#assh

There's two running plot lines in this story; the past and the present. The past is centered around Byaki's story and what happened with him and then the future story is people learning about the Byaki's past. The future group is the Mysterious Woman, Blind Man and the Young Boy for the most part. Then everyone else is pretty much the past. I think there's about 15 years or so between the two time lines.

What I love about ASSH are their twists and the brutality in their stages. Actually I was super surprised that most people survived in this one because every ASSH I've seen so far, about 80% of the cast die xD so people suriving was that in itself a twist and a surprise! The other big surprise is with the future group.

So it turns out - By the way MAJOR spoilers coming up so ingore until 「*」 if you don't want to know the big reveals:

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Shounen = Byaki's son Blind Man = Old Gedomaru Mysterious Woman = Tamayorihime

I am not doing it justice but when this fucking comes out, I was so freaking shocked and surprised! I was like 'WWWWWAAAHHH?!?! NO WAY!!!' I realise I've spoilt it for you but are you going to watch this dvd? Probably not, so I might as well tell you ALL and give you ALL my feels, okay?

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Now let's work from the big scale and work in. FIRST, I really loved the set! I've been to this theatre before and it's super small. There's like 40 seats and a tiny ass stage but I was super impressed at how BIG they managed to make the set look! There were stairs and proper background and foreground sets and it looked super cool! But I felt kind of sorry for the front row people because there was literally no gap between them and the stage/cast so it's kind of a godsend no audience member got hurt to be honest...

Then we had the action scenes which were so well choreographed! AND!! I didn’t know until afterwards that Oguri Ryo did the entirity of the sword fighting choreography  himself which is absolutely amazing! Huge kudos to him! He has a lot to direct and a lot of action scenes to deal with but I felt like everyone had their own style and the techniques were so great! I feel like Oguri is at his most confortable and most confident when he's doing sword fighting scenes. You can just feel that kind of sense from him when he's fighting. It's difficult to explain but he feels different when he's doing the sword scenes.

The story was great, like I said earlier, so many twists and surprising things happened! Also, they left enough questions unanswered that if they wanted to do a second installment then they could! I really want a second installment, especially for the one big question that I have, (again major spoilers):

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Who is hell is Shounen's mother?!

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Now I want to go character/actor-by-character/actor.

Oguri Ryo as Byakoumaru / Byaki

I love Oguri. I really do. He's such a good actor and he picks so amazing characters! I've enjoyed every character and performance he's ever done! Also his actual personality is always so different to his characters which just proves how great of an actor he is. I really enjoyed Byaki in this for several reasons. I love how, regardless of the fact he's being called a monster and a god, he just embraces it and pronounces himself as this thing, but that is due to the fact he has no recollection of who he is which I'm pretty sure is due to some magician meddling with his memories (more on him later).

I really liked how lost and quiet his character was. But I also love how he blamed how he looked as to why he was being treated in such a way << I realise how this sounds but you get what I mean right?! I enjoy the character, NOT the act of mistreating another human. This story, I believe, is set in an old Japan, maybe like 16th, 17th Century, maybe even later so it makes sense that people who had never seen an Albino before (which I believe is what Byaki is supposed to be or at least, represents) would treat him either like a monster or like a god.

I really liked Oguri's visual look too! He's a pale man to begin with but the added white paint made him even more pale. He also had this beautiful red eyeliner and eye makeup on which, along with red contacts, just made his expressions and face pop-out even more and looked super amazing! It was a really good look for him (actually he's somewhat redoing this look for his NEXT stage --- which I also really want to see but I shall restrain...)

His story towards the end of the play was left open enough that he could come back in a second installment too.

Seto Keita as Gedomaru

I loved this character! He was such a likeable character. He was loyal to his friend, he was a badass fighter and he has stupidly funny moments too. Especially with Sakura. He fell totally in love with her straight away and was an absolutely adorable idiot around her. But he is also self-sacrificing which was so sweet. He rejected Sakura and made her go far away so she wouldn't get caught up in the fighting and so she could live a happy and safe life even if it was without him. Which I think is totally sweet!

He also never left Byaki's side and was his pal from childhood, all the way to the end, I loved his relationship with Byaki and those two would do anything for each other! His look visually was really nice too! His visual, his comedy balance, his loyalty to Byaki, I just super loved this character!!

Hiroya as Tsuchimigado Gentoku

Here's the crazy guy!! I should've expected Hiroya to play the morally wrong, crayz guy! He is so great in these roles and he did great in this one too! His has some sort of power where he can take control of people and get them to do his bidding, which he does with the ensemble cast, he controls them and makes them attack the good guys; he also has control of Byaki for a while when Byaki is really lost in himself and weak; and THEN we get this moment where he takes control of this super powerful sword, it even has a name which is epic because we ALL know how I feel about naming swords ♡　(psst. if you didn't know, I am a Touken Ranbu lover which personifies swords and many swords in Japan have names and just... flail...) but unfortunately I've forgotten it *cries*. It was amazing seeing how the sword had a mind of it's own and you could see Hiroya struggling to control the sword and trying to get the sword to do it's bidding.

Also before the show, he kindly spoke to me and my friend and he was spekaing some English to us which was totally sweet. I've always known Hiroya to be a nice guy so it was great to took some of his time out to talk to us. Also when he realised we knew Japanese he was like 'we use old Japanese in this-- WILL YOU BE OKAY?! Will you understand?!' which is so nice of him.

Natsume Aimi as Tamayorihime

She was such a sweet girl but had such a SHITTY husband! She was beat and bruised and hurt so much by him. It was the standard DV case for this couple. She just had such a sad life and it doesn't get much better for her for quite a long time.

Without spoiling too much, thank god she has a happy ending but oh my lord did I cry a few times with what happened to her!

We had the standard, 'husband beats wife but then produsely apologises right after' scene which hurt my heart. And then something precious is taken away from her and she's thrown away which I was just balling in tears at. And then when she finally gets a happy end, I was just cry from pure happiness for her. After ALL the shit she went through, she deserved an ending like that. And just like everyone else, her end of the story is left open just enough that, if she wants to come back for part two, she can.

Akaba Mio as Umarokya and Hanaoka Meika as Dabi

Uma and his underling, Dabi, were absolutely hilarious together! They were such a great pair! His character is a damn good archer and he has powers to shoot multiple arrows at once and he can rain arrows upon people which is so cool and then while he always scolds his underling, he also has this stupid soft spot for her. Dabi was so freaking funny!! I'm pretty sure she was in charge of a lot of the adlibbing and some things she said were just nonsensical and ridiculous and even Mio couldn't hold it together sometimes, he would just crack into smiles and try so hard to hold his laughter back. There were also times where her adlibs were so fast, she'd mess up and then she'd make fun of the fact she obviously messed up which made everyone crack up even more. She had so much energy and was so high-pitched, she was so amusing and funny! I really loved their dynamic and I also love just how loyal she was to Uma even though she was crazy and she was very obviously in love with him -- she definitely acted like a fangirl around him at times with all the 'kyaaaa' screaming and cheering him on during battles. But it was cute when she ended up getting injured and he was there to help her and protect her so he obviously cared for her too! It was a great and enjoyable duo!

Kadono Sho as Hoemaru and Mochida Chihira as Izumi

Izumi and Hoemaru were part of Gedomaru's gang. It felt like they'd all been with each other for quite a while and were a tight-knot group. I unforutnately don't remember too much about Hoemaru except that the actor, Sho, had the best muscles and looked DAMN attractive! I really liked his physical and visual look xD but I remember quite a bit about Izumi; she was a very quite girl, almost ninja like in how quiet she is and she sneaks around a lot. But I also felt for her because it was obvious she was in love with Gedomaru but, I guess due to comradary or due to him liking Sakura, Gedomaru never really paid attention to her feelings. But everyone else around could tell and there's a scene towards the end where Okiku refuses to join their group because she sees how Izumi feels about Gedomaru and doesn't want to ruin it, so Okiku is like 'you should stay by his side. She'll always be there for you' so the two go off together. A part of me thinks, maybe he feels the exact same way back to an extent but, like I said, if they get involved and one of them ends up getting killed or something, the hurt would only increase and be a lot worse, so maybe they both mutually and unspokenly agreed to never get involved just so they can save each other a way of emotions? OR I am simply being WAY TOO DEEP about this!

^^^ Do you not see?! In less than 2 hours ASSH managed to produce a play that had THIS much context and THIS much meaning and THIS much thought in it?! This is why I love ASSH, their characters are so damn LAYERED and you can get so MUCH out of them and the story even when you only see it once and only in like 2 hours. Ahh ASSH. 

Seriously, check them out. Just go and love them okay! They're two amazing production companies and they have given me MORE satisfactory stages than any MARV or Nelke or any of those 'big shots' in the 2.5 stage world have.

ANYWAY...

Takahashi Makoto as Nazo no Onna (Mysterious Woman)

Her reveal was so mindblowing. I loved it! Also, she has a limp and throughout the story we learn what happened to her and what caused her injured leg and just my poor heart. She was such a lovely woman though and I'm glad her ending was happy. OH! And the actress herself is super badass, she played the shamisen LIVE on stage and it was so good! I was so impressed!

Ichijo Ryunosuke as Nagayama Kakun

This guy is supposed to be a bad guy but... he's handsome and he looks cool so I was very soft towards him. He does treat Sakura like crap and he is mean to her and he does turn on her, (or she turns on him) and he IS a bad guy but I just reallt enjoyed him visually and the actor himself did a really good job with the evil moments! Seeing his switch between being this nice guy and being evil was just great acting. It was so juicy and so good!

Minami Chisato as Sakura

She was Kakun's wife (or to be wife) and she up until about half way through believed in her husband and they looked like a great pairing but then obviously soon she starts to realise that he's not all that good and after being introduced to Gedomaru, she starts falling for him and seeing how great of a genuine guy he is, even though at first she pretended to like him in order to manipulate him and because it was very obvious he liked her. But she genuinely falls for him after discovering the malicious plan her husband has with Satsune, and she just sees how much of a great guy he actually is. And it is quite sad how, even after she falls for him and begs to stay by Gedomaru's side, Gedomaru is just TOO kind and tells her to escape and get away so she can be safe and have a happy life and not be held back by him or by Kakun.

She is my girl crush in this stage... so beautiful!!

Araki Miyu as Wakasano Okiku

I don't quite remember HOW she ended up join Gedomaru and crew but she was a great addition to them. She was totally cute and like Dabi, a bit silly and ridiculous but the actress herself is very flexible and she obviously has some sort of dancing under her belt because she did a lot of beautiful movements and lots of high perfect kicks and legs and stuff. She too fell for Gedomaru but seeing just how much Izumi likes him, she gives up which is just... my heart ♡

Sugamoto Ikumi as Blind Man

He is a tricky and sneaky little guy, BUT with good intentions so don't get too suspicious of him! His reveal, just like the Mysterious Woman, was just like 'OHHHH MYYY GOOODDD' but also made sense. I really loved his relationship with Shounen -- but later on it makes sense why they get on so well and why they are a pair. I enjoyed the actor and his acting. In fact I knew he looked familiar and I've already seen him in Marker Light Blue (his character is GREAT in that) and Onigiri so I had that familiarity with him and his character in this is GREAT.

Maruyama Raiden as Henmima Satsune

This piece of shit. He was a great bad guy. Not only was he just a bad guy but he was a real piece of shit. He constantly beat his wife, he beat his wife's maid, and then had the audacity to apologise every time after wards?! He was so controlling and would get angry at Tama for everything! He was bat shit crazy and seeing him meet his demise was so satisfactory. Kudos to the actor for being such a SHIT. I wanted him dead so badly! The way he treated his wife and what he did to her, not just the beatings by the way(!), was just dispicable. Espeically the way he dies is so good but also hits you in the feels because of WHO kills him.

Also, I love how it's not simply just one bad guy in all this. We have Satsune who's the messed up King, then we have Kakun who's only motive is for control and power, and then we have Horiya's character who just wants to control others literally and how the world's strongest weapons etc. While they aren't technically all working together, it's great how we have all these shits for different purposes and meanings. It's great!

Umehara Saeri as Iroha

She was Tama's maid and she was so protective and loving towards Tama. She tried so hard to make sure it was her being hit by the King/husband rather than Tama herself and she spouted so many reasons just to please so Tama wouldn't get attacked etc. Her final scene in this was just so touching and, again, loyalty is a BIG thing in this play and you can see it in her actions for Tama ♡

Tanaka Hiroki as Young Boy

Ahhhhh my boy!!! First a compulsory picspam!!!

He was great!! As usual I fall into my normal complaint of 'he didn't get enough stage time!!!' but we all know that's me being biased xD Besides that, he was GREAT! I really loved his character. His reveal as to who his character actually was is great! I was so happy when it came out who he was!! Also his part of the story is very calm as he's just walking through the forest and stuff listening to the Mysterious Girls' story but they also 'stand' in the scenes while they're happening so that's great. He does get a moment or two to fight and show off his fighting techniques and he also had like a cartwheel here and there which made me very happy. Visually he looked great too! And totally makes sense why he looked like that (trying not to spoil too much here) xD and at the end we are still left with this HUGE question mark about him (mentioned above already) so I am hoping they're do a part two and that becomes a main part or is at least answered. I definitely want to know more about his character and his past and what he's been through and his connections. I loved his relationship with the blind man too and I'd love to see how that friendship came to be too!!

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And that's all! I don't think I have anything else to add except, GIVE ME A SECOND STAGE!!!

But as always, finishing off with the

GOODS

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