[This review may contain spoilers]
Butai Touken Ranbu –Kyoden Moyoru Honnouji- is the first stage play in the Touken Ranbu franchise. The stage play ran from May 3 ~ 13, 2016 in Tokyo and May 17 ~ 20, 2016 in Osaka. The stage play is centered on the Honnouji event in 1582 where Oda Nobunaga met his demise.
The stage play is centered on the relationship of the swords who once belonged to Oda Nobunaga, namely: Souza Samonji, Heshikiri Hasebe, Yagen Toushirou and the newly manifested sword: Fudou Yukimitsu. Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, the newly appointed captain of the first unit and the Citadel’s secretary must rally the other swords together as they are sent to 1582, the event of Oda Nobunaga’s demise.
The stage play begins with a battle between Mori Ranmaru and Akechi Mitsuhide, Oda Nobunaga’s attendant and General, respectively. Mitsuhide asks Ranmaru the question: Who is Oda Nobunaga to you? Which becomes a recurring theme for the play as it progresses. The swords are then introduced before performing their opening theme titled: Kachidoki no Uta.
All seems to take a turn for the worst when their saniwa (sage) orders his first and second unit to take the field, to Honnouji 1582, where Oda Nobunaga breath his last. The Nobunaga swords start out as torn, especially Souza Samonji as he is yet to find out who Oda Nobunaga is for him; Fudou Yukimitsu on the other hand would stop at nothing to protect his beloved master, even to the extent of changing the course of history.
As the swords battle in Honnouji, Fudou finds Ranmaru (who is then possessed by the History Retrograde Army) and tells him that they would protect Nobunaga together, but Ranmaru attacks him and nearly kills him. But Souza was quick to take action against it, killing Ranmaru. Before his death, Ranmaru answers the question: Who is Oda Nobunaga to you? By saying that he is his lord and he loved Oda Nobunaga as a person.
Souza would then be the one to make sure that Oda Nobunaga’s life ends in that incident, with the other swords by his side – he goes through the temple to find Mitsuhide and makes sure that he does as history says and ends Nobunaga’s life. Fudou, on the other hand, still overcome with sadness, tries to kill Mitsuhide.
In a dramatic climax, Fudou accepts that Nobunaga must die in Honnouji Temple. Oda Nobunaga reveals himself to them and takes his own life. The History Retrograde Army reveals themselves in an attempt to eradicate Mitsuhide because they failed to change history by preserving Nobunaga’s life.
The battle culminates with the crumbling of Honnouji Temple and Mitsuhide’s confession as to why he led the rebellion against Nobunaga: He just wanted to be needed by him. Fudou then tells Mitsuhide to live his own history as Nobunaga lived his.
Yamanbagiri Kunihiro then addresses their saniwa and reports the happenings of the Honnouji incident – telling him that all has gone according to the flow of history and nothing has changed.
The stage play culminates with the swords coming to the stage once more and performs their ending theme “Shin’ei no Honoo”.
Like its musical counterpart, Butai Touken Ranbu is definitely more on the dramatic side of the franchise. It shows the struggle of the swords with their past lives as well as their present as seen in Fudou Yukimitsu and Yamanbagiri Kunihiro. Both have past lives that affected their lives as humans.
It’s definitely a good watch.
The stage play was able to incorporate their set with projections, hence, they only had a few set pieces. The choreography was also exemplary – especially the fight choreography. It’s apparent that they really focused and worked hard on their choreography which paid off because everything looked perfect.
The acting was also amazing. I was moved to tears in the scene where Fudou cries about his want to protect Oda Nobunaga and when Souza was forced to kill Ranmaru. Words cannot describe how moving these scenes were and how much manly tears I cried when they happened.
The stage play also incorporated a bit of comedy along with the drama and was able to strategically place them in between the all the drama and I think it was a really good touch to the stage play.
Over-all, the stage play is amazing. I would definitely recommend this if you are into the Touken Ranbu franchise or into 2.5D because admittedly, it’s one of the best and one of the popular stage plays as of now and you will not regret watching it.
CAST:
Mikazuki Munechika: Suzuki Hiroki
Yamanbagiri Kunihiro: Aramaki Yoshihiko
Souza Samonji: Sasaki Yoshihide
Kousetsu Samonji: Teruma
Sayo Samonji: Naya Takeru
Yagen Toushirou: Kitamura Ryou
Heshikiri Hasebe: Wada Masanari
Fudou Yukimitsu: Shiina Taizo
Ichigo Hitofuri: Hirose Daisuke
Namazuo Toushirou: Sugie Taishi
Shokudaikiri Mitsutada: Higashi Keisuke
Tsurumaru Kuninaga: Someya Toshiyuki
Mori Ranmaru: Marume Kiyohito
Akechi Mitsuhide: Kubodera Akira
Lizzie Dust
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