02.03 BUNGOU STRAY DOGS what better way to start one of my japanese theater pilgrimages than by going to see my #1 boy, hideya (7th tezuka), less than 24 hours after landing in japan? i also had the chance to see teruma (6th inui) & kuwano (2nd shishido).

what most impressed me about this production was the choice casting. people i usually am iffy on were given very fitting roles that they rocked in, and of course, hideya was able to shine as the very popular & multidimensional character that is dazai. i was really happy to hear so many audience members gush about how good he was during the intermission! i think it’s one of the greatest compliments for an actor when fans of the original work & characters enjoy their portrayal.

i also enjoyed all the effort & wit put into the staging, the supernatural aspect of the franchise put into motion in such smart & artistic ways. also hideya is fantastic, gorgeous, versatile, charismatic, perfect.

when i got home, i found out that ryosei (8th inui) had went to see the show at the same time as i did...

02.11 OOFURI ️ oofuri was such a lighthearted & fun stage play, which really carried the energy of the source material. fantastic casting decisions were made here, i had a lot of fun both discovering actors i knew less and also seeing actors i’ve known for a while in person for the first time!!

i was mostly inclined to see the show because mashu (7th momo) & junpei (2nd marui) were in it!!!! i love them so much and was really happy to see them perform. they have very sparkly eyes and mashu is just such a delight to watch.

ps. ino hiroki is ridiculously handsome

02.12 SPI’S FANMEETING this was my first time going to an event without any tennis motivations, but spi is just such an amazing guy who’s always been very welcoming and inclusive towards his foreign fans, so i thought i’d honor that by attending his fanmeeting. well, of course, i also think of him as an amazingly interesting person and a fantastic performer!!

he had an entire talk section dedicated to sharing toumyu gossip, which i loved. he notably mentionned how arayan (2nd inui) is The Greatest Senpai Ever, that mario (7th eiji) has hilarious over-dramatic reactions of relief and keeps complaining about how tired he is when they’re finally done training, and that imari yu has this tendency to wrap his arm around whoever is sitting next to him...

otherwise, it was mostly spi showing off his wonderful voice with a variety of english songs. including a one direction song. help. he made a few jokes about english stuff, like how funny he thought the lyrics in real love story (tonbokiri’s solo) were, and each time he would look into my direction in a moment of north american bonding... i felt like i couldn’t unleash my full fanboy self bcuz we had an unexplainable bro bond now

after the event itself, much like for tenimyu, we had to wait our block’s turn to get out of our seats for miokuri. while waiting for my turn, an older lady came up to me and started talking to me in english, asking me where i was from, if i liked tourabu, if i’d go see take me out, saying her friend & her saw me earlier and thought i was cute, thanking me for coming, etc. now, i’m not going to assume anything, but spi did make a joke at the start of the event asking if there were mothers in the room (said lady cheered), and i also know for a fact that spi’s mother is an english teacher... hmmm...

afterwards, i got to meet spi! he handed each of us a rose since it was valentine’s day, which i thought was absolutely adorable  i was getting ready to ask 英語でいいですか？ before saying anything in english, just in case, but he was the one who super excitedly started talking to me in english, asking me where i was from & all!! we talked for a surprisingly long while considering it was just a miokuri! i was really happy... i also went WOW YOU’RE SO TALL I’M SURPRISED bcuz i’m never prepared for anyone that isn’t an inui to tower over me

02.16 MONONOFU  i went into this show excited to see so many of my favorites gorgeous boys, notably tsune (2nd atobe), kubohide (2nd niou), arayan (2nd inui), kent (3rd shinji) & sugie (2nd yuuji). since i didn’t particularly enjoy or understand the previous titles of this franchise which i had seen on DVD, my expectations for anything other than eye candy were fairly low. i ended up pleasantly surprised, as a fan of japanese history & the bakumatsu era in particular! this segment of the story covered the shinsengumi’s fall, with kondo isami’s execution & okita soji’s death at the hands of illness. i actually ended up crying along with everyone else in the theater, the actors’ performance & dramatic staging allowing a really emotional, honest & down-to-earth portrayal of a story we all love so much.

and of course, tsune was incredibly hot and kubohide really does look like that and arayan is so cool and kent is ridiculously handsome and sugie is a charismatic angel. but everyone was really fantastic! i knew ryosuke from kamen rider ghost, but his portrayal of okita really touched me. i also thought it was super cool how katsura’s actor was a legit kabuki actor! so impressive to watch!

02.17 NOSTALGIC WONDERLAND oh this show. THIS!! SHOW!! you guys!! this was undoubtedly one of my favorite things i’ve ever seen on a japanese stage!! okay, i might be a little biased because i’m a really big fan & collector of all things 60s~90s, but really!! this was just a bundle of joy, nothing but singing & dancing & casual talk segments between the actors.

the story here is actually pretty funny. i initially didn’t get a ticket for this, thinking “okay this would be fun but i already saw miura (3rd atobe), ikumin (3rd oshitari) & masa (1st niou) in person and i’m not supposed to spend money on anyone other than seigaku anyways”. then my love for miura amplified tenfolds. then my friend was like hey i have an extra ticket. then i was like i shouldn’t. then i watched shinken ranbu sai. then my love for miura amplified even further. then i was like okay please. i need that ticket. then my friend is like okay sure here is a pic of your ticket btw! and i see. the words. “Guest: Yata Yusuke”. written on the ticket. i have never been so happy to have ever decided to go see a show.

so, yes. i had the chance to watch yata (7th fuji) perform in person. he sang Open Arms by Journey, which was an absolute delight. a song i love and a voice i adore. i actually found myself crying while listening to his singing. listen... y’all know how much i love 7th cast. this meant a lot.

during the talk segment, miura was extremely excited to introduce yata, and is so jumpy, happy & clingy near him! it’s adorable! these two have been senpai & kouhai before miura’s days in tenimyu and continue to work together to this day. yata, in classic 7th fashion, was incredibly entertaining & hilarious in all of his crude honesty and lack of fucks. notably just saying “i don’t know these guys” about everyone who wasn’t miura, ikumin, masa & utsumi (2nd saeki), being absolutely exasperated and lacking in any efforts when asked to do cute fanservice, and also getting upset at masa for talking so much instead of letting him sing his solo. beautiful.

but my favorite moment was when miura exposed ikumin as a being a huge fan of yata! saying he always sings yata’s tenimyu songs when they karaoke! ikumin was incredibly flustered, but he confirmed this and straight up said “yata’s fuji is the best”. he then proceeded to kneel on the floor and reinterpret yata’s boku wa kawaru from VS shitenhoji for at least half a minute. i was howling with laughter, i can’t believe this was even allowed to happen?? where is the tennis police?? (too scared of miura and a 7th, probably.)

back to the actual show! they performed a wonderful variety of our songs, from The Karpenters to Blondie to Elvis and the Backstreet Boys as the great finale. absolutely incredible content. we all know the range of singing and/or dancing talent from our tenimyu boys, but the other actors were also really incredible singers, one is a trained ballet dancer as well, and another could play a wind instrument! sheer talent all around. miura & the other dancer, rui, had a contemporary dance number together, a very sensual one at that!!

there was also a lot of fanservice & audience interaction! and of course, i wound up with an alley seat. let’s start smoothly. i got a wink from masa when he stopped at our row during the final number!! and a big smile from ikumin during his solo!!