(More About) PLAYZONE in NISSAY
WELCOME TO A LONG REVIEW OF PLAYZONE IN NISSAY 2014. :D
[DISCLAIMER: I spent most of the show focused on Tsubasa and 4U. When they weren't onstage, I was either watching Yara or Yamaryo. Aaand that pretty much covers the full spectrum of my attention. :D]
1.【ROAD TO PLAYZONE】➝ You & Me & Who?
CON: "ROAD TO PLAYZONE" is such a strong opener, and I don't think Y&M&W has quite the same punch.
PRO: Tsubasa's hot and 4U are awesome.
CONCLUSION: *wobbly hand of meh*
2. 仮面舞踏会
I should take this moment to mention that I spent the first six numbers happily bobbing along in a state of general enjoyment. Nothing in the first six numbers changed much from the summer except for the removal of "ROAD TO PLAYZONE" (booooo) so I don't have many new things to say. Yay, dancing!
3. ケジメなさい
I disapprove of this number because Tsubasa had a sleeveless shirt on and then this number required him to wear a jacket and it was overall a very traumatic time for those of us who were forcibly separated from the sight of his bare arms.
(See? I have almost literally no things to say here.)
4. ハッとして！Good
Kosshi and Fuku-chan were really cute in this. Forewarning: lots of Fuku-chan to be seen in this report from now on. He is wonder and smiles and I adore him. :D Moving on!
5. 100%…SOかもね！
The other half of 4U! Matsu and Tatsumi got equally amounts of attention because they're so much fun to watch. Matsu's "BAM BAM BAM" fist pumps were really cute and Tatsumi generally had really entertaining facial expressions most of the time. ♥
6. LOVE YOU ONLY
Looove this song, so even though I didn't know anyone exceeept Eda? I think? I've still listened to the song on the soundtrack a lot. And as a result, even though there wasn't much in the number itself that stood out to me, it was a good choice of song and they did well performing it.
TOKIO is love. :D
7. 【どーしようもない】➝ どうなってもいい〜It’s BAD
Welcome to my thesis on why this number nearly killed me dead.
Like I said in my last post, I'm thrilled that this number made a return because good glorious fuck it was amazing. I love Tsubasa, and I'll watch him in anything and feel more or less content no matter what he does, but I was a little disappointed that he hasn't really been showcasing his dancing. He's had a few ballads that show he can sing, but I've been craving something more challenging from him, on par with what he's done in T&T cons or his solo tours or, most recently, Burn the Floor.
So this number was enormously welcome.
It's a shame "どーしようもない" is gone because I loved Yuma in that, but I can't feel too sad because I have very little room for anything but O____O-type feelings.
So!
luin_lote (hereafter: E) saw the show before me, and she told me, "I want to hear what you think of his new solo!"
I thought, "New solo! *NOISES*"
I talked to a few of my Japanese friends who confirmed that, yes, it was marvelous, and YES, I would enjoy it tremendously.
Then I asked lovespiral (hereafter: M), "How's his new solo?"
M frowned at me. "There's no new solo."
"There...isn't?"
"...No?"
"But..." I shrugged it off and forgot all about it until we walked into the theater the next day with farsju (hereafter: J).
The show ran through the first six numbers, and then the lights started to flicker and the music changed and M started whacking my arm urgently. I took her hand and thought, Why is there urgent handholding occurring? I thought there was no solo? Then Tsubasa walked to the center of the stage wearing the sexy white outfit and I thought, Ah, and squeezed the fuck out of M's hand.
Then, because I was already holding onto M with my right hand, I crossed my left arm over and grabbed onto J's hand, too.
Basically, every time Tsubasa did anything vaguely sexual (and good glorious fuck there was a lot of that that wasn't even remotely vague, like the moaning and gasping during "It's BAD"), I had to express my feelings about it by breaking the limbs of my friends.
M explained at intermission that, "No wonder I didn't remember it. It was way too hot to remember."
Which sums it up well. *___*
Also, I'm stupidly (one could legitimately say violently) proud of him.
One really excellent thing about Playzone is it gave me the opportunity to see all the little defining earmarks of his dancing style. The way he moves is just incredibly sinuous and graceful, and, like I said to M, nearly everything he does is sensual in some way. He has total command over his body, and it's clear he's become very, very comfortable with himself physically. It makes every hip roll and turn look effortless, even though it's well-established that he puts himself through rigorous rehearsals, even to the point of renting out his own space to continue on his own after the company rehearsal is finished.
I wasn't too bothered about getting a DVD until I saw this number, and now I desire it with the urgency of a billion fiery flames.
In essence: Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn it, Tsubasa.
8. 水の帰る場所
This is still a beautiful number. Yuma's voice is gorgeous, and Yara's choreography is sinuous and graceful.
I love the mirrored moments and whereas this summer I wondered if maybe Yuma and Yara were meant to be two friends, now I wonder if Yuma was meant to be something more like Yara's subconscious. Either way, the number is really intriguing and well-executed and it's a close second for my favorite Yara number (after "チャージ").
9. 愛・革命
Now, I love Tsubasa (I think I've mentioned that once or twice), but this number is pretty much just called "Spinny Chariot Time" in my head. I know he dances, and I was actually much more into the number this time around, but mostly it just amuses me because Tsubasa has a team of Juniors pushing him around on a golden staircase like he's the Prince of Stairs.
That stupid staircase blinded the fuck out of me a couple of times, too. XD
I do love that Tsubasa keeps taking Takki's solos and reinventing them. He's done it at his solo concerts (during one tour, he said that he never bothers asking Takki if he can sing his solos, he just goes right on ahead and does it because "what's his is mine") and it's deeply entertaining to see him doing it at PZ now, too.
Ah, also! I skimmed his message in the pamphlet (with farsju) and I was surprised to see him mention his fall from 2007. Basically, during the very beginning of the first performance of The World Wing Premium in 2007 (also in NISSAY Theater), he tripped on the staircase. His leg buckled and folded underneath him as he fell down the stairs, and he ended up badly injuring his leg. But he finished the show, even though fans who were there said it looked brutally painful for him. In the pamphlet, he said he'd be very careful on the stairs this time.
(Cute side note: that was also the year T&T hosted 24 Hour TV, and Tsubasa talked about how Takki "ran to [his] side" when he was hurt. Takki rented a limousine for an hour and took Tsubasa for a drive around the city either before or after a performance. ♥)
He didn't fall this time. \:D/
10. まいったネ 今夜
Confession: Tsubasa could probably sit on the stage and sway back and forth to any song in the world and I'd let it go with a fond shake of the head. I'd probably even enjoy it, because the PV for "約束~World Wing" is Tsubasa walking in grayscale for four minutes and it's practically my favorite thing. (I mean...he also has long hair in that PV. It's been well-established that that's my kryptonite, so I never really had a chance there.)
So! This number was decent. I'm not a fan of the song, but I've always been mostly indifferent to jazzy music. Yara's cute, and I always like the little gorilla arm-swing thing he does across the stage. It's a shame I wasn't really into his songs this time around, because I love watching the man dance when it's a song I'm into (see: "チャージ" ...but one should always see "チャージ" because unf).
Aaand now the confession comes into play because I like the number a lot better when the curtain lifts and Tsubasa joins in. XD Me oh my, is that an unfair bias prancing onto the stage? I believe it is! :D
So yes, I don't like the song, the number's fair, and then it becomes immeasurably more enjoyable for me personally because Tsubasa is in a suit and adding his own flourishing touches everywhere and making the dance far more sultry than it has any right to be.
10½. SKIT
ACTING HAS RETURNED TO PLAYZONE!
I remember an interview with Tsubasa when he joined the cast of PZ where he basically went, "Acting in PZ? Hee, fuck that from now on. DANCE. EVERYONE WILL DANCE ALL THE TIME. FUCK ALL THE ACTING IN THE WORLD AHAHA."
I have two guesses as to why the acting has returned: A) they wanted to add new material for the winter run but they didn't have Travis or Stacy and didn't/couldn't add new songs/routines without them, and B) they added it in while Tsubasa was vampire-ing in his oxygen chamber.
And I'm glad they did! Because it's a great addition.
The skit begins just after まいったネ 今夜 has ended. Tatsumi the Waiter and Matsu the Barkeep are cleaning up the club. I will say now that 4U are my lords and saviors of comedy and I love them relentlessly. The four of them are brilliant with comedic timing and they made this skit incredibly fun to watch. I love them. Oh, how I love them. \(♥ ▽ ♥)/
So Yara walks up to the bar and every performance he makes a different pun on what drink he orders. The only one I remember was "gin and tonic, but not the Akanishi kind of Jin," which was clever and made me grin.
Tatsumi is all fanboy-y and asks Yara, "You were here ten years ago, right?" and Yara says something like, "Yep. Tried to make it in the big leagues but I didn't, so..." He brightens up a bit and asks, "Did you see a woman here tonight?" and Tatsumi says he didn't, which makes Happy Puppy Yara sad and say, "Oh," all dejected.
It turns out, Yara met a lady at this club years ago and she promised to meet him in ten years at midnight after he came back from his career-advancing stint in America.
"And that's...tonight?" Tatsumi guesses.
Yara confirms this is so.
A different waiter runs up to Yara and tells him, "I saw a lady!" and Yara goes, "!!! YOU DID?" The boy nods eagerly and says, "Yeah! She was with a guy!" and his friend in the background goes, "Dude, tact." The boy goes, ".....Oops," because now Yara is especially sadfaced and mopey.
He takes a seat at a little table and nurses his drink while the clock is ticks. I usually took this time to watch Fuku-chan and Matsu over at the bar. Typically Fuku-chan sits down on a stool and silently orders a drink, and Matsu gives him one. One night, though, Fuku-chan decided to be cheeky and gave the drink back with a look of supreme displeasure. Matsu blinked at him, "filled up" another one and handed it back, and Fuku-chan made a long-suffering expression and downed it with a frownyface.
So! Midnight comes and passes and no lady arrives. Yara sighs and starts to leave, but!
Matsu hurries over and gives Yara one more drink on the house. This one's going to help Yara's good fortune, he says, because Matsu is made of magic. Yara downs it, grimaces, and leaves.
As he steps out onto the street, Yamaryo bounds up to him and says, "Hey! Are you that dude from ten years ago?" and Yara, thinking this guy is his competition, is all surly and bitchy at him.
Then Yamaryo says, "Um, my sister is waiting for you, asshole."
Yara connects the puzzle pieces aloud: "She...sister...you...not...EHEHEHEHEHHHHHH?" He was trying just slightly too hard with the overblown reaction for it to be funny, but then right on the heels of the crow of disbelief, he crowds right up in Yamaryo's face and takes his hands in his and gushes, "Nice to meetchu!" in really adorably-accented English. One day I went, he got so close to Yamaryo's face it legitimately looked like he was about to tongue-kiss him on the spot. You immediately knew where every single Yara/Yamaryo shipper in the audience was, because they all cooed together as one.
It was amusing enough, but then as he was trying to recite his next line, Yamaryo almost started laughing and the audience broke into highly entertained applause. It was super cute.
So yes, then Yamaryo's like, "Follow me to the land of female affection!" and Yara runs offstage after him.
11. STAR LIGHT
Roller skates! Fun! 4U! Fuku-chan probably should have been wearing a helmet! :D
I'm actually very, very impressed they all did as well with the skating as they did, because skating to choreography looks very challenging. And I'm only poking fun at Fuku-chan because he's my favorite, so I tend to focus most on him. In two of the shows I saw, there's a point in the song where they have to dip low and both times, Fuku-chan nearly lost his balance and went a-tumblin' onto his head. He caught himself, though, and even made it look sort of graceful once. It reminded me of the Playzone where Yamaryo kept screwing up part of a number over and over again and finally nailed it and looked so violently proud of himself I swore he was about to jump up and down and scream, "VICTORY," at the top of his lungs.
12. パラダイス銀河
This part has MORE Fuku-chan observations! :D
At the beginning of the song, he does this head twitch thing that amused me and lovespiral so much we kept imitating it for our own amusement after the show.
Also! Cute thing: he and Tatsumi had a really cute moment. During the part when the triangles are pushed together into a square and 4U are standing at the top spinning around, Fuku-chan always spreads his arms out wide and Tatsumi puts one arm out and presses his palm against Fuku-chan's. One night, I was watching them thinking "aww" and then Tatsumi laced their fingers together and held his hand for a while until they stepped down off their spinning pedestal.
They really are revoltingly wonderful. ♥
13. 【アンダルシアに憧れて】➝ What’s your name?
I remember two things about this number: 1) Tsubasa grabs his crotch, 2) one night, he wouldn't let go of his crotch.
It was beautiful.
- ACT II -
14. 情熱の一夜
Welcome to the I-Love-Watching-Fuku-chan-Dance segment! :D
I love the costumes, I love 4U, I love the "We don't know what's goin' on" hand shake that always reads to me like, "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON." This is an excellent number. Fuku-chan is fucking adorable. :D
15. 青春アミーゴ
I...still think this is a bizarre choice of duo, but that's mainly because "青春アミーゴ" for me has always been a song about close bonds and Tsubasa and Yuma don't really interact with each other much during the performance. I thought the version they did in 2012 with Yuma and Eda was more solid.
I know Tsubasa's incredibly fond of Yuma, so it's not so much that it's lacking that feeling of deep friendship, but it's more..."青春アミーゴ" was originally sung by Kame and Yamapi about the friendship between Shuuji and Akira (and arguably Nobuta, but since the PV is about the two pigs...this is getting off-track), and it's always struck me as a song about an equal-footing friendship, so to see such a distinct senpai/kouhai take on it was...odd? I didn't dislike it, but I think it might've worked better with Tsubasa and Yara, or Yuma and Eda again.
But Tsubasa jumps on the cubes a lot and his shirt flies up and you can see his stomach, so it's still a pretty great number. A+, I say.
16. HONEY BEAT
Everything is awesome here. I mostly just watch Yamaryo because his dancing is so fluid and fascinating, but it's coupled with a great song and really cute choreography. Also, the light-y sticks are fantastic, and I wish to put them all over my room and make it into a huge neon cube of brightness.
17. ズッコケ男道
Like I've said before, this was a daring choice because it's veeery, very distinctly Kanjani styled and it'd be veeery, very easy to fuck this one up. And I still very much think they picked Yuma to sing this because he's from Kansai, which is amusing on its own, but he also does really well with it! He's not goofy, but I don't think he has to be. If he had tried that route, it would've been forced, so it was fun to just see him have his little moments of being silly while he waved to the crowd and everyone else ran around high-fiving the audience members.
18. A・RA・SHI
I was singing this for days this month purely because of 4U. I'm a little sad they didn't have their little WHERE'S MATSU? and Matsu's I'M UP HERE YOU CAN'T START WITHOUT ME HA HA! and Tatsumi's little, lol yes we can, and Matsu's NO NO SHIT I'M SORRY WAIT FOR ME GUYS WAAAAAaaaaaiiiiiiiit~ part, but whatever, 4U have reached the level with me where they can also just sit on the stage swaying to music for four minutes and I'll happily watch and applaud like mad when they're finished.
I love their dancing. And them. *___* Tatsumi, Matsu, Kosshi, Fuku-chan...all of them. They're just fantastic. Ugh. UGH, I SAY.
19. 青いイナズマ
HAMMER PANTS!
I appear to be the only person alive who is fervently, enthusiastically devoted to the continuation of those pants on Tsubasa's body.
Because HAMMER PANTS. They're all shiny and flowy and he looks like the Eighties exploded onto him and it's amazing.
So! Other things! I do love Yara, but I have no idea what he's up to because he was not wearing hammer pants plus I had nine Tsubasas onstage to keep track of: the blond one in real time and the hall-of-mirrors-black-haired-Tsubasas behind him. Also, it's really, really cute transitioning between Serious, Sexy Tsubasa on the screens down to beaming, giggly dancing Tsubasa onstage. He couldn't be cuter if he tried, seriously.
...Nah, he probably could.
19½. SKIT
As Hammer Pants Time ends, a school bell goes off and Yara and Tsubasa are like, "HOW BOUT A TALL GLASS OF NOPE, NOT GONNA DRESS UP AS SCHOOLBOYS ANYMORE, BAI BAI." As they run offstage, Tsubasa'd yell something different every night. At least twice he said, "I'M RECORDING WITH TAKIZAWA TODAY~!" and then another time he said something like, "TATSUMI, DO SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT ARASHI~!" and so Tatsumi walks out onstage to introduce the sketch and he's like....*MONOMANE ABOUT ARASHI!* that was really amusing.
So!
This skit is my favorite non-dancing part of the show. The first skit was cute, but this one was all-out hilarious and exactly what I didn't even know I was missing from my life, and even if Tsubasa stops doing Playzone at some point, as long as 4U are still doing it, I will totally go back to see them. ♥
So! The skit was very, very long, so a brief summary iiis:
Most of the cast who aren't Yara or Tsubasa are schoolboys and they're all wearing black uniform jackets over the unfortunate sweatsuits they wear for "よく遊びよく学べ." Their teacher introduces the new student, Yuma, who's wearing a giant 弟 necklace. The boys are like, "What's that?" and Yuma melodramatically wails that it's part of a matching set, the other one belonging to his older brother.
While Yuma's on his knees weeping on account of his tragic backstory, the other boys puzzle something out.
"Doesn't Fuku-chan have a similar necklace?" someone wonders.
Tatsumi gasps. "That's right! So...that means..."
"Yes!" the boys chorus.
"That Yuma..."
"Yes!"
"Is Fuku-chan's..."
"Yes!"
"Son!?"
Many tsukkomi'ing ensues. Tatsumi's always so bright and happy about making the connection, it's hilarious. I love that boy's comedic timing.
Anyway - this was going to be short, why am I summarizing 90% of this all of a sudden what IS THIS POWER YOU HAVE OVER ME 4U - Fuku-chan jogs in, has some laughs with the audience, then runs onto the stage and bellows, "SAFE!" and the teacher yells, "OUT. As you are late."
Then! Fuku-chan and Yuma spot each other and a spotlight slams on accompanied by a thick backdrop of heartbeats. The tone changes were what made this skit really funny.
...Lemme skip ahead to my favorite bit, because I'm still fuzzy on the story.
Fuku-chan storms out, accompanied by most of the class, leaving Yuma behind with Matsu and the teacher. The teacher's like, "Ugh, you two wait here while I deal with this mess," and runs out after the class.
Matsu, in glasses, sitting very, very still and smiling creepily straight out at the audience, veeery slowly turns his head to the side and his creepy smile edges up at the corners.
"Yuuuma," he sings.
The audience giggles.
Yuma looks at him, frowning in concern.
Matsu raises his hand and wiggles his fingers.
Audience laughs harder.
Matsu lowers his hand and continues his smile rampage. "Can I move closer?"
Yuma winces, conflicted, and Matsu takes his hesitation for agreeing and rolls his chair closer with one solid push of his foot off the stage. The side of his desk slides directly against the side of Yuma's and Yuma grimaces even more unhappily while Matsu beams even harder at him.
The first time I saw the show, I was crying trying not to laugh too loud.
The rest of the skit has a quiz and then a show-down and a lot of puns, but those were my favorite moments above, so moving on to!
20. よく遊びよく学べ
This number is really cute, and I love the song, so it's just pure happy feelings from start to finish. I'm really, really fond of Yuma, too, and obviously 4U's got my heart in a stranglehold, so I was in a happy bubble of bouncing and happy-ing everywhere.
My favorite bit is Fuku-chan lying back on his arms and beaming up at Yuma and Yuma grinning back at him because Fuku-chan's smile is just so damn endearing and sweet, it's like Yuma can't resist smiling back at him every time.
21. フラワー
Aside from Dangerous-to-the-Continued-Unbroken-State-of-My-Friends'-Delicate-Hand-Bones (AKA "どうなってもいい〜It’s BAD"), "フラワー" is my favorite number of the whole show (now that Guys PLAYZONE is gone, that is).
First of all! Cute recurring part!
As 4U were running offstage and Tsubasa was walking onstage for "フラワー," Tsubasa usually gave them each a high five and a bright smile. Except when Matsu ran up to him, in which case he would pretend not to see him. Often by ducking his head underneath Matsu's arm entirely and looking everywhere in the entire theater except at him. Matsu usually took the rejection well, by flailing his arm and looking robbed of breath as he stumbled offstage. Every performance it got slightly more emphatic and the audience found it thoroughly amusing.
And then, Tsubasa sings the opening. Whiiich is gorgeous, and he does it so earnestly because it's a KinKi song and he looks so enthusiastic about covering it and aaaaagh, I love "フラワー."
When he finishes, 4U and some others return to the stage. Matsu takes the opportunity to run along the front aisle to the center stage where Tsubasa's standing and try to get a high five from him again. The most amusing night was when Tsubasa kept turning his head to look at the cloud backdrop behind him with fervent interest. And then he'd look front again and Matsu would jump up and down waving desperately and Tsubasa would keep looking back at the clouds with a bright, oblivious smile.
The bond between 4U and Tsubasa is a beautiful thing. XD
22. お祭り忍者
I call this number Murder-y Octopus Wizard in my head because...what in the good glorious rainbow fuck. XD There is a wizard on a murder rampage and he happens to be an octopus. That is what happens in this number, I swear on Tsubasa's hammer pants.
Basically, Yara's got a bondage belt on with...stretchy yellow...cords... And he's in a white, streaked-with-the-blood-of-his-enemies costume. And...he's...controlling the Juniors? With his...tentacles...? And also it's a festival for some reason.
I didn't like the song either, so I spent most of the number imagining scenarios for Yara the Murder-y Octopus Wizard and his nemesis, The Sky Hook. It was actually pretty fun during the live performances, but it's not a number I'm going to watch again and again like, say, "イマジン〜" or "チャージ."
But hey, on the bright side, I now have a fully-functional awesome-o-meter for Yara. On one end: "チャージ." On the other: Murder-y Octopus Wizard.
23. 【星屑のスパンコール】➝ 想 SOH
Gorgeous song.
My one negative is the part where Tsubasa and Yuma sing their duet together. In the 2010 version, Tsubasa sings that same part alone and he sounds fine, and he and Yuma sounded fine this time in "青春アミーゴ," so I think the problem lies in the key they're having the two of them sing in. It sounded a little off-key or too flat - I can't put my finger on it. Or it's actually totally fine and Murder-y Octopus Wizard just put a curse on my ears.
Anyway!
24. 【Guys PLAYZONE・Liar】➝ パーティーが終わっても
Removing "Guys PLAYZONE" was also really sad for me, so I have pretty much the same whiny complaint as earlier. "パーティーが終わっても" itself is fine. It's cute, and they do sing the chorus of "Guys PLAYZONE" but they're in suits and it's not the whole song and stubborn noises rabble rabble rabble rabble.
On the plus side, I was never that much into "Liar" where they walk down the staircase, so I didn't mind that change.
And now a cute thing:
This number starts with their new jungle gym/hamster cage rising out of the bottom of the stage, and every time Tsubasa was doing something amusing. One time, he had his arms folded and was scowling down at a Junior looking up at him like a sad puppy. Another time he was standing frozen behind Matsu and we didn't know what he was doing (if anything) until he let go of Matsu's suspenders and Matsu went JEBJWHBEJ and collapsed a bit and acted generally like he was dying and Tsubasa giggled and I love Matsu's unending abuse at Tsubasa's hands, and I strongly suspect Matsu does also.
Introductions, bowing, clapping, audience standing, more clapping, singing along, curtain down, end!
SHORT REPORT COMPLETE. :D/