#getting high and watching kuromyu

[gvenevera]

Kuroshitsuji Musical ~ 寄宿学校の秘密 (Secrets of the Boarding School) 2024 ~ VERA’S REVIEW!

Yes you read that right! I’ve had the most fateful chance to watch the very first performance of the newest Kuromyu in Hyogo last Saturday, so I figured I’ll eternalize some of my best memories here.

Before we begin: the LIVE STREAMING is available for the LAST PERFORMANCE, September 29th 2024, HERE! For only 3800 yen, you’ll get to watch it live at home, or watch it later for up to 1 week (October 6th)! Apparently you need a Japanese VPN though, if anyone knows how to navigate the site, please do share.

A few disclaimers from me:

*Anti-shippers DNI. This post barely has any shipping content at all but I don’t like people who harass others over fictional preferences. I’m a shipper, I can’t help being biased for my OTPs.

**Since photos were prohibited in the venue, I’ve included stage pictures featured in official news websites or accounts.

***This is by no means a critical review but merely a fangirl’s ramblings, and I often drew comparisons to the original stage play Kuroshitsuji Musical: Secrets of the Boarding School (2021). For reference, I suggest you watch it first! I intentionally avoided rewatching the 2021 version close to the airing date though, so my memories may not be accurate. Also my Japanese is mediocre so I apologize if there were important dialogues I didn’t catch.

Introduction

I know, sorry for the dilly-dally intro. But I’d like to first stress that ever since I started following Kuroshitsuji in my first year of university (like 9 years ago now lmao), I’ve ALWAYS dreamed to watch the stage musical live in person. When 2024’s performance was announced immediately after the last episode of the anime, I was overjoyed to see that our old cast was coming back.

And it was fate that gave me the opportunity - my scheduled work program this year was set to be in Kyoto AND during September! Needless to say, I had the Kuromyu ticket bought and reserved first, before my confirmation with the Kyoto office or my visa and plane ticket. Priorities, right?

Quick remark on the ticket process: I hit a snag right in the beginning because the ticket reservation website Eplus required a Japanese phone number to sign up. I contacted multiple people (middle school friend whose brother used to work in Japan, another who was quarter-Japanese, several dealer websites with high rate exchanges), until I settled on my roommate’s friend from high school who was currently working there. Many thanks to her and my roommate for the help!

She took care of registration for me - even so the advance sales was a LOTTERY ticket! We fortunately got the lucky draw - I saw many Japanese fans on X who were not so lucky, while others bought in bulk to sell later. Then, I used the online barcode to exchange for a paper ticket when I arrived in Japan on September 1st. That’s when I get to know my seat number - 3rd floor, 2nd row B. A very far position from the stage, but it’s alright because we’re here for the atmosphere anyway!

The performances for the first 2 days were set in Hyogo Performing Arts Center, KOBELCO grand hall. I’ve honestly never been to any kind of music performance (or even concerts) in my life, so I was blown away by the sheer size of the venue.

By 10 AM, the audience was trickling in. I was in awe of the fact that you can tell who was coming in to watch kuromyu - beautiful women dressed in black-and-white tones, many even sporting gothic lolita bows and dresses to keep up with the Victorian England theme. In fact, it felt like the whole of Ikebukuro were gathered here in this very building!

We were ushered into the hall entrance at 11 AM and let me tell you, the crowd was suffocating! In front of the theater, there was a goods section for Kuromyu merch. I’m so glad I took the time to queue up because it seems some of the merch were starting to sell out by the second day. The booth clerk looked perplex to see a non-Japanese customer here though. Here’s how the line looked like, and this was still early before most of the audiences got in:

(We’re not supposed to take any photos but I saw the warning signs too late…Here’s a view from where I was sitting on the third floor.)

I realized then as we were settling in that some ladies around me had binoculars!! Well how was I supposed to know you could bring those here, instead of trying to find those fancy opera glasses!?! Ah well, I was lucky that I’d recently had my prescription glasses updated and the seat to my left was vacant, so I could lean in to see the center better.

The Performance

While it is true that you can barely see the actors’ faces from the balcony seats, it was the grandness of the performance itself that blew me away. For the first time I could see the stage in all its entirety, all the actors dancing in synchronization, and the special effects…oh it had improved A LOT from 3 years prior!

The stage sets for Weston may look a tad “crowded” in the still photo, as compared to the original where they used white backgrounds but in reality, it blended in so prettily with the flashing stage lights. The middle section was a rotating floor and one of my memorable scenes was where Ciel and Sebastian were discussing their plans while crossing the rotating stage, to give the illusion of “strolling across the school grounds.” Sounds like a simple trick but if looked amazing from above.

On to the story itself - the execution actually barely changed from the 2021 rendition, which for me, was a relief! Now I know, some would argue a rerun should add in different elements, because who would want to see the same thing twice right? From past experiences with Kuromyu, the reruns tend to be hit or miss - different actors, different song remixes, voice changes, and so on. For this performance, I could barely tell that the cast (apart from Ciel, Sebastian and Undertaker) were all new members. Everyone got into character flawlessly!

The story of course followed the entirety of the Public School Arc. The script and choreography was almost identical to the 2021 stage musical version. If you would remember, this Kuroshitsuji arc was the first to be portrayed on stage before the anime adaptation - same as previously, they seemed to take inspiration from the manga only rather than the anime.

Some key moments from the play:

The opening sequence was again a recap of the previous arcs - Jack the Ripper (Lycoris that Blazed the Earth), Book of Circus (Noah’s Ark Circus), Book of the Atlantic (Tango on the Campania). I’ve always loved this part because you could tell they slipped in iconic themes from the past musicals.

Perfect Black: the main theme, and my favorite from this stage! I’m so happy to have heard it live! *swoons* Thank god they didn’t do anything weird to remix it. The whole cast dancing together was beautiful! However I thought 2021 did it better with the dramatic light focus on Sebastian during the chorus drop.

Ciel’s Earl of Phantomhive outfit was changed from the glittery blue suit to a blue-green checkered coat this year. (I’d have bought his Earl photoshoot set if I knew it beforehand) Yana-sensei later tweeted that she was the one to re-design it, to better match Eito. Then Eito Konishi himself replied, saying he was honored to play as Ciel Phantomhive, to which Yana-sensei praised his singing and called him “Eito-bocchan” …boy was he fanboying hard over that. He’s one of us!!

Arrival at Weston: I don’t have a comment on the P4 in particular, they were all straightforward from the manga. I think I like Redmond’s character the most here, he looked very pretty with the side-ponytail and while he was a show-off still, he wasn’t as annoying or arrogant as I somehow expected.

A notable interaction: Violet forcing Greenhill to pose for him at the swan gazebo. Greenhill’s actor really looked strained trying to keep an upside down bridge pose (Edward was supporting his back, but kept getting distracted). When he broke the pose and got up, Violet hit him over the head with his sketchbook so hard that the thump echoed through the hall.

As for the Prefect’s Fags: Edward and Cheslock were giving off some suspiciously gay rivals-to-lovers vibes over here. Which I kinda vibed with, I hope they kept the energy into the Blue Cult Arc!

One important thing: they kept the ALL the Fag lines! Which in Japanese accent also kinda sounded like them repeatedly calling each other “Fućk”. Oh how I wish the anime had kept those!

Soma Asman Kadar: now this guy deserves an ovation just for himself. Not only did he kill the role, he was also the funniest! Soma’s song was greatly improved and lengthened with catchier music and dancing - when his troupe “arrived” at Weston, he even dragged Ciel and Clayton to join in. I can’t do it justice, you have GOT to see those two English gentlemen crack the Indian dance moves! His pestering of Maurice Cole was hilarious and he kept exasperating Ciel out of his character, their chemistry was wonderful. I really didn’t expect to get hooked by Soma in this arc out of all people! Too bad Agni wasn’t here.

Maurice Cole’s miniarc - Flawless. Sometimes I wonder if he was an easy character to play just because his character trait is so extremely over-the-top lol.

The library kabedon scene and sebaciel burning Purple House scene didn’t exist. Another scene cut off from the last musical was where Clayton and the Blue House kids were congratulating Ciel on his fag duties and Sebastian took the chance to blend in with them. Sadly that was one of my favorite adlibs.

Ciel’s dream sequence: this was originally in the 2021 musical. After a talk with Macmillain made him revisit his past trauma, Ciel “dreamed” of the cultists, and Sebastian’s close call with Undertaker in BotA. I actually forgot about this part when I watched it in theater - the highlight was sebaciel reenacting the scene in BotA where they reached for each other, the enactment surprisingly gave me the impression of Ciel’s “worry” over Sebastian’s “vulnerability” here. Unlike the 2021 version though, Undertaker didn’t pull Ciel into a bridal carry or referenced the R!Ciel wake-up scene as clearly.

The second half after the break was the long-awaited Cricket Match. Like the previous version, there was no scene of Ciel jumping into Master Michaelis’ arms, but I think they just couldn’t fit that one into the sequence. The cricket songs were mostly the same as the original - with an improvement being them cutting out Red House’s random beauty pageant contest. It actually felt like the cricket match went by faster this time, which was a win in my book. I’ve heard people complain of Kuromyu 2021 being a “Prince of Cricket” musical, hence the bad reviews back then.

The laxative meat pie scene was hilarious. From Sebastian faking it as a student complete with Red House’s uniform, to the team’s diarrhea horrors. Redmond stole the show again, as he was going to help Harcourt in the middle of the field, but tragedy struck which made him deadpan: “Oh. Someone get Harcourt.” Then immediately left the stage lol. The Blue House kids lifted Harcourt out.

The Green vs Purple house battle was the same as last time. I always felt bad to see Cheslock being the only Purple kid doing his best because without any support member cast while Violet was sitting in the grass. But this time, he gave Cheslock a tree sculpture of his bust as a good-job reward! Good for them.

Lastly Green vs Blue. They incorporated the rotating stage again in the last batting when Greenhill accidentally hit Ciel. The end of the match cut straight to the Thames Boat Ride, then they did the Blue House cheering scene after. Sebastian finally got to do his signature bridal carry, awww.

Midnight tea party: the setting was even more beautiful than last time. Undertaker letting his hair fall from his hat was iconic as usual. I was impressed with Master Agares’ fight scenes because his actor looked quite older than his 2021 predecessor. I always liked how they did Derrick Arden’s death in the musical, it felt more anguished from the P4 POV while in the anime, it just felt like a gruesome horror scene.

Final musical number was Ciel-Sebastian-Undertaker chorus during their fight in the garden. Music and choreography seemed to be similar, EXCEPT they somehow changed the iconic “Your life is my priority” scene!!! 2021’s version had me hold my breath as Sebastian had his arm possessively hooked around Ciel and took off his glove with his teeth (seriously, you have to see it yourself). This time they had Sebastian and Ciel reenact the scene on the highest stage instead of front and center, and I didn’t feel as much suspense nor was there any glove-removal from what I could see. It was also a weird placement because they were so far away, and Undertaker should’ve been the one on the top as he did his goodbye pose holding the moon.

We end the story with Sebastian recapping the aftermath with Weston’s students, and finally sebaciel’s conversation back at the manor. Again, Ciel reiterates that Sebastian is the only one who could never lie nor betray his trust. Perfect Black came on as an outro, and I got chills when Sebastian ended the last verse on a raised note!

The curtain call was the experience I’d waited for. Somehow I only realized just then that the actors would do the full call during their finale performance, which was what we got to see in the recordings! That day, after the cast bowed twice, the exit announcement immediately came on but guess what? The audience, including myself, kept clapping all the way through the announcement, it went for so long that the cast actually came out to take another bow! As they returned on stage, most of us also stood up for a standing ovation - according to twitter this doesn’t seem to be a regular occurrence outside of the finale. It felt like a truly wholesome “welcome back” for the troupe and for Kuromyu, especially after the rather harsh criticisms from the previous stage (due to major cast and style changes, even I took a while to bring myself to watch it) and the long break due to the COVID years.

Overall summary

Kuroshitsuji Musical 2024 was a faithful rerun of its predecessor. They succeeded with the musical numbers, new cast, overall adaptation of the story. The settings, props and special effects were wonderfully upgraded. The original cast carried the show: Eito Konishi’s singing felt greatly improved and I thought he carried himself as more mature than his last performance as Ciel. Sebastian’s Toshiki Tateishi had a mesmerizing voice the more I listened to him, he never went out of breath even while dancing or fighting - truly vocals fit for the troupe leader. Kandai Ueda did well as his own Undertaker too, even with Undertaker’s peculiar accent.

My few complaints: I felt like the P4 cast (bar Redmond) could do to have more distinction in their tones and movements. It felt hard to distinguish who was talking at times. The performance seemed to have a faster pacing this time around, and you get less absorbed in certain conversations between the characters, so I wished they’d added in slow scenes here and there. And of course I miss the signature sebaciel moments that I’ve mentioned - granted, this manga arc had always been my least favored because of the lack of sebaciel interactions anyway! So I’d say they did the best with the source material.

While I enjoyed seeing my favorite production performed live with the music blasting through my eardrums, it was the atmosphere that truly made the experience for me. Sitting in the 4-storeys grand hall full of some 2000 Kuroshitsuji fans really pulled me back in time, especially during the standing ovation. I’m so happy to see my favorite series so loved after all these years. I’m sure Yana-sensei could feel it too.

I wish a successful performance for the cast going forward to Tokyo, and hopeful for many more musicals to come!

[crocthello]

Yuta playing butler Sebastian and demon Sebastian as two completely different people >>>>>>>>

[chibimyumi]

🍵Japanese Reactions☕ Kuromyu 2021

Dear everyone, I received overwhelmingly many questions about Japanese audience reactions, so here you go!

Methodology:

For this post I logged out from Twitter to avoid any bias because of my own user algorithm, and just simply searched the term “kuromyu” (生執事) , and selected “latest tweets”. As you can see, all posts have the word 生執事 in bold, meaning that was my search term.  There are a LOT of reactions, I can’t possibly discuss them all. What I did was just search at any random point of time, and take every other comment. I censored the usernames of the commenter to protect some (ceremonial) level of privacy.

I watched the Kuromyu costume rehearsal and cried, this is not it，，I think it might be better to go to Osaka [performance] without expecting too much I shouldn’t expect the Kuromyu of until last time

Honestly no matter how often I watch [the musical] this time’s Kuromyu is fantastic... as someone who knows the energy of the original comics, I really enjoyed it...

In Kuromyu Violet and Chesslock were the real thing

Like Violet’s way of walking being so slothful it was like the real thing, and the rapping of Chesslock in the cricket scene was cool

The reception of this time’s Kuromyu is entirely polarised, and indeed [this production] has a very different taste than the ones until now so I also understand the people who criticise it, but I think that’s fine.

Click “keep reading” for (a LOT) more reactions. Don’t lie to yourself and not click it, I know you all want the tea. Here’s the tea (ÒvÓ)ノ☕

There’s so much thought going on now I have seen the PV of Kuromyu. Eh? Because he [probably Konishi (Ciel)] has roots in Tennis [Probably prince of Tennis] once he holds the cricket it just looks like he’s swinging a tennis racket.

Bocchan is just too big, I’m not sure about that.

I only watched until half way ー

Calling it the Prince of Cricket is too befitting😂 Such singing and dancing, the youthfulness is exploding. They sure have stamina. #Kuromyu

Ah ーSomehow a lot of memories just popped up tears really are welling up... even though my deep-seated grudge has now passed, my obsession for Kuromyu surfaced, and it felt like it got beaten to a pulp by its big brother...

My heart is recovering through the Kuromyu DVD but the big brother is still the big brother... sob...sob (the dirty wailing of an otaku)

TLN: Big brother here means something’s superiour or better.

It became this production that made me think: Never mind the actors but is it the problem of the makers? Erm. I think it’s a waste. Is it because it’s the footage of the first day performance?

I don’t have the feeling that it’s not that, but that it somehow became cheaper? Is a really strong thought I got from this performance. With this line-up [of cast/staff] it should have been able to create the high quality of Kuromyu, but the impression is that it was a mess.

I finished watching kuromyu. Erm... somehow... it was a theatre production that strongly reminded me of the first Lycoris (the cheapness of the set), felt like they tried to create the feeling of🎾but failed, and tried to do something trendy (🎤) but then the production lost the sense of unity.

Well Mr. Tate’s [Tateishi] Sebas was good, and Undertaker’s acting was good (make up...)

I’ve watched the stream of Kuromyu countless times and gotten used to the songs, and even though I miss the old Kuromyu, maybe it’s not so bad that somebody who can’t let go is rewatching something countless times. If next time they will do the Cult Arc or the Witch Arc I’d be pursuing it. Honestly I want them to stage Lycoris again ←

Kuromyu was this place where I got stimulated by Yuta’s TOHO quality, Ms. AKANE [Madam Red] and Ms. Son [Akisono, Frances]’s Takarazuka quality. The synergy of everything, the original manga’s story, actors, music, directing all were so perfectly done in the past three productions they sure have become a tremendous bar. Once again Yuta, thank you for playing Sebas for us for three times 🥺✨

Kuromyu really was too fun, I’m in trouble

Honestly ------------- Kuromyu was so fun !!!!!!!!! Yasue-kun, you also go watch soon!! Ah, you going tomorrow???

It might be quite unsatisfying for people who only watch Kuromyus that are like Imperial Theatre grand musicals, but I think it’s good that it’s a bit like the Kuromyus of the beginning of before when they adapted the manga arcs

I watched Kuromyu and had fun 😊

I cried, I laughed, it was amazing anyway!

It was the first time watching a musical for me but I think I’ve been sucked into it...

Shall I buy the DVD, I’m indecisive 🌀🤔💭

Now I’ve seen the PV of Kuromyu I don’t think it’s worth going at all... Even in the PV the vibe of 2.5D was ridiculously strong...

My friend went to watch Kuromyu and gave me the review: “I’ve seen all sorts of 2.5, why did they do this for Black Butler. It’s trivial.” I’ve only seen the PV so I won’t say anything, and I really get what I’m refraining from saying. But Mr. Kuma once tweeted the descriptions of Black Butler, I guess it’s fine that the Boarding School Arc feels like this 🤔

Click here for the translation of this tweet. The description of the Weston Arc is as such:

(To the people who will be going to see it I’m sorry)

They did say that the staff along [with the cast] would entirely be renewed, but I feel like they’re actively trying to shake off the fans of Kuromyu until now   I’m a bit sad but I guess I won’t be watching [Kuromyus] anymore... I feel like      But I am buying the stream    I’ll think about it after I’ve bought it...

Anyway about Kuromyu, my mom said she wanted to watch it too so I watched it again with her yesterday, and she sure had a lot to say 😶 My father pulled this weird face of “what is this even” and I had to see him off halfway 😑 I thought about buying the stream of the final performance, but I guess I don’t need a second viewing. I don’t feel like watching the archive either. I really liked the Kuromyu of until now, my shock is too big.

At the beginning [of the musical] we looked back on Lycoris, Circus and Luxury Liner... kinda like some sort of recap, but I thought “huh?”... now I just want to watch that. I used to like Kuromyu, I really have trouble accepting it this time it’s painful.

But honestly when talking about Kuromyu it’s the Sebas with the superb voice who sung about the dynamic with the little lord full of emotion and built the world view, and for better or for worse the world view of Kuroshitsuji is maintained through Sebaciel, the songs, the directing of Sebaciel, but what happened there. Whether you should watch it or not. The past 3 productions were masterpieces、、、

But Sebas is not Mr. Furukawa, Ciel is not Reo-kun and even Mr. Izumi’s [role] of Undertaker was unfortunately changed, this is the new Kuromyu huh...

I watched the stream of the first performance.

I liked the songs so I checked, and I knew it.

This time has a lot of laughing factors, and I thought it was good it had a fresh cast.

I didn’t expect the cricket scene to be taken that far. I thought it was Tenimyu.

Kuromyu, this time be it the story, script, directing or casting, I thought: “it’s more enjoyable to take up this [musical] while temporarily erasing the memories of until now ～🎶”, and I watched the theatre piece without looking back to the past productions, and that was the right decision   To the people who came to love Kuromyu of until now, it’s safer to watch it while temporarily erasing the memories.

Did Kuromyu turn into Tenimyu half way?! I thought,

and the Elite Musical → 2.5D Musical transformation I also felt

Konishibocchan being cutesy was cute, and the P4′s desperate faces resonated all went by in a flash

Above was the report from the theatre ☺️

I went to Kuromyu

I went into it knowing it’d surely be something different from the past productions so it indeed turned out to be so

There were parts that made me go “erm the script....” and also this part that made me go “was it really necessary to make Undertaker descend into that dream in Act 1 just because you wanted to give him stage time??”

I went into 2 shocks gradually

Sebas doesn’t sing He only sings properly at the very beginning of the beginning Even though he’s Sebas There’s no ending solo Even though he’s Sebas

You’re the ♪ah~a~a~ number-one main character though!! That’s why this one!!! Is the N・E・W production--!!!!

I am in shock

I   A M  I  N   S  H  O  C  K  ANGER!!!

I watched the Kuromyu stream!

It was TOTALLY 2.5D~❕❕😁It was also a school setting and the Tenimyu vibes were strong (laughs)

It’s a bit of a shame that Ciel isn’t played by a child actor anymore, but because he has more stage time than Sebas has this time I caccept it.

Sebas and Ciel’s visuals are also good ~ ☺️ 

It’d be even cooler if they increased the fight scenes with Sebas though.

@ivvy_toshiki [Tateishi Toshiki (Sebastian)’s Twitter account]

Thanks for the hard work in the performance.

Today I saw the “first viewing of Kuromyu” of my dreams 🥀😆 Regardless of what I could say Sebastian’s beauty is from beginning to end spellbinding ☺️  My eyes were very happy. moreover, the songs and the killing were also AMAZING 😍 my eyes were nailed to Sebastian. I want to watch it again 💕☺️  I wish that the performances will go without a hitch until the final performance ❕

I was so happy to see the recap of the past productions

I really liked the Circus Arc (original comics), and even though it was comedy it really dived into the darkness! That was the story I also didn’t expect to see the Luxury Liner Arc So Undertaker, for real... for

Up to the last time there weren’t that many songs in total, but there were songs like I shall become your pawn and sword and the contract that made me go BATHUMP--- I have to rewatch this number!!! It’s a shame that this time there were no songs like that.

#Kuromyu

Calling it the Prince of Cricket is too accurate 😂 They sang and danced so much, the youthfulness was bouncing off it. What stamina they have. #Kuromyu

What’s different from the last time is the strong 2.5D vibe...... Until now the ages [of the characters] were fairly faithful [to canon] and in a good way there was no 2.5D-ness and I could just enjoy it as a proper theatre piece This time both the casting including the music had a strong 2.5D vibe for better or for worse #Kuromyu

Very personally! Matsushita’s Sebas was “heavy as the evil of evil and beautiful”, and Furukawa’s Sebas was  “evil, strong and unapproachable and beautiful and gorgeous”, and Tateishi’s was “light hearted and beautiful and a florid kind of evil”!! (My vocabulary is failing me) All Sebastians have a different aura about them it’s fantastic!!! #Kuromyu

The new Sebas is good

Overall

It’s this arc so that it’d get a chit-chat idol? vibe was within the expectation The cricket of the second half had a bad vibe and I was sick of it It might have been different had I watched it live I don’t like the Boarding School and Green Witch arc that much to begin with I am looking forward to the appearance of the real Ciel That's it for now

I don’t know why I’m mentally dead but it must be that, I watched the Kuromyu stream and I am thoroughly dead, mentally dead, but as I managed to say this I’ve reached a level that I recovered a bit??? I am too tired but I don’t feel like sleeping, but if I doze a bit then I realise my fatigue and feel like sleeping unnecessarily

This time’s kuromyu... erm I guess I’ll quit 🤔

I’ll be rant-puking for a bit

I’ve seen a lot of Tenimyu and A-stage [Mankai A3] but it’s not like I wanted to see that in Kuromyu... What I wanted to see was Kuromyu...

I watched the video of the Kuromyu PV? but it’s impossible. Watching the PV [I thought] children should be played by children... and as I watched their interaction it’s not the character building I had in mind... and there’s no wound on the vice principal’s forehead. I planned to watch the stream of the final performance, but I’m hesitant about spending more money to watch that... If I can’t accept Ciel and Sebastian I can’t watch this, that’s just me...

Now I’ve read the reviews of Kuromyu all are saying it went back to 2.5D, and I think that it’s not worth going after all. It’s probably because the Kuromyus until now far surpassed the quality of 2.5D... I guess it’s fine if one were to go for the cast, but I really loved the Kuromyu of until now.

[nyxravessnow]

Review 2021 Kuromyu – Namashitsuji Secrets of the Public School Arc

Disclaimer: This is not an unbiased review so please proceed knowing that it is heavily opinionated.

2nd Disclaimer: I have never seen the anime or read the manga of Black Butler. All of my thoughts are based on comparisons to previous musicals and comments from fans about how accurate their portrayal is. I understand this may turn some people off my review which is understandable but I think an important thing for shows is how accessible they can be for people who don’t know the source material.

 FREE OF SPOILERS

Overall rating: 8/10

 Acting – 8/10

Music – 8/10 (I took an average of my song scores)

Ease of understanding – 8/10

Direction – 7/10

 Overall Summary:

I think the show was excellent and showed respect to the old shows but also did quite a few new things. All the scenes and songs had clear thought put into them and the acting showcased these things very well. It was not quite like what I expected it was going to be like but now that I’ve seen it, I can’t quite think of what I expected. I think if you like 2.5D or if you like Black Butler or the actors in this show then you will enjoy the show quite a lot. It is not exactly the same as before from every standpoint apart from it being Black Butler so I would say don’t go in expecting it to be just the same.

 I will move to a spoiler review under the cut but plainly, this show is very good and I think all the actors did a great job.

As I normally do I am going to give my thoughts on story, acting, songs and directing, then mention some extra stuff that I might think of at the end. I am sorry if I bring up the fact that I’m British and went to boarding school like my parents too much.

Story: The story was mostly pretty easy for me to follow, especially as a British person who knows about Cricket and boarding schools. I haven’t seen Campania so the dolls confused me a little at first but that is completely on me for not having seen the previous show. When watching I was very confused about what was going on towards the end but looking back on it that was mainly because of my migraine and not because it wasn’t clear. Scenes were set out well and the camera work was done in a way to make it very easy to follow along. But omg the cricket made me a little upset. It was super fun and all. But it was so inaccurate XD. I guess I now know the pain of people who like tennis when they watch the Prince of Tennis.

Acting: I am going to go actor by actor and give a rough overview of what I thought of them

Tateishi Toshiki as Sebastian Michaelis

I felt like we didn’t get a terribly demonic Sebastian in this show but otherwise I loved Toshi as Sebastian. He felt very elegant and reserved most of the time which contrast well with the times in which he was annoyed at Ciel. He wasn’t terribly present in a lot of the show but I did really enjoy him when he was on stage. His singing voice is excellent and I loved hearing him sing, will go into more about it later during the song summaries.

Konishi Eito as Ciel Phantomhive

I thought Eito was amazing as Ciel and he is my favourite Ciel so far. He showed Ciel’s switch between cute and normal so well and it really made me think about how good of an actor Ciel is. I don’t know how he did what he did to his voice but he makes himself sound like a young child with a slightly higher and scrapey voice than normal and it really makes you think that he is very young. I know many people were worried that they were casting an adult as Ciel because they wanted to sexualise him and this was not the case at all. He only showed any skin in the very first scene when in the cage and he had the sheet/robe-thing showing his shoulder. His singing voice is quite a lot mature than the previous two Ciels, for obvious reasons, and I think it really helped me enjoy his songs.

Okayama Ryousuke as Soma Asman Kadar

While I would still say I prefer Sho’s Soma, mainly bc Sho is one of my fav actors and I am biased, I really liked Ryousuke’s Soma. He was super energetic and friendly and really gave off this air of innocence as he believes Ciel’s reasoning for him to join Weston. His cricket was also very fun. His singing was pretty okay. I think this was as his singing suffered when he was trying to sing in Soma’s voice.

Ueda Kandai as Undertaker

I was honestly quite surprised how good Kandai was as Undertaker. I think his Undertaker voice got better as the show went on so I assume the reason it was less good at first was nerves. He wasn’t in it too much but I thoroughly enjoyed him in every scene he was in. I think I would love it if he learnt to sing in his Undertaker voice more but I also understand that is quite difficult so understand why he’s not doing that.

Sana Hiroki as Edgar Redmond

I thought he was very good as Edgar and carried the emotion needed for the more serious scenes, like the flashback about Derek, very well. He definitely emphasised the queerness of Edgar and had some rather flirtatious moments with Maurice and Joanne. However, despite being flirty and not seeming to be very serious, I completely bought it when he became serious and he played the shift very well (such as in the Maurice reveal scene). His singing voice is good.

Tazuru Shogo as Herman Greenhill

I thought Shogo was really good as Herman, even if it did feel like him playing a slightly nicer version of Sanada – his character from Prince of tennis. He was my 2nd fav of the four and I always enjoyed watching him in his scenes. He played the emotion in the Derek flashback amazingly and you could really see the pain in his eyes when he realised what he had done. His voice was really perfect for Herman.

Satonaka Masamichi as Lawrence Bluewer

I really loved Masa as Lawrence. I don’t know how accurate it is as he didn’t seem very sweet from what I read on his wiki page, but his Lawrence seemed quite tsundere. I loved his bit in the Cricket match when he was talking about wanting to win in his very last year. He also just seemed quite cute. I really enjoyed his singing.

Goto Dai as Gregory Violet

I LOVED Dai as Gregory. He definitely gave off the aura of being weird but he also seemed very sweet to Cheslock and the two actors had really good chemistry. He was really cute in his Cricket gear. He was by far my favourite of the prefects. Despite seeming cute and sweet to Cheslock he definitely retained the aura of mystery and you could never tell what he was thinking. His singing voice is pretty good but he didn’t have many solo bits.

Furuya Yamato as Clayton

While at the beginning I did get an intelligent stuck up vibe from Yamato as Clayton that kinda died away as the show went on and he became much more of a dork. I dunno how much of this is in character but to me it felt slightly like Yamato playing himself. As I think Yamato is an excellent actor, I was a little bit disappointed to see his character change quite a bit but I don’t know how much was him and how much was the direction. Since Yamato is known for comedy and his adlibbing I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually just direction and the route they decided to go down for this character, hence why they scouted Yamato. I know his singing voice may not appeal to everyone, but I really like it.

Nakajima Takuto as Edward Midford

Takuto was very good as Edward and I think he played his straightforwardness quite well. I love Takuto but I don’t think Edward had much to do apart from the cricket which Takuto did very well. His singing voice is excellent.

Warning: Tsukasa is my favourite actor, and I am very biased

Taguchi Tsukasa as Maurice Cole

Tsukasa was AMAZING as Maurice. He played the changes in his character so well and even though he’s not a very nice person I felt really bad for him during his breakdown as Tsukasa’s scream was heart wrenching. When he was pretending, he felt so light and sweet and then when he was being his normal self he dropped down his voice and even changed his accent slightly as well as changing the way he would stand and walk. Ngl I was not paying too much attention to other people when he was in the scene and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m biased or because his command of the stage is that good but I really felt his stage presence. I loved the way he repeated 2 O’clock to Edgar and the others and how he mirrored the way he did it with Ciel and all the subtleties to his acting were great. He didn’t get to sing very much but he sounded really good.

Fukuzawa Yu as Cheslock

Apart from Tsukasa I think Yu was my favourite in this show. He brought so much energy to Cheslock and I don’t mean making the character energetic, just that he always has so much power and feeling behind his lines and he was so good and cool! He had good command of the stage and worked so well with Dai to be the one the stands out and the one that fades into the shadows. He mostly rapped so I don’t remember his singing voice very much.

Uchino Fuuto as Joanne Harcourt

Fuuto didn’t really stand out to me very much and I don’t think he had very much to do. His singing voice was pretty good.

Hayakawa Iori as Macmillan

He served his part in the story well and was very cute and energetic which I liked. He kinda reminded me of doll a little. His singing voice was pretty good.

Yamaguchi Kooki as Derek Arden

He wasn’t in very much of the show but he played his part very well and even though we got so little of him being unpleasant the way he played it made me hate Derek immediately. I don’t think he got any solo singing bits?

Takahashi Shunichi as Johann Agares

He filled his role very well. The most impressive thing was his falling from the stairs, I was very worried he was going to hurt himself, so I was really glad he was okay as he went from pretty high considering there were lower stairs. His singing voice was good.

Songs: I really love Yu(vague) the composer of the show and he is my favourite music composer. I think he did a really good job with the songs on the whole. I think he did well making them seem different and new yet familiar.

Opening song – 7/10

I think this song was a good opener. I wasn’t too sure about it at first, but it got better as the song went on. Toshi’s voice didn’t sound to be working with the song at first but since he sounded fine later, I think it was just his voice wavering at first from nerves so I’m excited to see what he’s like in the last show. I like how they did short recaps of the previous shows from Lycoris to Campania so the fans are caught up on what has happened, especially since it becomes important when Undertaker comes back with the dolls at the end.

2nd song, I think it’s called ‘It’s perfect black’ – 8/10

I really like this song. I think it is a nice scene setter and is very well sung by everyone. The dance works well and kinda brings Druitt’s dancing to mind with some of it. The song features the full cast and is effectively the Pawn and Sword song of this show.

Welcome to Weston song – 10/10

My first 10/10 song. I really love this song and I already can sing along to it. I love the prefects singing and that the others sing the chorus for them. (Also partly love it for its reprise but I’ll get to that later) I love how rigid and together it sounds. By that I mean that everyone is singing their lines as quite cutting and the harmonies are very crisp. Everyone is perfectly in time and there is no deviation. The rigidness shows the formality and tradition of the school which is reinforced by the students marching around the stage to get to the places. This is the case for everyone except the prefects who have more flowy lines and they walk a lot more freely showing the school’s hierarchy. I also love the prefects pushing Ciel around and surrounding him which foreshadows how he his treated.

Only Prefect Four – 9/10

I might be slightly biased as a Mankai stage fan as this song sounds so like a Mankai stage song but I love it so much. It would be 10/10 but I think their harmonies at the end could be a bit tighter. I think the soft and flowery and upbeat music works really well after the last song. Kinda indicating that the prefects live in a different world to the rest of the school which kinda serves as storytelling so that later when they’re so surprised by Derek’s actions it makes sense as they feel kinda separate from everyone else and it makes sense that they wouldn’t know what was going on in the rest of the school. I also love how they each get their solo bits which tell you stuff about the characters. Edgar’s dance is really reminiscent of Druitt which I really love. Herman’s music is a lot less flowy with a base note and the dance, using cricket bats, really gives off an image of strength. Lawrence’s mixes classical music into the instrumental and it has a more traditional feel. The dance involves a lot of stepping and stopping showing a formulaic approach rather than being flowy or strong. Gregory’s music has a grand feeling to it and it goes lower. Gregory doesn’t move much while Cheslock is doing some hip-hop dancing next to him. And instead of singing a solo section he talks about how he wants to go to bed.

Yes, my lord – 10/10

My favourite song in this show. It shows Ciel being told to do things and him passing his chores to Sebastian and Sebastian getting more and more annoyed with him, even breaking and calling him a brat at one point. The upbeat tone is quite fun and it works really well as a montage song. I like how it goes from Ciel saying ‘Yes, Clayton-senpai’ (senpai is a polite suffix for names of people who are higher up than you) to dropping senpai to just saying yes then turning to Sebastian. It really showcases brat Ciel.

Soma’s song – 10/10

His song is all about being Ciel’s friend and it’s really cute and energetic. The outfits from Soma’s song in Circus and brought back and it has a similar instrumental to his song there. He messes around a lot more in this song, though. Even though he is now much older than Sho was when he played Soma through this song he feels far more youthful through the more relaxed choreography and the energetic music.

Ominous prefect song – 9/10

This song is so cool. I really like the sharp shapes being projected onto the back with lilac light and the softly ominous instrumentals. (it comes right after Edgar mentions ‘the secret of what happened that day’). The vice-principal walking around at the back is really interesting as it looks like he is monitoring them. And the other students walking around with lanterns gives the song an almost supernatural feel. And then Undertaker peeking out from the back at the end gives a more direct hint of what is going on.

Nightmare, opening reprise – 8/10

This is just a reprise of the 1st song but I like it a bit better because it is shorter and the choreography of the cultists surrounding Ciel’s bed is really nice.

The Headmaster’s decision – 10/10

I like the fast pace of this song as Ciel runs around to ask about Derek and keeps just being told it was the headmaster’s decision. The students moving and singing together, then encircling him reinforces Ciel’s feeling like there’s a secret that everyone knows but isn’t telling him. I also like the use of Derek’s actor walking around the stage, always just beyond their sight from where they are.

Cricket song, last song of Act 1 – 6/10

This song is good it’s just not super enthralling. I think it’s probably the weakest pre-interval song out of the Kuromyus. At the beginning Sebastian and Ciel’s mics got really quiet for some reason and the instrumental was a bit louder than them. It’s a nice gentle and weirdly happy and hopeful instrumental which is a bit at odds with the past two ominous songs and I can’t decide if I like that or not. Also, I think the harmonies are a bit off so hopefully that will be better by the final performance. A lot of the singers sound like they have tension in their voices so I think they were all pretty anxious for this song. I do like the song and it might go up a bit if they can get the harmonies in the final show because they got almost none of them in this show. (The one that they did get sounded really good though)

INTERVAL

Cricket tournament – 9/10

While the previous song was also more upbeat than the ominous songs I don’t think it worked due to being directly afterwards, as the first song of Act 2 I quite like that’s it’s more energetic as it gets you hyped for the 2nd Act. This is the song that some Tenimyu, Prince of tennis musical, fans are saying was inspired by Tenimyu. And I will say, it was 100% inspired by Tenimyu XD. Yana-sensei is a fan of Prince of tennis and Shogo, Herman’s actor, was cast in a role very similar to his Prince of tennis role then the Green Lion section literally has lines that are exactly the same as lines from the team Shogo was in. Also, the music during their bit is actually somewhat reminiscent of the music that team normally has.

[Yu(vague) is so good at changing types of music during songs ahh, the Green Lion to Scarlett Fox transition is just so good.]

Honestly, this song would be a 7 or 8 out of 10 without the Violet Wolf part bc omg that part slaps so hard. Gregory and Cheslock high-five and the music just switches to electronic disco music and they rap most of their bit. I love it so much.

Sapphire Owl’s bit is cool too.

Scarlett vs Sapphire Cricket match – 6/10

It’s pretty good. Solid song but isn’t too exciting. Soma’s solo bit is really cute. Main thing letting it down is the ‘It’s cricket’ refrain that is in all three match songs. I was already done with it after like 30 seconds in this song and this song doesn’t have anything else lifting it above like the others do.

Violet vs Green Cricket match – 8/10

Cricket match as a rap battle. I dunno why Violet House became a rap house but I love it and I love Cheslock rapping about his awesome pitch. Then he and Herman having a rap battle is just so fun. I don’t know if this is as fun to Black Butler fans who know the characters a lot better or whether it would be uncomfortable but I had a blast in this song.

Sapphire vs Green Cricket match – 7/10

I really like the beginning instrumental and the short song bit at the very beginning of the song but the refrain hit again so it couldn’t go above a 7 for me.

Victory song – 6/10

Not a bad song but I don’t think the harmonies were there for this one and so I’m excited to see it in the last show again and hear if they improve.

Weston Reprise – 10/10

Oh my god I love this reprise so much. At first it sounds very like the original song then as the prefects slightly lose it as they realise what they have done it becomes more out of sync and the music quietens and it sounds more acapella and they sound slightly like they’re losing it due to the horror of what has happened. And the scratchiness of Gregory’s voice making it sound like he’s going to cry really reinforces that they are just children and they cannot deal with something like this.

Fight song – 7/10

I love the Undertaker taking Ciel to the side and staring at him crazily and singing at him. Again, I could hear Toshi’s nerves and I hope that he can sing the song better in the final show. I really love the Undertaker and Sebastian’s duet though and I think their voices sound really good together and I love the blood refrain in the song.

Finale song – 7/10

A pretty short but solid refrain of ‘It’s Perfect Black’

Direction: I thought the direction overall was pretty solid. There wasn’t anything really innovative attempted I don’t think but I didn’t really feel like there was anything lacking.

Overall: I really loved this show and look forward to seeing the final show and I think this show set up the new cast well for future shows.

Do I recommend buying the stream and DVD?

If you are a fan of 2.5D, any of these actors or Black Butler I really recommend trying to see this show. (The final show with be on 4th April on theatre-complex.jp and you can buy a ticket with just a vpn) While it is very different I feel like it was fairly faithful to its roots but is also trying to grow into something new.

Lastly: If you have any questions about the show, any parts, any songs or about any of the actors feel free to drop me an ask and let’s talk about it!

[kuro-freakin-shitsuji]

▌a review: tango on the campania (tokyo)

Kuroshitsuji: Tango on the Campania ミュージカル「黒執事」-Tango on the Campania-

Specific spoilers and my impression of the new kuro musical in ACT Theater Tokyo (Jan 2, 2018)

My background: I’m more of an opera and live orchestra person, and don’t really like musicals. I’ve been to about four operas, a couple of orchestras, one broadway (Book of Mormon), and a bunch of concerts. But of course since it’s kuroshitsuji, just like the film I had to go see my favorite arc in person! I have never seen any of the other kuroshitsuji musicals and probably only would to compare them to this performance. I feel some kind of way about this adaptation and will be honest, I’m not thrilled with it and have more critiques than praise. I have some ideas of why, and will try to detail them here.

I can’t really think of a basic review to write, so this post will be all spoilers and detailed kuromyu thoughts. Bring tea, & proceed at your own risk! 

Firstly, お疲れ様 to the cast. I could tell they all worked hard, and at the end Sebastian urged us to come see it again despite tickets being sold out. I think he said this only because he knew their performance was flawed tonight. I’ve seen the movie about...7 times now? And I’d watch it again in an instant. But this musical leaves more to be desired.

I have a lot to say about this production. I have gripes with some of the actors, and possibly the production crew (the higher ups who gave this play a pass so quickly), as well as the direction. I am quite certain this particular showing will not be the one on DVD.

~ warning: there are spoilers after this jump and it is a lengthy read; do bring tea ~

***There are no personal in-session photos within this post. I respect the management’s wishes for no in-session photography. The photos below were found on this theater guide site.***

The Stage

A normal theatre stage for play performances. I sat on the second floor within two different vantage points, marked red above. I sat on the right side first, and then switched seats with someone to sit on the left side next to my friend, @takasuno. I enjoyed both vantages and didn’t see a major difference of the stage from either side. The left side is tilted a bit more, but nothing major.

Production Set-up / Stage Arrangement / Costumes

This production really knows how to make the Kuroshitsuji setting come to life. Every single actor was beautifully dressed to become their character (acting skills, character interpretation, and talent aside...). However, all bloody scenes were interpreted using the stage screen in the background. It is nice for fighting scenes and such, but is disappointing that not once did Sebastian nor Ciel change into bloody clothing. The characters all looked perfect for the entire duration of this play, and that takes away from the setting of a sinking zombie ship. 

I enjoyed the stage layout and props, and it tells the story of a sinking zombie ship pretty effectively despite the lack of bloody clothing. I really enjoyed the use of the screens onstage to help propel and narrate certain scenes; very clever use of space. However, this also proved to be a weakness with the performance for certain actors.

I can certainly tell the actors worked in overtime to prepare for this play. Thy only had 4-5 months to prepare, but I’m not so certain they were as confident as they wanted to be. I say this because the stage flooring was littered in stage tape. The tape was quite distracting from the overall setting of the story, and certain actors made obvious mistakes in their footing throughout the show, including major characters like Undertaker and Sebastian (details below). These footing and placements mistakes made the experience flawed for me. I really hate to say that, but after seeing so many successful live performances one would think a standard of near perfection is in order? If your actors aren’t comfortable with their positions, they need more time to prepare.

The Acting

BEST 

Druitt (Sasaki)

This man KNOWS his character. I honestly thought the real Druitt was on that stage performing, and I think he is the star of this play. He was funny, authentic, completely in character, loud and boisterous, extra af, dramatic, and gross in that Druitt-charming way. He’s not my favorite character at all from kuroshitsuji but damn, Sasaki makes me like this character so much more. He was a joy to watch and all of his songs were favorites. I think his second song with the full cast dance is my favorite one. That hip thrust introduction almost made me fall out of my chair!!! That dance also made all of the characters do very interesting poses (spread eagle Sebastian and Ciel? YES, PLEASE).

Grell (Uehara)

This is another actor who must live, eat, and breathe their character before coming on stage. Grell’s somehow slowly become one of my favorite reaper’s in the series after the BOA movie (I used to hate him), and now after seeing him come to life from the manga, I am in love with Grell! His singing wasn’t the best of the bunch, but I loved his mannerisms and Grell-esque way of walking, carrying himself, speaking to others, and interacting with Knox. They kept the titanic scene with Knox (we get it twice), and I thoroughly enjoyed his dramatic iceberg entrance on stage. I kept my eyes on Grell for a lot of the play, and of all the bromides to choose from, I would have purchased his!

Elizabeth (Okazaki)

OMG, this was Elizabeth. I was uncertain about her at first, but as the play continued on I loved her enthusiasm for the character and interaction with others. She has a very lovely speaking and singing voice, and performed strong during the entire play. I enjoyed Elizabeth’s reveal scene, as well as her monologue narration, which played out beautifully with the stage prop screen. As she was dancing, I thought the background shadow was her own until that shadow danced away from her back! Very impressive acting and singing. She gave the character justice and was a joy to watch.

Snake (Harashima)

Not much to say, other than his voices were phenomenal and he played the part well! He really did sound like multiple people as he voiced his snakes!! They kept the scene when Ciel tells him to have self confidence and gives him the food to eat, and the scenes under the ship when they discover the soulless dolls.

Francis Midford (Akisono)

Woooow, this woman can sing! Her voice was strong, commanding, and still feminine. Her stage costume was one of the best. Every time she came on stage I had to watch her move. My second favorite song has to be “We Are Midford” because it was funny seeing how serious they were and that silly foot movement going on. She gave me newfound appreciation for the character, and I would have also purchased her bromide. 

WORST

Oh dear, there are a lot of /meh/ characters that disappear into the background, but these are the ones who disappointed me the most, continuing on from bad to worst.

Undertaker (Izumi)

Costume on point? Check. That deep voice and high cackle? Yep. Interaction with others? Alright. But Izumi irritated me throughout this production, and here’s why:

Undertaker make two obvious mistakes: he blocked Grell too soon with his hidden scythe, making the stage screen a second or so behind the visual and sound effects to go with it. It was awkward. I let this slide, but a few scenes later Undertaker overestimated his steps, and was in the wrong position on stage for the scenes to follow, correcting it as needed, but making it rather awkward for me to witness. These are little things I suppose, but my eye were on him so closely because he’s freaking Undertaker. I’m sure with more practice these kinks will iron themselves out, however there were plenty more form others within this performance that made the experience flawed for me. 

Undertaker needed more practice on stage for this production, or tonight was just a bad night for him. His mistakes stood out so much to me that I began ignoring him completely to focus on others. I did enjoy his reveal song, however his big reveal was also a huge disappointment. It did not seem to have that “THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MANGA MOMENT” feeling in the same way that Elizabeth’s reveal held within this production. It was like...his hat is off, he says a few lines, and no one really cares. As well, his hat went back on, and he wasn’t really revealed for the rest of the production. Ciel didn’t take his lockets, which seems to be an important part of this arc as well, which reinforces my thought that this musical is more about the music created for the stage, and not so much about manga/story accuracy. Overall, I just don’t think Izumi had his whole heart in it tonight, and that’s disappointing.

Ciel (Uchikawa)

One would think Ciel would be the star of the show (or at least think he is?), but he really isn’t, and is shows in his stage presence to me. He seemed like a wallflower, blending into the shadows, and that’s just not the Ciel Phantomhive that I know. He looks the part, and he certainly tries to be the part, but I don’t fully believe him. I think it’s the little things that made me feel this way: when he is injured, he isn’t really injured. His limp lasts barely a scene, and then he’s fine again. When he’s falling on the sinking ship, he’s not holding onto dear life at the banister OR his demon butler. There are so many moments that make me wonder if Ciel trusts Sebastian to protect him because honestly Sebastian is nowhere to be found when Ciel is just being attacked by zombies! I won’t go further here since it goes under Sebastian’s comments, but I had a really difficult time believing that this character is Ciel, that Sebastian would really treat Ciel the way he does in this adaptation, and that Ciel feels comfortable calling himself Ciel Phantomhive. 

He also had a difficult time posing in the Phoenix Pose. At first I thought this was on purpose and a part of his character, struggling to keep the pose, but then I doubted it because there is a number when every single character on stage had to pose for an extended period of time. It must be those heels, so ganba to him. Hopefully with more practice he can nail it!

He’s so cute, and I know he tried so hard. But overall Ciel was boring for me; he just didn’t shine here.

Sebastian (Furukawa)

See that hand, holding Ciel back? That’s about as much protecting of the Young Master you’ll get.

MY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT IS SEBASTIAN AND THAT IS BAD BECAUSE I AM A STAN.

I’m a Sebastian stan first and foremost. I like to delve into his character psyche and uncover what he’s truly about through the manga and my own headcanons. He’s more than what we perceive his sexuality to be, he’s more than some kid’s butler, and he’s more than just a kickass demon. So obviously when I see him portrayed live on stage, I have some expectations. 

I think my ultimate gripe about Furukawa is this: Sebastian is a fictional demon character, and Furukawa is a human trying to portray a fictional demon character. Furukawa can never win because he just isn’t a demon. However, that is the beauty of acting, right? It’s done so well that I forget I’m watching a human play dress up. Yes, he can sing, and yes, he sounds nice speaking Sebastian’s lines to our little Reo. But I struggled to believe him tonight, I truly did. Here’s why:

1) Sebastian sings too much :

He’s the star of the show. It’s all about hearing Furukawa sing. And boy, can this man sing. He’s got a lovely voice, and a strong assertion when he hits that right note. But I got tired of it very quickly. I’ll admit, this may be because I am not a fan of musicals, so I may be heavily biased. But after the 3rd or 4th song, I was pretty checked out of Sebastian singing. Like, can this demon go and save his human already? I was ready for him to shut up and just be Sebastian.

2) Sebastian doesn’t seem to care about Ciel’s safety :

He never really seemed to protect Ciel. I don’t expect him to lift Ciel because Ciel might be too heavy to realistically carry around stage; he’s singing so much that he’d sound atrocious if he did try to carry him + sing + dance + fight, but I at least expect him to act more like he gives a damn about Ciel’s safety? Like, not leaving him on the third floor of the ballroom area to get eaten by zombies? It was like...”oh snap, Ciel’s up there so I need to rescue him!”, when it should be more of an innate feeling--why aren’t you up there with him to begin with? Maybe just...stand by his side more often and act like you’re trying to help him walk on that nonexistent limp? Because of this, I didn’t get much chemistry between the actors at all, actually. Something was missing between these two title characters, and It think it’s that acting bond/chemistry. They look the part, but they don’t portray it well. 

3) Sebastian isn’t a perfect butler :

He did make some mistakes. He went behind the animation screen a second too late. HE DROPPED CIEL’S RING. He recovered easily from it, but everyone clearly saw the wardrobe malfunction and it was unfortunate since everyone is in character. It broke the veil of the character, which is a shame since his interpretation of the character is already flawed to me.

4) Sebastian is never injured :

Sebastian never has any wounds, including from Undertaker’s scythe. This honestly baffled me. I get it, screen time is only a precious 2 hours and you have so much going on in-between scenes, but it is almost unacceptable, that they didn’t then have him change into a bloody jacket or splatter him with wet makeup before the stage lights went on. They had the time. He also never seems weak when wounded; he literally sits immediately back up like he wasn’t just STABBED WITH A SCYTHE after Ciel yells at him in earnest.

5) Sebastian’s cinematic record drove me insane :

For the start of the entire flashback scene, it’s reenacted in slow motion with the dancers holding Sebastian and Ciel up, and then the stage goes black and is rearranged for Sebastian’s reel monologue. During this set up, they heavily use the large stage screen and the zombies as props. I thought it was a clever use of space and actors. Sebastian and Ciel preform two songs, and I enjoyed them a lot, however their execution wasn’t the best (Sebastian messed up here with the timing of going behind the screen). The only saving grace of the flashback scene for me was the songs; I enjoyed 後少し (I think it’s called that, it’s the song after やり直し part). I also enjoyed the general use of the stage screens to explore Ceil and Sebastian learning how to be in each other’s lives. They also used live props (a chair and bed).

HOWEVER, despite some small saving graces of this scene, my biggest peeve of all has got to be the entire record reveal scene for this reason: he is a LAZY new butler. I didn’t like the portrayal. He was swaggering onstage, speaking lackadaisically and formally yet informally (that irritated me to no end!!!! how can you use such formal keigo language but sigh and jest at the same time????!!!). I get he’s trying to portray the demon who doesn’t really want to be there; thinks his master is being ridiculous and demanding, but the Sebastian I met in the manga didn’t show that irritation in front of Ciel when they first met! Besides the bath scene (when Sebastian grabs Ciel by the mouth and tells him how it’s going to be here on out), I don’t understand why this extra swagger is added throughout the scene. I didn’t like it at all and it made me disappointed. 

Sebastian just wouldn’t act that way in front of Ciel; he tried harder than that when they met, and that’s what makes him amazing. He didn’t carelessly set the tea platter down or toss the spoon in the kettle like it didn’t matter to him, he didn’t swagger around like posture and poise didn’t mean something to his vain image, and he didn’t speak so arrogantly to Ciel. Like, I really want to say I see the vision that the actor was trying to portray, but all it did was annoy this fan and make me want the scene to hurry up and end. 

6) Sebastian is suddenly Dracula? :

In his /demon/ form he only wore a big black cloak over his butler costume and tried really hard to make his voice deeper. It honestly came across as Dracula hunched over on the ladder of the building prop. It was so extra and unnecessary. I thought he was trying too hard to come across as menacing. I think it would have been better for him to have extra prep time to change into all black, or at the very least fully cover his butler attire since he hasn’t even met Ciel yet.

7) Sebastian isn’t really a monster, but a beautiful performer :

In his big bloody fighting scene in the basement, they portrayed it using lots of red cloth material on stage. It was a lot of dancing, hooded figures, and red carpet-material flying about. Despite all the acrobatics, it felt like something was missing. I can’t put my finger on it...the song was very nice, and the dancing was great, but this scene was also one of my least favorites of the adaptation, which is another disappointment. They also utilized puppets that were painfully placed on stage, and it was awkward seeing him dance with them. It would have been better to abandon the use of puppets since it is the only time they used them. At the end of it all, the zombies disappear, and Sebastian isn’t told to change his gloves. I was surprised Ciel let him touch him after that bloody battle without clean gloves. 

And for the final boat fighting scene, again, Sebastian spends more time singing than actually fighting, and it was a bit odd seeing the zombies dance beneath the water like that while he preforms. But also by this point I’d completely checked out of Sebastian and was just done with all the singing and wanted him to go away.

Some Saving Graces

All of Druitt songs! So entertaining and lively! My favorite was in the second act solely because we see Sebastian dance and then sit spread eagle for a good portion of song, and that was quite fun to watch

I also enjoyed seeing Knox dance and sing, and he was very true to his character. I think I would listen to his song the most

“We Are Midford” making me smile and laugh a lot

Hearing so many actors sing live

Getting to change seats to sit with my friend!

The first zombie coming to life!! The music and dance was truly entertaining and I enjoyed the dancer; she’s very talented

All of the zombie dances; a very good use of space and creativity to interact with the title characters

The Phoenix Pose, anytime they did it was hilarious and adorable!!

Differences from the Manga

...that I could catch or remember

No William T. Spears

Ciel did not take Undertaker’s lockets (or if he did, I missed it, but I saw them still on Undertaker after the scene...)

Zombies appear to attack everyone regardless of species (attack reapers and Sebastian, but aren’t they only attracted to human souls?)

Sebastian spots the iceberg first

Sebastian doesn’t swim or anything; that entire scene was cut and replaced with him spotting the iceberg before the captains see it and crash

Ciel doesn’t demand Sebastian not touch him with his filthy gloves

Grell and Knox exit scene does not include William, but adds a second “titanic” moment scene

Closing Thoughts

I do look forward to tumblr getting the bromides and gif sets, because the stage and costumes were all truly gorgeous and deserve to be spread around. 

But overall, I think that because I am not a musicals fan, I likely expected much more than I received (more character chemistry and accuracy), and received more than I was expecting (too many Sebastian solos). I also learned that the experience of something like this live verses seeing an edited dvd makes a world of a difference. I will probably enjoy the dvd version more to be quite honest, but I have no interest in purchasing one.

I’d give it a C, or 3/5 stars, and I wouldn’t see it live again. I much prefer the movie if I had to choose between watching one or the other. I miss Ono Daisuke already! ♞

[kuroshitsujiislife]

Can you please give instructions on how to buy the livestream??

Yes, of course.

First of all, here’s the link from tumblr I used as reference.

https://kuroshitsujiislife.tumblr.com/post/170156629164/how-to-dmm

But here is me telling briefly how I did it, in case.

As mentioned in the reference post, what you need for this is

1. A PC and a good internet connection and

2. a PayPal account 

Purchasing the points for the musical 

First go to http://www.dmm.com/en/ and then (this is English site so) you’ll see a big yellow button (?) on the right hand side saying “user registration”

Register yourself and don’t forget to confirm the mail you receive.

Click on the coin-shaped symbol with the P (right upper corner of the screen), and choose “Charge Points” or scroll down an click the large yellow “Charge Points” button on the right side

Then click the paypal button

Since we know how much exactly we need (3600Yen) let’s go down and choose “appoint the amount of charge” and get 3600 points. 

Go ahead and make sure you have 3600 pts and then check out with PayPal.

Establishing VPN connection

go to http://www.vpngate.net/en/download.aspx and download the software and install it.

Then you open the software and in the window you will see  “VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Servers” as the second option. Double click it (you will get some dialog boxes saying if you want to participate in a survey and stuff, just go ahead with either choice and make sure it is not illegal to use VPN in your country, that’s all you need to know for those dialog boxes). Then pick a location in japan in the list you get (preferably with a low ping and a high line speed). Wait a bit until you get the IP address.

When you connect and you are still not sure if you are actually connected or not, go to the browser you use and go to google.com. If you did everything right, you’ll be redirected to google.co.jp instead of the google of your home country.

Now go to http://www.dmm.com/digital/cinema/-/detail/=/cid=5479kurohm00001/

make sure you are logged in and click on the orange button in the right hand side. That says “Book” in English not “Buy” because this is going to be a live thing. 

Then go ahead and click the yellow button on the next page on the right hand side (still make sure you have the right thing on the cart). The button says “continue checkout” in English and then in the next page, it is again the yellow button on the right hand side to “Confirm purchase”.

Then you will see the videos you purchased in the new page. (In this case TotC)

So That’s is how you purchase KuroMyu.

And on the 12th, and whenever you are going to watch it again, don’t forget to use VPN, use the same procedure. Choose a location in japan and like the last time.

If you still have trouble, please go ahead and ask me!

[sweetmaririn]

End of the year 2.5D Butai/Musical Asks!

Alright, I know this is really late since I finally got the chance to do this so let’s get it on to it~ 

Truth; I didn’t expect to be tagged along but I was. I have to say that I’m very happy that I got tagged. 

I was tagged by the lovely @allyyyyy0619

Once again, thank you for tagging me. My way of describing might be an odd way to describe a stage/musical/person and etc because in all honesty I actually don’t know what to say or how to describe it. And please, pardon my bad English!

Now let’s get to the questiosn! 

1. Firstly, how did you manage to find out about 2.5D butai/musical? Which butai/musical was your first and your impression of it?

I’m not sure which was exactly my first but it’s a Musical, it could be either Kuromyu (Musical 2) or Tenimyu. It’s either this two and my impression on both are somewhat the same? As it was something new for me because everyone is acting on stage, with wigs and full makeup on which I first find it quite funny but then I got used to it since it’s also fascinating. Hmm to say when it happened, I think it’s safer for me to say it was all in 2012, I was 14 at that time and only started using the internet fully. But it was a wild, fun ride for me. I like how I started from there to here.

2. Who was your first favourite 2.5D actor/actress? Why?

Hmm it should be Mizuta Kouki because of Tenimyu. I don’t remember how I got attracted to this guy but it was a love at a first sight. I find him very cool, especially when I saw his Kenya! It was awesome.. 

3. Top 3 (or more) favourite butai of the year?

1. Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu -Shousha to Haisha-

Since I’m also a fan of Haikyuu itself, I just love it when it comes to Seijoh since they are my favourite school after Karasuno. As this stage is the one when Karasuno lost to Seijoh during Interhigh, I get to see the touching scenes being acted out, putting me in tears. Of all thing is the music, I really like the orchestra theme going on, it gives you the bumps every single time and everything sounds so epic that it is as if there’s a strong wind swiping you along the way.  

2. Stage play Touken Ranbu -Akatsuki no Dokuganryu-

Hmmm what do I say for this one? Maybe because there’s Kasen Kanesada and Ookurikara. Kasen is my starter so I’m happy to see him on stage, besides Wada Takuma-san did an excellent job portraying him. I could stop fangirling over how elegant Kasen is? Besides that, it’s Tsurumaru. I totally love ‘Dark Tsurumaru’ , I was so shocked and that what a huge surprise for me. I’d always wonder how would a “ Dark version of Tsurumaru looked like” never thought it would really happen. Plot wise, everything is well written and well done. As usual Tousute has good music as well. 

3.  Joker Game

Okay this is quite unusual for me because I didn’t even watch the anime or read the manga to know the story but I definitely enjoyed the stage. It was very entertaining, everyone was so cool and despite it’s dark story, I actually really like it. The whole story isn’t my cup of tea but I watched it for Yamamoto Ikkei and didn’t thought it was be amazing.  

4. Top 3 (or more) least favourite butai of the year?

I don’t think I have one that I can list? Even if there’s some that didn’t fully caught my attention. . . . . . or maybe I didn’t watch much enough to actually have a least favourite. 

5. Top 3 (or more) favourite musical of the year?

1. Musical Touken Ranbu -Mihotose no Komoriuta- 

As usual, Touken Ranbu will win over everything. Anyways, for Mihotose’s storyline, I cried. I watched the musical and cried a lot. The acting was tip top, especially when I saw Yokota Ryugi’s real tears coming out, I couldn’t stop crying. Ishikirimaru’s suffering kills me, Nikkari’s observant kills me, Sengo’s uhhh self kills me, Tonbokiri kills me, Monoyoshi’s suffering kills me.. And the most would be because of Ookurikara, in this musical, we were shown the the softer side of him like when he said “that’s why I didn’t want to become friends” and how he actually cares. I love it.

2. Musical Star-Myu

I actually don’t have anything much to say about this musical since I can’t call myself much of a fan but I do like it and got hooked with the songs, and since I like Otori. (blame Suwabe Junichi for all of this) And since Kiyama Haruki did a good job as Otori.. 

6. Top 3 (or more) least favourite musical of the year?

I really do think I haven’t watch much so nothing to be listed.

7. Top 3 (or more) favourite actors/actress of the year?

1. Arisawa Shoutarou 

2. Mikata Ryosuke 

3. Ota Motohiro / Someya Toshiyuki

8. Top 3 (or more) rookie actors/rising actors whom you’ve high hopes for in the future?

1. Arisawa Shoutarou 

As we all can see, Shoutarou’s popularity is rising day by day now, from just an ensemble to an actual main character, that itself is a huge achievement and it doesn’t even take him that long to achieve that. I couldn’t be more proud of him, all I know is that he deserves all the love. And since Shoutarou is quite new, I want everyone to see Shoutarou’s true talent and he’ll prove the world that he is more than just “a rookie actor”. Shoutarou still has more years ahead but I know he’ll improve in no time, he already proved that to us from K Stage to now. And as I predicted, he’ll be in the new Toumyu next spring! I’m totally looking forward to that.

2. Kohatsu Allen

Allen has been around for a while now just like Shoutarou, and slowly I can see that he’s getting more better jobs now. But I still want to see even more for him. I was so happy when it was announced that he’ll be playing as “Shu” in Diabolik Lovers stage. Allen will totally be able to catch everyone’s attention once they see how he is on stage.

3. Shiraishi Judai 

I don’t know if Judai is considered popular or not but I know everyone really likes his Mattsun. I can’t say much since I haven’t seen other than his acting in Engeki Haikyuu or which stage was it with the one him being the villain(?) He was so cool in that stage, so I can say that he’s a great actor. Sooner or later, he’ll get something bigger that everyone can agree with me. I really do have my high hopes for him.

9. Top 3 (or more) favourite butai/musical related drama/movie of the year?

1. Yowamushi Pedal 

well since I love the manga, anime and the stage, of course I will love the drama as well especially when most of the actors in the drama were also in the previous stages. I get to see Pedal without seeing everyone running on stage, in a fixed position cameras I meant and with actual bikes. Pedal takes lots of stamina and energy so I admire all the actors that could bring us Pedal to live.

10. Top 3 (or more) actors/actress that you think have the best singing voice?

I’m bad at describing how beautiful someone’s voice may be so I’ll just rank it with a weird way of describing it?

1. Mikata Ryosuke

Ever since I’ve known him, I still think he’s the best of them all. I like it whenever he sings. I don’t know, his singing is just all dreamy for me. I love it. Mikatii;s singing isn’t the strong-windy type but he’s like the boyish type too. Easy for me to describe it, his vocals are like the when you went for a jog in the morning, the sun rise as you breathe in the fresh air. Or his vocals is like as if he’s pinning you to the wall. 

2. Ota Motohiro

Mokkun’s voice is the medium kind of strong. Most of the time I’ll hear him having to wave his voice and he did it perfectly. Mokkun’s voice is the kind that will melt your voice. It’s as if whenever he sings, he is trying to lure you into his honey trap and you’ll forever be captivated by him. Woooo goose bumps.

3. Yazaki Hiroshi 

I’m not even a fan of him but I really like it when he sings. This is due to Hakumyu where I’m exposed to his acting&singing. He has a very melodic voice and a gentle kind but strong voice? It’s like when you’re walking in a garden filled with roses. 

4. Spi

Spi’s vocals are the strongest and powerful but yet he could go softer when he has or wants to, depends on which song he’s singing. So Spi’s vocals are like the strong wind that will blow you away while you’re having your cup of tea during tea time, along with the table & chairs. His voice is that strong. 

Bonus: Unpopular Opinion (I think)

The person who I personally thinks has the best voice that could put me all over the world would be Arisawa Shoutarou. Maybe because I’m such a huge fan of him and I love him so much that I think that way. When I think about it, I really love his singing voice, his voice doesn’t sound so manly or strong. But people can improve. When Shoutarou sings, he sounded really boyish like when you’re having a moist chocolate cake. It’s sweet, concentrated and chocolatey. When I first heard him, I didn’t understand why I don’t see much people complimenting him? Like when I first heard him singing Heart to Heart in the Musicals, I could actually feel the song. Shoutarou’s voice is like he’s complimenting everyone. When he sings live or recording, both sounds excellent and I could tell straight away which voice belonged to him. It’s as if his voice has a personality on its own? I don’t know if this make sense but Shoutarou’s singing can make me teary too, it’s just too beautiful to me.. and I’ll say this, I got addicted to his voice. I really want to hear more, so I hope for Toumyu, next spring, he’ll get his solo. 

11. A (or more) butai/musical that you didn’t initially love, but has/have grown on you?

I’m not sure about this... hmm

12. Top 3 (or more) anime/manga/game that you would love to see being adapted into a butai/musical in the future?

1. Free! 

I’ve been wanting to see Free! to be adapt into a butai since who knows how long. Imagine how fun would it be....It would be a nice thing to see all characters, especially my favourite ones to be portrayed by an actor. I don’t expect it to come true any time soon. Let’s just hope it can happen but somehow I feel like it won’t happen because some would prefer for it to be left as it is.

13. Top 3 (or more) favourite fandom on the year?

I’ll be honest. I don’t really like fandom/s because sometimes fandom tend to ruin my mood and fun for something. However, most of the time, fandoms are fun especially when you see everyone goes crazy when productions dropped news onto them hahahahaha.

1. Toumyu / Tousute

This is obvious since I’m in TKRB hell so it would be obvious I’m in Toumyu hell too. I honestly don’t know how I got way too attached to Toumyu? maybe because of the Shinken Ranbu Sai that made me feel like Toumyu fandom is such a solid fandom. Like fans can keep expect new things and it’ll keep coming.. The production is alive and not a dead one. Like some you might not even know if there will be more musicals/stage ? Maybe that’s why I’m so attached because somehow I know it won’t end anytime soon and I can keep talking about it. And since most of the people I follow are in this fandom, it makes it hard not to love the fandom even though I’d never really get the chance to talk to anyone.....in the fandom..or becoming mutuals...Anyways, It’s just really fun to see everyone’s reaction.

Tousute is different than Toumyu, it’s two different franchise but it’s still tkrb. Tousute gives more of the serious kind and it kills us with the amount of angst they give out, that sharp pain in the heart and I like that. So, I like how everyone has to suffer the pain too. But in truth I don’t have much to say because it’s the same for me since I like both franchises. 

※there are some fans that likes Tousute but doesn’t like Toumyu (or vice versa). So I guess there’s why there’s separated fandoms?

3. Enstars 

I’m not in this fandom as I don’t even play the game nor do I’m a fan of it but 70% of people around me do & really love the stage. And since I always see it on my timeline, somehow I became to like the fandom without actually being in it or becoming a fan. I guess I just enjoy seeing everyone goes crazy in here. Great fandom.

14. How long have you been in the 2.5D fandom?

I started late, as it was in 2012 when I joined so it’s been 5 years. 

15. Lastly, what is your overall opinion of the 2.5D fandom so far?

Back then, everything was free, whatever was uploaded will be shared by everyone just like that but it wasn��t really that easy to look for something and the community was much smaller so everyone sticks together however nowadays, there’s stricter & stricter rules and such so it makes it harder but it’s easier to look for something now. I guess all these happens when the fandom started having toxic fans, as usual toxic fans ruins everything so I can’t really blame anyone. But I do miss those days when I first joined, all the fans seems more mature and everyone was more understanding. It’s like everyone looks after one another. Now? it seems like it’s lacking of those. I’ll stop it right here as I don’t want to say too much. 

But I will say that I am glad that more and more people know about the existence of 2.5D, so there’s more people to talk about it. The fandom itself is fun, especially when everyone is having fun & fangirl/boy-ing together.

[lovelorn-virtuoso]

My musical theatre sins that were too long to add in the tags of that post. In other words: just me complaining about everything. I’m literally an embodiment of a complaint today, sorry, don’t get offended, they are just my opinions.

I loved that Kacha!Desmoulins got to sing so much in zuka’s 1789. Yes, even that song that was supposed to be Solene’s. Too bad I got disappointed when it turned out that in Toho Desmoulins didn’t get that song, nor the whole Ca Ira Mon Amour like it was in the French one, BUT GOT SOME BORING SONG. Like don’t get me wrong, it was a nice song but I wanted something better.

When I saw Tsukigumi’s Legend of King Arthur I thought it was perfect and then I saw the French one and oh boy I realised how wrong I was. French LRA is the best. next time give Miyacchi the dance with the puppet and include all of the good songs plz

Also, Miyacchi would make a perfect Death in Elisabeth, LET HER PLAY DEATH PLEASE (ideally with Chapi!Elisabeth but I won’t be picky okay)

Also, I know that most of tenimyu fandom loves Shirota Yuu and considers him the best Tezuka, but honestly??? Have you seen Daisuke Watanabe????  HAVE YOU HEARD HIS VOICE????  BC WHEN I HEARD HIM I thoUGHT IT WAS THE SEIYUU THAT PLAYED TEZUKA IN ANIME, THAT G O O D HE WAS.

8th generation Seigaku was the best cast so far and (as a person who loves 4th/7th gen) I did not expect that. So later I had a very high expectations of 9th generation which were crushed after I saw them so I’m not so sure whether I like them yet

I don’t understand why people like Les Mis that much, it doesn’t even have that many good songs. There’s like maybe two good songs lol. Watch Takarazuka’s 1789 instead, now THAT’S A DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION.

Also I hate that Teruma played Sannan and replaced Mikatii. Like, I get that later he became a good Sannan, I admit, and he’s an okay actor too, but I still don’t really like him apart from his role in Bakumatsu Rock lmao

The whole sudden change of cast of Hakumyu without any graduation concert or anything was annoying tbh

I also hated reprise of Kuromyu: the most beautiful death in the world, because the chemistry between actors of Alan an Eric was non-existent and their voices didn’t work together as well as Matsushin’s and Taisuke’s did. And Fujita Rei’s Druitt was everything I wanted Duritt to be, so Sasaki with that high voice was annoying. Bc of these things most of the songs compared to the original cast was sooo bad lmao

...there are so many more thing I could complain about but I should be writing my paper, thanks for bearing with me

[crocthello]

sorry to be a little ranty out of nowhere, but idc how long it's been, the scene where Yuta and Reo can't even be close enough to dance in a 10-second sequence never fails to raise my blood pressure

[crocthello]

Grelle coaxing Ronald into getting back to reaping souls,,,,, she could make me do anything fr

[crocthello]

love that bastard trying to romanticise his 3-year-long slave-away-to-the-devil job in service and hospitality by dreaming of the joys of life he'll enjoy after it's done, he's all of us fr

[crocthello]

y'all will never catch me talking about Sebastian again, but i just had a breakthrough abt his character because of yuta. he gets it i swear he gets it, yana has said it herself he really does

[crocthello]

im tired of hiding this, i do believe that the milk and honey scene was Sebastian being genuine. it never happens again tho after that there's no dadbastian fantasy only the demon we all know and hate.

[crocthello]

crocthello gets high and watches kuromyu instead of studying for their maths final, more at 10

[chibimyumi]

Hello chibimyumi! I've been a fan of black butler for a few years now, and I really want to get into the plays. The thing is, I'm a moron who has no idea where to start. Do you have any tips for how beginners like me can get into them? Thank you!

Hello Anon!

Well, asking me is asking for bias since I am a blog literally started because of the Furukawa era Kuromyus, so........I recommend you start with the Furukawa era Kuromyus （≽▽≼;;）Before the Furukawa era was the Matsushita Era.

Okay okay... I’ll try to be a bit more nuanced.

Reasons to start with Furukawa Era:

All stories are canon except a few minor changes for adaptation’s sake.

Furukawa’s Sebastian was declared above canon by Yana herself, and Editor Kuma can’t shut up about how much of a fanboy he is of Furukawa ever since.

The Ciels in these musicals are genuinely good child actors.

From 2016 on, TOHO (the most prestigious JP theatre that owns the literal Imperial Theatre aids them, so the quality is off the chart.

That  is not to say that it’s wrong to watch any Matsushita era musicals  though! It’s just that I personally don’t recommend it, the 2009, 2010  musical DVDs are out of production, so you’d have to start with 2013 and  2014.

Reasons to start with Matsushita Era:

You want to see the history of Kuromyu, where it all began.

You are a fan of Matsushita Yuya or other actors that only appear in those musicals.

You like BL-like shipping fanfics a lot, and the 2013 musical would be a feast then (though it’s full of canon-contradictions, plot-holes and homo- and transphobia, so you’ll have to be able to overlook that.)

Furukawa Era Kuromyu Menu

The Furukawa era Kuromyus come in three musicals chronologically.

The Lycoris that Blazes the Earth 2015

NOAH’S ARK CIRCUS 2016

Tango on the Campania 2018

The Lycoris that Blazes the Earth is the stage adaptation of the Jack the Ripper arc, while the other two’s titles speak for themselves.

General Recommendation

If you are familiar with the manga itself already, there is no need to watch the Furukawa era kuromyus chronologically; I’d say, just start with your favourite arc among the three. I offer high quality English subtitles in exchange for proof of legal ownership of the DVD. This is my initiative to combat pirating of Japanese stage productions, because Japanese stage actors only get paid for their rehearsal labour depending on the DVD sales. That is why every time anybody asks me: “where can I watch Kuromyu” I’ll answer: “anywhere where your disc player and screen are.”

As the DVDs are quite expensive for universal standards, I recommend watching the PVs first.

Official PV Lycoris that Blazes the Earth 2015.

⏫Pros to starting with Lycoris:

It’s the first Furukawa Sebastian,  and you can see where he started.

At this stage Furukawa was declared ‘canon’ (not ‘above-canon’ yet). To Yana this was the first time she ever saw somebody doing her baby Sebastian justice.

Madam Red is simply AMAZING, you can’t miss that.

This was the first time - on Yana’s instructions - that Grell is officially portrayed as a transgender woman rather than a “gay-transvestite-laughing-stock”.

⏬Cons to starting with Lycoris:

The over-all quality is not as high as the following two (because TOHO didn’t step in yet), but it’s still above average for 2.5D. It’s NOT not your money’s worth, but it’s not ridiculously good either. It’s just that it’s not representative of the later two musicals’ quality. Many people who first and only watched 2015 said they hated Kuromyu, but then when they watched the later two they said: “wow amazing!”

Some songs are just...jarringly bad...

Official dress rehearsal NOAH’s ARK CIRCUS.

⏫Pros to starting with Circus:

Here Furukawa was declared ‘above-canon’ by Yana herself.

Furukawa really has grown as Sebas, and it’s clear as day.

Ciel is ridiculous. He’s played by the unanimously agreed-upon best so far, Uchikawa Reo.

TOHO steps in for the first time, and their influence is apparent.

Most of the music is a blast.

Joker... OH JOKER....!!!!  He’s even better than the manga. 10/10

Baron Kelvin, also even better than the manga. 10/10

There are actual circus-worthy performances

Dagger is played by 2016 actual world champion uni-cyclist Mitsuya Ryo.

Doll is absolutely heart-wrenchingly adorable.

⏬Cons to starting with Lycoris:

It is not chronological to the Furukawa Era Kuromyu.

It mightttt set your expectations for others a bit too high to start here.

DVD PV of Tango on the Campania.

⏫Pros to starting with Campania:

Here Furukawa rendered Yana and Editor Kuma speechless.

Young Uchikawa Reo polished his singing for Ciel, and now everything is perfect about him.

Furukawa and Uchikawa’s friendship which they built in 2016 really shows here.

TOHO turned their support up to 11.

The ensemble members (the zombies) are as much the stars as Sebas and Ciel are. They are mind-blowing.

Most (but not all) consider these songs the best.

Best directing so far (by the esteemed ex-Takarazuka director Kodama Akiko).

A portrayal of Grell as a competent transgender reaper asked requested by Yana herself. Yana admitted she did Grell wrong, and asked Uehara to do Grell justice in her stead.

⏬Cons to starting with Campania:

It is not chronological to the Furukawa Era Kuromyu.

It WILL set your expectations for others a bit too high to start here.

I hope this helps! After you watch the PVs and do decide to buy the DVDs and get the English subs from me, do let me know!

Kuromyu DVD purchase links

Lycoris that Blazes the Earth 2015 (Furukawa)

Noah’s Ark Circus

Tango on the Campania

These 👆 are from amazon.jp which ships internationally AND has the best prices. You can buy these directly without proxy (click here for how to change amazon.jp to ENGLISH).

Here is my FAQ post in case you have more questions.

[chibimyumi]

in my country musicals arent really big, we usually see aspiring or struggling rookie actors/actress do them, is it different in japan? are a-list actors casted in musicals? would u consider the past kuromyu to have been successful considering its getting another one?

Dear Anon,

In Japan musicals are still considered niche, but perhaps less niche than in other countries. There are many theatres in Japan, and every single month there is announcement of multiple musicals staged in theatres of all ranks and sizes. But compared to anime/manga or movies, theatre is still a less popular medium.

Musicals in Japan

There are quite some theatre companies of all sizes in Japan, and they all have their own fanbases. But if we are talking about A-rank theatre, then there are two prestigious theatre companies: TOHO stage (owner of the Imperial Theatre and affiliated with the Ministry of Culture) and Takarazuka Revue owned by Hankyu Railway, THE railway company in Japan. TOHO stage and Takarazuka however, ultimately belong to the same parent company, TOHO Co., Ltd., making them essentially sibling companies. So this parent company basically has the ‘monopoly’ of elite theatre in Japan. Officially, the top tier actors affiliated with these two companies are recognised as the A-list actors in Japan.

GENERALLY speaking TOHO and Takarazuka have little to do with 2.5D. The Takarazuka Revue is an all-woman theatre, and most 2.5D are pretty male-cast heavy. Besides, Takarazuka does not “lend” their actresses to other stage performances. TOHO also generally does not lend their affiliated actors to 2.5D except if they as a company have a hand in the production itself, like with Kuromyu 2016 and 2018. Besides, TOHO stage is as of now the ONLY Japanese theatre company that pays all its employees also for rehearsal time. (In Takarazuka only the few top tiered actresses get full compensation; lower tiered ones are in great part dependent on family support). So if one is allowed chance to work for TOHO, most actors would not be too tempted to work for a rehearsal-pay-less production unless they just love the production itself.

Is Kuromyu a Success?

Not all past Kuromyus were a success, but the reception has gradually grown over the years. According to the August 30th 2016 broadcast of Academy Night G, the tipping point of 2.5D as a whole was in 2011, and in 2015 it saw a dramatic climb in popularity in Japan.

According to Academy Night G’s data, Kuromyu 2015 (Lycoris that Blazes the Earth rerun) was the main contributor to the success of its genre as one of the very few 2.5D productions to not just have oversea performances, but an actual overseas tour. In 2015, Kuromyu visited three Chinese cities, Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.

Ever since 2015, all Kuromyu tickets have been completely sold out almost immediately. For Kuromyu 2018 they even had to arrange for make-shift seats and spots for stand-viewing.

A much credited factor to this enormous success was TOHO company’s support of Tango on the Campania and the aggressive marketing of: “starring the Imperial Theatre’s pride, first tier star Furuakwa Yuta as the title role!”

Demographic Shift Kuromyu

As for Kuromyu 2021, I myself don’t know how this production may or may not reflect Kuromyu’s success for multiple reasons. But to summarise, it is because regardless of what is going to happen, from 2021 on Kuromyu will have to take a different course than before.

Why does Kuromyu from 2021 on need to take a different course?

Though I reasoned wrongly about Kuro Potter being the least likely candidate for a new Kuromyu, I still stand my point that marketing-wise it is just a pretty poor choice. And indeed, while fans of Kuroshitsuji itself are overall quite happy about there being a Kuromyu at all, some concerns were also voiced. TOHO has apparently retracted their support for the production, and now the question is just how well MKP by itself can live up to the expectations of audiences who have gotten used to TOHO-supported budget production.

Something that must be remembered is that theatre fans and 2.5D fans can overlap, but are NOT necessarily the same. Some 2.5D fans only like their specific 2.5D because it has the association with their favourite 2D work, but don’t care about theatre in general. Some theatre fans only watch a 2.5D because it happens to star their favourite star, but would never touch any other 2.5D work. Then there is also the specific “elite theatre fan” sub-demographic, which is the group Kuromyu has drawn in since 2016... and that is also where it gets a bit tricky.

By so explicitly marketing Kuromyu as a bridge between 2.5D and “elite theatre” through “the most elite theatre’s” cow, the demographics of Kuromyu saw a clear shift from “2D/Kuroshitsuji fans only” to “including elite theatre-goers”.

2.5D has long had the (undue) reputation of “theatre just to please children and geeks”, and was viewed as “inferiour, amateurish” by the theatre-goers and elite theatre-goers. Especially the TOHO fans did so because - objectively - 2.5D is such a poor industry it cannot even afford to pay its employees for their rehearsal work. And unlike TOHO, 2.5D often stars younger and less experienced actors who are building their career through 2.5D. That is the reason many 2.5D actors tolerate the no-pay work because they can benefit from 2D’s popularity to expand their own name. TOHO in contrast, is a very elitist company and usually only casts actors who have already built their career.

Now that Kuromyu has zero TOHO affiliated performers and seemingly no TOHO support, the normal theatre fan demographic might shift away from Kuromyu, and most elite theatre fans have already shown disinterest.

This in effect means that Kuromyu that gained “semi-elite status” is now back to “normal 2.5D”. This does NOT mean that it is bad; it just means that the demographic of audiences will shift again. That in turn means that the marketing strategy will need to change. Kuromyu won the reputation of the production that got 2.5D into elite theatre culture discourse**, and now it is out of it again. (**I know that “discourse” became “discussion” or “controversy” on Tumblr, but the word actually just means “conversation”. ANYTHING people talk about is discourse.)

Even if we do not count in the (elite) theatre fans that were a very important group of later Kuromyus, fans of Kuromyu itself have surely gotten used to the higher budget. Some fans here on Tumblr have also voiced: “I can’t go back to bad quality again”. So, what will MKP now do to live up to the "elite” high bar TOHO had (helped?) set for Kuromyu?

Change marketing strategy, change M.O.

From what I have seen on the Japanese side, the marketing is now indeed more focused on and also resonates better with J-pop and 2.5D fans specifically. KMP has made no attempts to market Kuromyu to (elite) theatre fans anymore.

Conclusion

So can Kuromyu 2021 reflect the success of Kuromyu in general? That is hard to say, because their strategy has already diverted from when Kuromyu reached unprecedented “elite” status. I think if anything, it mostly reflects Kuroshitsuji’s success.