#seto kazuya

[jazzy0clock]

Commission I did for mah bestie :D

[bubblegeon]

As long as we're together, there will be more and more happy times. 👠 GOUKON NI ITTARA ONNA GA INAKATTA HANASHI (2022)

[storge]

Is this confusing you? We're pretty busy at our part-time jobs. We'd be late if we had to change our clothes.

Goukon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi

[berserkerbarbie]

Streak of Light -一筋の光- by Flower Troupe 2012

rehearsal

[eien-no-gakusha]

Touken Ranbu:  The Contradictory Tale of Genji

Went in expecting fanservice and just a good time, left impressed.

Part 1/3 - Plot:

The videogame source material has a very barebones plot because it knows what it is:  a gatcha game for fujoshi to collect sword husbandos.  Basically, something evil is trying to change (Japanese) history and make the universe implode.  You, the player, are an onmyoji or priestess who is summoning famous swords like mad to save the world.  The touken danshi themselves basically have the personalities of their famous historical figure owners or forgers coupled with quirks related to random facts and legends surrounding them.  Some come with a Hachiko streak from losing their masters or their service in some darker parts of history.  (only your love can heal them!). Classic gatcha game fare.  In other words, there is a lot of room to be creative with this framework.  Just look at all the sexy derivative works spawned from the thirsty fujoshi.  This aspect of the fandom is surprisingly relevant to the plot of the musical.  Stick around and find out. 

Anyways, the plot of this specific show features a Tale of Genji crossover.  The usual evil is messing with history again and a squad of swords are dispatched to fix it.   The problem of the day is the entire Heian court has been isekai-ed into the novel Tale of Genji.  The author Murasaki Shikibu and her fans have all gotten merged with the characters of the book.  The Heian era swords are unavailable for vague reasons, leaving a bunch of young swords not forged in this era to untangle fact from fiction.

Thus, we start with team Kanesada finding themselves escorting a lady-in-waiting who explains that everyone around her has been suddenly larping Tale of Genji and she’s the only sane person left in court.  They realize they are trapped in the book and reenact all the early chapters as they figure out how to undo the curse.  Some of the more hot-tempered swords try to brute force their way out only to realize that book characters have protagonist halos to protect them from getting KOed.  At the center of this vortex, the titular character Hikaru Genji is effectively an NPC who has gained sentience a la RE:  Creators.  We learn he functions similarly to the sword boys as the embodiment of the book.  Not being a weapon, he can’t do much by way of fighting but he is unkillable and can act as dungeon master in his own story by transferring protagonist status to his victims.  In other words, Genji can possess targets to simulate his story as a substitute while he dicks off.  He uses this power to go OOC and try to retcon his own story.  This is all quite convenient for him since he has a complicated relationship with his author.  He is half reverential of her and half resentful.  This culminates in Genji ultimately killing his own author.  In the merged universe, Murasaki Shikibu and her readership have merged with the female leads of The Tale of Genji with Murasaki taking the role of the unobtainable Fujitsubo no Nyogo, Genji’s true love.  In breaking the story with literal death of the author, all hell breaks loose with Genji going rogue.

As the touken danshi dig deeper, they learn the source of this chaos was a result of toxic fan culture!  While many people enjoy Murasaki’s book and come away from it positively, a stalker fan voices his concerns that this is all vapid fiction with no value nor contribution to reality (the “wake up, loser” argument).  They debate about the point of writing “fake” stories.  While Murasaki understands the man’s point of view, she disagrees and refuses to put down her brush as this work is her passion.  The man becomes so upset he is taken over by the evil powers to cause the time rift and alter history.  His reasoning is if everyone is so obsessed with the book, they may as well live in it rather than face the real world. 

Back in the present, the touken danshi are having a bad time resolving the timeline.  They complain about needing grandpa Mikazuki’s help and keep getting possessed by Genji to reenact chapters while he escapes to cause trouble elsewhere.  However, during the final boss battle with evil Genji, the isekai-ed fangirls come to the rescue!  As they reminisce about their love of the novel (well, it would be equivalent of a serialized magazine at time of publication) and how it was therapeutic or inspiring for their real lives, they begin to return to themselves.  Now it’s important to note that Murasaki’s contemporaries did write derivative works or helped her transcribe chapters to share.  Therefore, these fangirls are effectively ancient Japanese fanfiction authors and thus have power to end Genji as much as the original author does.  But they love him as a character too much so are unable to strike the finishing blow and basically toss the responsibility to young Murasaki, Genji’s second wife who he had kidnapped as a child to groom into the perfect woman.  Unable to bear the suffering and moved by the women in his life both as characters and as his fans, Genji lowers his protagonist’s halo and accepts death.  The touken danshi are able to finally fix history and complete their mission.  When they return to modern day, they hear news that archeologists have found physical evidence that Genji existed as a historical figure and thus a conspiracy theory is born!  The touken danshi take this information with mixed emotions.

What an amazing story.  The theme was deep without being too obtuse.  The climax got meta and opened a lot of discussion about the value of fiction, derivative works, the dangers of escapism, censorship, and even spirituality.  Definitely worth a second viewing to digest all this.

There was a mini-revue number in the end where the cast performed an umbrella dance to anachronistic Touken Ranbu music.  Then the cast descended a staircase in parade order for final bows.  It was a much-needed break from the heavy and complicated plot.  It was also a small nod to the main cast’s Takarazuka roots or hina doll staging, which is a common set design when using Heian costume.  The umbrella dance reminded me of the finale Sakura dance OSK does at the end of their performances.  Perhaps this is a proud Osaka tradition.  I haven’t seen a different Touken Ranbu show (yet) so I don’t know if this is a part of the brand.

[yuzukahibiscus]

Gōkon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi Interview Booklet (ALL)

(Photo credit: Goukon official twitter)

Today is Nanami Hiroki's birthday! For those who know her, she made her drama debut in "Goukon" with 2 other former Takarazuka OGs – Seto Kazuya and Kisaragi Ren. As a birthday present, @gaiacorn and I compiled this almost 100-page interview book!

"Goukon" is a very wonderful drama of 10 episodes that I really enjoyed watching because it was so fun and romantic and dumb and cute! It's free serotonin! And the cast, not just the OGs but the young actors – Inoue Sora, Konishi Eito and Mashiko Atsuki are also featured!

It's also the first time Gaia and I translated so much within the run of the show. We were so excited to know more about the cast, their ideas and how their chemistry became more Kyun over time! It's an elaborate product of many interviews compiled. All rights belong to them.

[alaccount]

Takarazuka OG Hiroki Nanami & Seto Kazuya

From Classy Magz Online

Ar 1. Ar2

[yugiri315]

Three Takarazuka OG in one drama!  I am intrigued.  (and some bloke from Z Generation) As you can see, it’s cute af.

Synopsis 

When you go to a mixer and find a bunch of girls looking hot in drag on the other side.

Based on the manga 「合コンに行ったら女がいなかった話」(There’s no Women in this Mixer! D:)

College kid Tokiwa finds himself invited by classmate Suou (Kai) to a 3 on 3 mixer party.  But who would have thought that lying in wait at the izakaya are 3 sparkling ikemen ladies!  And thus in this mixer of 6 begins a beautiful human relationship of...love? friendship? or...???

[sakitakarai7]

可愛すぎる💖

[ichihachiblog]

Finished watching Goukon as my first drama of 2023!

It was a chill slice of life comedy drama with slight romance. I appreciate how there is more dramas set outside of high school and they have new faces for the cast. I recently watched one of the main leads dramas, eternal yesterday. It was nice to see this campy and silly drama considering their other role was quite bittersweet and sad (Their range is excellent). There seems to be a continuation to the characters journey, its possible to have another season.

[omarandjohnny]

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

[okoyoko]

VTuber Seto Kazuya

[sirwogbog]

Ah god, this image, it's cute!

A lot of my interest in Seto Kazuya is vibe based. He's a funky little fella and among vtubers his model is one of my favorite due to how uniquely styled it is. And the fact that it's his art style is very cool. Also SrPelo's a fan of him?!, seeing how he has fanart from him which is neat. I haven't watched all to many of his streams but from what I have he seems plenty fun. I have though listened to a lot of his songs, plenty of covers and some originals too. Several of his streams have English subtitles.

His english-subtitled video playlist, this doesn't include some of his streams that are live-subtitled.

One of his original songs.

[storge]

You're talking about a manga you like, aren't you? You have to act more high and mighty, and sadistic. Don't be too kind that quickly.

Goukon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi 1.03

[berserkerbarbie]

Forever Gershwin -A Dream Conveyed In Staff Notation- by Flower Troupe 2013

[eien-no-gakusha]

Touken Ranbu:  The Contradictory Tale of Genji

Part 2/3 - Cast:

(I’m going by romanization in the program, which might differ from their Takarazuka days)

Here is the list of actors and their program introduction.  There’s more to the Genji Monogatari cast that will be elaborated on in the spoiler section.

OG = Takarazuka OG, specifically otokoyaku TR = Touken Ranbu character GM = Tale of Genji character

 Holy Takarazuka OG Batman!!  What a star-studded cast! For me at least.  I was drooling over this casting. All the named male roles were performed by otokoyaku retired from Takarazuka.  It’s good to see the craft continue outside the big revue companies.  This is in no small part thanks to Nanami Hiroki who actively continued otokoyaku work outside Takarazuka.  There are the likes of Amami Yuuki and Sagiri Sena who have performed genderbent roles in their OG career on occasion.  However, that was an exception in a true to gender cast.  This is the first big production I’ve seen with all female casting outside Takarazuka.  It worked incredibly well since the actors involved specialize in stuff like that.  Also, with Takarazuka otokoyaku garnering a reputation of portraying idealized men, it made sense that they would portray fictionally idealized men about a novel lead by the perfect romantic hero.  Overall, very impressed by the acting talent.  I did enter the lottery three times to see this cast live lol.

 Of the OGs on stage, I’m most familiar with Nanami Hiroki, Ayanagi Sho, and Seto Kazuya.  They happen to play the major characters.  The lead role is Nanami Hiroki as Kasen Kanesada closely followed by Ayanagi Sho as Okurika.  These two swords are basically foils of each other.  Kasen Kanesada is the cultured sword named after the Thirty-six Immortals of Poetry (or the 36 retainers his master killed, depending on your interpretation).  He’s the level-headed leader and refined poetry master, making him ideal for being trapped in a literary work.  Okurikara is the brash brawler sword.  He belonged to the son of Date Masamune and if son resembles father at all, that explains the thirst for battle.  Also, a lot of his design refers to a fierce Buddhist deity who removes obstacles so makes sense he tries to brute force his way out of a problem.  As these two were possessed by Genji, they had the heaviest roles having to play two characters with one having to match Seto Kazuya’s acting.  Both Kai and Ayaka did great and captured their respective characters.  I barely recognized Sho and it wasn’t just the brown-face, she did something a bit different with her makeup.  Akira is perfect for Genji.  She is a versatile actor who can handle both drama and comedy.  Here she wholeheartedly embodies the tragic hero and bitter villain (book protagonist but show antagonist, an interesting twist).  She did such a good job I didn’t even recognize her as the nameless creeper fan until I checked the program.  She played dweeby, shy nerd for that brief scene so convincingly, I thought it was a different actor.

 The rest of the touken danshi serve as fanservice and comic relief.  It’s a bunch of OGs playing Ichimonji swords, mostly relatively new collectables in the game.  All anyone needs to know are the silver color characters are Uesugi swords who are there to be the cool, silent types.  The blond boys have a bit more lines.  Aya Oka as Ichimonji Norimune, expensive old man sword, will act suave and pretty in between scenes.  Nansen Ichimonji by Shiotsuki Syu is the comic relief.  Legend is the sword split a cat in two and was then cursed by the dead cat, hence all the cat mannerisms and frustrated meowing.  So Fuku here has to act the cat and also act the young, explosive lad.  She does the most audience-insert snarky commentary and slapstick of the side characters.  She wasn’t too distracting or detracted from the story.  In fact, she was genuinely funny and earned a lot of intentional chuckles and laughs from the crowd.

 The musumeyaku, as we will call them here, I am not as familiar with as they are mostly idols and actresses from the part of Japanese pop culture I do not follow as closely.  Everyone did a good job and were absolutely beautiful in their juunihito kimono.  Now this is a Touken Ranbu show so naturally the Tale of Genji cast are secondary characters.  However, each of the Genji cast was tasked with a double role that was important in carrying the theme.  Including Akira, they each played a “real” person from the Heian era and a book character.

 Half of the musumeyaku cast are basically random court ladies that, as a group, represent friends and fans of Murasaki Shikibu.  However, they have more to do in the Tale of Genji isekai as Aoi no Ue, Utsusemi, and Suetsumuhana.  What is important to note is their brief lines in the book club flashback when they discuss their favorite characters with the Empress.  The discussion extends to the solace and inspiration they find from the text.  Ironically, they all turn into their favorite characters when sucked into the book so perhaps that is why they so easily went with the flow.  Aoi no Ue’s realworld counterpart is presumably going through a rocky marriage or having trouble conceiving so sympathizes with the character.  Utsusemi finds inspiration in her character’s strong sense of morality and self-respect.  Suetsumuhana is actually a bimbo enjoying the story?  Well, she is basically comic relief on the girl’s side.  In the book, she’s known for that little red nose and the fact that she’s broke and dull because her family fell on hard times so lacks an education.  She even gets a clown mask with a giant nose to represent her morning-after cold for a bit of levity.

 The other ladies carry are more relevant to the theme.  We learn in Act 2 that Lady Rokujo (Genji’s MILF poetry teacher turned mistress), is actually the Empress in real life.  She is having marital and thus political troubles with the Emperor and feels trapped so gravitates towards Lady Rokujo for catharsis.  After all, Lady Rokujo of book fame goes wild and outright haunts her enemies by sheer will.  In reverse, we have Lady Koshosho, Murasaki’s best friend and a humble court lady, reincarnate as the villain empress in the book.  At the center of it all, we learn that the author Murasaki Shikibu has taken the role as unobtainable true love Consort Fujitsubo.  These three women are more prominent in the real world timeline.  The Empress voicing one opinion about fiction as head of book club, Lady Koshosho being avid book promoter and introductory character who links scenes, and Murasaki being the godly author of the book.  Minamoto Maho as both Murasaki Shikibu and Consort Fujitsubo is fitting as the lofty author is as grand a figure in her fictional universe as the idolized woman Fujitsubo.  Genji has a complicated love-hate relationship with her that blurs the line between character and creator.  Not much to say about her as Fujitsubo since she just has to stand there and be pretty while Genji angsts in the foreground.  However, she really shines as the author.  Murasaki Shikibu within the play raises some interesting points regarding storytelling and fiction as we observe her life and the people impacted by her story and finding a place in history.  A lot of Japanese portrayal of women, even with women protagonists, write them rather passively.  In the case of this show, we see internal conflict and agency from Murasaki as she strives to finish her novel against criticism and backlash.  Also, I would be remiss to not discuss young Murasaki, played by a set of child actresses.  The one in my showing was very professional in her line delivery and performed well.  Of course, she was super cute.

 Even extras were noteworthy people with previous works in major franchises, some were household names by Japanese standards.  We had voice actor from a Final Fantasy mobile game, guy in BLEACH musical, and boy band member.

 Overall, all the actors brought their talent to the table so I have no complaints!