Johnnys' World Takizawa Kakumei version - Tokyo - January 4, 2013
I can't believe I finally managed to get all the bits and pieces of this report collected and combined, as well as scanning all my photos and putting together the setlist and all. But here it is now, the report from Johnnys' World 2012-2013, the Takizawa Kakumei version!
Act 1
My seat was very good, some ten rows from the stage on the right-hand side. While we waited for the show to start, there was a video on the screen in front of us, showing a turning Earth. In front of it to the left it said "JOHNNYS' World" and to the right there was the logo of Guinness World Records, with the text "Most no 1 singles produced by one person", "Most concerts produced by one person" and "The most no 1 acts produced by one person".
A woman entered the room and a small junior got to fly with her above the audience, and at one point she "almost dropped" him.
Then the first song Put On A Happy Face started and Hey! Say! JUMP came dancing down the stairs on the stage. The setting looked very Roman, and they were dressed in white and gold clothes. The song was very Broadway-ish and the dance similar, with sticks in their hands and all. Halfway into the song, Yamada came flying above us! Chinen was flying above the left-hand side. But Yamada really came flying almost right above me! So close! Then he hit something on the stage and fell down on the ground. He started arguing with the "producer" (Yabu) that this was too dangerous. But Yabu just told him that he has to continue, the show must go on.
Yabu entered the stage, he was dressed in a black suit and looked so handsome! He also started flying - and then there was a water curtain at the front of the stage, and Yabu flew right through it, over and over again! The people in the front row had been given protection plastic sheets in advance, or they would have gotten really wet. Yabu did get really wet... Even when he was dancing on the stage instead of flying, the water cascaded around him!
A.B.C-Z was introduced to the background music of ダッタン人の踊り. First there was only Hasshi, and he was dancing for a bit. Then they did some kind of magic trick, where the rest of the group appeared out of thin air on a table placed in the middle of the stage. I think it was during this song that the background dancers wore clothes that were partially glowing in the dark.
Then Yuma was introduced! He came dancing down the stairs in black and white clothes, some juniors dancing behind him. The music was so powerful, and Yuma looked so cool! I was so happy to get to see him live again, the last time being PLAYZONE half a year earlier.
It was time for JUMP Band! Maybe half of Hey! Say! JUMP entered the stage, on top of a big cart rolling across the stage. Hikaru was playing the bass, Keito the guitar, Yuto the drums, Yamada the saxophone... Then I think Daiki played the trumpet but I'm not sure. And the guy playing the keyboard I found out later was Ishigaki Daisuke. They played really well! Below them on the stage there were many juniors dancing, and 8 of them danced in pairs where one in each pair was sitting on the other person's shoulders, and they had a wide piece of cloth in front of them, creating a fun effect.
Then everyone appeared on stage, dressed in red shiny clothes. Really キラキラ! They were singing NOT ENOUGH, and there were juniors dancing all over the theatre in every aisle. But all I could see was Yamada dancing on the stage in front of me... I did however get a photo of Daiki too because he was so cute! The song became one of my favorites, it's just so ... good! I really love it.
After that, there was a very short skit, where Yabu the Producer was talking about the show he was setting up, or something like that. Then he started flying again! There was a screen at the front of the stage, going all the way up to the ceiling, and he was pretending to be running up that screen in slowmotion. There were two smaller guys, one on each side of him, doing the same. At the time I couldn't see who they were (it was dark in the room and next to Yabu pretty much anyone looks tiny), but I've read reports saying they were Chinen and Daiki. On the screen there was a video that was kinda disturbing to look at, it was like flying through a...city landscape if I remember correctly (I didn't write down that detail), but it was changing all the time, very rapidly. That's the impression I've got in my memory anyway. At the same time, four of A.B.C-Z were flying in rings above the audience. Kawai was flying right behind me to the right, and I kept turning my head around. I wanted to see Kawai who was turning round and round in the ring behind me, and I also wanted to see Yabu who was hanging from the ceiling in front of me. Tough situation!
Next was a short introduction of the upcoming section, by Yamada. He was talking about how there have been many incidents throughout human history, and now they will guide us through the 12 months of the year and some of the incidents which have occured in the past. The section started with Yamada, Hasshi and Yuma singing a song about how there are 12 months in 1 year, but I don't know the name of the song. It was a pretty good song, though, and the voices of these three blended well together. Yuma stood right in front of me, Yamada in the middle and Hasshi on the far left of the stage. But at the end of the song they joined in the center of the stage.
First, they illustrated the month of January. Hey! Say! JUMP entered, dressed in these amazing origami-kinda-looking clothes. I can't really describe them, but they're just beautiful and colorful and amazing. JUMP wore them in SUMMARY 2011 as well. All the members were standing in a row, playing taiko drums. So cool! There was some light shining on the drums, I think? And there was water on them, so each time they hit the drums, the water splashed and the water was kind of shining. I sat there watching with my jaw dropped, it was amazing to see! And all around them in the junior mansions there were hundreds of juniors dancing and playing the shamisen.
A.B.C-Z illustrated the month of februari, singing 雅～Miyabi～ and doing a very impressing dance number. When they entered the stage, they wore beautiful cloaky clothes and masks on their faces. They danced for a bit, then some juniors came and pulled the clothes off of them, and underneath they had just as beautiful clothes but in their respective band colors. Kawai looked very pretty in dark violet. They were doing this dance with huge foldable fans and parasols. And then, they picked up a box with some kind of shiny wide....something that was folded almost in an accordion-like way, and they held one end and let the other end fall into a box in the hands of a junior sitting beneath them. It's difficult to describe, but I have a photo.
After this part, the juniors pulled the clothes off of them again, and now they had very simple neon clothes underneath. They danced around singing, I think two of them did some acrobatics in the air. Hasshi ran to the back and reappeared in several layers of costumes and several layers of face masks, and while dancing he removed them layer by layer until he just had one layer of costume and the last masks in his hands. It looked very cool!
Illustrating the month of March was Hey! Say! JUMP. And oh my god, this song! 百花繚乱. Love it! I need this on a CD! Can't even begin to describe just how much I love it. Definitely one of the.best.songs.ever. They were dressed in light pink clothes (pretty!!) and appeared on top of the stairs. They all had this cloak-like piece of cloth behind them, pink with flowers, and they walked so close to each other that it seemed as if they were all under the same piece of cloth. Then they walked down the stairs and there were female dancers flying in rings above the stage at the beginning of the song. Then they disappeared, and Daiki got to fly in a cube above the stage. The cube was decorated with pink flowers, and it was big enough for him to stand in (or rather, he's small enough to fit in it...), and he did some kind of dance inside the cube while flying. On the stage, there were two guys juggling with similar cubes. It looked easy, but the truth is it's really difficult, so I'm very impressed.
When it was time to illustrate the month of April, they chose to tell the story of Titanic, which sank in April. It was very beautifully done. They created an illusion of the front of a ship on the left side of the stage, and on top of it stood Yabu. Goseki and a chibi junior were standing on the ground while someone told the history of Titanic, they quickly illustrated the sinking, and Yabu was singing My Heart Will Go On - in English - together with the chibi junior who had such a high clear voice. Listening to them singing this song made me all teary-eyed because it was so beautiful. I love the song, and having Yabu sing it was, like, perfect. Definitely a highlight of the show.
For the month of May, they illustrated the Hindenburg accident. One of them acted as a reporter (I've read somewhere that it was Kawai, but don't take my word for it), and while the airship was on fire, Yamada was flying around above the stage. There was a short recitation in Japanese, but then Keito translated it into English as well. He said something along the lines that everyone is destined to die at some point, but there will be new people to inherit the world, and we should all cherish the time we have been given to spend with each other. There was a short part of a song here, that was soooo beautiful, but I have no idea what it's called. It's mentioned here and there as 高木の歌.
Illustrating the month of June was Yuma, with Hasshi as backup. I got all emotional during this song, because he sang 君とMilky Way which is one of my favorite songs. So beautiful! And Yuma stood there dressed in black, singing with an emotional voice. Behind him was Hasshi dressed in white, and some kind of figure with a bridal veil, representing his (presumably deceased) bride. Hasshi also sang some parts of the song. Ishigaki was playing the piano.
Then there was a medley with summer feeling of three songs, a tribute to the composer Hattori Ryoichi: 胸の振り子, 青い山脈 and 買い物ブギー. During the first of the three, I remember four juniors were dancing around Hasshi. But I don't really remember anything else from this part of the show, and I didn't take any notes... However, there was a time during the show when a group of juniors were rollerskating, and it just has to be during this medley. There was one chibi guy who was so cute! They were rollerskating in pairs, chibi guys with older guys, and the younger one was going to go through the legs of the older guy and then back again, This chibi guy who I'd put my eyes on, he was in front of me and he looked so uncertain and doubtful! As if he thought he wouldn't be able to make it through the whole trick, but then when he did it he looked so happy! That was really cute!
The next song is also a song that I love, Beautiful Night. It's just a great song, and at the end of it there were people tap dancing. Cool!
Keito introduced the next song in English. It was Yamada singing Where My Heart Belongs, and oh my god, feelings! I still get way too emotional every time I hear this song, because I remember this performance so well. The song itself is good, but this performance was over the top. Yamada was sitting in a ring above the front of the stage, in front of me. Right.in.front.of.me. There was this spotlight shining on him, and he looked so calm the whole time he was singing. During the song, they moved the ring from the right side of the stage towards the center of it.
And all the time, Chinen was dancing alone beneath him on the stage. He was very smartly dressed in black with an open silvery grey shirt. Before I went to this show, I hadn't really payed much attention to Chinen, I have to admit that. Even in NYC, I payed more attention to Yuma and Yamada all the time... But now, when I got to see him dancing on his own, all alone, he amazed me. He really is a great dancer! This dance had some ballet influences and it was very elegant. Perfectly fitting the song by Yamada.
Then at the end of the song, the tempo got faster, more upbeat. The rest of JUMP joined Yamada and Chinen, and behind them came A.B.C-Z in their huge star-shaped wheel. They went around and around, and it never ceases to amaze me how they can do that so fast and for so long without showing signs of getting dizzy!
MC time! With Hey! Say! JUMP and A.B.C-Z only. They all wished the audience a happy new year, and then they chatted about this and that. I didn't manage to catch everything they said, but they mentioned the A.B.C-Z tour later in the year, the Johnnys' World Thanksgiving shows, and the drama 金田一少年の事件簿 for which Yamada sings the theme song. Yamada mentioned that the single would be on-sale in a few more days.
Somewhere in the middle of the MC, Yamada disappeared from the stage to change clothes. When he returned he was much more casually dressed than the rest of them, but those were still no cheap clothes... Like that nice leather jacket and the belt... He performed ミステリー ヴァージン with A.B.C-Z as backdancers - they looked very nice in shiny white and grey clothes. I still remember how happy I was to see this song being performed live even before it was released as a single! I had seen it on TV already and loved it. I also thought it was a fun opportunity for Yamada to do something on his own. In my opinion he's also a great dancer, and I was so happy to get to see this performance!
Then there was some kind of outro, where someone talked about how there are always going to be disasters and incidents happening, caused by humans or caused by Mother Nature, but we should all try to take care of the Earth.
The last song of the first act was Let's go to Earth. The first part was sung by Hey! Say! JUMP, but then they went off the stage to change clothes, and A.B.C-Z entered dressed in white. Now the song was more upbeat, and juniors also filled the stage. JUMP re-appeared at the top of the stairs, and they all finished the song together. There was also a video behind them, if I remember correctly, with other JE idols singing too. Takki, Koichi and Kamenashi of course, since they were the supporters of this show, and then many others, like members of Kisumai, Yamapi, and so on.
Well, that's act 1! Yamada thanked us for watching, and explained that act 2 would be a special version of Takizawa Kakumei.
Act 2
The Takizawa Kakumei part of the show opened with the water curtain. And what a water curtain! The water was shooting into the air in different levels, different patterns... it was just so cool! And Takki came dancing down the stairs, singing Brand-New Year, and behind him came his backdancers. Apparently, for most part of the show Snow Man were his main backdancers, but A.B.C-Z and other juniors also joined him at times, like here during the opening. Takki looked great in sparkly white clothes, and the pants had a golden stripe on the sides. Pretty!
The second song was 二人の夜. Takki performed it with A.B.C-Z, and I'm pretty certain that it was during this song that he was wearing a checkered jacket. They were dancing in and in front of the stairs, and they still had the water curtain in front of them.
Then Snow Man joined him again, and they performed CRAZY GIRL. They were dancing on top of two raised stages. They started dancing on one of them, then the whole stage was turned around and then the second part of the raised stage also came into view, and they jumped over to that one instead. They didn't have any guns, but just formed their hands like guns. At the end of the song a lot of juniors entered the stage and danced beneath Takki and Snow Man. My eyes fell especially upon one chibi guy. He danced with such confidence, not seeming to care how big the audience was, and he was really good as well!
Next was REAL DX, and Yuma took Tsubasa's part of the song - to my huge delight. Takki and Yuma were both dressed in white pants with golden stripes on the sides, but Yuma had a brightblue striped vest and Takki had a black-and-silver striped vest. I was so happy this became a Takki and Yuma duet! During one part of the song, Takki was standing in the middle of A.B.C-Z, and they were rocking to the music - however Hasshi was really rocking it! He was sitting in front of Takki, and Takki couldn't help laughing at him! I know I did too...
They also performed 愛・革命 and then there was some traditional Japanese-sounding background music while they re-arranged the stage for the next part of the show. At the same time, there were a lot of juniors dancing. The "real" Takizawa Kakumei show started with the melody which I think is called ショパンの革命.
Now, I have to explain that I don't really know the complete story of Takizawa Kakumei. I will do my best to tell the story as I saw it during this special version, but feel free to correct me if there's anything I've misunderstood!
It started with the ship. Takki and Yuma are brothers (Yuma is constantly calling Takki "aniki", which means older brother) and they are going to sail away on the sea to restore peace. If I remember correctly, in the original story they are princes and Takki is supposed to become king, but he doesn't want to and thinks that Yuma would make a better king. I think the story in this special version was similar.
Takki explained what he was going to do, that he would sail away on a ship. Then he called for Yuma to come and go with him. Yuma came running towards the stage in the leftside aisle (not the one next to me, I was sad about that). When he had entered the stage, Hasshi suddenly came running too. He ran right past me (I was sitting on the second seat from the aisle) and was past me so quickly! He shouted that they should wait for him, he also wanted to go with them on the ship! "Who are you?" Takki demanded. "Tomodachi!" Hasshi replied, and even though it means "friend" I got the impression throughout the story that he really was called Tomodachi? Weird. But then, this version was some kind of parody of the normal Takizawa Kakumei. Anyway, Takki kept asking questions to Hasshi, and also to Yuma when it turned out that Yuma and Hasshi were friends. Like, where did they meet, and so on. Sadly, I didn't really catch what Yuma answered, which is a shame since he said different things each show, but apparently it was very funny because everyone in the audience laughed... Eventually the two of them persuaded Takki to let Hasshi join them on the ship. Yuma leaped up the left side stairs and Hasshi leaped up the right side stairs. Then Hasshi stood up there and called for Takizawa-sama. "Here, you can enter the ship here, there's a staircase!" kind of. And then he counted the steps as Takki entered the ship, finishing with "Congratulations, you made it!" Takki got angry with Hasshi a few more times, like when Hasshi tried to give him a sword and he said he didn't need it, and then when Yuma gave him his sword and Hasshi couldn't stop commenting and saying funny things.
They finally got going, and while Yuma and Hasshi fooled around on the ship, forming their hands into binoculars for themselves and each other to look at things they went past, Takki sang the beautiful song One Night. I wanted to focus completely on Takki because the song was so beautiful, but I just couldn't because Yuma and Hasshi were so funny behind him. They were running this way and that way, whispering to each other and laughing at things they said, looking at things through their "binoculars", making gestures that they should jump into the sea and take a swim. Hilarious!
But the ship went down, and they ended up in another world, some kind of world under the sea, with fishes and whales. Takki wondered where they were, and a guy from A.B.C-Z (Tsuka-chan) appeared and explained that they had come to the castle Ryugujo. Then he asked to show them around, and he addressed them "Takizawa-sama", "Yuma-sama" and "o-tomodachi-sama" ("Master Friend"), so funny!
Here, Yuma had a couple of solo songs, yay! He was dressed in bright blue clothes, and there were a lot of people on stage with him. He sang ユメタマゴ and 勇気100%. And all I wanted to do was to do the furitsuke together with everyone on stage - but no one in the audience did, so I didn't either... But I got really pumped up by this Yuma corner, because I love those songs!
And then, Takki and A.B.C-Z entered the stage to the music of Za ABC - and they were dressed in these incredible colorful costumes and rollerskating in a row! Kawai was in the front, holding on to him was Takki in pink costume, and holding on to Takki was Hasshi in yellow costume, and then the rest of A.B.C-Z. It was so funny! Oh, and Takki was the only one who had pink shoelaces, of course... They went this way and that way, holding on to each other wherever they could hold, and almost falling over the whole time. Then when they let go of each other, two of them (can't remember who they were, sorry!) kept holding on to each other. Or rather, one guy kept holding on to the guy in front of him, even holding his head against the other guy's back, and the guy in front of him tried to make him let go, which eventually led to them falling over... And then Takki went up behind Kawai again, grabbing hold of him and making him fall over too! At the end of the song, some guys brought chairs where they could sit down and remove the rollerskates. Someone asked "Wasn't this fun?" but Takki just said "That's dangerous!" (危ねえよ!) They kept talking about this world, and how Yuma wanted to stay there because it was so much fun, but Takki said they had to go.
Now they performed 枯葉の影 and I was absolutely thrilled to get to hear this song live! It's one of those songs that rarely are performed (except for during Takizawa Kakumei), so I felt lucky. And it was a really cool performance too. Takki was dressed in black and red while the backdancers were dressed in black and green. There were some sort of laser beams all over the stage, and there was a section of the performance that had a military touch. At the end of the song, everyone went to the back of the stage, then Takki went to the front of the stage alone while singing the last chorus, and then the rest of the dancers joined him a few at a time until all of them were dancing at the front of the stage. It was really nicely done!
After this song, a chibi junior entered the stage holding a box that almost looked like a treasurebox. Takki wondered "What's this?" and someone in A.B.C-Z (I think it was Tsuka-chan) replied "A child!" Everyone laughed and another guy told him something like "No stupid, he means the box". "What's in the box?" Takki wanted to know, and the same stupid guy said something stupid again and was told off.
Suddenly everyone froze, except Tsuka-chan. There was a spotlight on him, following him around when he walked between the others, trying to wake them by clapping his hands in front of them. He tried waking Yuma but with no success. Then he walked around and tried to scare Takki into waking up, but that also failed. (However, Takki was really close to laughing...) Then, Tsuka-chan got a brilliant idea! He physically turned Takki around and started fiddling with his arms! He moved Takki's arms to different positions, and now Takki couldn't stop himself from laughing! It was soooo hilarious!!!
But then Tsuka-chan got another brilliant idea - he removed the box from the hands of the chibi junior and was just going to open it, when different voices started talking to him. The voices said things like "Stop! Don't open it!" and at one point there was Yuma's voice announcing the release of the DVD for the drama PIECE. Eventually, there were so many voices and I think they were arguing amongst themselves, so Tsuka-chan ignored them and opened the box - and suddenly there was a lot of smoke coming onto the stage, and everyone started running around. Some tried to stop Tsuka-chan from opening the box, but obviously they were too late...
Here started the "old man" section. Yuma came walking down the leftside aisle, dressed as a very old man. On his way towards the stage he talked to some girls in the audience. He asked one "Who did you come here to see?", but she replied in such a low voice that I couldn't hear. But Yuma imitated her, whispering "Takki" and then making fun of her for her low voice. Then he turned around and pretended to attack the girl sitting on the other side of him. She screamed, and he found that to be very funny. So he made fun of her believing he would attack her, and continued to the stage. For a while, the story was that Yuma, Takki and Hasshi were searching for each other, since they had been separated when the box was opened and time changed its pace, making them all old.
There was a dance section during this part of the story, where the music was composed by Takki. 滝沢組曲 consists of five different melodies with different themes. The first piece was very beautiful, and they all changed clothes again. Takki and Yuma wore similar tops with deep V-cuts, but Takki's was red while Yuma's was blue, and they wore black pants. Rather tight pants... At first, Takki and Yuma were on stage, dancing in turns. Then the music changed to the second piece, and two chibi juniors entered the stage too. They were dressed just like Takki and Yuma, and they all took turns dancing with each other. Takki danced with chibi Yuma and Yuma danced with chibi Takki. There was a part of the stage which could turn around, like a spinning disc in the floor, and they were dancing on that one. Then the chibi versions remained on the disc and eventually disappeared, while Takki and Yuma were dancing at the front of the stage.
Then Takki disappeared from the stage too, but a dark dancer called Dominic joined Yuma for a while. They were really good. This was the third melody, and this part of the dance section was very beautiful. Then the music changed again, into the fourth melody which was more rock-like. Now A.B.C-Z and a group of juniors (I guess they were Snow Man) danced alone at first. After a while Takki joined them, and he had changed clothes again. He wore this red cloak with matching hat.
The music changed again, to the fifth and last melody. Dominic was dancing alone first, then Takki joined him, once again wearing another set of clothes. He wore the same red top as before, but with a very colorful jacket over it. More and more dancers joined them. And then this long dance section ended.
Old man Yuma and old man Hasshi entered the stage from different places, and complained about how lonely they were. Then they found each other and got really happy. They sat down and started chatting, and wondered where Takki had gone. And apparently they also made a joke about Tsubasa, or maybe Takki and Tsubasa, but sadly I didn't manage to hear it properly because everyone was laughing and clapping their hands. Suddenly Takki appeared and had overheard the last part of what they were saying, so he got angry and started chasing them around with his stick. Hilarious! Then they all went off stage.
Takki re-appeared on stage and sat down on a bench. Beside him he found the scipt for Jinsei Kakumei and he started talking about it, and reading parts of it out loud. This was the Mori-san corner, and it was beautiful. After a short time, we could hear Mori-san's voice saying the lines which Takki had started reading.
Takki left the stage to change clothes, and Mori-san's voice continued to read the script alone. When Takki re-appeared, he wore grey pants and vest over a shirt with pink flowers. He stood in front of the screen, and on the screen was a video of photos and moving pictures of Mori-san and Takki and other people, and scenes from Jinsei Kakumei. I kept looking between the screen and Takki. I could see how affected he was. He blinked more often than usual, kept swallowing hard, and read Mori-san's lines with her. Then there was this song that they sang together in Jinsei Kakumei, 人生半ばです, and then Takki sang along with it live while stroking a cape or something that he was holding in his arms. At the end all the spotlights were directed at one spot on the stage, and we were supposed to imagine that Mori-san was standing there. Takki looked at that spot for a while, then he went off stage.
While I was still touched by the previous section, Yuma had a solo section. He performed 百年ロマンス, a song which I love! And he was standing in the junior mansion almost next to where I was sitting.
Then Takki appeared above the audience, dressed all in yellow. He was standing on a trapeze, singing Let Me Be. Suddenly he leaped off the trapeze and started doing bungeejumping. He was swinging back and forth above the audience, up and down - and spinning round and round and round. Sometimes he was spinning slowly, gracefully. Sometimes he was spinning faster, and at the end he was spinning insanely fast! This performance - all of it - was so beautiful that I still get tears in my eyes when I think of it.
Now it was time for the final great battle scene. Some soldiers appeared on the stage, and I couldn't understand what they said, but it sounded like they were arguing about something, or discussing a bad situation. (The original story is that they are sent to kill Takki, I believe.) But then Hasshi and Yuma appeared in the aisles. And this time Yuma was walking down my aisle! He was dressed in white and red, like a red vest, and a dark bandana. And he was walking right past me, literally a few feet away (I was sitting in the second seat from the aisle, remember). He was walking sooo slowly, which meant that I had plenty of time to study him. He had this stone face, so serious! I let myself be completely mesmerized by him. He's not a classically beautiful or handsome guy, but at that time I realized how much I love him! His aura and charisma, his dancing, his singing - and his looks. He's got this something, and now when I got to see him up close for the first time I realized how handsome he really is. I had been close to Takki, I had been close to Tsubasa, and now I got to be close to Yuma too. This girl here was soooo so happy!
Anyway, they walked to the stage where they started fighting these soldiers. Then suddenly Takki appeared, dressed in white, on top of the leftside junior mansion. And he jumped down onto a mattress on the stage. I actually held my breath when he jumped because he was high up! But of course he was alright. They all started sword fighting at the front of the stage, by the water curtain, while the waterfall was brought onto the stage behind the screen... And then the real fighting started!
I was thrilled to get to see this fight in reality. It's really cool! It was a long scene, a beautifully choreographed scene. Takki, Yuma and Hasshi took turns fighting the soldiers. Hasshi was killed rather early on. Then someone grabbed Yuma and slammed his head into the ground in the water, but Takki came to his rescue. Takki and Yuma were fighting side-by-side for some time, with the waterfall behind them. I can't understand how they managed to do all that fighting in all that water. But it looked hot!
But then Takki was hit really bad. Yuma desperately covered him so he wasn't given the final blow, though. It was a very touching last scene, Takki dying in Yuma's arms. Takki sang 僕のカケラ and it was so beautiful I got tears in my eyes again. I couldn't even count the times I got emotional during this show... And when Yuma joined Takki in this song, their voices together... Just, wow. I wish I could see this part again! Then the slow version of the song started playing in the background, and Takki and Yuma talked for a bit. Takki said something about that that it was not all finished yet. The revolution wasn't yet over and until it is there will still be danger. He gave a sword to Yuma, and then he got onto a sort of cart which was flying slowly across the audience, but very low, close to their heads. The cart was flying across the middle section, but it wasn't too far away from my seat, and there were spotlights on him so I could see him very clearly. He was singing a slow version of 愛・革命 and all the while I was looking at him. He was wearing wet white clothes, a dry white and gold shiny jacket, dark bandana and his hair was all wet. And the only thing I could think of was that, the last time I'd been anywhere near this close to him was when he touched my face in Hachioji several months earlier... Then the cart reached the back of the room, and it was pulled up towards the balcony and then to the ceiling, where Takki disappeared.
While 愛・革命 started playing again in the background, everyone came onto the stage and thanked the audience. And then after the curtain call they did an encore, 人生革命. Now there were dressed in white sparkly suits with red clothes underneath - except for Takki who wore a red sparkly suit. So pretty!
Then the show ended. And what a show it had been!
Set List
Songs marked with * are the ones I don't know the name of, or I'm not sure about the name. "bgm" means background music only.
Act 1
01. * Put On A Happy Face (HSJ appear)
02. bgm: ダッタン人の踊り (A.B.C-Z appear)
03. bgm (Yuma appears)
04. JUMP band
05. NOT ENOUGH
06. flying section
07. * "1年は12ヵ月" (Yamada, Hasshi, Yuma)
08. お正月イントロダクション (HSJ)
09. 雅～Miyabi～ (A.B.C-Z)
10. 百花繚乱 (HSJ)
11. Titanic - My Heart Will Go On (Yabu)
12. Hindenburg
13. * 高木の歌
14. 君とMilky Way (Yuma w/Hasshi)
15. Tribute to Hattori Ryoichi medley: 胸の振り子 ・ 青い山脈 ・ 買い物ブギー
16. Beautiful Night (HJS)
17. Where My Heart Belongs (Yamada w/Chinen)
MC
18. ミステリー ヴァージン (Yamada w/A.B.C-Z)
19. Let's go to Earth
Act 2
20. Brand-New Year
21. 二人の夜
22. CRAZY GIRL
23. REAL DX
24. 愛・革命
25. bgm: * 新春ジャパネスク (stage re-arranging)
26. * ショパンの革命
27. the journey on the ship begins
28. One Night (Takki)
29. Ryugujo
30. ユメタマゴ (Yuma)
31. 勇気100% (Yuma)
32. Za ABC
33. 枯葉の影
34. Pandora's box
35. old man Yuma
36. 滝沢組曲
37. old man Yuma, old man Hasshi, old man Takki
38. Tribute to Mori-san
39. 人生半ばです
40. 百年ロマンス (Yuma)
41. Let Me Be (Takki)
42. fighting scene
43. 僕のカケラ
44. 愛・革命
45. 人生革命
Cast List
I wanted to have some kind of list of who took part in this show, but at the time I went there I hardly knew any juniors and I didn't even know the names of all members of A.B.C-Z yet... So this ended up being just a partial list of names that I've found in other reports around the Internet. As such, I can't confirm if this is the exact cast list of the day I went to see the show. Also, looking at this list now, I get the feeling that all of Travis Japan might have been backdancers. After all, there were a lot of backdancers, and all in all there were like 300 juniors...
Hey! Say! JUMP
A.B.C-Z
Takizawa Hideaki
Nakayama Yuma
Snow Man
Yasui Kentaro
Morita Myuto
Hagiya Keigo
Kyomoto Taiga
Moroboshi Shoki
Shimekake Ryuya
Ogawa Yu
Kawashima Noeru
Dominic
Goto Hiromi (violin)
Ishigaki Daisuke (keyboard)
Phew, that was a long report! I'm glad it's finally posted!
Act 1
My seat was very good, some ten rows from the stage on the right-hand side. While we waited for the show to start, there was a video on the screen in front of us, showing a turning Earth. In front of it to the left it said "JOHNNYS' World" and to the right there was the logo of Guinness World Records, with the text "Most no 1 singles produced by one person", "Most concerts produced by one person" and "The most no 1 acts produced by one person".
A woman entered the room and a small junior got to fly with her above the audience, and at one point she "almost dropped" him.
Then the first song Put On A Happy Face started and Hey! Say! JUMP came dancing down the stairs on the stage. The setting looked very Roman, and they were dressed in white and gold clothes. The song was very Broadway-ish and the dance similar, with sticks in their hands and all. Halfway into the song, Yamada came flying above us! Chinen was flying above the left-hand side. But Yamada really came flying almost right above me! So close! Then he hit something on the stage and fell down on the ground. He started arguing with the "producer" (Yabu) that this was too dangerous. But Yabu just told him that he has to continue, the show must go on.
Yabu entered the stage, he was dressed in a black suit and looked so handsome! He also started flying - and then there was a water curtain at the front of the stage, and Yabu flew right through it, over and over again! The people in the front row had been given protection plastic sheets in advance, or they would have gotten really wet. Yabu did get really wet... Even when he was dancing on the stage instead of flying, the water cascaded around him!
A.B.C-Z was introduced to the background music of ダッタン人の踊り. First there was only Hasshi, and he was dancing for a bit. Then they did some kind of magic trick, where the rest of the group appeared out of thin air on a table placed in the middle of the stage. I think it was during this song that the background dancers wore clothes that were partially glowing in the dark.
Then Yuma was introduced! He came dancing down the stairs in black and white clothes, some juniors dancing behind him. The music was so powerful, and Yuma looked so cool! I was so happy to get to see him live again, the last time being PLAYZONE half a year earlier.
It was time for JUMP Band! Maybe half of Hey! Say! JUMP entered the stage, on top of a big cart rolling across the stage. Hikaru was playing the bass, Keito the guitar, Yuto the drums, Yamada the saxophone... Then I think Daiki played the trumpet but I'm not sure. And the guy playing the keyboard I found out later was Ishigaki Daisuke. They played really well! Below them on the stage there were many juniors dancing, and 8 of them danced in pairs where one in each pair was sitting on the other person's shoulders, and they had a wide piece of cloth in front of them, creating a fun effect.
Then everyone appeared on stage, dressed in red shiny clothes. Really キラキラ! They were singing NOT ENOUGH, and there were juniors dancing all over the theatre in every aisle. But all I could see was Yamada dancing on the stage in front of me... I did however get a photo of Daiki too because he was so cute! The song became one of my favorites, it's just so ... good! I really love it.
After that, there was a very short skit, where Yabu the Producer was talking about the show he was setting up, or something like that. Then he started flying again! There was a screen at the front of the stage, going all the way up to the ceiling, and he was pretending to be running up that screen in slowmotion. There were two smaller guys, one on each side of him, doing the same. At the time I couldn't see who they were (it was dark in the room and next to Yabu pretty much anyone looks tiny), but I've read reports saying they were Chinen and Daiki. On the screen there was a video that was kinda disturbing to look at, it was like flying through a...city landscape if I remember correctly (I didn't write down that detail), but it was changing all the time, very rapidly. That's the impression I've got in my memory anyway. At the same time, four of A.B.C-Z were flying in rings above the audience. Kawai was flying right behind me to the right, and I kept turning my head around. I wanted to see Kawai who was turning round and round in the ring behind me, and I also wanted to see Yabu who was hanging from the ceiling in front of me. Tough situation!
Next was a short introduction of the upcoming section, by Yamada. He was talking about how there have been many incidents throughout human history, and now they will guide us through the 12 months of the year and some of the incidents which have occured in the past. The section started with Yamada, Hasshi and Yuma singing a song about how there are 12 months in 1 year, but I don't know the name of the song. It was a pretty good song, though, and the voices of these three blended well together. Yuma stood right in front of me, Yamada in the middle and Hasshi on the far left of the stage. But at the end of the song they joined in the center of the stage.
First, they illustrated the month of January. Hey! Say! JUMP entered, dressed in these amazing origami-kinda-looking clothes. I can't really describe them, but they're just beautiful and colorful and amazing. JUMP wore them in SUMMARY 2011 as well. All the members were standing in a row, playing taiko drums. So cool! There was some light shining on the drums, I think? And there was water on them, so each time they hit the drums, the water splashed and the water was kind of shining. I sat there watching with my jaw dropped, it was amazing to see! And all around them in the junior mansions there were hundreds of juniors dancing and playing the shamisen.
A.B.C-Z illustrated the month of februari, singing 雅～Miyabi～ and doing a very impressing dance number. When they entered the stage, they wore beautiful cloaky clothes and masks on their faces. They danced for a bit, then some juniors came and pulled the clothes off of them, and underneath they had just as beautiful clothes but in their respective band colors. Kawai looked very pretty in dark violet. They were doing this dance with huge foldable fans and parasols. And then, they picked up a box with some kind of shiny wide....something that was folded almost in an accordion-like way, and they held one end and let the other end fall into a box in the hands of a junior sitting beneath them. It's difficult to describe, but I have a photo.
After this part, the juniors pulled the clothes off of them again, and now they had very simple neon clothes underneath. They danced around singing, I think two of them did some acrobatics in the air. Hasshi ran to the back and reappeared in several layers of costumes and several layers of face masks, and while dancing he removed them layer by layer until he just had one layer of costume and the last masks in his hands. It looked very cool!
Illustrating the month of March was Hey! Say! JUMP. And oh my god, this song! 百花繚乱. Love it! I need this on a CD! Can't even begin to describe just how much I love it. Definitely one of the.best.songs.ever. They were dressed in light pink clothes (pretty!!) and appeared on top of the stairs. They all had this cloak-like piece of cloth behind them, pink with flowers, and they walked so close to each other that it seemed as if they were all under the same piece of cloth. Then they walked down the stairs and there were female dancers flying in rings above the stage at the beginning of the song. Then they disappeared, and Daiki got to fly in a cube above the stage. The cube was decorated with pink flowers, and it was big enough for him to stand in (or rather, he's small enough to fit in it...), and he did some kind of dance inside the cube while flying. On the stage, there were two guys juggling with similar cubes. It looked easy, but the truth is it's really difficult, so I'm very impressed.
When it was time to illustrate the month of April, they chose to tell the story of Titanic, which sank in April. It was very beautifully done. They created an illusion of the front of a ship on the left side of the stage, and on top of it stood Yabu. Goseki and a chibi junior were standing on the ground while someone told the history of Titanic, they quickly illustrated the sinking, and Yabu was singing My Heart Will Go On - in English - together with the chibi junior who had such a high clear voice. Listening to them singing this song made me all teary-eyed because it was so beautiful. I love the song, and having Yabu sing it was, like, perfect. Definitely a highlight of the show.
For the month of May, they illustrated the Hindenburg accident. One of them acted as a reporter (I've read somewhere that it was Kawai, but don't take my word for it), and while the airship was on fire, Yamada was flying around above the stage. There was a short recitation in Japanese, but then Keito translated it into English as well. He said something along the lines that everyone is destined to die at some point, but there will be new people to inherit the world, and we should all cherish the time we have been given to spend with each other. There was a short part of a song here, that was soooo beautiful, but I have no idea what it's called. It's mentioned here and there as 高木の歌.
Illustrating the month of June was Yuma, with Hasshi as backup. I got all emotional during this song, because he sang 君とMilky Way which is one of my favorite songs. So beautiful! And Yuma stood there dressed in black, singing with an emotional voice. Behind him was Hasshi dressed in white, and some kind of figure with a bridal veil, representing his (presumably deceased) bride. Hasshi also sang some parts of the song. Ishigaki was playing the piano.
Then there was a medley with summer feeling of three songs, a tribute to the composer Hattori Ryoichi: 胸の振り子, 青い山脈 and 買い物ブギー. During the first of the three, I remember four juniors were dancing around Hasshi. But I don't really remember anything else from this part of the show, and I didn't take any notes... However, there was a time during the show when a group of juniors were rollerskating, and it just has to be during this medley. There was one chibi guy who was so cute! They were rollerskating in pairs, chibi guys with older guys, and the younger one was going to go through the legs of the older guy and then back again, This chibi guy who I'd put my eyes on, he was in front of me and he looked so uncertain and doubtful! As if he thought he wouldn't be able to make it through the whole trick, but then when he did it he looked so happy! That was really cute!
The next song is also a song that I love, Beautiful Night. It's just a great song, and at the end of it there were people tap dancing. Cool!
Keito introduced the next song in English. It was Yamada singing Where My Heart Belongs, and oh my god, feelings! I still get way too emotional every time I hear this song, because I remember this performance so well. The song itself is good, but this performance was over the top. Yamada was sitting in a ring above the front of the stage, in front of me. Right.in.front.of.me. There was this spotlight shining on him, and he looked so calm the whole time he was singing. During the song, they moved the ring from the right side of the stage towards the center of it.
And all the time, Chinen was dancing alone beneath him on the stage. He was very smartly dressed in black with an open silvery grey shirt. Before I went to this show, I hadn't really payed much attention to Chinen, I have to admit that. Even in NYC, I payed more attention to Yuma and Yamada all the time... But now, when I got to see him dancing on his own, all alone, he amazed me. He really is a great dancer! This dance had some ballet influences and it was very elegant. Perfectly fitting the song by Yamada.
Then at the end of the song, the tempo got faster, more upbeat. The rest of JUMP joined Yamada and Chinen, and behind them came A.B.C-Z in their huge star-shaped wheel. They went around and around, and it never ceases to amaze me how they can do that so fast and for so long without showing signs of getting dizzy!
MC time! With Hey! Say! JUMP and A.B.C-Z only. They all wished the audience a happy new year, and then they chatted about this and that. I didn't manage to catch everything they said, but they mentioned the A.B.C-Z tour later in the year, the Johnnys' World Thanksgiving shows, and the drama 金田一少年の事件簿 for which Yamada sings the theme song. Yamada mentioned that the single would be on-sale in a few more days.
Somewhere in the middle of the MC, Yamada disappeared from the stage to change clothes. When he returned he was much more casually dressed than the rest of them, but those were still no cheap clothes... Like that nice leather jacket and the belt... He performed ミステリー ヴァージン with A.B.C-Z as backdancers - they looked very nice in shiny white and grey clothes. I still remember how happy I was to see this song being performed live even before it was released as a single! I had seen it on TV already and loved it. I also thought it was a fun opportunity for Yamada to do something on his own. In my opinion he's also a great dancer, and I was so happy to get to see this performance!
Then there was some kind of outro, where someone talked about how there are always going to be disasters and incidents happening, caused by humans or caused by Mother Nature, but we should all try to take care of the Earth.
The last song of the first act was Let's go to Earth. The first part was sung by Hey! Say! JUMP, but then they went off the stage to change clothes, and A.B.C-Z entered dressed in white. Now the song was more upbeat, and juniors also filled the stage. JUMP re-appeared at the top of the stairs, and they all finished the song together. There was also a video behind them, if I remember correctly, with other JE idols singing too. Takki, Koichi and Kamenashi of course, since they were the supporters of this show, and then many others, like members of Kisumai, Yamapi, and so on.
Well, that's act 1! Yamada thanked us for watching, and explained that act 2 would be a special version of Takizawa Kakumei.
Act 2
The Takizawa Kakumei part of the show opened with the water curtain. And what a water curtain! The water was shooting into the air in different levels, different patterns... it was just so cool! And Takki came dancing down the stairs, singing Brand-New Year, and behind him came his backdancers. Apparently, for most part of the show Snow Man were his main backdancers, but A.B.C-Z and other juniors also joined him at times, like here during the opening. Takki looked great in sparkly white clothes, and the pants had a golden stripe on the sides. Pretty!
The second song was 二人の夜. Takki performed it with A.B.C-Z, and I'm pretty certain that it was during this song that he was wearing a checkered jacket. They were dancing in and in front of the stairs, and they still had the water curtain in front of them.
Then Snow Man joined him again, and they performed CRAZY GIRL. They were dancing on top of two raised stages. They started dancing on one of them, then the whole stage was turned around and then the second part of the raised stage also came into view, and they jumped over to that one instead. They didn't have any guns, but just formed their hands like guns. At the end of the song a lot of juniors entered the stage and danced beneath Takki and Snow Man. My eyes fell especially upon one chibi guy. He danced with such confidence, not seeming to care how big the audience was, and he was really good as well!
Next was REAL DX, and Yuma took Tsubasa's part of the song - to my huge delight. Takki and Yuma were both dressed in white pants with golden stripes on the sides, but Yuma had a brightblue striped vest and Takki had a black-and-silver striped vest. I was so happy this became a Takki and Yuma duet! During one part of the song, Takki was standing in the middle of A.B.C-Z, and they were rocking to the music - however Hasshi was really rocking it! He was sitting in front of Takki, and Takki couldn't help laughing at him! I know I did too...
They also performed 愛・革命 and then there was some traditional Japanese-sounding background music while they re-arranged the stage for the next part of the show. At the same time, there were a lot of juniors dancing. The "real" Takizawa Kakumei show started with the melody which I think is called ショパンの革命.
Now, I have to explain that I don't really know the complete story of Takizawa Kakumei. I will do my best to tell the story as I saw it during this special version, but feel free to correct me if there's anything I've misunderstood!
It started with the ship. Takki and Yuma are brothers (Yuma is constantly calling Takki "aniki", which means older brother) and they are going to sail away on the sea to restore peace. If I remember correctly, in the original story they are princes and Takki is supposed to become king, but he doesn't want to and thinks that Yuma would make a better king. I think the story in this special version was similar.
Takki explained what he was going to do, that he would sail away on a ship. Then he called for Yuma to come and go with him. Yuma came running towards the stage in the leftside aisle (not the one next to me, I was sad about that). When he had entered the stage, Hasshi suddenly came running too. He ran right past me (I was sitting on the second seat from the aisle) and was past me so quickly! He shouted that they should wait for him, he also wanted to go with them on the ship! "Who are you?" Takki demanded. "Tomodachi!" Hasshi replied, and even though it means "friend" I got the impression throughout the story that he really was called Tomodachi? Weird. But then, this version was some kind of parody of the normal Takizawa Kakumei. Anyway, Takki kept asking questions to Hasshi, and also to Yuma when it turned out that Yuma and Hasshi were friends. Like, where did they meet, and so on. Sadly, I didn't really catch what Yuma answered, which is a shame since he said different things each show, but apparently it was very funny because everyone in the audience laughed... Eventually the two of them persuaded Takki to let Hasshi join them on the ship. Yuma leaped up the left side stairs and Hasshi leaped up the right side stairs. Then Hasshi stood up there and called for Takizawa-sama. "Here, you can enter the ship here, there's a staircase!" kind of. And then he counted the steps as Takki entered the ship, finishing with "Congratulations, you made it!" Takki got angry with Hasshi a few more times, like when Hasshi tried to give him a sword and he said he didn't need it, and then when Yuma gave him his sword and Hasshi couldn't stop commenting and saying funny things.
They finally got going, and while Yuma and Hasshi fooled around on the ship, forming their hands into binoculars for themselves and each other to look at things they went past, Takki sang the beautiful song One Night. I wanted to focus completely on Takki because the song was so beautiful, but I just couldn't because Yuma and Hasshi were so funny behind him. They were running this way and that way, whispering to each other and laughing at things they said, looking at things through their "binoculars", making gestures that they should jump into the sea and take a swim. Hilarious!
But the ship went down, and they ended up in another world, some kind of world under the sea, with fishes and whales. Takki wondered where they were, and a guy from A.B.C-Z (Tsuka-chan) appeared and explained that they had come to the castle Ryugujo. Then he asked to show them around, and he addressed them "Takizawa-sama", "Yuma-sama" and "o-tomodachi-sama" ("Master Friend"), so funny!
Here, Yuma had a couple of solo songs, yay! He was dressed in bright blue clothes, and there were a lot of people on stage with him. He sang ユメタマゴ and 勇気100%. And all I wanted to do was to do the furitsuke together with everyone on stage - but no one in the audience did, so I didn't either... But I got really pumped up by this Yuma corner, because I love those songs!
And then, Takki and A.B.C-Z entered the stage to the music of Za ABC - and they were dressed in these incredible colorful costumes and rollerskating in a row! Kawai was in the front, holding on to him was Takki in pink costume, and holding on to Takki was Hasshi in yellow costume, and then the rest of A.B.C-Z. It was so funny! Oh, and Takki was the only one who had pink shoelaces, of course... They went this way and that way, holding on to each other wherever they could hold, and almost falling over the whole time. Then when they let go of each other, two of them (can't remember who they were, sorry!) kept holding on to each other. Or rather, one guy kept holding on to the guy in front of him, even holding his head against the other guy's back, and the guy in front of him tried to make him let go, which eventually led to them falling over... And then Takki went up behind Kawai again, grabbing hold of him and making him fall over too! At the end of the song, some guys brought chairs where they could sit down and remove the rollerskates. Someone asked "Wasn't this fun?" but Takki just said "That's dangerous!" (危ねえよ!) They kept talking about this world, and how Yuma wanted to stay there because it was so much fun, but Takki said they had to go.
Now they performed 枯葉の影 and I was absolutely thrilled to get to hear this song live! It's one of those songs that rarely are performed (except for during Takizawa Kakumei), so I felt lucky. And it was a really cool performance too. Takki was dressed in black and red while the backdancers were dressed in black and green. There were some sort of laser beams all over the stage, and there was a section of the performance that had a military touch. At the end of the song, everyone went to the back of the stage, then Takki went to the front of the stage alone while singing the last chorus, and then the rest of the dancers joined him a few at a time until all of them were dancing at the front of the stage. It was really nicely done!
After this song, a chibi junior entered the stage holding a box that almost looked like a treasurebox. Takki wondered "What's this?" and someone in A.B.C-Z (I think it was Tsuka-chan) replied "A child!" Everyone laughed and another guy told him something like "No stupid, he means the box". "What's in the box?" Takki wanted to know, and the same stupid guy said something stupid again and was told off.
Suddenly everyone froze, except Tsuka-chan. There was a spotlight on him, following him around when he walked between the others, trying to wake them by clapping his hands in front of them. He tried waking Yuma but with no success. Then he walked around and tried to scare Takki into waking up, but that also failed. (However, Takki was really close to laughing...) Then, Tsuka-chan got a brilliant idea! He physically turned Takki around and started fiddling with his arms! He moved Takki's arms to different positions, and now Takki couldn't stop himself from laughing! It was soooo hilarious!!!
But then Tsuka-chan got another brilliant idea - he removed the box from the hands of the chibi junior and was just going to open it, when different voices started talking to him. The voices said things like "Stop! Don't open it!" and at one point there was Yuma's voice announcing the release of the DVD for the drama PIECE. Eventually, there were so many voices and I think they were arguing amongst themselves, so Tsuka-chan ignored them and opened the box - and suddenly there was a lot of smoke coming onto the stage, and everyone started running around. Some tried to stop Tsuka-chan from opening the box, but obviously they were too late...
Here started the "old man" section. Yuma came walking down the leftside aisle, dressed as a very old man. On his way towards the stage he talked to some girls in the audience. He asked one "Who did you come here to see?", but she replied in such a low voice that I couldn't hear. But Yuma imitated her, whispering "Takki" and then making fun of her for her low voice. Then he turned around and pretended to attack the girl sitting on the other side of him. She screamed, and he found that to be very funny. So he made fun of her believing he would attack her, and continued to the stage. For a while, the story was that Yuma, Takki and Hasshi were searching for each other, since they had been separated when the box was opened and time changed its pace, making them all old.
There was a dance section during this part of the story, where the music was composed by Takki. 滝沢組曲 consists of five different melodies with different themes. The first piece was very beautiful, and they all changed clothes again. Takki and Yuma wore similar tops with deep V-cuts, but Takki's was red while Yuma's was blue, and they wore black pants. Rather tight pants... At first, Takki and Yuma were on stage, dancing in turns. Then the music changed to the second piece, and two chibi juniors entered the stage too. They were dressed just like Takki and Yuma, and they all took turns dancing with each other. Takki danced with chibi Yuma and Yuma danced with chibi Takki. There was a part of the stage which could turn around, like a spinning disc in the floor, and they were dancing on that one. Then the chibi versions remained on the disc and eventually disappeared, while Takki and Yuma were dancing at the front of the stage.
Then Takki disappeared from the stage too, but a dark dancer called Dominic joined Yuma for a while. They were really good. This was the third melody, and this part of the dance section was very beautiful. Then the music changed again, into the fourth melody which was more rock-like. Now A.B.C-Z and a group of juniors (I guess they were Snow Man) danced alone at first. After a while Takki joined them, and he had changed clothes again. He wore this red cloak with matching hat.
The music changed again, to the fifth and last melody. Dominic was dancing alone first, then Takki joined him, once again wearing another set of clothes. He wore the same red top as before, but with a very colorful jacket over it. More and more dancers joined them. And then this long dance section ended.
Old man Yuma and old man Hasshi entered the stage from different places, and complained about how lonely they were. Then they found each other and got really happy. They sat down and started chatting, and wondered where Takki had gone. And apparently they also made a joke about Tsubasa, or maybe Takki and Tsubasa, but sadly I didn't manage to hear it properly because everyone was laughing and clapping their hands. Suddenly Takki appeared and had overheard the last part of what they were saying, so he got angry and started chasing them around with his stick. Hilarious! Then they all went off stage.
Takki re-appeared on stage and sat down on a bench. Beside him he found the scipt for Jinsei Kakumei and he started talking about it, and reading parts of it out loud. This was the Mori-san corner, and it was beautiful. After a short time, we could hear Mori-san's voice saying the lines which Takki had started reading.
Takki left the stage to change clothes, and Mori-san's voice continued to read the script alone. When Takki re-appeared, he wore grey pants and vest over a shirt with pink flowers. He stood in front of the screen, and on the screen was a video of photos and moving pictures of Mori-san and Takki and other people, and scenes from Jinsei Kakumei. I kept looking between the screen and Takki. I could see how affected he was. He blinked more often than usual, kept swallowing hard, and read Mori-san's lines with her. Then there was this song that they sang together in Jinsei Kakumei, 人生半ばです, and then Takki sang along with it live while stroking a cape or something that he was holding in his arms. At the end all the spotlights were directed at one spot on the stage, and we were supposed to imagine that Mori-san was standing there. Takki looked at that spot for a while, then he went off stage.
While I was still touched by the previous section, Yuma had a solo section. He performed 百年ロマンス, a song which I love! And he was standing in the junior mansion almost next to where I was sitting.
Then Takki appeared above the audience, dressed all in yellow. He was standing on a trapeze, singing Let Me Be. Suddenly he leaped off the trapeze and started doing bungeejumping. He was swinging back and forth above the audience, up and down - and spinning round and round and round. Sometimes he was spinning slowly, gracefully. Sometimes he was spinning faster, and at the end he was spinning insanely fast! This performance - all of it - was so beautiful that I still get tears in my eyes when I think of it.
Now it was time for the final great battle scene. Some soldiers appeared on the stage, and I couldn't understand what they said, but it sounded like they were arguing about something, or discussing a bad situation. (The original story is that they are sent to kill Takki, I believe.) But then Hasshi and Yuma appeared in the aisles. And this time Yuma was walking down my aisle! He was dressed in white and red, like a red vest, and a dark bandana. And he was walking right past me, literally a few feet away (I was sitting in the second seat from the aisle, remember). He was walking sooo slowly, which meant that I had plenty of time to study him. He had this stone face, so serious! I let myself be completely mesmerized by him. He's not a classically beautiful or handsome guy, but at that time I realized how much I love him! His aura and charisma, his dancing, his singing - and his looks. He's got this something, and now when I got to see him up close for the first time I realized how handsome he really is. I had been close to Takki, I had been close to Tsubasa, and now I got to be close to Yuma too. This girl here was soooo so happy!
Anyway, they walked to the stage where they started fighting these soldiers. Then suddenly Takki appeared, dressed in white, on top of the leftside junior mansion. And he jumped down onto a mattress on the stage. I actually held my breath when he jumped because he was high up! But of course he was alright. They all started sword fighting at the front of the stage, by the water curtain, while the waterfall was brought onto the stage behind the screen... And then the real fighting started!
I was thrilled to get to see this fight in reality. It's really cool! It was a long scene, a beautifully choreographed scene. Takki, Yuma and Hasshi took turns fighting the soldiers. Hasshi was killed rather early on. Then someone grabbed Yuma and slammed his head into the ground in the water, but Takki came to his rescue. Takki and Yuma were fighting side-by-side for some time, with the waterfall behind them. I can't understand how they managed to do all that fighting in all that water. But it looked hot!
But then Takki was hit really bad. Yuma desperately covered him so he wasn't given the final blow, though. It was a very touching last scene, Takki dying in Yuma's arms. Takki sang 僕のカケラ and it was so beautiful I got tears in my eyes again. I couldn't even count the times I got emotional during this show... And when Yuma joined Takki in this song, their voices together... Just, wow. I wish I could see this part again! Then the slow version of the song started playing in the background, and Takki and Yuma talked for a bit. Takki said something about that that it was not all finished yet. The revolution wasn't yet over and until it is there will still be danger. He gave a sword to Yuma, and then he got onto a sort of cart which was flying slowly across the audience, but very low, close to their heads. The cart was flying across the middle section, but it wasn't too far away from my seat, and there were spotlights on him so I could see him very clearly. He was singing a slow version of 愛・革命 and all the while I was looking at him. He was wearing wet white clothes, a dry white and gold shiny jacket, dark bandana and his hair was all wet. And the only thing I could think of was that, the last time I'd been anywhere near this close to him was when he touched my face in Hachioji several months earlier... Then the cart reached the back of the room, and it was pulled up towards the balcony and then to the ceiling, where Takki disappeared.
While 愛・革命 started playing again in the background, everyone came onto the stage and thanked the audience. And then after the curtain call they did an encore, 人生革命. Now there were dressed in white sparkly suits with red clothes underneath - except for Takki who wore a red sparkly suit. So pretty!
Then the show ended. And what a show it had been!
Set List
Songs marked with * are the ones I don't know the name of, or I'm not sure about the name. "bgm" means background music only.
Act 1
01. * Put On A Happy Face (HSJ appear)
02. bgm: ダッタン人の踊り (A.B.C-Z appear)
03. bgm (Yuma appears)
04. JUMP band
05. NOT ENOUGH
06. flying section
07. * "1年は12ヵ月" (Yamada, Hasshi, Yuma)
08. お正月イントロダクション (HSJ)
09. 雅～Miyabi～ (A.B.C-Z)
10. 百花繚乱 (HSJ)
11. Titanic - My Heart Will Go On (Yabu)
12. Hindenburg
13. * 高木の歌
14. 君とMilky Way (Yuma w/Hasshi)
15. Tribute to Hattori Ryoichi medley: 胸の振り子 ・ 青い山脈 ・ 買い物ブギー
16. Beautiful Night (HJS)
17. Where My Heart Belongs (Yamada w/Chinen)
MC
18. ミステリー ヴァージン (Yamada w/A.B.C-Z)
19. Let's go to Earth
Act 2
20. Brand-New Year
21. 二人の夜
22. CRAZY GIRL
23. REAL DX
24. 愛・革命
25. bgm: * 新春ジャパネスク (stage re-arranging)
26. * ショパンの革命
27. the journey on the ship begins
28. One Night (Takki)
29. Ryugujo
30. ユメタマゴ (Yuma)
31. 勇気100% (Yuma)
32. Za ABC
33. 枯葉の影
34. Pandora's box
35. old man Yuma
36. 滝沢組曲
37. old man Yuma, old man Hasshi, old man Takki
38. Tribute to Mori-san
39. 人生半ばです
40. 百年ロマンス (Yuma)
41. Let Me Be (Takki)
42. fighting scene
43. 僕のカケラ
44. 愛・革命
45. 人生革命
Cast List
I wanted to have some kind of list of who took part in this show, but at the time I went there I hardly knew any juniors and I didn't even know the names of all members of A.B.C-Z yet... So this ended up being just a partial list of names that I've found in other reports around the Internet. As such, I can't confirm if this is the exact cast list of the day I went to see the show. Also, looking at this list now, I get the feeling that all of Travis Japan might have been backdancers. After all, there were a lot of backdancers, and all in all there were like 300 juniors...
Hey! Say! JUMP
A.B.C-Z
Takizawa Hideaki
Nakayama Yuma
Snow Man
Yasui Kentaro
Morita Myuto
Hagiya Keigo
Kyomoto Taiga
Moroboshi Shoki
Shimekake Ryuya
Ogawa Yu
Kawashima Noeru
Dominic
Goto Hiromi (violin)
Ishigaki Daisuke (keyboard)
Phew, that was a long report! I'm glad it's finally posted!