D-Stage Reviews! [1st - 14th]
As you all know I got the 10th Anniversary DVD Box Set of D-Stage for Christmas last year and now I've FINALLY gotten around to reviewing them all even though I watched them all almost a year ago and I feel like I should rewatch them at the beginning of January... So I think I'll do all my reviews here anyway BUT if I wanna add something or talk about a stage in more detail once I've rewatched them during the new year, I'll do another post then, sound good? Okay lets get on with these FOURTEEN stages! *dead already*
**Btw all their stages info can be found here. Cannot believe we're on Stage 20 next February!
D-Stage 1: Konbai Onrei [2007] 6/10
Starring: Endo Yuya, Yanagi Kotarou, Nakamura Yuichi, Kaji Masaki, Kumai Kouhei, Seto Koji, Nakagawa Shingo, Yanagishita Tomo, and Daily-Change Cast of; Shirota Yu, Wada Masato, Igarashi Shunji and Araki Hirofumi
The first ever stage they did is exactly how you would imagine it; low budget, very minimal, simple plot, not the best acting. At the time of watching it (because I have been spoiled by other D-Stage qualities like Sabishii Magnet and Yuhiden) I remember being a little bored but thinking back on it; I only have nostalgic feelings from it. I can clearly remember Tomo's very young face and how everyone's acting was fresh and with flaws. Also thinking back, I realise just how META the story is! It's about a group of uni kids who try to make and put on a play so in ensence it's very true to what they were actually experiencing at the time and is quite a clever story to start their Series of Stages with! xD
Now for the notes I wrote at the time (almost a year ago! That's so weird!)
I just essentially fangirl over everyone in this. My notes are pretty much: Oh my I love Yanagi (which btw, yesterday of writing this was December 12th and of course yesterday the Yanagi graduating news came out ), Seto's voice!! Aww he's so cute and so it Tomo! And so young! =O There's two actors in here I don't know << after seeing this entire collection, I now know that they are Kumai Kouhei and Nakagawa Shingo. Endo is so young too << we get it! They're all young Alex! SETOMO is already here in this! <3
Now my notes are finally turning into something analytics or at least relating to the production itself:
I really liked Araki's entrance/opening in this. This is rather intense and Endo is playing a complete dick! Tomo and Seto's characters are constantly being beaten down in this. Tomo don't cry! << seems like Tomo's been doing crying roles from the start! I guess that means he's always been naturally good at crying. The drunk scene in this is very funny. Yanagi in the mask was amusing also and he did a dance! Seto smile at Tomo! (< here I go again...) There was an arm wrestle in this and naturally Seto lost because he was a complete skinny rat at the time. Araki's character in this was very good and I found him completely hilarious at times.
About half way through the play, there's a complete 180 where now that they've finished rehearsals for the play, they will now SHOW us the play so it's now a play within a play! And the play is of course a historical samurai one which is what I'm all about these days! xD I really like how they transitioned into the second half of the play and I was completely absorbed in the play from this point. There's a beautiful sakura death in this (< after watching so many plays this year, I can't help but thisnk this is probably similar to Hakuouki's death scene) and I love how all the sakura/pink paper is sticking to them. Also Tomo's hair in this <3 Seto doesn't seem sweaty at all, must be the power of youth xD This play was cute and funny and I really enjoyed how we got to see the actual play their characters were rehearsing for! ^_^ I also love Endo's character's development in this play as he starts off as a horrible person but soon we why he's the way he is and he changes and warms up to everyone which is so nice ^_^
I also have a rather explicit note which says: I fucking love when he bites his bottom lip < I must be talking about Tomo here right?! Although I have a feeling I was talking about Seto... I remember he used to do that and probably still does.
I honestly did not know I had written this much about the first play!! So looks like I enjoyed it more than I thought I had even though even now I had fond feelings of it! After writing these notes I really do wanna rewatch it!
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And that's stage one done!
**(For some reason I thought either the website or the booklet had stated how many people went to watch each stage, but I can't find that info in either of them! I know I didn't imagine it... where the hell did I see that info... it's gunna drive me mad not knowing...)
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D-Stage 2: Last Game [2008] 7/10
Starring: Yanagi Kotarou, Shirota yu, Wada Masato, Suzuki Hiroki, Araki Hirofumi, Kaji Masaki, Nakagawa Shingo, Yanagishita Tomo, Makita Tetsuya, Nakamura Masaya, Mikami Masashi, Adachi Osamu and W-Cast of: Endo Yuya and Nakamura Yuichi, OR Igarashi Shunji, Seto Koji and Usui Masahiro
Last Game is probably one of, if not, the least favourite D-Stages they've ever done. Personally, I just don't like war, especially world war, stories and I even avoid the books and movies they make of war too, it's just not my thing BUT I guess I'll give this some redemption as it's mainly focused on a group of boys having one last baseball tournament before they go off to war BUT it's still the whole 'world war two is happening!!' thing everywhere so I couldn't fully enjoy it, personally.
Okay let's get the fangirling out of the way first and then the real story next xD
Shirota! <3 Yanagi! <3 Yanagi's smile is too precious! I forgot Nakamura Masaya was in D-Boys! He married that short girl in 2012 right... *googles* omg she cheated him and they divorced! Bad luck son, you left D-Boys for nothing then... I like Araki's hair in this and Zukki's (Suzuki Hiroki) hair is fluffy. I didn't realise Wada was such a shortie until I watched this. Also, I don't remember Zukki having such a deep voice =O I'm still not used to seeing Kaji this skinny (same in Konbai). ADACHI! <3 I think Seto is wearing a wig and this was during Koizora right so it would make sense why he would have a wig but he wore a wig in Koizora too right... << can anyone confirm this? USUI! He looks so young and so cute xD The way Yanagi eats is so cute; he has a scene were he brings in conbini food and just eats why Shirota is trying to have a conversation with him and it's so cute! Also there's a scene about the half way mark where Yanagi is struggling with his line and he just goes 'fuck this line' and Shirota cannot contain his amusement. Also Yanagi proved to the audience that he could do push ups like a boss which was super cool! I miss Yanagi << I miss Yanagi even more now!
There were some funny scenes which was nice to say it's a rather dark/gloomy story technically. I really love the training scene in this; not only is it visually interesting but seeing them actually train is very interesting to watch too! But then again this scene (and some others in this stage) must have been knackering (= tiring) for them because of scenes like this. I liked Araki's acting in this; before I started watching this D-Stage collection I honestly had no opinion of Araki's acting nor if he could actually do well but after watching all these, he's proved time and again that he can actually act and he's pretty good! The song that Shirota sings in this is rather beautiful <3 and the ending (apparently) is when the audience really got into it! << no idea what I mean! I'll have to rewatch it. The ending is heartbreaking when they name off what happened to each of the members.
We see Tomo get a bigger role in this than he did in Konbai which is nice but he's still playing the character that get's abused and he even got his hair pulled in this! =[ also he's playing a Korean immigrant so it's interesting to see the rest of the group find out and immediate racism is thrown at him as expected for the era, but it's also great to see so many people stay by his side. Having this theme in the play makes it all feel very realistic especially for the time although I feel maybe they toned down the racism as I'm sure it would've been more severe during the world war time right? Also I'm pretty sure this was during the time that Tomo was doing Takumi-kun (although thinking back now, wasn't Takumi-kun 2006?! *googles* Takumi-kun was 2007 so just after. But he still looks the same around this time as he was then xD< did that make sense?). We get to see Tomo do a backflip also which was impressive. Tomo get's a monologue in this too which is nice. Also Tomo in that tank top ;) sweet jesus Alex...
This play is very much sending messages of love and remember your history and about baseball, hope, the importancy of friends and just all these bittersweet messages.
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***I apologise for all the Tomo fangirling but this was bound to happen right? I just didn't expect it to start so soon into the stages xD
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D-Stage 3 and 4: Karasu 4 / Karasu 10 [2009] 8/10 and 7/10
Karasu 4 Starring: Suzuki Hiroki, Igarashi Shunji, Kaji Masaki, Yanagi Kotarou, Yanagishita Tomo, Adachi Osamu, Nakamura Masaya, Takahashi Ryuki, Hashimto Taito
Karasu 10 Starring: Endo Yuya, Araki Hirofumi Nakagawa Shingo, Wada Masato, Nakamura Yuichi, Seto Koji, Mikami Masashi, Usui Masahiro, Makita Tetsuya
Apparently Uncredited (mainly pre-D2Boys): Jinnai Sho, Mitsuya Ryo, Yamaguchi Kenki, Yamada Yusuke,
I don't know why they called it 4 and 10, maybe they tried of 10 or more different combinations of the boys before they decided the two best groups? Also I don't know why they did it twice BUT I'm glad they did because even though the story is the exact same, each of the boys makes the character their own! This is basically a historical stage (as you can tell from the pictures) and I can't quite remember when it's set but it's like 1600s and basically the karasu (= crows) are against the main emperor army and it's about how they formed and they go against the army towards the end.
First let me talk about Karasu 4 which I preferred the most out of the two (but this could be simply down to seeing that version first or because I'm more Tomo biased than Seto biased xD):
Look at how young Ryuki is in this!!! xD Both him and Tomo look so young! Also the hair is hilarious on everyone in this. Igarashi is pretty sexy in this o_O Yanagi looks BADASS and his character is great!
Pretty sure I know everyone in this (yes you do Alex) Awww they play brothers! << I think I'm talking about Tomo and Ryuki here but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Apparently I think I may have spotted Yamada in this according to my notes and that I like his hair in this but that he looks older HERE than what he does now << I'm asuming I'm talking about Yamada Yusuke and not Yamada Yuuki here xD. I really liked Taito's entrance/intro in this and I remember really liking his character's outfit and he also showed off come acrobatics such as jumps which were great.
Adachi tripped over his sword which was funny. Also seeing Adachi talk his sword (no pun intended!) which is called dragon (also not a pun!) was a great character trait, which Seto also does in the other version. I love the cloaks so much in this! Zukki has hissy fits in this which (if you know Zukki like I do) that he is the master of hissy fits and they're always hilarious. Zukki's eyeliner is nice!! ^_^ It's beauiful! <3 Kaji's make up is on point too. I love Zukki's jacket and also Tomo's smile!! <3
But once again Tomo is playing the weak character and being pushed around =[ why is he being type-cast so early on in his career! Unless he just likes the more simple roles for D-Stages? Or maybe he still feels he's developing as an actor and wants to play it safe while he builds his skills and confidence? His career was just starting to take off and fill out during 2009 so that could be why... Also Tomo has cute legs in this <3 also Ryuki's legs are so skinny and white! xD you'd think I'd remember this moment but apparently Tomo dies in this and my notes are pretty much: TOMO DIES?! ='[ That blood spurt!! OMG that one tear that fell down him! HE DIED!! Ryuki's crying ='[ so that's something I must've blocked out.
I enjoyed Zukki and Kaji's fight in this. The choreography was very good! The bell drop in this stage was very funny. I feel Nakamura showed some really nice acting in this which is nice; he had such a short run in D-Boys (in my opinion) and being able to see his acting skill even a little (because let's be honest, his performance in Ouran wasn't exactly challenging) in this way is something I appreciated seeing. This play actual had a break in it and according to my notes; I was either shocked or annoyed where they took the break even though it doesn't affect me in anyway because I'm watching it on freaking dvd! Also I love, love, love, love the music in this so much! Especially that opening scene! << I remember the music from this stage so well in my brain! ^_^ the song and dance at the end was great and the audience enjoyed it too. I remember getting really confused the first time around when after the fighting, Kaji explains that it was all a test (or something) and then lets them go...
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And my notes stop there. Did that make any sense?! I'm slowly starting to see a pattern with my notes. Because I was super new to stage at the time, I was more fixated on how everything looked but now that I've been watching and paying attention to stages for over a year now, I now focus more on the story and pace and other aesthetics like the staging etc. which at the time of writing these notes I didn't know much about hence why it's so 'this moment was good!' and appearance based.
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Now for Karasu 10! The rating for this one is a little lower because, as stated, I prefer the Vol.4 one.
Seto's American accent in this is interesting. Araki is looking mystical (as always) in this role and I love his outfit and how he's playing it completely different to what (I think) Igarashi did << seriously how they played the same character but in totally different ways is what's fascinating about these two stages.
Also Kenki is in this and he looks really good in it too?! << my notes say 'I can't get over how beautiful Kenki is here xD
Oooo Mikami did a really good stare in this, and Seto is so adorable and his entrance was great, and he definitely did better than Adachi when it came to talking to 'dragon' aka his sword which he animates himself. I really enjoyed seeing Wada in this and kept rolling his R's which I am a total sucker for, especially when it's in Japanese, seriously, listen to a Japanese guy roll his r's and it's so sexy <3
According to my notes: look at this diva with perfect eyeline << wtf am I talking about?! Usui probably? I also note; Usui and Mitsuya (?) look exactly the same when they were younger. Endo also went on hissy fits to match his character to Zukki's and I enjoyed both their performances of the character and I don't think I can decide who did it better! Let me think... while Endo did better with the samurai leadership and fighting, Zukki was more entertaining... So I think I prefer Zukki? I'll decide the next time I watch them! xD Endo's performances always have this air about them, it's difficult to describe but it's like a... gentlemen, richeous air he always has about him when he performs.
I feel like Shingo always plays the same type of characters in D-Stage (just like Tomo it seems), but I still like to see him perform.
The fighting was just as great in this version. Wada's choreography was very good. Both stages also have this slow motion moment and I've learnt I am a huge sucker for slowmo scenes and this one did not disappoint. I also really enjoyed the hiding and sneaking in the trees and woods scene too from both versions. Apparently Jinnai Sho is in here too! Jesus how many uncredited boys did we get in these two?! I really really really adore the formation they do at the end.
It's only natural to compare the two casts and I definitely preferred the characters being played by Seto and Araki more. And in Vol.4 I preferred Tomo (naturally) more. I definitely preferred Usui over Yuichi's performance but that could simply be because I really don't like Chanaka, and Ryuki's acting/character representation was solid. And we can see the struggle I had between Zukki and Endo.
Also I'm just gunna say; yes I cried at both versions and yes they deserve my tears! Especially with that damn song! I'm a sucker for samurai stages and I always get emotional in them.
I don't really remember much else, but I remember these two were the first out of the four I watched where I was like 'DEFO A FAV! D-Stage is really starting to develop now!' ^_^
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**In 2010, D-Stage tried something different; they split the boys into three groups and produced three very different plays between them.
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D-Stage 5: NOW LOADING [2010] 6/10
Starring: Endo Yuya, Igarashi Shunji, Wada Masato, Yamada Yusuke, Jinnai Sho / Ookuma Shaka, Imaizumi Minoru, Fujita Hideyo
This is one I was super interested in watching because even from the main image it looks fun and interesting and about gaming! While it is about gaming, it took a turn and a main plot which I was not expecting; it's more about game developers struggling to make money and come up with ideas rather than (what I thought would be) guys from the real world get thrown into the game world and have to find a way out.
Once again I must comment on how small Wada is! But on a positive I really like how Wada uses body language when he acts. Igarashi's arms are nice. Yamada's hair!! xD In this one it was obvious they didn't have mics (I'm not sure about the others, I think they did for Karasu and Last Game though). It was very nostalgic when they used the old computer sounds in this. I liked Sho's character in this (in fact I remember his and Wada's characters the best) and it was clever how he came and went into the scenes as he would just do a range of characters including a hilariously stupid security guard who's awful at his job and he also ends up in a dress at one point, furthermore, I've always enjoyed his voice <3 They played and/or had references to Tetris and Final Fantasy in this which is much appreciated! Also a nice easter egg in this play is in the background; it took me about half of the play to notice but there's a bust of Kiva on one of the bookcases which made me flail very hard! If you don't know Kiva is referring to Kamen Rider Kiva which Seto was the main star in! Seriously watch it, it's so good! Endo played a much different character here (you can see how my notes and analysis has already improved between these 5 dvds) than what I'm used to seeing him do; here he's timid, in a sweater and is very much reminding me of a shy high schooler. He did a cart wheel in this <3 Igarashii got a moment in this which I thought was great! They sang a song at the end which I'm not quite sure about, and throughout the play there's this bug and I knew it was Jinnai playing him all along, who could NOT recognise those tiny legs! I liked the theme of this play and enjoyed the characters but I think it's definitely one that not everyone will enjoy. It's a little specific to the audience it attracts I think.
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D-Stage 6: Last Game [ReRun- 2010] 7/10
Starring: Seto Koji, Araki Hirofumi, Yanagi Kotarou, Adachi Osamu, Nakamura Masaya, Takahashi Ryuki, Mikami Masashi, Mikata Tetsuya, Hashimoto Taito, Nakagawa Shingo, Usui Masahiro, Yamaguchi Kenki, Kamitsuru Toru, and Special Appearances: Yamazaki Ikusaburo, Arai Atsushi
It's safe to assume that Last Game was super popular the first time and that's why they wanted to redo it and retry it. Naturally the mains have changed over the 2 years since it was last performed and Seto is now the main lead. I won't need to go into too much detail this time, only mention the differences.
Yanagi has a much bigger role this time which is always nice to see! He seemed very healthy in this one too (Alex don't you dare cry now...). Adachi played the same role this time while most had changed in which character they are. This is the first time we see Kamitsuru but I had previously seen him in TRUMP (which I watched before I started these, oops) but this is the most attractive he's ever looked << Kami-lovers don't kill me! He's just really not my type. Ryuki takes over Tomo's role in this and Usui has a bigger role too this time. Nakagawa takes over Kaji's role. Once again the training scene looks brutal but I also love the scene, especially when they're running, so much. Zukki's voice is being strained again (most likely because he was yelling at everyone again haha). I think the uncredited D-Boys this time is IkeP (Ikeoka Ryousuke) and (Akutsu) Shintarou which were nice surprises.
No really difference from the first run but it's great to see and compare the boys and how they've grown both physically and as actors and see what roles they'd been put in charge of ^_^
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D-Stage 7: America [2010] 8/10
Starring: Yanagishita Tomo, Kaji Masaki, Suzuki Hiroki / Uematsu Shunsuke, Yamada Yusuke, Kuroda Taishi, Osada Nao, Takizawa Megumi, Bu Fujiwara, Hirokawa Mitsunori / Araki Hirofumi.
Now this one I actually watched for the first time YEARS ago. Just after Merchant of Venice came out on DVD (late-2012), this was the second ever D-Stage I eer watched and even though at the time my Japanese was piss-poor, I still ended up crying at the end... watching it this time and actually understanding it - and I NEVER have forgotten how I felt the first time I ever watched this - I was a wreck. I never want to watch this again but oh my this is one hell of a good stage!
This story is told in non-chronological order and when you figure out the story, it hits you so hard so I won't say much BUT it is about 4 friends who live together and they're not really doing anything with their lives as they fail to make it as actors (similar to Konbai Onrei) and just happily living together but one of them (Tomo's role) really wants to go to America and find something he wants to do there. The play flipflops between the past and the future and you see these boys lives now and then and how they're reflecting on what they did and the choices they made. There is some light comedy in this such as porn mags trying to be hidden but in the end it's very hard hitting, grim and real.
What I can give away from my notes is: if I ever act, I want an eating part like Tomo did! I really liked the lighting in this, Zukki is way too sexy in glasses that it should be a sin, also his body language and silent acting in this speaks volumes(!), I really disliked how much they actually smoked in this play, I know lots of actors do in real life for stress relief but still... please don't on stage too! I really liked Kaji and Tomo's chemistry when they act. It's difficult to decide whether they're all actually friends or not or it's just they're friends through convenience, especially when you see the Present scenes against the Past ones. This isa tough story and the tears are definitely rolling.
And that's all I'll say about it. I definitely want to watch it again but thinking back and looking at my notes, maybe I should wait a bit longer...
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D-Stage 8: Merchant of Venice [2011] 8-9/10
Starring: Usui Masahiro, Wada Masato, Kaji Masaki, Suzuki Hiroki, Yanagi Kotarou / Mikami Masashi, Adachi Osamu, Takahashi Ryuki, Makita Tetsuya, Yamaguchi Kenki, Yukimasa Natori, Toshiya Sakai
This was the first D-Stage I ever saw! I first watched it.... over 4 years ago and loved it straight away! Rewatching it this time gave me so many feels and nostalgia and it made me remember how much I love Kaji and how great Usui is as an actor and I love how they did the modern/historical theme mix! This is the first Shakespeare play D-Stage ever did and their Shakespeare series is probably one of their strongest production series that they've ever done.
It was strange this time around watching it as I could understand it completely (first time I watched it my Japanese was very minimal). I like Wada's make up, Zukki and Yanagi's pairing really is adorable in this, and I really like Kaji's look in this (which is ironic because he makes a joke about the way he looks here in As You Like It). Let us not forget the kiss scenes in this!!! Those scenes clearly made me flail. Makita is always great at comedy and he did no disappoint in this. Recognising Ryuki and Kenki this time was crazy and amusing for me. The court scene was just as enjoyable this time around as it was the first time around.
The way Usui plays a woman is so impressive and so realistic and it's hilarious during the Usui playing a girl pretending to be a man scene. While Adachi has never really been on my radar, I do feel that this is probably his strongest role and his best acting, he is on point in this. Funnily enough, this time around I really came to dislike Wada's character while I still adore Wada and his performance. Finally, I really adore how well Zukki looks after Yanagi in this and how he keeps and arm around him so lovingly. They're an amazing pair of friends just like Endo and Yanagi are <3
I adore so many scenes in this stage and this D-Stage is still up there on the top ones I adore (which you can clearly see from the rating I've given it). I could easily rewatch this at anytime which I used to do anyway >.<
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D-Stage 9: The Witness for the Prosecution [2011]
Starring: Seto Koji, Igarashi Shunji, Yanagishita Tomo, Araki Hirofumi, Hashimoto Taito, Arata Horii, Hirata Atsuko, Arifuku Masashi, Wakasugi Kouji, Takahashi Aimi, Mabuchi Erika
This is the problem child of the D-Stages; due to copyright they couldn't film and released it on DVD so basically, I'm never gunna know what happened, I'm never gunna see this performance in my life and I think it's absolute bollocks that a dead person's work is still copyrighted. I'm very much of the opinion of, once you're dead, your work (especially if you're a writer, I can understand movies because they're company produced you can't use them once, lets say, the director dies because it's the company that owns the product and not the director or producer themselves. and especially when you're work is so famous and worldwide known like Agatha Christie, JRR Tolkien, Shakespeare, HG Wells etc.) is now a sandpit and public domain. We should be able to do whatever the fuck we want with it without this copyright bullshit. So yes, this stage is a sore spot for me. But luckily the boys brought out a discussion type DVD where they talked about the plot and their characters and their favourite scenes so you could in a way imagine what happened in this and obviously you can read the book to get the story as well but... I'll never be able to see Seto and Tomo perform in this and it really pisses me off.
Also, this is the first Mystery stage they produced.
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D-Stage 10: Sabishii Magnet [2011] 8.5/10 for both.
Red Team Starring: Yanagishita Tomo, Seto Koji, Endo Yuya, Araki Hirofumi
Blue Team Starring: Jinnai Sho, Usui Masahiro, Hashimoto Taito, Akutsu Shintarou
There was actually four teams; Red, White, Blue and (I think) Green, so they shuffled the 8 main actors about a bit. I was lucky enough, and crazy enough, to go and see this the first time I went to Japan. I kinda bought the ticket on a whim, bought my flight and went to Japan and watched this and omg it's still one of the best moments of my life and I remember Kaji Masaki came the day I went and he was like 2 rows behind me! I wonder if I wrote a review for that time... *searches* Holy crap I did write a review for that time! =O I'm so surprised at how well I understood that play all those years ago! I saw the White team which was Seto, Tomo, Usui and Taito! Now onto the Red and Blue versions:
Red Team:
I really like how annoying Tomo plays his character and it's very stereotypical of an older man xD obviously seeing Tomo in a fat suit is hilarious for me. Seto keeps biting his lip in this and we all know how this drives me crazy in a good way. Seto (unlike Shintarou) plays the character as more of a strange odd-ball. I really like how much Seto's eyes sparkle during his performance in this. I feel, out of the two version that were filmed, this one is more personal and the four of them are more comfortable with using humour and adlibs on stage a bit more than the Blue team (<< because all the boys are like newbies in that team). Also again with the smoking! Seto this time instead of Tomo! ='[ Seto's death in this is always so quick and impactful and it's just as shocking watching it on DVD as I was when I saw it in person. The tears! xD Seto plays the character in a very chilling way and his performance during his freak out is always breath-taking and amazing but also shit scary to watch, which just proves his skills as an actor. Overall, out of the two, this one is the stronger version, with the more confident actors and because of this, they're able to make a more impactful and hard hitting performance.
Blue Team:
Jinnai takes over Tomo's role in this which suits him very well. Usui takes over Endo's and Taito takes over Araki's which clearly leaves Shintarou to take over Seto's role and Shintarou is no where near Seto's level of performing but he does very good and he definitely makes the character his own and makes him more robotic and/or maybe mentally challenge or with autism compared to Seto who just played him as this weird person. Nevertheless, Shintarou was only like 16 at the time and being able to do such an amazing performance as he did, kudos to him! Just like Seto's, I immensly enjoyed Shintarou's freak out scene and I can still clearly remember it in my head.
For both the versions, I enjoyed the dancing and ballet scenes and the ensemble in general are all amazing and do a great job! The ending is still rather confusing, but it's the true Japanese style ending of; decide for yourself what happened and I always lean towards the 'they did manage to bring him back' ending but others might see it as they're imagining it or they go back in time instead or something completely different. If you watched it, let me know which was you took the ending! Also because of how the stage was set, a few of the actors would slip a little which is alarming BUT no one got hurt so PHEW!
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D-Stage 11: Cool no Tanjyou [2012] 5/10
Starring: Yanagi Kotarou, Suzuki Hiroki, Kaji Masaki, Makita Tetsuya, Mikami Masashi, Yamada Yusuke, Horii Arata, Tawaragi Touta, Mikamo Eriko, Hironaka Maki, Nagai Hideki
I do think this is my least favourite D-Stage which sucks because I love Yanagi and I love Zukki and I love Kaji and I wanna enjoy everything they ever do but this one was just not for me, I was not the target audience for this at all. This one is set in the 60s and it's very much about the mundane life and the daily stress that salarymen experience and it's about them learning to stand up for their boss or be honest about who they love etc. It's not a bad story but for me, who's sick and tired of hearing about salarymen and their woes, it just didn't interest me. Also AGAIN with the smoking! *cries*.
What was good about it though was: everyone looked really good in their suits and it showed their little butts all very well so I have no complaints there xD there's a comedy scene where they've drawn on their stomachs and it's pretty funny. We see even more of Yanagi's condition getting better here and I'm happy with how smmoth his speech and movements have gotten <3 (Yanagi! *cries*) Yanagi's english and italian pronunciation is wonderful too but he is part german or at least was born in germany so he must've been exposed to both language as a child. The music and background music in this is wonderful. And as usual Kaji's performance is on point and not disappointing! I really do like Yanagi's character in this and he's the only one out of the characters who is actually cool xD It was nice seeing Zukki get a romantic line and seeing his character development through the romance.
So yes I clearly have a lot of positives to say about this play but as stated this one just isn't for me in general.
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D-Stage 12: TRUMP Truth and Reverse [2012] 8.5 for Truth and 7 for Reverse
Starring: Nishi Yukito, Mitsuya Ryo, Jinnai Sho, Yamada Yuki, Yamaguchi Kenki, Omi Youichirou, Akutsu Shintarou, Shison Jun, Tsuchiya Shion, Ikeoke Ryousuke, Arai Atsushi, Shiramata Atsushi, Negishi Takuya, Okubo Shoutarou, Maeyama Takahisa, Kamitsuru Toru
This was the first D-Stage the D2Boys did officially as D2Boys and at the time it got a LOT of hate but also a LOT of support. It still goes on now but there is/were this HUGE divide between D-Boys fans and D2Boys fans and D-Boys fans wouldn't recognise the fans or the D2Boys as D-Boys and stuff. It was a crazy time and it still sometimes happens. ESPECIALLY because yesterday (yesterday now being December 13th) I learnt that when Tomo did the after talk for this stage, apparently (I'm hearing two types of stories) he only commented on how visually good it looked and/or he only had criticisms for the boys. Looking and searching for past tweets, it's clear he did mention that the set looked really good but also he talks about Claus and how he'd like to do that role and IkeP mentioned that he thinks he'd suit Petro's role and stuff. SO I'm not really sure what went down but according to me friend 'because of his comments, it became a blood bath' so I can only really rely on my friend's recaption. Unless anyone can point me to fan blogs and fan reviews from that time. It doesn't change my opinion of Tomo if he was a dick and did just sit there criticsing the boys because I'm in it for the long run with Tomo; the good and the bad so I'm not going to just abandon him because of some dick move he possibly pulled - that's just not how a relationship works right? xD
Anyway I've reviewed these two before so check these out TRUTH and Reverse << holy crap it's been like exactly a month since I first watched this!! WAAAH?!?! xD
I love Trump, we all know this xD and I have actually watched the 2015 re-produced (not D-Boys) version and I much prefer the D-Stage version.
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D-Stage 13: Chonganne [2012] 8/10
Starring: Wada Masato, Makita Tetsuya, Hashimoto Taito, Mitsuya Ryo, Omi Yuichirou, Maihane Mimi, Kurosaki Junko and Niira Etsuko
This is the first musical D-Stage did! This was originally a Korean dorama and they took the script, translated it and made it into a stage so that's why the title is so strange and I'm pretty sure they keep all the korean names too. This is about ikemen in a vegetable shop pretty much. I honestly do no remember much else xD
It was nice seeing Wada not play a serious role for once, just like when he did Akibaranger xD You-chan (Youichirou) is totally cute in this too! It's odd seeing Taito with no hair. The songs in this are very good and catchy! I always forget and underestimate how small Mitsuya ISN'T xD especially when he's next to Yukito. Mitsuya has a bad attitude in this which was nice to see him do something other than that fake cute attitude which I really don't like seeing him do. He's typecasted in that type of role too much and it's just boring for me to see now.
This play is ridiculous but it's fun and enjoyable and it looks like the boys are actually enjoying themselves in this! There's some cute moments as well as funny ones. But we do get a lot of backstory and it is emotional and we see You-chan's character's backstory and it's upsetting and like everyone cries.
A little negative is how SMALL the cast of D-Boys but then again there were only like 4 D-Boys in Sabishii Magnet and then a crap ton of ensemble so thinking back, I shouldn't really complain but I do prefer when it's a big group of them like in Trump or Karasu and there's really just them and no (how do I say this) 'outsiders' xD Also I didn't like the woman in this but what's new xD
Entertaining but (according to my notes) the story wasn't strong enough and felt like it had some holes in it.
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We are finally at the last one!!! This took me like two days to write xD
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D-Stage 14: Twelth Night [2013] 8-9/10
Starring: Arai Atsushi, Mikami Tetsuya, Ikeoke Ryousuke, Arai Atsushi, Kaji Masaki, Suzuki Hiroki, Jinnai Sho, Yamada Yusuke, Omi Youichiro, Yamaguchi Kenki, Tsubokura Yoshiyuki and Mickey Kachisu
This is their second Shakespeare play and just like the first one it was hilarious, enjoyable, did not disappoint and I could easily watch it over and over. It's very similar to the first one too, but that could just be Shakespeare uses the same elements over and over again such as 'male actors crossdressing as females who then pretend to be males' as well as 'love at first sight' and hyperbole.
The weakest part of this was Arai but I think that's just me not liking him in general as an actor, I've never been impressed with him and luckily his role is actually short in this. You-chan's character in this on the other hand is, while a small role, he's so great and funny! Definitely a role we've never seen him do before.
Usui playing a woman again is always appreciated <3 you can really tell what kind of acting career Usui has always aimed for even through seeing him do this. He's always been of a person who wants to do the more proper, historical, upper-end, broadway type compared to the 2.5 theatre like MaeChan and Mitsuya, or the smaller stuff like Tomo does.
Zukki's character in this is hilarious and those yellow leggings were a character all by themselves. Once again Kaji proves he's the master of comedy and his character is great. Seeing IkeP crossdress was a surprise and a nice one and hearing his voice NOT being deep and such was a complete surprise at first. I think he did a great job in the female role BUT I'm a little upset at how small his stage time was in this! I hope he gets more stage time in future DStages (like in the one coming up in February!).
And in true D-Stage Shakespeare style we got kiss scenes! <3 IkeP's kiss scene was hilarious and much appreciated.
Kenki does a lot of random roles in this and I liked seeing him change between the roles. Also Jinnai playing the singer and/or musician was nice and we got to hear him sing <3 we all know I enjoy Jinnai's voice and I also enjoy it when he sings!
I have one more negative comment in my notes which is: I wish Usui and Mikami's characters and relationship had been developed more in the beginning of the stage because the romance feels like it jumps out of no where.
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Holy moly I did it!! I hope you enjoyed the reviews that you did read and I'll be thoroughly surprised if you sat and read every single one of them!
**Seriously take a shot everytime I say enjoy, enjoyable, hilarious, also, and funny in these reviews. I need to expand my vocabulary right?!
Like I said I wanna rewatch them all and hopefully be a bit more analytical and more coherent with everything except how great they all look xD
It might be obvious from the ratings BUT if you would like to see a D-Stage ranking from me then please let me know below! I'm off to eat lunch now.