Waterfall & Wings Version 1

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!!