I don't know if this is the place for this, but I wanted to write up my thoughts on the plays and share with everyone. I'm not sure I'll make very much sense or be very intelligent, but oh well.
First of all, I really want to thank labingi for encouraging me to watch them. I'm kicking myself because I was actually in Japan in 2014 and knew about the plays, and thought to myself "They're probably bad..." and completely missed out. As it turns out, I REALLY, REALLY enjoyed them. (I think Tomita Shou is now the Kagetora of my heart....)
I'm just so floored that an adaptation of Mirage was made that was done with such quality, seriousness, and that was so true to the tone and focus of the original. Whenever they did a Choubuku with the audience I was so moved - it just felt like they gave a lot of love to this series.
I will admit I haven't read the Shouwa books yet (only a little bit of Yashashuu Boogie Woogie), so if there were some more minor deviations I might not realise. I did know the major events from reading the first part of the main series, though.
I think maybe I was expecting them to tone down the romantic content, or switch the focus of the story away from that somewhat, so I just kept being shocked that they'd include things like the ice scene etc. And then the ending was completely KagetoraxNaoe romance focused, and I was still somehow surprised. It was like, really? They're giving me this? Okay... I'll take it!! And to have these extremely dramatic overblown lines (very typical Mirage, but you know), delivered totally seriously and with the appropriate emotion.... I didn't expect it somehow! I was really blown away. I read some comments that they weren't pulling from a high level group of actors, but I never felt that way... I felt like they all gave a great performance.
Maybe the most noticable performance (and easiest to critique?) is Naoe, since he's a very hard role and because the actor was switched. (I think Kagetora is really difficult too... but Tomita Shou killed it in my opinion). Makki (I can't remember his name but they always called him Makki - 1st Naoe), was hard for me to accept at first. I didn't think that he necessarily did a bad job, but as someone who wasn't used to the Shouwa arc, I felt he was extremely young. Once I realised Naoki is just... young... I started to kind of like him in the role. I felt he had the air of a "selfish kouhai", if that makes sense? It was kind of a new and fun way to see Naoe. I don't know if that's accurate to the books, but I didn't hate it. I'm also glad that if they had to switch actors, they did it between Yashashuu and Gurenzaka, because there was a huge tonal shift between those two plays. I didn't hate or especially love Hiramaki's Naoe either, but they both played it with total seriousness and were able to convey the tension with Kagetora, so I'm really grateful for their hard work.
I remember a moment in Jounetsu Cocktail where Kagetora and Naoe just stare at each other for what feels like 30 seconds, and I think it could have easily looked very stupid, but watching it I couldn't breathe. So yes, I think they did a good job.
The tonal shift with Gurenzaka hit me so hard. I guess I should have realised it would be pretty different between the beginning and end of the series, but I watched each of these in the middle of the night with a tray of snacks and during Gurenzaka I was unable to eat a single bite of anything and had trouble sleeping afterward, because it was so nervewracking! I remember specifically when Kagetora receives the scarf from Minako, all I could think is "NAOE IS GOING TO DIE IF HE SEES THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE IT OFF RIGHT NOW AAAAA". It's a shame because Minako's line about the Higanbana was really really good, but I was just internally screaming. Maybe that whole play I was just in "NAOE IS GOING TO DIE" panic mode nonstop hahaha.
I went into Sangekou ready for another Gurenzaka but I had a much easier time with that one. Actually I finished Sangekou completely satisfied with everything. Rarely do I ever finish something with the thought "everything went exactly as I would have wanted", but I felt that way about this story. I don't mean that I thought it was the best way narratively or anything, but if they allowed me to make any changes I wouldn't change anything. I don't know how accurate it was to the book, but I was extremely pleased with how central they kept the romance - I can't stress enough just how much I didn't expect that!
One thing I want to say about Sangekou... I wonder how other fans feel about this story? I had been telling my friends about the plays as I watched them, and none of them are Mirage fans or know anything about Mirage aside from what I tell them, but we often trade stories about what we are into so I was doing this. And when I mentioned/explained that there was a rape scene that was very pivotal to this story it immediately turned off almost everyone. I did read the posts that labingi made regarding Minako in the Meta section, and maybe that is some of what my friends were thinking. I wouldn't say that I'm 100% okay with this plotline, or that I don't think it has any problems. However, I felt that maybe I was too uncritical, hearing my friends' reactions.
Talking just about the play, I really appreciated that they spent time building up the scene just prior so that I did understand Naoe's state of mind and how he got to that point. I really identify with Naoe and even though I could never imagine doing anything like that, I do understand the state of anger and feeling wronged that makes you want to destroy everything with no thought to consequences. Regarding Minako, I felt that in the play at least, she was given a believable reaction of being cold to Naoe and letting him know that it was not okay, but still moving forward strongly as is consistent with her character. I've never experienced this thankfully, so I can't say what's realistic. I appreciated that she was allowed to be hurt, but strong as a female character, but as labingi said maybe that's depriving her of a humanity that Kagetora and Naoe get - I'm just not sure. I overall really liked the character of Minako, despite not seeing very much of her in the plays.
Maybe this is really more a topic for that Meta discussion... I don't want to get too bogged down on that. There was so much I loved, I don't know how to list all of it - Kagetora's breakdowns, Nagahide's high fives, the really cool choreographed fight scenes. I LOVED the one in Yonakidori where Haruie takes off her high heels and kicks ass with Kagetora. The way Naoe always ends up in retainer position diagonally behind Kagetora when they do a 2-person choubuku, and how they do all the intros and bows in character.
I'm just so glad I got to experience these! I'm so happy they exist!! I'm not ready to say goodbye to them yet, so I'm in the process of watching every single bit of extra material. I never do that...
I also want to share a story about ordering the plays - I made a huge idiot mistake and tried to save $30 by getting the standard edition of Ruritsubame, still in my idiot mode of thinking the plays wouldn't be that good. Then I found out by pure coincidence on twitter that the bonus material includes a performance of Love Me Tender from Yashashuu Boogie Woogie. So then I had to order the Special Edition too. The same person at the proxy service handled both orders, so I hope she got a chuckle out of it. Anyway, if anyone needs standard edition Ruritsubame Blues, I have an extra... OTL
Sorry for a late reply here. (Life!)
Tomita Shou is now the Kagetora of my heart....
Boy, I feel this too, so much so that it can actually be a little frustrating to go back to the main Mirage storyline because I really prefer Kase to the Takaya in my head. (There, I said it.) Course, it's all wonderful.
I also think they handled the rape plotline well. Just to specify, I wrote all that meta stuff before seeing the play. The play does reflect some elements I don't like from the storyline, in general, namely that the whole trauma seems to bounce off Minako so comparatively easily, but I do like the degree of nuance the actor (sorry, don't know her name) brought to Minako's range of feelings.
I really identify with Naoe and even though I could never imagine doing anything like that, I do understand the state of anger and feeling wronged that makes you want to destroy everything with no thought to consequences.
Yeah, I feel this way too. And as much as I think Minako is not quite given a human storyline here (sometimes close but no cigar), Naoe really is. It's very rare to see a rape plotline that takes it really seriously, call it out for what it is, yet let's the rapist be sympathetic and human. That's a very delicate line to walk--and I think Mirage walks it a little bit on the side of giving Naoe a pass and Minako a lack of depth--but not egregriously. Mostly, it's a very compelling story of having to live with that kind of irrevocable error, not just the play but the whole saga. And, yes, while most people would not actually commit rape because it's just very habitually drilled into most people not to (even men), most of us probably do know what it's like to be pushed past our endurance by something and just snap and do or say something irrevocable. As Oscar Wilde observed, "Each man kills the thing he loves..." And that is the same in kind, though not degree. I wish we had a culture that was more open to talking about that (I mainly mean my American culture, but I think it's true of the developed world, more or less, in general?). And I applaud Mirage for being willing to.
And you wrote much more to respond to, but I will hold off for now as I need to prep for international travel tomorrow. :)
Thanks for the reply!!
I would say I agree with everything you said about the rape plotline, I think it's possible to realise there are problematic elements and to not exucse those but to also appreciate what is handled well. Thanks for writing such an in-depth response, it helped me to think it through.
I'm not sure if this is exactly what you were saying about Kase - but beyond Tomita's performance, I think I also prefer Kase to Takaya in terms of just their portrayals. Maybe some of it is just because, compared to where I am in the main series, this is much later writing for Kuwabara-sensei, so maybe there is just more nuance she was able to put into the character.
On a subjective note for me, though, I think I prefer Kase and Naoki's relationship dynamic to Tachibana!Naoe and Takaya as well. Even though you know Takaya is spiritually more powerful and of course, he is the lord and Naoe is the retainer... But with Kase and Naoki, Kase is also physically stronger and considerably older, so I feel the gekokujo element is stronger, and I love that. When Naoki talks about taking control and Kase encourages him to do so, that's a college student trying to dominate a mid-30s ex-military officer! I think you have to be a bit into gekokujo/role-reversal if you are a Mirage fan, so I'm definitely into this. That's part of the reason I really came around to the young actor for Naoe in the plays. But of course, I still love all iterations of these two characters, and I appreciate that they have slightly different dynamics.
I hope you have a good trip!!