up for the movie, the guy directing the project has an acquaintance come in and actually call forth the spirit of Mitsuhide to possess someone...but it doesn't go well. He's out of control and attacks the group. Their solution? Call out even more spirits to fight! Needless to say, it gets pretty hectic and no ones motives are as simple as you might assume.
As far as how this play compares to the previous run, I'm partial to the newer one, but mostly because I actually got to see it live. Paula and I were sitting in middle of the 6th row and were right next to this runway going out into the audience where some of the conversations and fights took place. I'm glad Paula didn't get beamed with a katana. XD; The action scenes were really spectacular. The choreography was very nice, especially with their break dancing specialist playing Hideyoshi. I was pleased with most of their casting, the only real exception being the "homeless" man. Some characters that I had all but forgotten about from watching the DVD really stood out to me this time, and there were many scenes that just hit with a lot more clarity than I felt before. Yes, a lot of the characters were interpreted differently, but they fit together and served their purposes very very well, and I don't begrudge a single one of the actors for being different. By the end of the play, I was nearly in tears. It was really awesome.
It's almost unfortunate that the next day, Sunday, had to be so incredibly awesome! Reverse Historica kinda pales in comparison to the experience I had at the DVD release talk event for the play Dust, featuring Nagayama Takashi and Yonehara Kousuke (Hitsugaya/Kikumaru Eiji and RUN&GUN/Romeo of Airmyu). Getting into the event (of which there were 3), you were required to buy a DVD, of course, but rather than buy our own, Paula, Court, and I bought DVDs for some people living outside of Japan and thus each went to an event for free, then convened afterward to compare stories of what happened and what was said. And let me warn you now, this thing is going to be pretty damn in-depth.
So there were 4 people at my event: Nagayan, Kousuke, a guy in Pure Boys named Sato Yuichi, and Kurebe Takuya who did the music for the play and acted as MC for the event. There were about 50 people in the audience total, all girls. I sat 4th row middle, but the guys stayed standing on stage, so they were easy for everyone to see. It was pretty funny because Kousuke almost started to sit, but Nagayan wouldn't let him because he's so short to start with. XD There were a lot of short jokes that day.
The first thing they talked about was the CD they were selling with songs from the show, and they pretended to kick the Pure Boys guy off the stage since, didn't get to contribute to the CD like the other 3 did. XD; He was really steamrollered throughout the show. Kousuke and the MC did most of the talking, but honestly I didn't really mind. I knew AirMyu and was a fan of Kousuke before I even came to Japan, though I didn't actually learn his name until recently.
From there they talked about how Kousuke had a birthday semi-recently, so they celebrated with cake at the previous event. Takuya then went down the line saying that Yuichi's birthday would be next and then Nagayan would be turning 31. Don't think Nagayan appreciated that mention. XD;; Yuichi will evidently be turning 20 this year and talked about how he would be able to freely drink with everyone but also said that being so young compared to the other actors had made some things hard....like the rape scene. Man, the guy was so shy and quiet at this event, I'm sure that was extra awkward for him to practice and perform in front of an audience. o_o;;;
MC mentioned at one point some books that Kousuke wrote, and actually pulled out some copies that he had just bought. I think they're regular fiction novels. Takuya started reading from the beginning of one, and Kousuke got embarrassed and flustered and tried to stop him, saying things like the audience should get to read it for themselves if they're interested, but then Takuya started flipping toward the end, as if he would give it away. He didn't read anymore, but it was still funny.
Eventually, they got back around to talking about the play and the auditions, how Nagayan and Kousuke got their parts. Don't know when they first met, but they seem to have known each other for a while, and when they realized that they both had this block of free time, they decided to try-out for the play together. If Kousuke hadn't gotten the part, Nagayan said that he wouldn't have done it either. They wanted to perform together.
They mentioned things like how challenging it was to work on a stage without props and having to mime every action. That and the musical aspect of the play meant they had to have lots of really intense practices. Thinking back, I'm not sure if they were saying they had to start work at 10 each day or if that's when they worked until, but I hope I misheard and that they meant the latter, cause if they think 10am is too early, then they're waaay too spoiled. Either way, they were talking about how draining it was, but how when they finish they get that high where they're so glad to be done, but they don't know what to do with thier energy anymore. After that, Nagayan told a backstage bathroom story, but he was talking really fast, and I really can't tell you what it was about. All it did for me is cement in my mind the idea that Nagayan loves asses and everything involving asses, including but not limited to his own.
So about half an hour in, they ended the talk event and started a prize lottery!!! I swear I've had such horrible luck with these things. always missing the best prizes by one number. It happened at JumpFest and it happened again at Santies.
There were only 6 prizes total for this lottery: 3 Dust pamphlets signed by the entire play cast and 3 Polaroid pictures together with the guys on stage. Each guest drew two numbers from a box (our tickets were numbered), starting with the pamphlet prizes and then the photos. Yuichi went first, and was cute but quite handing the pamphlet to the lucky winner. Nagayan went second, but not before magically creating a hole in the bottom of the box and dropping about 5 names. XD; And last was Kousuke.
I won.
I FUCKING WON AN AUTOGRAPHED PAMPHLET FROM YONEHARA KOUSUKE OF RUN&GUN AND AIRMYU FAME!!! OMFGJNIOUHDFGNAWIEG;AHWETWINUDVEHAHHHHH!
I was the only foreigner in there, and I won!!! Gotta admit, I felt pretty hated at that moment but damned if I cared. I WON!!! I got to go up to the stage. I'm impressed that the guys on stage didn't look scared of my foreignness or struggle to speak English at me. The MC especially seemed really curious and started asking me questions, though he hadn't done so for the other winners. He asked me where I was from, and I said America. He asked where in America, and I told him Alabama, but he obviously didn't know where that is. I kinda drew a map in the air to help him understand, but he was still like "Hell if I know! :D" and it was pretty amusing. I'm glad he was making jokes, because I was seriously freaking out in a combination of excitement and embarrassment over my elementary Japanese. After that, Takuya asked whose fan I was, but answered for me after a split second being like "Oh mine! Why thank you!" which made everyone laugh again. And then I (in another instance of tripping over my tounge and sounding like a dumb foreigner) said both "Nagayan" (a nickname) and "Kousuke" (first name) without any honorifics or anything. XP They didn't seem to mind, because I'm a silly foreigner who doesn't know better, and they could probably tell I was tripping over myself up there. Because I was feeling so shy and talking so softly, Tauya only heard me say Nagayan and repeated "Oh~! Nagayama." into the mic, but Kousuke was like "Hey, hey. Me too!" They mocked the Pure Boys guy a little, because I wasn't there for him. He pouted and sagged his shoulders, and I felt kinda bad, but then I got to take my prize straight from Kousuke's hands, and everything was awesome again!
So I went back to my seat and was feeling pretty high on life. Flipped through the pamphlet and saw on the signatures. Was doing little fangirl butt-wiggles in my chair. At the same time, the guys were asking for shows of hands of who came from what areas of Japan. They individually asked each girl who won a picture with them where they were from before grouping together and snapping the photo. They ran out of film with the second girl, which was pretty amusing, but they had more, so it worked out.
After that were handshakes. They set up a table on stage and let you go down the line, give cards, shake hands, and speak a few words. Nagayan was first and seemed to expect me to talk to first, so I said that I had fun and it was interesting, and he said thanks then asked me where I was from. I was confused because I had answered that on stage already, but he had been doing stuff off to the side, so it seems he hadn't heard. In my hesitation he thought I didn't understand, so he started asking again in bad English like "Whuer aaarh yoo-," but I cut him off and was like "Ahh, America." The line hadn't moved yet, but I had absolutely no idea what to say next and was pretty much frozen in spot, but then Nagayan kinda looked up at me and said "You have pretty eyes." Kyaaaaa! I had been complaining earlier about how my eye make-up looked crappy that day, but I guess it was just fine! XD;
So after some more mutual "thank you"s I moved down the line to Kousuke. He remembered me, of course, and smiled as we shook hands. I just stammered over how surprised I had been and how amazing. He was like "When you got the pamphlet from me? Yeah?" and I just nodded and kept stammering like an idiot. Then he thanked me for being his fan and asked me to continue to support him in the future. After this? Um, yes! In fact, he's going to be in an upcoming Peace Maker musical that I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go to, but I will now! I thanked him again and again, and then moved down to Yuichi. I barely know the actor, but he was really sweet and thanked me for coming out. I assured him that from that point on I would be his fan as well. I still felt a little bad about not including him in my answer on stage.
As people finished the handshake, they stuck around in the back of the room or bought CDs, so they could go through the line a second time. I used that time to text Paula and let her know about my amazing gaijin luck! Then, after everyone finally finished the guys only had time for some parting words. They complimented the group, saying that we were all great and thanking us for buying the DVD and coming to the event. I liked Kousuke's comment, "You're all...so...tall. ♥" XD! They complained about how the time went by too quickly and said that everyone should go to the third talk event (which Paula went to and should post about *pokepoke*) to see their mini live concert and do a "high touch," aka. high-five. They also jokingly encouraged the fangirls to go down and meet them on the street outside the store for more. Then they said goodbye and waved and left the stage. As they were walking off, Takuya looked longing at Kousuke and asked if he wouldn't autograph the books he bought. XD
So I left the event and immediately went to find Paula near the second building, where she had gone to get her own event ticket. She was almost excited as me over my amazing win and experience in general. Then, as we were talking and squealing over the autographed pamphlet, we saw a parade of people coming down the other side of the street. I recognized the clothes and the shortness of the guy in front as being Kousuke and the rest of the group, followed by their fangirling horde. So I waved. XD A person, whom I didn't know at the time but have been told was the director of Dust, noticed and pointed me out to the others. Kousuke waved back and I bowed and it felt special. X3!!! And that's pretty much the end of my story!
Court's report on the first event can be found here, and I'll link to Paula's whenever she gets it posted.
Also! THIS IS THE BEST PAGE OF THE DUST PAMPHLET, OH YES!!!
.
The epic theater experience started on Saturday afternoon with the *pnish* produced play called Reverse Historica (or 'Rebirth Historica'). It's actually the second time that this play has been performed, but I wasn't in Japan (or even interested in these things at all) when it was first made. This time it had a whole new cast in a whole new location, but was almost line-for-in the same. I've seen the original on DVD a couple times, so I was able to compare them. Conclusion: Amazing!
The basic premise of the story is that a group of guys are at an old shrine doing a film project on the scandal at Honno-ji, where Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide by his supposed friend, General Mitsuhide, who was in turn overpowered by Hideyoshi. Yes, this play required some knowledge of Japanese history to really get it, and I admit to doing a bit of research before going. So! What happened. In order to spice things up for the movie, the guy directing the project has an acquaintance come in and actually call forth the spirit of Mitsuhide to possess someone...but it doesn't go well. He's out of control and attacks the group. Their solution? Call out even more spirits to fight! Needless to say, it gets pretty hectic and no ones motives are as simple as you might assume.
As far as how this play compares to the previous run, I'm partial to the newer one, but mostly because I actually got to see it live. Paula and I were sitting in middle of the 6th row and were right next to this runway going out into the audience where some of the conversations and fights took place. I'm glad Paula didn't get beamed with a katana. XD; The action scenes were really spectacular. The choreography was very nice, especially with their break dancing specialist playing Hideyoshi. I was pleased with most of their casting, the only real exception being the "homeless" man. Some characters that I had all but forgotten about from watching the DVD really stood out to me this time, and there were many scenes that just hit with a lot more clarity than I felt before. Yes, a lot of the characters were interpreted differently, but they fit together and served their purposes very very well, and I don't begrudge a single one of the actors for being different. By the end of the play, I was nearly in tears. It was really awesome.
It's almost unfortunate that the next day, Sunday, had to be so incredibly awesome! Reverse Historica kinda pales in comparison to the experience I had at the DVD release talk event for the play Dust, featuring Nagayama Takashi and Yonehara Kousuke (Hitsugaya/Kikumaru Eiji and RUN&GUN/Romeo of Airmyu). Getting into the event (of which there were 3), you were required to buy a DVD, of course, but rather than buy our own, Paula, Court, and I bought DVDs for some people living outside of Japan and thus each went to an event for free, then convened afterward to compare stories of what happened and what was said. And let me warn you now, this thing is going to be pretty damn in-depth.
So there were 4 people at my event: Nagayan, Kousuke, a guy in Pure Boys named Sato Yuichi, and Kurebe Takuya who did the music for the play and acted as MC for the event. There were about 50 people in the audience total, all girls. I sat 4th row middle, but the guys stayed standing on stage, so they were easy for everyone to see. It was pretty funny because Kousuke almost started to sit, but Nagayan wouldn't let him because he's so short to start with. XD There were a lot of short jokes that day.
The first thing they talked about was the CD they were selling with songs from the show, and they pretended to kick the Pure Boys guy off the stage since, didn't get to contribute to the CD like the other 3 did. XD; He was really steamrollered throughout the show. Kousuke and the MC did most of the talking, but honestly I didn't really mind. I knew AirMyu and was a fan of Kousuke before I even came to Japan, though I didn't actually learn his name until recently.
From there they talked about how Kousuke had a birthday semi-recently, so they celebrated with cake at the previous event. Takuya then went down the line saying that Yuichi's birthday would be next and then Nagayan would be turning 31. Don't think Nagayan appreciated that mention. XD;; Yuichi will evidently be turning 20 this year and talked about how he would be able to freely drink with everyone but also said that being so young compared to the other actors had made some things hard....like the rape scene. Man, the guy was so shy and quiet at this event, I'm sure that was extra awkward for him to practice and perform in front of an audience. o_o;;;
MC mentioned at one point some books that Kousuke wrote, and actually pulled out some copies that he had just bought. I think they're regular fiction novels. Takuya started reading from the beginning of one, and Kousuke got embarrassed and flustered and tried to stop him, saying things like the audience should get to read it for themselves if they're interested, but then Takuya started flipping toward the end, as if he would give it away. He didn't read anymore, but it was still funny.
Eventually, they got back around to talking about the play and the auditions, how Nagayan and Kousuke got their parts. Don't know when they first met, but they seem to have known each other for a while, and when they realized that they both had this block of free time, they decided to try-out for the play together. If Kousuke hadn't gotten the part, Nagayan said that he wouldn't have done it either. They wanted to perform together.
They mentioned things like how challenging it was to work on a stage without props and having to mime every action. That and the musical aspect of the play meant they had to have lots of really intense practices. Thinking back, I'm not sure if they were saying they had to start work at 10 each day or if that's when they worked until, but I hope I misheard and that they meant the latter, cause if they think 10am is too early, then they're waaay too spoiled. Either way, they were talking about how draining it was, but how when they finish they get that high where they're so glad to be done, but they don't know what to do with thier energy anymore. After that, Nagayan told a backstage bathroom story, but he was talking really fast, and I really can't tell you what it was about. All it did for me is cement in my mind the idea that Nagayan loves asses and everything involving asses, including but not limited to his own.
So about half an hour in, they ended the talk event and started a prize lottery!!! I swear I've had such horrible luck with these things. always missing the best prizes by one number. It happened at JumpFest and it happened again at Santies.
There were only 6 prizes total for this lottery: 3 Dust pamphlets signed by the entire play cast and 3 Polaroid pictures together with the guys on stage. Each guest drew two numbers from a box (our tickets were numbered), starting with the pamphlet prizes and then the photos. Yuichi went first, and was cute but quite handing the pamphlet to the lucky winner. Nagayan went second, but not before magically creating a hole in the bottom of the box and dropping about 5 names. XD; And last was Kousuke.
I won.
I FUCKING WON AN AUTOGRAPHED PAMPHLET FROM YONEHARA KOUSUKE OF RUN&GUN AND AIRMYU FAME!!! OMFGJNIOUHDFGNAWIEG;AHWETWINUDVEHAHHHHH!
I was the only foreigner in there, and I won!!! Gotta admit, I felt pretty hated at that moment but damned if I cared. I WON!!! I got to go up to the stage. I'm impressed that the guys on stage didn't look scared of my foreignness or struggle to speak English at me. The MC especially seemed really curious and started asking me questions, though he hadn't done so for the other winners. He asked me where I was from, and I said America. He asked where in America, and I told him Alabama, but he obviously didn't know where that is. I kinda drew a map in the air to help him understand, but he was still like "Hell if I know! :D" and it was pretty amusing. I'm glad he was making jokes, because I was seriously freaking out in a combination of excitement and embarrassment over my elementary Japanese. After that, Takuya asked whose fan I was, but answered for me after a split second being like "Oh mine! Why thank you!" which made everyone laugh again. And then I (in another instance of tripping over my tounge and sounding like a dumb foreigner) said both "Nagayan" (a nickname) and "Kousuke" (first name) without any honorifics or anything. XP They didn't seem to mind, because I'm a silly foreigner who doesn't know better, and they could probably tell I was tripping over myself up there. Because I was feeling so shy and talking so softly, Tauya only heard me say Nagayan and repeated "Oh~! Nagayama." into the mic, but Kousuke was like "Hey, hey. Me too!" They mocked the Pure Boys guy a little, because I wasn't there for him. He pouted and sagged his shoulders, and I felt kinda bad, but then I got to take my prize straight from Kousuke's hands, and everything was awesome again!
So I went back to my seat and was feeling pretty high on life. Flipped through the pamphlet and saw on the signatures. Was doing little fangirl butt-wiggles in my chair. At the same time, the guys were asking for shows of hands of who came from what areas of Japan. They individually asked each girl who won a picture with them where they were from before grouping together and snapping the photo. They ran out of film with the second girl, which was pretty amusing, but they had more, so it worked out.
After that were handshakes. They set up a table on stage and let you go down the line, give cards, shake hands, and speak a few words. Nagayan was first and seemed to expect me to talk to first, so I said that I had fun and it was interesting, and he said thanks then asked me where I was from. I was confused because I had answered that on stage already, but he had been doing stuff off to the side, so it seems he hadn't heard. In my hesitation he thought I didn't understand, so he started asking again in bad English like "Whuer aaarh yoo-," but I cut him off and was like "Ahh, America." The line hadn't moved yet, but I had absolutely no idea what to say next and was pretty much frozen in spot, but then Nagayan kinda looked up at me and said "You have pretty eyes." Kyaaaaa! I had been complaining earlier about how my eye make-up looked crappy that day, but I guess it was just fine! XD;
So after some more mutual "thank you"s I moved down the line to Kousuke. He remembered me, of course, and smiled as we shook hands. I just stammered over how surprised I had been and how amazing. He was like "When you got the pamphlet from me? Yeah?" and I just nodded and kept stammering like an idiot. Then he thanked me for being his fan and asked me to continue to support him in the future. After this? Um, yes! In fact, he's going to be in an upcoming Peace Maker musical that I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go to, but I will now! I thanked him again and again, and then moved down to Yuichi. I barely know the actor, but he was really sweet and thanked me for coming out. I assured him that from that point on I would be his fan as well. I still felt a little bad about not including him in my answer on stage.
As people finished the handshake, they stuck around in the back of the room or bought CDs, so they could go through the line a second time. I used that time to text Paula and let her know about my amazing gaijin luck! Then, after everyone finally finished the guys only had time for some parting words. They complimented the group, saying that we were all great and thanking us for buying the DVD and coming to the event. I liked Kousuke's comment, "You're all...so...tall. ♥" XD! They complained about how the time went by too quickly and said that everyone should go to the third talk event (which Paula went to and should post about *pokepoke*) to see their mini live concert and do a "high touch," aka. high-five. They also jokingly encouraged the fangirls to go down and meet them on the street outside the store for more. Then they said goodbye and waved and left the stage. As they were walking off, Takuya looked longing at Kousuke and asked if he wouldn't autograph the books he bought. XD
So I left the event and immediately went to find Paula near the second building, where she had gone to get her own event ticket. She was almost excited as me over my amazing win and experience in general. Then, as we were talking and squealing over the autographed pamphlet, we saw a parade of people coming down the other side of the street. I recognized the clothes and the shortness of the guy in front as being Kousuke and the rest of the group, followed by their fangirling horde. So I waved. XD A person, whom I didn't know at the time but have been told was the director of Dust, noticed and pointed me out to the others. Kousuke waved back and I bowed and it felt special. X3!!! And that's pretty much the end of my story!
Court's report on the first event can be found here, and I'll link to Paula's whenever she gets it posted.
Also! THIS IS THE BEST PAGE OF THE DUST PAMPHLET, OH YES!!!
.