Owari no Seraph: The Musical Review!
It is a few days late in true MP style! But I've had a drink so lets get this done!! ^_^
Are you ready?!
PreShow
There were only about 13 rows full of people, and it was at least a 25 row theatre! So I was a bit concerned about whether it was getting the right press and stuff.
If you don't know the story then sorry I ain't explaining it here. It's very faithful to the anime (and therefore the manga) so just watch the first season or read a summary on it. There was more humour in this and I think more solo time for the 'minor' characters in the stage play which was nice ^_^
OH! And once again that theatre smelt amazing!!!
The Play Itself
I really enjoyed this play! Where to start with this.. well in the first scene my anxiety started! Cos the bed (see above) starts in the middle and Gaku kicks it to the side and one of the dances is suppose to pin it against the wall but the bed cover got caught in one of the wheels so it wasn't completely in its place so I freaked the entire opening scene that someone was gunna bump and/or fall into it!! And then they took a LONG time during the blacked out transition cos the bedding was caught in the wheel =[
As mentioned before, it followed the story quite faithfully and I think the pacing was really good! I think they spent enough time introducing and showing the characters progression in school, BUT I do wish more time had been spent on the reunion and the battle at the end but that's me who's an action junkie xD
Btw, Gaku is SO small!!! It's cute xD any kakkoiiness I thought he had before - cos he was SO cool on Survival 2016 and Danshi Sports 2016! - has gone due to seeing him in person! He's SO small and everyone, except the girls, tower over him!! xD *checks* Is he fuck 170cm! He is no way 5ft6/7!!! That is complete bollocks - he's tiny!! >.< Oooo and he did a flip down the stairs during the final song at the end which was so cool but wish we'd been able to see more stunts like that from him during the actual play. One of the girls (who plays Asura) did a lot of stunts which was nice!
I needed more Suzuki on stage!!!! To say he's supposed to be the second lead, he proably had the 4th least time on stage!! Like wah?!?!?!!? Need defo needed more time! Sure he had a HUGE chunk on stage during his characters flashback scene but he wasn't the center of the scene!
Also, the reunion scene wasn't dramatic enough. It was like he stabbed him, realised who he stabbed and then they realised who each other was and that was it! They were never on stage together again! Like what?! The reunion should've been SO much more dramatic!
Ono (who plays Guren) and Hashimoto (who plays Yoichi) were the best singers!! They had such beautiful voices xD I could listen to them sing all day! Their solos were GREAT!! <3 On the other hand, Suzuki's voice is just about average for singing so he was very GIRIGIRI on being a bad singer xD But he did his best and he voice never cracked so PHEW! haha I was worried that random songs wouldn't work for this anime/play but the lyrics and the melodies fitted everything perfectly! <3
SPEAKING of Ono <3 Ono walked past my aisle during one of his scenes!!! And the way he holds himself and walks so coldly pass everyone... omg he really is completely Guren!! <3 And he is so beaitful! He is more beautiful in person!! <3 and according to my friends, all the reviews and other fan reports have also been praising Ono as Guren so congrats Ono! <3
Now onto the staging: I like that the bed stayed there the whole time as a reminder of what was happening, and they did two running timelines along each other and switched between the far past, the past and the present/future, which was really nice! I also really liked the dynamic of the stage and all the different steps and levels they had xD I also really liked entire staging itself. They had various levels of stairs and ramps and also had high up platforms which Guren was usually on. It was a really nice dynamic stage! Well done directors! xD And cos it was all young actors I wasn't so scared that they'd fall down the stairs - unlike during BASARA (those stairs were seriously steep and there was a 40-odd year old fighting on them!!)
I would also like to add that all the bad guys were awesome too! Ferid's actor had SUCH an atmosphere and his voice was really nice too and he plays the character very well! The scene where his arm comes off was very nicely timing and his stance was positions perfectly that we couldn't see his real arm too! xD Krul's actress was so great and I loved her costume also <3
Ooo and another note on the story: My favourite part in the anime is when Yoichi (Hashimoto) goes evil after facing his demon and omg it did not disappoint on stage!! Hashimoto's going evil is/was one of my favourite scenes!!!! They was Hashimoto changed his body language and his voice and with the music and the projection mapping visuals and everything - it was SO enjoyable! But short lived - I needed more!! So it was great to see that iconic scene on stage too =)
I giggled a lot through out this but that might have been because it was my type of humour cos I feel like I was giggling alone.... but oh well! I enjoyed it and giggled a lot so that's all that matters! <3
Onto the costume! They were SO well made and were exact copes of the anime! They were SO cool! I wanted the outfits so much! The capes where cool and their school uniforms looked so comfy! Oooooo and those pants they wear... They are delicious! XD When even they stretched out their legs, they shaped tightly around their thighs and it was a very nice sight for me <3 But I didn't notice Suzuki/Michaela's half boot half shoe combi until like half way through xD Was he like that in the anime?!
No he isn't like that in the manga/anime! Nice edit costume team!! <3 ... o wait... in all his pictures he had two boots on!!!! Maybe he had a wardrobe malfuntion that day!! =O But I really liked the style!!! o_O And speaking of Suzuki and his costume... I felt like he REALLY hated him cape >.< he kept throwing it back with force so it really felt like he thought it was a pain in the ass xD no one else had a problem with their cape!!
Oh! And the school uniform reminded me of one of the scenes. When Hyakuya/Gaku and Shiho/Atomu were handcuffed!!! I was like 'yeah!!!' but the handcuff easily came off Atomu's hand so luckily they both held onto the chain as they 'fought' back and forth between themselves during that scene xD I love when they rubbed their heads together during their angry scene too xD It was hilarious to me!!
OMG I loved the Japanese pronunciation for Mikaela <3 It was almost as delicious as the pronunciation for Allen and Raphael in TRUMP (D-Stage 12th) <3
The project mapping was real good too!!! I really liked the way they contrasted with the bright green and the deep red to show the opposite sides and during Hyakuya/Gaku's freak out scene, the projection mapping was SPOT on <3 It was brilliant ^_^ OH! Which reminds me of another slight negative; Gaku's screams of pain and stuff weren't powerful enough. His voice can't reach that range very well so it felt a little fake and no good enough.
But omg my main negative is.... there was one dancer that would lip sync along to some of the songs!!! -_- so off putting and distracting that I was focusing on him feeling annoyed instead of listening to the songs and focusing on the main actors!!! GRRRR!!!
The Sending Off
So there was no after talk today - only a sending off - to which it was my first so I was hella confused at first as to why people weren't and/or couldn't leave. But once I figured it out, I started to get very nervous!! I'm white, red faced from the heat of the theatre, bags up the eyes from a long day, AND with glasses on(!), and wearing a BRIGHT red coat on. So I'd really brought the attention on myself >.< but Omg OMG omg OMG!!!! I got to meet and say goodbye to Gaku and Atomu!!!!!! All the actors (except the girls, so some reason they weren't phased at all which is probably a girl thing xD) all seemed to pause when they saw me and like had a moment to pause and were like "A foreigner? .... OH! Thank you for coming!!' xD And me and Gaku had GREAT eye contact (but seriously - he's tiny!!!) and I remember only flicking to Atomu and had some good contact with the two girls when I left - they're like 4and a half foot and so cute) I was definitely shaking for a good ten minutes after seeing them!! TWO HUGE TOKUSATSU STARS AND ONO (another Tokusatsu actor) walked past me!!! <3 Holy **** *dead*
*Picture Credits to all the rightful websites and press!!
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Overall: I seriously enjoyed this! This is one of the plays I was seriously NOT gunna watch because the second anime season was SO crap so I forgot just how good the first season one! But holy crap, this play did NOT let me down! All the actors were amazing! The project mapping and lighting and costumes and humour were also amazing! Ono definitely stole the show! You could not see Ono at all, it was all Guren! <3 If you're a fan of the anime I think you'll find this play faithful and the songs add a little extra to it - Ono and Hashimoto were the best while Suzuki was Girigiri xD I really enjoyed this!
Rating: 7.5/10 (Forgot to do this for Basara! I give it a 6/10!)
Have you seen the play? Will you? What about the anime/manga? Will you possibly rewatch season 1 alongside me?? What did you think of my report/the anime/manga/the play?