Waterfall & Wings Version 1

Omatase shimashita. Oh dear... it's going to be almost 2 months since i watched Enbujo. Look at what a procrastinator i am, especially after HK. And also cos i feel like i should be pumping 101% of my time finding a job. But i got so sick of filling in application forms online... =_= After such a loooooong time lag, my memory of Enbujo is getting faint. Will try to stay accurate. AND WHEN IS THE ENBUJO DVD COMING OUT?????? IF EVER???!?!?!? People, just keep requesting to Avex (if no one else) yo!!! Onegaishimasu!! Collective efforts do make a difference ne! Back to part 4 of the report, which i started before i went HK...

The intermission was pretty long, about 35 min. I guess they needed to give those okyakusama who paid for that exclusive "Takki-ben" (lol) time to enjoy the bento set instead of gulping it down. I mean hello, that thing is 3500yen afterall. Plus I think the crew prob need the time to clear up all the water on the stage after all that crazy thunderstorm! So if I didn't rem wrongly...

Part 1 - Act 1 (approx 1hr 15min)
Intermission (approx 35min)
Part 2 - Act 2 and Act 3 (approx 1hr 25min)

So you can see the remaining 2 acts were really much shorter than the first. Anyway, we made use of the intermission time to gawk at the stage photos that they put up on these panels and racked our brains and tore our hearts out deciding which ones NOT TO BUY. LOL~~~ Soooo expensive i tell ya. 500yen per piece!!! Were SHOCK photos this ex too??? =__= With JE, our money is always flying outta window without control!!! I eventually only bought 4... gaaahh!!! But they were REALLY BIG AND NICE!!!! *swoons* Thou i wouldnt complain if they shrink the pic a little and lower the price to say... 300yen per piece?? XDD LMAO~~ ok, i'll shut up. This ain't no marketplace for bargaining. x_x So back to the stageplay.

Act 2: 義経 (Yoshitsune)

Although this act is supposedly about Yoshitsune, but the storyline was totally different from NHK's Yoshitsune. In fact somewhere in the beginning of this act (or was it at the ending of the previous??), i forgot exactly when, the screen flashed the message which said...

あなたの知らない義経、ここにいる！！
There is a Yoshitsune here that no one knows!!

There's a looooot of talking in this Act, so it was a bit hard for me to comprehend everything they said. But at least the flow of the story, you can somehow figure out. Nantonaku ne. Hurr~~ So because there's a lot of dialogues which i wouldn't go into detail about, i hope Act 2's report will be shorter! Hahhaha~~ *lazy me* (i'm dying to talk about Act 3 dakara!! XD)

The curtain opened with this sugoi bamboo forest set. And Takki came out in his blue Yoshitsune costume (the one he always wore in Yoshitsune when he's not fighting) complete with the eboshi (black hat) from the hanamichi trapdoor. He was holding his sword above his head in this uber-kakkoii pose!!! *gawks* He then walked to the main stage and hacked down a few bamboo trees. He seemed traumatised about something. (Yoshitsune, not Takki) There was a voiceover narrating something but i forgot what. Then another older man's voice came on which told Yoshitsune "Do not hesitate!". (Hmm.. so i think by this point, Yoshitsune already found out that he is a son of Genji.) A small shrine sorta thing started raising up amongst the bamboos and inside, we see an image of a samurai inside, supposed to be Yoshitsune's father, Yoshitomo. Or his ghost at least. I think he told Yoshitsune to accept his destiny as a heir of Genji, and also told him what happened to his mother Tokiwa when he was just a baby. Can't recall if he made him go to Yoritomo though.

The next scene was a flashback scene. It showed the Heike soldiers snatching a still infant Ushiwaka (Yoshitsune's child name) from Tokiwa. I could never see the face of Tokiwa clearly. Eyesight not god in the dark... Damn... next time gotta bring binoculars, though it's always best to see Takki with the naked eye. LMAO~ So anyway, Tokiwa was crying as she shoved her flute into the cloth wrapping Ushiwaka before he was taken away from her to Kurama Temple. (Unlike in the Taiga drama, Tokiwa got to spend time with Ushiwaka until he was about 7 i think.) Main stage turned dark and then...

Takki in red samurai gear 登場!! He came in from the hanamichi exit trailed by Benkei (Okura) and eto.. 3 or 4 other kerai. One of them was Yabu. What a paper thin kerai!! Yabu was so tall and thin! And oh.. say... is this the first time i see Takki live in his samurai gear?? Wakakkaaaa~~ So surreal! Felt like i was *in* the drama! They walked to the main stage where Yoritomo (Yoko) was already there. What a fair Yoritomo.... hahahhahhaha!!! So this was the "reunion" scene... where they never should have met... =_=

Yoshitsune pledged his allegiance to Yoritomo and they talked somemore... Then Yoritomo left and Yoshitsune went to the back of the stage where someone helped him put on his headgear. Ooh lala!! Takki in full Yoshitsune gear!!! And then he went "kakare!!!" (Which means something like "charge!!". Which reminds me of that TBS Chubu special where Takki cooked nabe. The ojiisan host told him to assume the Yoshitsune spirit again for him to see. So Takki was holding this knife and went "KAKARE!!!" as he chopped the cabbage into two. LMAAAOOOOOOOO~~~~~~~~~ HILARIOUSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!) Brief battle scene with Heike people. Yoshitsune won of course. And then came the Kozue scene.

The set changed to some sort of a camp area. Suddenly one of the kerai rushed in and informed Yoshitsune that they found someone suspicous hanging around their camp. They brought in this lady in pink all tied-up (whom we later learn is called Kozue). Yoshitsune was initially quite fierce. Their conversation went something like this... NOT word-for-word. *squeezes brain to remember*

Yoshitsune: "Are you a spy from the Heike?!"
Kozue: "..."
Yoshitsune: "Speak!!"
Kozue: "I am from the Heike, but it is not my choice! I mean no harm! Please... let me go!" (Looks up at Yoshitsune as she pleaded with him and then eye contact between the two)
Yoshitsune: "..."
Kozue: "... ..."
Benkei and the rest: (??? expressions on their faces) <-- LMAO
Kozue: "Ano.... is there something wrong with my face?"
Yoshitsune: "Iya...." (walks away slightly embarrassed)

OK, seemed like love at first sight for both. HAHAH~~~ If i'm Kozue, I WOULD BE TOO!!! Like hello!!! My aitei is Takki yo!!! XDDD Yoshitsune then instructed his kerai to escort Kozue back (to wherever) as he went over to Kozue and helped to untie her from the ropes. Just as she was getting up to leave, Yoshitsune suddenly reached out for her right arm. *moe* GRAB MINE! GRAB MINE!! *offers arm shamelessly* He pulled back her sleeve which revealed a wound. Then he took out this piece of white cloth from i dunno where (his waist belt??) and wrapped her wound with it. Then he wished her well and walked away. Kozue asked if they will ever meet again. Yoshitsune replied that if they win the war and peace returns, they will definitely get to meet again. Kozue finally leaves, albeit somewhat reluctant. Fufufu~ AND THEN IT'S THE HILARIOUS AD LIB SCENE. LMAO~~~~

This part would be a little different everyday as Okura Benkei and Yoshitsune Takki thought up of different ways to inject humour into the otherwise serious and tragic Act 2. So there were many scenarios. Most of the time, it would start with Benkei collapsing onto the floor and mimicking Kozue. For eg...

Benkei: "Ah! itai desu!" (in a high pitch voice as he stretched out his arm at Yoshitsune)
Yoshitsune: (ignores Benkei totally by looking away, often sniggering himself. LMAO~)

Benkei would then complain about why his 'tono' (lord) is so bias, gentle only to girls. Hahaha~ Yoshitsune would try to redeem himself. On our later shows, this ad lib scene had progressed to Benkei self-mutilating himself to get Yoshitsune's attention. XDDD

Benkei: (Using his loooong weapon and making a cut on his own arm) "Itai!!" (of course, in a high pitch voice) *Audience laughing away*
Yoshitsune: (-__-;;; expression)
Benkei: "Itai desuuu.... (fished out a white cloth) Are? There is a piece of cloth here... Will there be someone to dress my wound kana~?" (looks endearingly at Yoshitsune)
Yoshitsune: (immediately turned away and exited the stage. LOL~~~~)

Then on the days when there are guests in the audience, they would be the 'enemies' and Yoshitsune would ask Benkei to attack them. (Go down the stage to their seats and pretend to hack off their heads or something. LOL) If it were juniors, Benkei would usually do it.. but if it were seniors, Benkei would be very komaru. LMAAOOO~~~ Takki sure liked to tease Okura! Like for senshuraku, the guests were dai-senpai Matchy and Uekusa (and of cos Hasegawa) and they apparenly sat on the 1st row of second floor. I read this from fans' reports. Can't really remember exactly what happened but it went something like this.

Yoshitsune: "There are enemies on the second floor. Get rid of them!"
Benkei: "But... but they are DAI-senpai... i don't dare to do it..."
Yoshitsune: "What are you talking about? I am your tono yo!! You must listen to me. Go!!"
Benkei: "But.. but.... they are too far away..." (Usu the guests will sit on the 1st floor)
Yoshitsune: "Then shoot them with your arrows!"
Benkei: "Eeehhh~??"

This was not exactly what they said but the flow of the scene was something like this. Benkei then reluctantly (pretended to??) fired a few arrows towards Matchy and the rest. And apprently, the 2 dai-senpais pretended to duck from the arrows!!! I forgot if they eventually did get "shot". LMAO~~~ But it was so funny reading about it. That they actually played along with the cast. XDDD Fans reported that Hasegawa didn't budge though. And complained that he should since his seniors did. Hahhaha.... Oh well. Maybe he didn't expect his grand seniors well into middle age to be so childish all of a sudden. XDD

Usually, the ad lib scene will be ended by Yabu's entrance. He would run in from the hanamichi yelling "Tono, tono, taihen desu!!" and informed Yoshitsune about the impending (Dannoura) war. But on days when Takki and Okura were in a chatty mood and couldn't stop talking, Takki would yell at Yabu. This happened on our last show if i'm not wrong. So hilarious!!!

Yoshitsune: "Urusai! Can't you see we are still talking here? You... wait there!" *all the while sniggering away... XDD*
Yabu (forgot his character's name... Kisanta??): "Eh........" *freezed on stage in a running pose*
(Yoshitsune Takki and Okura Benkei continued to yak somemore on stage as audience laughed at the crazy situation. LOLLL)
Yoshitsune: "OK! We are done... (to Yabu) Now, what is it?"
(Yabu looked a bit confused on what to do next SO HE RAN BACK TO THE HANAMICHI EXIT AND REPEATED HIS LINES AS HE RAN UP TO THE MAIN STAGE. We were all laughing away!!! hahhaha, YABU WAS SO FUNNY!!!! He had to re-do from the start!!! LMAO~~~)

Towards the end of Enbujo, Yabu's arm was injured. I think he injured it at school? So when he came out in this scene, Yoshitsune would ask him about his bandages.

Yoshitsune: "You, what happened to your arm?"
Yabu: "I injured it in physical education class in school..."
Yoshitsune: "And what school is that??"
Yabu: "Samurai Training School..."

ROFLMAO~~~~ And everyone thought Yabu would reveal the name of his own school. It was so funny. So there were many variations to this scene with each show as Yabu's arm became a topic for the ad lib scene. XDD

After this scene, the atmosphere would change back to serious mode, though sometimes everyone on stage was still laughing as they went off to prepare for the battle. (The mood was supposed to change back to serious the moment Yabu came out.) I think by senshuraku, they completed lost it and were laughing and joking away for the longest time. Heheh~~

A brief Dannoura battle scene commenced. Yoshitsune won of course. Then Yoshitsune would find an badly injured woman on one of the ships. This denoted the start of a VERY VERY LOOOOOONNNNNGG SCENE. (Me and Syl timed and it was almost 25min long!!! They just talked and talked and TALKED on that same ship set. x_x) That woman was Tokiwa but of course he didn't know it was his mother until she told him her name. When Tokiwa realised it was her son, she wailed because she was unable to see her own son's face. (She had became blind for some reason.) Yoshitsune then took her hands and put them on his face. *PAUSE* I AM SOOOOOOOOOO ENVIOUS OF THE LADY ACTING AS TOKIWA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT TO TOUCH TAKKI'S FACE THIS WAY TOO!!!!!!!! AND IMAGINE!!! SHE GOT TO DO IT 74 TIMES!!!! AND NOT INCLUDING REHEARSALS. KYAHHHHHH!!!! @_@ *START* So then there was a tearful reunion, though shortlived because Tokiwa was dying. Kozue arrived halfway too and met Yoshitsune again. Both were shocked that they were actually half-siblings. ok... so mild incest here?? Tokiwa soon died and I can't rem but was it because Yoshitsune and Kozue knew they would never meet again so she performed a dance as farewell to him?? (Which was kinda weird as she was dancing next to her erm... mother's dead body. O_o) As she was dancing, arrows came out from nowhere and shot her fatally. Yoshitsune yelled at them (presumably Genji soldiers who were just aiming at anyone who's non-Genji) to stop but it was too late. Kozue collapsed and Yoshitsune held her up in his arms. @____@!!!!!

LUCKY GIRL!!! She gets to look at Takki so closely!!!

They exchanged some last words before Kozue died too. x__x And then Yoshitsune hugged her tightly close to his chest and yelled "Kozue, I loved you!!!!!" (So he could only confessed his forbidden love for her after she died. Note the past tense.) *PAUSE* OH MY GAWD~~~ I WAS EVEN MOREE ENVIOUS OF THIS KOZUE GIRL!!!! NOT ONLY DID SHE GET TO CELEBRATE HER BIRTHDAY ON THE SAME DAY AS TAKKI, SHE GOT TO BE HUGGED SOOOOOOOOO TIGHTLY BY HIM FOR HOW MANY TIMES?!??!?!?!???? AND TO LOOK INTO HIS YASASHII EYES.... (bangs head on wall) KYAAAH~~~~~ *START* (it's really hard to have self-control... hurrr... =_=) After a moment of silence, Yoshitsune finally laid down Kozue and got down from the ship as he lamented the loss of his mother and Kozue. (I think he starts to wonder about his decision of joining Yoritomo's war??) He then exited by the hanamichi trapdoor.

Benkei and Yoritomo appeared and had a brief conversation. They seemed to be arguing about something. Then the scene changed as the latter exited and Benkei joined Yoshitsune (now in white) and the other kerais at what seemed to be their residence. Two officials from the imperial court then arrived with some imperial edict. If i'm not wrong, it is a edict to award Yoshitsune with an imperial post for his efforts in wiping out the Heike. Just as Yoshitsune was about to receive the edict from the officials (hence accepting the title), Yoritomo arrived and claimed that Yoshitsune was a traitor. (This part was similar to the Taiga drama. Yoshi wanted to accept the title because it meant bringing glory to the Genji clan. But Yori took it as treacherous. To him, Yoshi accepting an imperial title would mean he would become directly under the order of the emperor. But he wanted it to be where Yoshi is under him, and he himself is on par with the imperial court, who obviously had differing interests.) Yoshitsune tried to explain but Yoritomo was insistent that he was a traitor and even tore up the edict. Angry that his brother would not trust him, he declared that he would not work for him anymore and started to leave. Yoritomo however, tried to stop him and a fight ensued.

AND THEN THIS HUGE AND AMAZING 2-STOREY STRUCTURE ROSE FROM BELOW THE STAGE. O_O!!! They started fighting but as Yoshitsune's side was outnumbered, his kerai died one by one. T-T (It's like reliving Episode 49!!) Benkei was the last to go. He died standing, as per the legend, and descended slowly via the hanamichi trapdoor. Yoshitsune who had ran up to the upper floor of the structure went a bit berserk seeing his kerai die one by one as he slashed away at Yoritomo's men closing in on him. Somewhere here, Yoshitsune's hair was kinda loosen during the fight and covered his face. As he ran in and out behind the bamboo blinds, he took the opportunity to swap with his double. So Takki ran off as his double continued to fight with his last breathe. Yoritomo then released fire arrows into the structure and set it on fire. AND THEN THE BUILDING STARTED COLLAPSING ADMIST A LOT OF SMOKE. I WAS SO AMAZED BY THE SET!!!! The whole roof kinda collapsed in as "Yoshitsune" laid dead inside. When all the collapsing is done and it became quiet, Yoritomo gave a soliloquy. (Forgot what he said. Prob regretting how things had turned out...) All this while, the audience could see "Yoshitsune", a white figure lying admist the rubble behind Yoritomo. (I actually didn't notice the swap with the double at all in our first show. Thought it was Takki lying there throughout so was surprised when he popped up somewhere else.) A HUGE curtain of sakura petals then came down on the main stage and blocked the rubble. Then MORE sakura petals fell from above onto the empty stage. It was a really pretty and calming scene!! Just many many petals flying all around on the empty stage. (I think there were so much at one point, they were flying into the people at the very front rows. LOL~)

The spotlights then shone on the hanamichi exit where Takki reappeared as Shanaou. (A few gasps from the audience from those who didn't realise the body swap earlier.)

A very pretty Shanaou with that signature 'pained' look. *pats*
In the shows that i went to, the cloth that he was holding was actually
translucent orange and not the one shown in this pic.

With the cloth thingy cover his head, Shanaou walked along the hanamichi to where the trapdoor was and stopped. A voiceover then came on narrating something. (I forgot what but probably summing up Yoshitsune's tragic life.) Shanaou lifted up the cloth and looked up as he slowly turned one round so that everyone on the upper floors could see his face. (Those days where i was sitting on the 2nd floor, it really felt like Takki visually acknowledged everyone up there. When he turned to my direction, i could only think of one word... KIREI~) Finally, he lowered the cloth again to cover his face and glided away real gracefully, exiting from the hanamichi exit. *loud applause* This concluded Act 2 of Enbujo.

And I will save Act 3 for Part 5 of the report because I don't like to end with a '4'. LMAO~~~ This entry is getting too long anyway. Part 5 will be the final one and i promise it will be the shortest of all!! (cos Act 3 *was* the shortest of all...)

This is old news, but in case some of you didn't know, there was this ranking done by Goo in April for "The most ikemen of Johnny's talents" and fufufu~~ TAKKI WAS TOP!!! He actually beat Kimura. They showed the results polled by just the males and females as well, but the combined results were...

1. TAKKI =333
2. Kimura Takuya
3. Okada Junichi

新着情報30件→ goo ランキング

イケメンだと思うジャニーズ事務所所属タレントランキング

1	滝沢秀明
2	木村拓哉
3	岡田准一
4	長瀬智也
5	東山紀之
6	山下智久
7	堂本光一
8	亀梨和也
9	赤西仁
10	松岡昌宏

Read more »

TADAIMA!!!! I am back from Hong Kong (in time to escape Typhoon "Pearl") and now officially contributing to the unemployment figures of my country. *cough* My friend calls this "a trip to collect (immigration) stamps" cos we went in to HK, outta HK, in to Macau, then back to HK, and out again to Shenzhen and then back again. Hahha~~ So lucky we missed this tyhpoon if not we would have been stuck in the hotel! And like i said.. shopping was FREAKING CHEAP!!!! (Althou the cheap prices will reflect the quality as well.. but STILL CHEAP!)

Will post some photos of my trip later... but hahha, just to let you guys have an idea of how CRAZY CHEAP shopping was... look what i bought! XDDDD I AM SO NOT GOING TO SHOP FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS!!!!! *runs away from the Great Singapore Sale*

Hey people, i'm on hiatus until early next week yo. Going Hong Kong...*coughs* Yea, finally going somewhere OTHER THAN JAPAN. Part 2 to my holiday, after which, i will REALLY BE EATING GRASS if i dun find a job soon. *diess* Wanted to complete my Enbujo report before i leave, demo chotto muri kana. Yappari too much distraction. I'm halfway into Act 2 actually. Jaa, will probably be still using the internet anyway cos i need to check my email... *sigh* Life as a job-hunter. So keep flooding and commenting! Hahahah~~ snuffles is READING dakara ne!! Mitemasu yo~~~ (De... can this still be called a hiatus?? Hahah)

Loracyn: REMEMBER, sms me if there's any groundbreaking news!!!! Onegaishimasu!!
m(_~_)m

Dithers: CALL CALL CALL!!! Dun wait anymore!! It's long overdue... Blast them!! Tag or email me when you finally get it ne!!

Reiko-chan: Thank you for your loooooooonnnnngggggg comments over email. Hahahha... VERY LONG INDEED!!! I kinda skimmed through it already but will read it again properly when I come back. Til then, pls wait for my reply!! Yoropiku!

Yvie: All the best for your new job!!!

Everyone else, I WILL BE BACK!!! LMAO~~

Itte kimaaassuuuuu!!!! =333

*Hops to HK to feel the remnants of Takki's body warmth. LOL*

WARNING: SUPER LOOOOOONG REPORT AHEAD... You have been warned. XD

After the drum sequence, Takki exited the stage and many juniors and female dancers came on and started dancing. (And oh, this i noticed cos i was staring at Takki all the time. LOL~ I think Loracyn saw it too. When Takki was exiting the stage once, there was this chibi junior running out who kinda blocked him. The chibikko didn't even know he was in the way but Takki just waited patiently for him to move away, even though he had to rush for his costume changes. Yasashikatta ne~~ chuu shite ageru wa! =333) They were trying to depict this simple but happy life in the countryside. Then all of a sudden, enemies (looking real mean) penetrated the village and it became chaos. A group of juniors dressed in white appeared and tried to protect the women and the young. They were the "Byakkotai". This set the stage for the tragedy of 「滝沢隊長と白虎隊」 "Captain Takizawa and the Byakkotai". Omg, this was a really saaaad story. Get ready your Kleenex.

Reference:
The "Byakkotai" (White Tigers Brigade) were made up of a group of young boys (aged 14-16) who studied Bushido from young. The time was at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, when the Meiji Emperor felt the urgency to modernise and catch up with the West after closing its doors to the outside world for more than 250 years. The government led by the Emperor wanted to abolish the old system of hierarchy, where samurai was top. So there was constant conflict between the new and old world order, fightings between the samurai and the military etc. To cut things short, the story of the Byakkotai is centered around 20 of these boys who committed suicide, only 1 survived because his hand was too injured to complete the procedure. "Engaged in a last-ditch effort to defend their domain, the boys intended to follow their lord to his death when they saw smoke in the distance and mistakenly identified it as a fire destroying Tsurugajou, the daimyo's castle. The war was lost and the castle was eventually destroyed, but the daimyo himself lived well into old age." (Read here for more details. I got quite sucked into this story when i was reading up on Byakkotai myself...) The survivor lived to tell the tragic story of these boys, who are still remembered by Japanese today as an embodiment of the nobility of the samurai spirit. Some also view it as an example of how war wastes the lives of the young.
None of the 19 boys who died were called Takizawa, but coincidentally, their stronghold was called Takizawa Village... Yosh! Loracyn, Syl! Note it down! Our next destination! LOL~

So i assumed the penetrators were the military faction. I can't rem who was acting as their leader (with purple hair) but was it Yoko?? Gomen..... im soo bad with details. But that's cos my eyes followed Takki 101% of the time!!! So anyway, the Byakkotai fought the military and Captain Takki came out somewhere here. He yelled to the boys something like "If you want to become a strong man, fight bravely and protect those you love!!" and joined in the fight. They nearly won but suddenly, there were gunshots!! Reinforcements from the military shot at Takki with their guns from the hanamichi which allowed the leader to escape!!
*MOUUUUU, ATAMA NI KITA YO!!! I WAS SO PISSED!!! HOW DARE YOU SHOOT AT TAKKI??!? MY TAKKI??? KICKS THE MILITARY TO HIGH HEAVEN* Anywaay, it was sad when i noticed that the boys lost to the military only because the latter had guns. Kinda reminded me of the movie "The Last Samurai"... The wheels of modernization ne...

Captain Takizawa after he was shot!
But still looking kakkoii... his look here was very moe~.

Actually in my first show, I didn't realise why Takki was suddenly injured. The gunshots were so loud they kinda startled me but I actually didn't notice the guns. -__- Was seriously STARING at poor injured Takki the whole time to even notice the evil military contingent that were moving in from the hanamichi. x_x I eventually realised it in the later shows and gawd, this scene was really quite scary on top of tragic. The burning Tsurugajo Castle in the background as the military moved in eerily. The ghostly way they marched... *shudders* The whole stage was shrouded in red light and there was the sound of chanting on top of the sad BGM. Mistaken that their castle was really burning and that their lord had been killed, they killed themselves one by one. T-T The last boy was Hikaru (Yayayah) I think and he too, stabbed himself in his stomach but he didn't die immediately. He asked Takki, who was his brother, to grant him the coup de grace. And OH MY GAWWDDDD, THIS SCENE WAS SERIOUSLY SETSUNAI!!!!!!!!!!! Now that i know the story of Byakkotai, thinking about this scene in retrospect makes it EVEN SADDER!!!! Takki struggled to Hikaru's side and pointed his sword at his neck. *i stopped breathing here and i think the audience was in absolute silence* Hikaru looked up at Takki and then Takki suddenly knelt down behind him. It's hard to explain Takki's actions here. Basically, he held Hikaru in his arms as he positioned his sword in front of Hikaru's throat. It was a very VERY YASASHIIIIII action... you gotta see it yourself. I can't explain properly. Finally, Takki took a deep breathe and cut his brother's throat, then laid him down gently. *BAWLSSSSSSSSS* SO SAAAADDDD!!!!!!!!!! He then mourned and lamented their death.

Takki: "Why do young children have to give up their lives like this??!?"

With that, Takki swung his sword and the whole stage went dark except the spotlights on the military behind. (I am not sure if this meant that Takki killed himself too, but that's really insignificant. He was dying from the gunshots anyway... T-T) The chanting grew louder and louder as the eerie military moved forward and the "burning" castle sank into the ground. And then all lights went out.

The scene where Takki killed Hikaru was very sad but I later found out that quite a few fans had the same thought running through our heads admist the grief... we were envious that Hikaru could die in Takki's arms like that and all wished to die the same way... Hurrr, talk about being S. But it was HONTOUNI a very yasashii scene dakara!! The way he cradled Hikaru in his arms... (妄想)

Takki's face then appeared on the stage. Initially I was wondering how they made the face look so 3D. It was obviously not just a video showed on the back screen. Then I realised they had this big white structure in the shape of a face on stage and Takki's image was projected on it from the front by a projector. Talk about precision, if not the face would be distorted. Takki's voiceover was saying something I couldn't really catch (something about humans having many faces) -_- His face then slowly changed as he spoke, and his voice got lower too. The face was changing into something that resembled an (evil?) kabuki character's painted face. Then totally without warning, there was a LOUD SOUND and the face structure on stage was pulled apart. After the first show, i was telling Loracyn and Syl how there was this high school girl in front of me who really JUMPED UP in her seat when the loud sound went off. Haha. And guess what, the SAME loud sound scared-ed me too the next day and I yelped in my seat. Gawd. And it wasn't even my first time. This teaches one never to laugh at people... -__-

Takki then came out on this elevated black platform. I think this was the part where there was supposed to be fire effects. But since they stopped using real fire after the incident, they replaced it with visual effects instead. Hmm, would have loved to see how the original effect looked like. Maa, ii ya! ^-^ He then performed some tricks with this sensu made of small little masks and this box of golden paper thingy. The box is like slim and long and they have this very looooooong piece of thin and shiny golden paper folded backward and forward inside. So there will be two juniors who would appear and hold a piece of black cloth each below Takki on each side, one to catch the cover of the box, and the other to catch the golden paper. Takki would throw out a bit of the golden paper and the rest will fall out by itself, creating this "water effect". I remembered seeing it on one of the WS but can't seem to find that clip anywhere now. Anyway, during our first show, Takki actually didn't manage to do this golden paper trick. I think there were problems with the prop or something but we didn't even realise that something was amiss!! We were only wondering what the 2 juniors were doing, squatting below Takki holding black cloth. LOL~~ It was only on our 2nd show we realised, "Hey! He was supposed to be doing that???" Yappari Takki is very pro ne!! We totally didn't realise anything was wrong. He just reacted impromtu by prolonging the sensu sequence. We could see his face and he didn't even look worried. Sasuga a first-rate entertainer. *thumbs UP*

Takki then got down from the platform and i think this is the beginning of 「ＭＡＳＫ」. He did this very fascinating sequence using a LOT of masks!! It's a liiiittle bit like the art of Face-changing from China. He first put on this ONE mask and then, in sync with the Japanese BGM, he would remove the mask quickly, only to reveal another below!! (Guess it's probably like many many masks stacked in one?? Though it would require some skill to take them off one at a time at such high speed as well.) So of course, the audience would think the mask he's wearing is the last but there would always be another one underneath. I was quite engrossed in this particular sequence actually. Some of the masks looked scary, and some actually looked kakkoii!! Like with a sharp nose and defined jawline etc. Goodness, did they custom-make the masks to reflect the wearer??? LMAO~ And I think he flew over the audience at a certain part during this mask sequence. In the background, there were a lot of dancers dancing with huge pieces of colourful cloth hung from the top on the stage ceiling. So at one point of the sequence, a masked-Takki would run behind these cloth and out again on the other side. He was out of view for like 2 seconds but this was when his double came on. Haha, i guess he finally ran out of masks and need a "refill"! So his double would continue to do the same thing, and this time, he would even do this trick where it seemed like umbrellas appeared from his hands!! Syl said the umbrellas were passed to him by the dancers behind him but i couldn't tell at all! But it must be, because it's muri to hide soooooo many umbrellas in his sleeves!! Normal sized Japanese umbrellas yo!! Not those foldable ones. LOL~ The double would then run behind the cloth again and swap with the real Takki (still-masked). (The body swapping was pretty neat!! i totally didn't realise there was a double at all until my 2nd show...) Then oh, Takki would do this amazing trick then up til now I haven't figure out how he did it. He tilted his head downwards and fiddled with a mask on his face to make it drop. But the amazing thing was, the mask would free-fall to somewhere at his hip level and then float back up to his face!!! O_o?? It couldn't have been wind blowing upwards because there were no trapdoors open. Magnetism...??? Then it better be one hella strong magnet!!! So finally at the end, after many Many Masks, he took the final one to reveal his own face. Very smooth and captivating sequence!!!! *applause*

After 「ＭＡＳＫ」, he removed the cloak he had on. He was wearing some sleeveless black top underneath I think and then he sang a second original song from Enbujo. (Compared with DB, Enbujo had waaaay lesser songs. It was more composed background music. I think this was the only original song that Takki sang other than Inishie??)

After he finished the song, he changed into this haha, what do you call it? He had on this hat that made him look like one of those "dian-xiao-er" (restaurants waiters) in those Chinese wuxia drama... LOL!! Only he obviously wasn't a waiter. XD I don't know who he was acting as when he changed into this costume, maybe some figure from a Japanese folklore i never heard of. So there Takki was, in that "dian-xiao-er" costume and he held a large piece of white cloth which covered him from chest downwards. And then the BGM turned eerie. He would shake the white cloth and "sadakos" will crawl out. LOL~ (Sadako = people with looong hair and covered in white from head to toe. And cos we have no idea what this whole scene was all about, we katteni named it the "Sadako Scene". Hahha~) Gawd, it was quite freakish! The way they crawled really reminded me of Sadako crawling out of that TV in The Ring!! He shook 2 "sadakos" out and then for the last time, he would raise the cloth high enough to cover his face for a split second (and swap quickly with his double) and crawl out himself underneath. The fake Takki in the "xiao-er" costume would show himself for a brief moment but kinda hid his face then walk to the back of the stage. The back screen would show images of Takki walking away, to dupe the audience into thinking that that was really still Takki, though we later found out it was a pre-recorded video. (Note: I'm only writing all these cos i saw Enbujo 3 times and managed to decipher many of the tricks. I didn't realise many of them during my first show. So it's not because the tricks were half-past six. Their coordination was really quite good!!) After "Takki" supposedly left the stage, the 3rd Sadako whose face had been concealed all this while by all that hair revealed his face and it was the real Takki!! He said something (i forgot what) with this anguished expression on his face and then exited the stage too.

And then it was here, *we* got FREAKED OUT. LOL~~~ During our first show, we were on the 2nd floor so we didn't know why there were people on the 1st floor screaming. Hahah, we thought they were actors!! But on our 2nd show, we were down on the 1st floor and yea, we found out why. During this Sadako scene, while everyone's attention was fixed on the main stage, they had even MORE sadakos moving in from the back! So what they did was they held pieces of black hair hung from something like a fishing rod and then swung it around at the audience in front of them as they moved slowly to the stage. So when those people who were so engrossed in that eerie scene on stage suddenly had this hairy thing flying past them or touching their faces, they all yelped in shock. Hahhahaha~ Unfortunately, me and Loracyn were one of the victims. And worst cos Loracyn was sitting by the aisle that Sadako would pass by. She literally clung on to me. Hahhaha! I mean, we KNOW they were actors but it's still freakish!! you never know if they decide to pick you out to scare ya know! Syl was just giving the =_= face when the hair brushed past her face. LOL~~~

So while we were all kept busy by these Sadakos moving in to the stage from all over the place, Takki was already back on stage in this green costume and red wig. Once again, i don't know which story the following scene falls into. I think Takki was supposed to be some snake demon?? There was a monk who came up the stage with all the sadakos and went to confront Takki. And all the sadakos were like swarming around Takki, tugging at his legs and clothes. *kowa..* And before i knew what happened, suddenly there was this big green snake prop that kinda clamped on the monk and they started flying about in the air as the monk struggled to free himself. I forgot what happened to the monk cos Takki started flying around too. LOL! *shift of attention*

So Takki flew round and round and then landed on top of this big urn-like container. A paper shield came down and blocked him from our view. Then they projected a shadow image of a giant snake which ate up this man (who was in the container??) and then everything went up in flames. Ok, for this one, I was totally Yappari, they need to have a "Enbujo Guide for the Utterly Confused". Haaa~~~

Next! A huge group of chibikkos appeared and sang the 「山寺の和尚さん」 "The monk of the mountain temple" while tap-dancing with their Japanese wooden clogs. All I know about this is that it is a children's song. You can see the lyrics and hear a midi of it here. I don't know if this song is all there is to this scene. Maybe it is connected with the previous "snake demon" scene. I mean, it's weird if they wrote it in the program and all they did was to sing the song right??? Aiiiii, wakannai yo~~

So while the chibikkos were singing, staff/cast were busy preparing the stage behind. They spread this huge black sheet on the floor, which we realised later it was to protect the stage from all the water that will be used in the next scene for 「滝の白糸」 "White threads of the Waterfall".
Reference:
"Taki no Shiraito" (White threads of the Waterfall) is an adaption from a novel. Taki no Shiraito is the stage name of this female water magician. The "shiraito" in her name (literally 'white threads') actually refer to the imagery of the waterfall, the water that resembles white threads as they fall over the cliff. She falls in love with a young and poor law student Kin'ya. She decides to support Kin'ya through law school by sending him regular allowance from her earnings through conjuring acts with water. "After some three years, she secures an advance from a wealthy patron that she plans to send Kin'ya as a last installment for his tuition fee. But that night, a Chinese knife-thrower steals the money from her. In despair, Shiraito breaks into her patron's house to recover her losses, and in the panic and confusion murders the man. As luck would have it, Kin'ya's first legal appointment is as prosecuting attorney in the trial for the patron's murder. Shiraito makes a dramatic courtroom confession to the crime, and is sentenced to death. Kin'ya, knowing that she killed for his sake, commits suicide." (Source from here. Too lazy to summarise and it seemed summarised enough. Heh.)

Personally, i think there are too many suicides... Anyway, Takki appeared after the juniors were done with the song and went onto this platform and two female dancers helped him to put on this silverish-purple coat. I think he was acting as the female Taki no Shiraito even though he didn't wear any female wigs. (Because i don't think Kin'ya knew anything about water tricks...) But then again, was he wearing a kimono?? *cannot rem...* I eventually figured out why he had to put on the coat only at the platform cos that coat had water tubes connected to it, which probably led to some secret water compartment in that platform. So Takki did this water transferring trick.

I eventually figured out how he did it but i'm not telling here. Haha~ See?
It pays to watch more than once if not you will be FOREVER scratching your head at home in puzzlement. Muahahhahaa~ *evil laugh*
See a picture of the same water trick performed by the famous Hanayagi Shotaro,
also from the Hanayagi school where Takki learnt his buyo!
Click here

Meanwhile, there was a character creeping up behind him on this bridge. (Is that supposed to be the thief??) Takki then removed his coat and said something before cutting his wrist and supposedly, his blood spurted out and sorta temporarily blinded the bad guy?? (I am totally lost here. So Takki is Kin'ya now?? Because Kin'ya was the one that killed himself. Huh?? ) His blood also stained this screen behind the bridge. Initially I thought it was nothing significant but then by my 3rd show, the image of the blood on the screen seemed to resemble a dragon. (And from fans' reports, during senshuraku, the blood formed the words "Takki" on the screen and the audience laughed. LMAO~~~ What a silly Takki-rashii idea!!) What happened after this was pretty dramatic. Takki jumped over the bridge to this paper screen behind and somehow "clung" onto it. The screen slowly elevated him off the ground for few meters and then he let go and fell. (But of course we didn't get to see him hit the ground cos the props were arranged to obstructed our view.) Well, not to worry. The person who actually fell wasn't Takki. The double had swapped with him somewhere when he was running to the back. XD

So the reason why Takki had to rush off was cos he had to prepare for his *very important* next scene, on top of the fact that that stunt was probably too risky for him to do, since as the zachou, he couldn't afford spraining his leg or arm. Well, the next scene was 「男の花道」 "Man's hanamichi", in other words, THE ONNAGATA SCENE!!! Kitaaa!!!! MATTEMASHITA YO!!!! We could call it the highlight of Act 1. The whole theatre went dark and Mori Mitsuko's voiceover came on again. She talked about Takki's 初挑戦 of challenging the famous and difficult onnagata role in kabuki and asked us to clap loudly for him if we think he was successful in portraying the feminity of it. *doki doki*

Reference:
The onnagata that Takki portrays in Enbujo is "Sagimusume" (White Heron Maiden), a very famous and classic character performed in kabuki and buyo alike. I think i read somewhere that it was first performed 250 years ago??? (Onnagata is essentially a kabuki term, but this character is performed in buyo too. The difference between kabuki and buyo, oh well, is just different dance forms. Not gonna explain here. Seems that "Sagimusume" was originally a kabuki role, but was adopted by Buyo as well? Hence even though females also dance Buyo, this role seems reserved for males. Bimyou desu. But Takki's sensei for this role is a Buyo dancer dakara, not kabuki.) Basically, the story is about a girl who is abandoned by her lover. She goes mad and dies on a snowy winter night, then reincarnates back as a white heron.
I don't think Takki acted out the whole story, it's impossible. He only danced one short segment of it.

A junior came out and sat in the foreground as he played an "er-hu". (I don't know what it's called in English. It's this traditional Chinese 2-string musical instrument.) Then on the huge screen at the back of the stage, they showed an onnagata-Takki in white kimono moving gracefully down this elevated path from the left to the right as sakura petals fell from above. So this part was pre-recorded. But as the path turned in on the right, the real onnagata-Takki appeared!!!! So onnagata Takki had to dance as he moved down the winding path. Someone then passed him a letter. He read the letter and then hurriedly moved to the front of the stage and knelt down at the audience (in a feminine way) and pleaded to whoever in his own voice, "pls let me perform" or something like that. I don't really get it here but i suspect they modify the story a bit to flow better in Enbujo. Anyway, I think the story didn't really matter here. It was his portrayal.

I loved how he danced with the kasa!!
So mesmerizing~~ *_*

Frankly speaking, i felt a bit awkward seeing him dressed up as a woman for this scene on our 1st show. But by our 2nd show, i was observing his every move and it was really IMPRESSIVE. I am definitely no Buyo expert, only learning it as an ECA for 3 years while i was in university. Takki's performance wasn't perfect either. It can't be cos Buyo is an art that takes years to master. But Takki only had like what... 2 months plus to train for this? Plus it wasn't as if he was spending all this time just mastering this. I myself find it sooooo hard to remember the steps of the nagauta dances (as opposed to the more lively matsuri dances), like Fujimusume. NONETHELESS, I think he captured the essence of that role. Seriously, if you couldn't see his face and you didn't know that it was Takki, you really can't tell that it was a him!!! I was staring at all the small little actions that my own Buyo sensei (from the same school as his sensei!!! LMAO~~) used to remind us of constantly and TAKKI REALLY DID THEM!!! @_@!! Was so excited seeing my "schoolmate" in action! LMAO~~ The way he walked with his feet pointing inwards, the way he clasped the umbrella stem, the way he folded his thumb inwards, the way he held his sleeves with only his index finger, uwaaah!!!! Moee~~~ And i especially liked this one part where he peered shyly over the umbrella... WOAAAH~~~~~ No wonder he was afraid he would start calling himself 'atashi' by the time Enbujo is over. HAHAHHAAA~~~~ DEMO, MIGOTO JYA!!!! *pachi pachi pachi*

After "Sagimusume" was 「七変化」 "Seven changes". I liked this part a lot too!!! It was really a series of SUPER-FAST costume changes!! I was sooo fascinated!! LMAO~ The main stage turned around and Okura, Yoko and some other actors were like having a discussion when it got a bit hostile. Seemed like Yoko is some sorta sensei and he challenged Okura to something. Takki then appeared again from the hanamichi in this black kimono (Costume 1) to save Okura. Was like woaaah~~~ Didn't he just go off in his onnagata kimono??

The 3 of us were totally in with him doing this dance.
His intense look, CHOU KAKKEEE!!!!!!! =333

So anyway, he saved Okura by performing a traditional sensu dance. (So i dunno, is Yoko supposed to be a dance sensei?? Someone quick, throw me the "Enbujo Guide for the Utterly Confused"!!!) It was reallly reeeeaaaaalllly GOOD!!!! After that, he peeled off his black kimono with some help from the juniors to reveal a female kimono (Costume 2) underneath and danced a bit of Buyo. (If you look at the picture of him in the black kimono above carefully, you can see the velcro seams along the sleeves.) It was AMAZING to see him dance such a strong otokorashii sensu dance one minute and then suddenly doing a graceful female buyo dance the next!!! Sugokatta~~~~ So he did a bit of Buyo and then went into one of the sets. The BGM then changed to "Here I Am". I LOVE THIS SONG!! There was a double who bought him some time as he changed into Shaolin Takki (Costume 3)!! XDD He did a bit of martial arts and then someone brought in this furry coat and a mask and put it on for him. And he started prancing around. LOL~ I would love to see him do it WITHOUT the disguise of the mask and coat!! Then again, I am not sure but I THINK it is a CAT he is acting as. Kanaa??? I thought it was a fox mask but then, are foxes that furry?? Anyway, this is Costume 4. So off Takki goes pyong pyong pyong around and with some help from his double again (hahah, they are so useful for buying time!), he reappeared as this ojiisan (Costume 5)!! And then, in front of the audience again, he peeled off the ojiisan costume to reveal yet ANOTHER female kimono underneath and some juniors came out and put on a wig for him. Personally, i like this onnagata #3 (Costume 6) best cos the wig made use of his real bangs and he really looked quite pretty!! He danced a bit more Buyo here and then the main curtain came down. *Loud applause* VERY FASCINATING!!! And then of course, he had one more costume change. And this one took a bit more time cos it is for the FAMOUS BUNGEE!!!! (Costume 7) KYAAAHH~~~~~~~

A gondola with 2 of the ABC jrs and 2 female dancers came down from the top and they started to do some stunts on it. Felt really quite scary yo!! The gondola was like moving from side to side. The other 2 ABC boys came down on bungee too on the left side and did some mid-air somersaults. Then the gondola went back up and finally TAKKI APPEARED!!!!! He was wearing this shiny red suit and OH MY GAWD!!! HIS ENTRANCE WAS SOOO SUGEEE!!!! *cold sweat cold sweat* I think he basically just DIVED down from the top so you see him falling at high speed, head downwards!!! IMAGINE IF YOU ARE THE PERSON SITTING DIRECTLY BELOW HIM!!!! You will see Takki dropping at full speed towards you!!!!! (Very Mission Impossible-ish. LOL) Of course the bungee pulled him back, but imagine how scary it was!!!!! It's really a leap of confidence. Takki then went on to do this maji high-speed consecutive somersaults as he moved from the right to the left of the theatre while suspended in the air. I THINK I WAS JUST LIKE O_O THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SEQUENCE. HE DID LIKE HOW MANY FLIPS IN ONE SHOW???!?!?!? And on our 2nd show, cos we were on the 1st floor, Takki was like flipping just on top of us!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I got a bit of a neckache looking up for so long, but IT WAS WORTH IT!!! *gawk* And oh, when Takki was doing all these flips, there was like "Takki Rain" on the 1st floor people. Hahahhahaa~~~ Maybe he poured water on himself before this stunt, or maybe it was pure Hide-juice. But ANYWAY, when the water was like flying off him, all 3 of us and those in front of us, everyone stretched out their cupped hands and tried to collect the "Takki Rain"!!! Hahhahahha, it was SOOOO FUNNY!!! It's not like "ewww...what's that? Sweat??" but everyone instantaneously reacted the exact same way, to collect what may be precious Hide-juice!!!! LMAO~~~ So after many Many MANY COUNTLESS mid-air somersaults later, he descended onto the hanamichi to loud applause and then exited by the hanamichi exit again. I am surprised he could run off in a straight line after all that spinning. MIGOTO JYA, MIGOTO!!! *pachi pachi pachi*

Yabu and some juniors then appeared on the main stage which was some forest with a waterfall setting. (And the waterfall REALLY had water falling from it. @_@!!) That was supposed to be the forest of Kurama (from Yoshitsune). The boys were singing and dancing happily until some bad guys came along. I don't know what they were... bandits??? The boys tried to fight them off and Hikaru got cornered to the hanamichi. The bandits were about to finish him off when Shanaou-Takki saved him in the nick of time!!! He pointed a wooden stick at the bandit's throat as he ascended onto the stage through the hanamichi trapdoor. OH GAWD~~~~ I finally see Shanaou in his white costume again!!!! Though we were missing the ponytail, but his INTENSE LOOK more than made up for everything~~~ KAKKEEKEKEKE~ *meltsssss* So Shanaou fought the bandits but they still took Yabu away somehow. The stage then started raining... heavily!!! Of course they already protected the stage floor with a huge piece of black sheet. But the "rain" was reallly heavy!!! I was like, so amazed. *gawk* The bandits came back for Shanaou he kept fighting them off as he swished and swashed about in the ponds. (YES!!! THERE WERE PONDS AS WELL!!! THE SETS WERE REALLY AMAZING...) OH!! Halfway through, he removed one side of his sleeves off and KYAAAAHHH!!!! HALF A HADAKA TAKKI!!!!! His biceps were really... to die for. *drools* Shanaou finally killed all of bandits after a tough fight. I thought it was soooo dangerous seeing him jump about in that forest setting with all the water!!! Everything looked so slippery!!! So worried that he might slip... Anyway, after he finished off all the bandits, he fell down on the ground himself too and died??? From injuries??? He just laid in the rain motionless. But then Yabu came back as Tengu (so Yabu died??) and there was his voiceover. He thanked Takki for protecting the forests of Kurama and making it safe for the children again. Then he threw this translucent orange kimono thingy at some guys who covered the lifeless Shanaou with it and then carried him away. So erm... Tengu revived Shanaou??? *Pass me the Enbujo Guide already... =_=*

There was another voiceover, something about 3 years later and it was the final 「五条大橋」 "Gojo Bridge" scene! The BGM here was REALLY DRAMATIC. Okura-Benkei entered from the hanamichi (while staff hurriedly recreated the Gojo Bridge on the main stage) as he fought off men and snatched their swords (as per the legend). He already had his 999th sword and was looking forward to his 1000th. He reached the bridge on the main stage and a veiled Shanaou appeared on the other end. Well we all know what happened here. Shanaou defeated Benkei and won his loyalty 'til the end of his life.

Takki-Yoshitsune and Okura-Benkei striking a final pose
before the curtains came down and marked the end of Act 1.
Takki was EXTREMELY kakkoiii with his hair still wet from the previous scene.
The OVERALL Gojo set was also VERY VERY beautiful!!

And so, the curtains came down. *Plenty of applause* And many people rushed out to the toilets the moment Takki was out of sight. LMAO~ You really use the toilet so much more often when the weather is cold ne!! Mendoukusee na! Yep, so i FINALLY finish Act 1... *phew* Oh my goodness, it soooo long!!! Minasama, yoroshiku ne!! Jaa, do remember to comment!!

This is bad... I don't know HOW to start writing about the stageplay of Enbujo itself. I am mighty CONFUSED about which scene is for which story... *cough* And i am starting to forget details as well (made worse by Takizawa Zachou who ran in and out 30 over times for his Superman-speed costume changes!! x_x) Iyayaaa~~~!!!! PUH-LESE RELEASE THE DVD YO!!!!! So that everyone can understand how GRAND Enbujo really was. BUT WHO DO WE REQUEST TO YO??!??!???? AVEX??? BUT AVEX WASN'T EVEN INVOLVED IN THIS PRODUCTION DESHO???? Gawd. x_x I need to see Enbujo again... *wails* My report is soooo not going to do it justice... pls bear with it. And the high possibility that i will suddenly digress and branch out in every single direction but forward. Nanitozo, yoroshiku onegai moushi agemasuru. (p/s: Gotta get into the Enbujo mode of language now. LOL~)

Oh, we were wondering about this when we were at Enbujo. There were so many jr grps who were roped in to help. And some of them were maji chibi size. In age as well as size. Enbujo is a 2 months affair. Don't they have to go to school???? This i never understand... They can take leave from school for so long?? Cos I don't rem them taking turns to act. Then again, maybe they did but i cannot remember jrs' faces.... gomen nasai... but i rem there were a few REALLY CHIBI ONES. (Ne, ne Loracyn?? Rem the really chibi one that was standing jus in front of us and you were squealing that he's so cute and i was wondering if he felt shy standing there amongst all of us?? Hahaha~~) Was telling Sylvia that Johnny's has now doubled up as Childcare Centre. Johnny's Childcare Centre. JCC... not bad eh? LMAO~

Soooo, let's get on with the report. Shinbashi Theatre is quite small (seats about 1400+). But it has its own restaurant, cafeteria and gift shop inside. And it is really built kabuki-style, complete with the symbolic hanamichi (an extension stage/walkway mostly on the left of the 1st floor that extends all the way to the end with an exit that goes to the backstage. See map here. This is where the word "hanamichi" originates, before it was used to mean "aisle" at every other concert hall. It was said that the walkway was initially built so that people could present flowers to the actors, hence "hana", meaning flower and "michi", meaning "pathway/road". Oooh, i sure wished we could still use it for what it was meant for!!! End of culture lesson. LOL). There's also the special seats with a table where you can have your meal right there, located on the left and right side on the 1st floor. Think there's only about 40 such seats. Then a restaurant staff will squat at one corner during the performance so that erm, customers can call them to top up their teapots during the show?? So people who got those seats for Enbujo, their more expensive ticket price included some exclusive limited Takki bento set to eat during the 35 min interval. And unlimited tea to drink as they enjoy Takki slogging away on stage. Zeitaku desho? If I am not wrong, if you don't have one of those special seats, you can still pay 3500yen for that exclusive set so during the interval, the restaurant reserves a seat for you to take your meal. Poor people like the rest of us can eat onigiri right at our seats (i'm surprised we are allowed to eat inside but then again, Japanese are very public-conscious people so the place is still amazingly spick and span) or try and find a butt space outside at the crowded corridors. LOL~ Anyway, returning to the actual theatre, because it is small, i feel one can see quite well from anywhere, even from the 2nd floor. We sat at the last row (6th row) on the 2nd floor once but we could still see the stage quite clearly. Never went up to the 3rd floor though so I don't know how much of their view is blocked.

Although my Japanese friend thought we were absolutely crazy to watch the same thing 3 times, i realised one NEED to watch it more than once to really get what was happening cos there were sooo many things going on at one time!!

Frankly speaking, after the 1st show, my mind was in a whirl. I was like "Huh? O_o?? What just happened??" and i don't remembered much details nor really get many of the stories. (Maa, even now i still haven't figure out all the stories...) I only remembered I was very blown away by the aMaZiNg and colourful sets, VERY HAPPY to see Takki again since Countdown and very impressed by his Superman-speed costume changes. And him suddenly re-appearing ALL OVER THE PLACE WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!!! He really is SUPERMAN to be doing this twice a day... I can only imagine how physically and mentally exhausting it was. So yea, was really in a daze after the first show, i tink i didn't even talk much about it with the rest on our way back to our hotel. Enbujo was like another world. I think they really put a lot of thought into the aesthetic sense of it. Hora, even the zachou is soooo beautiful. How i wish i can stay in his castle forever. *daydreams*

OKOK, i *am* going to start talking about the stageplay itself... But pls note that this may not be an accurate account of Enbujo cos my memory is baad... demo ganbaru kara. Jaa, let's see... *rubs palms together* The program for Act 1 as listed in the official pamplet is as follows.

ACT 1: 日本昔ばな史 (Folklores of Japan)
春の踊り (Spring dance)
少年忠臣蔵　四十七士 (Young Chushingura and the 47 samurais)
山寺の和尚さん (The monk of the mountain temple)
滝沢隊長と白虎隊 (Captain Takizawa and the Byakkotai)
ＭＡＳＫ
滝の白糸 (White threads of the Waterfall)
男の花道 (Man's Hanamichi)
七変化 (Seven changes)
五条大橋 (The Gojo Bridge)

Note: The actual show did not entirely follow the order in the program though...

The main curtain was down and draped with a lot of purple cloth at the very beginning. (Catch a glimpse of it here.) The show started with a junior (obviously i dunno who) who came out playing a violin. Then the lights dimmed and a voiceover by Mori Mitsuko comes on. (This woman is really a patron of JE...) She welcomed the audience into Takki's castle etc etc and a couple more juniors in modern clothes came out and danced. One more came out in Japanese clothes from the back of the hanamichi and did a brief traditional sensu (a Japanese foldable fan, not uchiwa) dance. So you get juniors doing both traditional as well as modern dance at once, which is like one of the themes of Enbujo.

When Mori-san finished her speech, the main screen went up and the music got much much louder and this was where I started really feeling that i was in another world. 入り込んだ、タッキーのお城に。Getting very excited!! The main stage lit up and WOAAAHHH~~~~~~ VERY GRAND!! (I dunno was it at this part or later but there were 4 juniors, 2 on each side who descended onto the 1st floor from the top at very fast speed, sniper-style. LOL~ Loracyn can't rem this part at all thou... am i hallucinating??!?) I liked how they used the back wall of the stage as a screen to make the stage look so much deeper. I don't know how they did it but was it really a huge floor-to-ceiling monitor?? Cos the WHOLE WALL was showing some images and there were no shadows cast. This was unlike in DB, where the characters in front will cast shadows on the screen cos they used a projector that was placed in front of the stage. So anyway, many things happening on the stage!! And the back screen showed some background images (I think it was images of a castle gate) that move in sync with the rotating stage so it really seemed like you were changing pespective. ok, i so cannot explain this properly but it was a VERY NEAT EFFECT!!!! Felt kinda like i was in some 4D theatre. Very surreal!! XDD So there were many many people dancing around as this huge cart thingy ascended slowly onto the stage, which i was so sure Takki was in it. I guessed this is the 「春の踊り」 "Spring Dance" part. Very festive indeed!! They slowly moved the cart to the front and it opened up in the centre to reveal this very big portrait of Takki-Yoshitsune!!!! And ALREADY people were shrieking. Anoo, it's a painting! LMAO~ Then they draped this HUGE piece of red cloth over the portrait and I KNEW IT WAS COMING COS I SAW FOOTAGES OF IT ON THE WS. So it was like a one, Two, THREE!! and the red cloth and cart splitted in the centre and TAKKI COMES FLYING OUT AT US!!!!!! WAAKAKKAAKKAKAKKAKAKAKA~~~!!!!!

Note: The huge cart is missing in this screencap cos it was taken from the 1st show after Enbujo reopens. Which meant that the cart was damaged during the fire. They sure improvised a lot to keep the show going. But rather than cancelling the show altogether, i guess it was better to reopen without some of the props first. Takki did say somewhere then that they would perform twice as hard to make up for the missing props. Sugoi zachou dane? *thumbs up* Notice the image of the castle gate at the back? I didn't notice then but i wonder if the plaque at the top of the gate says 「滝沢演舞城」...

The audience went mad and started yelling and clapping. Chou moriagatta! I was kyahing away!! SUGEEE!!!!! Talk about a BIG ENTRANCE. XDD Takki wore this princely whitish suit with a golden cloak (see above) and flew round and round above the people on 1st floor as he sang the opening number "Inishie Night & Day". (Catch a chibi rendition of it by Ya-ya-yah here. The Enbujo version was much longer and way grander of cos. It's Shinbashi Theatre vs Ya-ya-yah show, duhz. To that person who commented on that clip, erm... i will pretend i DIDN'T see it. =_=) This song is very addictive... the tune is always playing in my head!! And i like the fact that they used many Japanese/Asian instruments. Well here when Takki was flying, it was eye-level with the people on the second floor. (Queue to start waving frantically. XD) He landed on the main stage and continued singing and dancing. *pause* His hair was sooo KANPEKI!! And i LOVED the poses he striked to the rhythms of the song!! *start* They had many dancers on stage and the back screen was also showing images of dancers in the same costumes and setting so it really looked like there were a lot of people dancing on the stage! Hahaha, ok, this is a very lame statement. Basically, they made use of the screen to make it look like double the number of people dancing on stage.

Takki just before he moved back and disappeared into the video.
I didn't notice the phoenix motif on his jacket then.
Was too caught up in the grandeur of the opening number i guess. XD

During the part where there was no singing in the song (what's this called... interlude??), Takki walked to the back of the stage and two big boards from each side were brought in so when they passed each other in the centre and blocked our view of Takki, he kinda merged INTO the video shown on the back screen. So it became a video-Takki dancing on stage. The other real people continued to do many things on stage (drums toka, i forgot...) to distract the audience and suddenly the spotlight shone on the extreme right of the 2nd floor (between seat 6 and 7 on the 1st row) and TADA!!!! Takki with one leg perched kakkoii-ly on the railing and ready to fly again, this time in a red cloak. ^^ I saw many people sitting around there trying to grope him... young girls and obaasans alike. LOL My first show i was sitting just about 5m away from him!! KYAAAHHH!!!!!!! *heart attakku* He flung his cloak back (much like Count Dracula... LOL) and leapt off into the air. UWAAHH!!!!!! *MORE SCREAMING FROM AUDIENCE* Kakkeee!!!!! *goes a bit blurry-eyed* So His Highness continued to sing while flying in the air before finally landing on the hanamichi as the song ended. My goodness, the opening number was maji H.I.G.H... *fans self*

So here, Takki would greet the audience. From fans' reports, sometimes while waiting for the jrs who were helping him to remove his wire, he would cheekily whisper to the okyakusama under him, whom i bet are all GAWKING away, "Sugoi desho?" LMAO~~~ Mou, Takki! Enryou shite yo, enryou!! Hahhaha, but maaa, how can you blame him when you see him flashing his SUPER SUNSHINE smile and that SOLO DIMPLE?? *meltssssss* Yurushimasu!! XDD It was also here, Takki had a tendency of stumbling over his words. Hahahhaa!!!! In my 3rd show, he kept stumbling over this particular one phrase, it was so funny!!! Then he went like "Ahh!!! KAMIMASHITA!!! MOU YAMEMASU!" and pretended to stomp away and the audience burst into laughter. Kawaaiiii~~~ XDD I was trying to observe the obaasans in the audience when Takki did stuff like that. And they were always grinning sooo happily like little girls. I'm glad Takki made them feel young again. =D After the greetings and laughings, Takki would become serious (at least he tried) and ask if we knew anything about Japan's "mukashi banashi" ('history/folklores/old stories'). He then invited us to learn more about it from Enbujo and then exited from left side of stage.

The stage darkened and Yabu appeared. He started talking as some chibi jrs played behind him in front of this screen that was showing videos of olden Japan. It was showing stuff like imperial officials in the palace. Suddenly the spotlight shone on Yoko in an ojiisan costume and Yabu went over to talk to him. It was quite funny here. Hahah, yappari once a Kanjani, always a Kanjani ne?? XDD Yabu was asking him something and Yoko went like "Aho!" ("baka" in Kansai dialect). Their conversation went something like this...

Yabu: "Ara! Ojiichan, don't tell me you were from Kansai?"
Yoko: "Didn't you know, 120 years ago, there was a very popular group from Kansai called the Kanjani 8. Maa, most of them are pretty dead by now except for me." (Audience laughed)

Yoko-jiichan started talking about a lot of things, like how children nowadays only know how to play games and Internet and know little about Japan's history. Then they somehow brought up the topic of Shinbashi Theatre and then the scene changes. Yoko removed his ojiichan costume on stage to become himself and said something. In the background, a huge Japanese mansion set appeared from under the stage. Then all the juniors came out one by one carrying a lantern and introduced themselves. They didn't just gave their names but introduced it in quite a funny way. Just some of those that i can rem...

"The one from Music Station is Tamori, my name is Tamamori. (KMF2's) Tamamori Yuta desu."

"I'm Nikaido (same pronunciation as 'Level 2' in Japanese), the one who's taller than 'ikkaido' (meaning 'Level 1'). (KMF2's) Nikaido Takashi desu."

"People always call me kawaii, kawaii so I am called (ABC's) Kawai Fumito." (LOLz)

Well, their introductions were something in the line of this. I think this is the part for the 「少年忠臣蔵　四十七士」 "Young Chushingura and the 47 samurais"...?

Reference:
"Chushingura" is the name given to this real event in the early 18th century where a young lord was sentenced to ritual suicide for an act of disobedience stemming from corruption in the Shogun's court. Masterless and displaced, his followers came together and swore to avenge their master. Realising that their enemy was on high alert and not wanting to fail in their mission, they bade their time, suffering humiliation and poverty for a couple of years, waiting for the chance to prove their loyalty and adherence to the fading virtues of Bushido. They eventually succeeded in their mission and surrendered to the government, who sentenced them to death for their crime of murder. How truly this event displayed the virtues of Bushido is greatly debated by the academics but to most Japanese, it is a tale of bravery and loyalty. You can find out more details about this event here.
Interestingly, when i was reading up on Chushingura, i found this website and nearly laughed my head off. Apparenly TV Asahi made a special series featuring the Chushingura last year and anooo.. the leader of the 47 ronins (masterless samurais) was acted by Benkei Matsudaira Ken! XDDD

Since in Enbujo, the story is about the *young* Chushingura, i supposed their master was erm.. still alive (and they were not going to die anytime soon). Hahha~~ So after all the juniors were done with their self-introductions, the last junior introduced their leader, Takizawa Hideaki!!! And Takki rose from under the trapdoor onto the hanamichi. He then started to address the audience in chou formal Nihongo!! @_@!! At the end he even knelt down and bowed to the audience!! I know it's a Japanese thing but I was still feeling kinda awkward with Takki bowing so formally at me. (More so on the first night when i was sitting directly in the direction he was facing when he knelt down.) Heheh~ gomen ne... *whacks* What am i apologizing for?? =_=

Loracyn was asking me what those words on his coat meant but i didn't know.
Now i think it is some symbolic thing that the Chushingura wears??
Compare with screencap of TV Asahi's Chushingura below.

When Takki was done with his very formal speech, he removed his outer coat and walked to the main stage where they had this 3-sided structure hung full with drums and stuff that made sounds. IT'S ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PARTS!!! (Thou I have no idea if this part is a continuation of the "Chushingura" story... -_-;;;) 2 guys (was Okura one of them??) then helped Takki put on this hmmm... i dunno what to call it, decorative ribbon kinda thingy that helped to pull up his sleeves so that they wouldn't be of a hindrance to him when he performed the drum sequence. It looked sooo cute on him!! Hahhaha~~ Takki then performed this drum sequence within the structure which looked kinda complicated. At first i thought he did it impromptu but on my 2nd and 3rd shows, i realised there *was* a sequence. *whacks self for being stupid* Waaah, THAT many drums, he needed to have a real good memory... Sugokatta!!! And then and then, my FAVOURITE part out of this sequence!!! *squeals* He would move on to this big drum which was almost the height of his shoulders and jump on it and then start drumming it using his feet!!! The drum was really quite high and it was amazing how he leapt so deftly onto it. Uwaaahh~~~ *clapclap*

They needed to have some jrs stabilizing the drum for Takki.
It was soooo enjoyable seeing him jump on that thing!!

From the official stage pics.
See how sweetly he's laughing!! (Sorry for bad scan...)
And how cute that ribbon looked on him. *KYAH*
His top was black in this pic (taken from earlier shows) but by the time i went to watch,
his top had changed to red. (See above.) I like red better. But both cute!! ^^
Some of the Japanese fans on BBS were kinda obsessed with his big toe during this scene.
(Notice he's wearing this Japanese kinda footwear which separates the big toe from the others.)
It got them very moe apparently. Muahahah~~

OK, i think my post is getting too long that Blogger keeps giving me "error" when i try to save. So i shall break up my report here... Part 3 wo tanoshimi ni shite kudasai. And oh, comments please! And complaints and suggestions are welcomed too, if you find my report too loooong and wandering in every single direction.. But whether i will or am able change or not, is another issue. Hurhur~ Thanks! ^^