Dream Live Third

Mini-post this time, partially to make up for the 300-page post before, but also because I don't have time to write anything more than something short.

Someone asked me which Prince of Tennis (Tenimyu) Dream Live concert the Hyotei cast showed up in. While it's true they briefly appeared in the 4th concert, they were featured in the 3rd. Thankfully, someone uploaded the entire concert on Youtube; even better, it's subbed. To make things easier, I'll post them here--there's 14 in all. If it sounds like a couple of them are crying during their solos, it's because the entire Seigaku cast (except for Aiba Hiroka/Fuji) was leaving the show after 18 months in Tenimyu.

Before I post the videos, two things. First, a friend told me they couldn't find my favorite song ("Ikki Uchi") in the Imperial Match in Winter show, so here's a YouTube link to it. It features Shirota Yuu (Tezuka) and Kato Kazuki (Atobe), the two strongest singers, as their characters prepare for the "ultimate showdown" between team captains.


Second, I finally watched the Advancement Match show--it featured the cast of Rokkaku, but the Hyotei cast was there as well. Like the cast of Seigaku in Dream Live 3rd, this particular production marked the end of the entire Hyotei cast's run in Tenimyu, which gave a very sad feel to each song, but on the other hand that only made this song (called "Remember Hyotei") absolutely AMAZING. (And yes, Takuya is crying, which is why his voice is so rough):


Okay, with that out of the way, here are the subbed videos for DL3. Remember what I said about innuendo? Still, it seems like they had a lot of fun with the show, which is always more interesting to me than the actual content.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Part 6:


Part 7:


Part 8:


Part 9:


Part 10:


Part 11:


Part 12:


Part 13:


Part 14:

Mada Mada Dane

Warning: way too damn long post ahead. Sorry (truly, I am), but I couldn't break this one up in a way that made sense. Go make your phone calls now and grab a soda—this may take a while.

In my last post I mentioned discovering the work of Saitoh Takumi and Kato Kazuki. While they both have considerably extensive careers for their age (27 and 24 respectively), they co-starred in a few stage musicals based on the Prince of Tennis series from Shonen Jump. (I actually saw Saitoh in other projects first and backtracked to his work in this musical, but I'm mentioning Prince of Tennis first for reasons I'll discuss in my next post.)

Prince of Tennis, simply put, is a manga series that's been adapted into an anime, countless Drama CDs, a movie, and several live musicals/concerts. The main focus, at least originally, was on 12-year-old tennis prodigy Echizen Ryoma and his struggle to rise in the ranks of Seishun Gakuen's (Seigaku for short) prestigious tennis club. Since then, it's grown to encompass a much larger cast of characters from rival schools across Japan: Fudomine, St. Rudolph, Hyotei, Yamabuki, Rokkoku and a slew of others, all of whom regularly have tennis matches against Seigaku and each other.

The truth is I don't even LIKE Prince of Tennis in general. I'm not a fan of sports-related series, and I doubt I ever will be. I never felt the need to read the manga, and I never got past episode 3 of the anime. Even now I'm in no rush to read or watch the series. Nor am I a fan of the anime-turned-musical formula, and I've stayed far away from any musicals connected to Bleach, Naruto and Sailor Moon. (Especially Sailor Moon.)

But there's just something about the Prince of Tennis musicals (nicknamed “Tenimyu” by its fans) and the correlating Dream Live concerts that's quite compelling. It's really embarrassing just how much I've come to enjoy the Tenimyu productions I've seen. The music is actually good, the acting is believable, and the characters are three-dimensional. Seriously, it's addicting.

I came across the subbed version of “Imperial Match in Winter” featuring the characters from Seigaku and Hyotei; at first I resisted watching it, despite the fact Saitoh was in it, just on principle alone. Still, my insatiable curiosity won out and I downloaded it. Saitoh Takumi plays Hyotei's blue-haired, spectacle-wearing genius Oshitari Yuushi, while Kato Kazuki plays Hyotei's talented (and astonishingly arrogant) team captain Atobe Keigo.

My interest in the show itself comes from a few sources. First, each Tenimyu production is truly an “ensemble cast” in every sense of the word, something that's practically unheard of in America these days. Although the hero is technically Echizen Ryoma, the PoT universe is so vast it encompasses many other characters, each with their own unique personality quirks and tennis-related skill. For example, there's Inui, who systematically collects data on his opponents to use against them; Kawamura, whose entire personality suddenly changes whenever he touches a tennis racket; and Atobe, who can almost psychically detect his opponent's weakness just by placing his fingers between his eyes. Each character has a fully fleshed-out personality and background, which makes them more interesting to watch.

For this reason, there are no “filler” characters in the musical—they all have a reason for being there, and some of those reasons are explored onstage. Echizen doesn't even appear for most of the performance. Even the so-called bit parts in each production feature characters who had much larger roles in the other shows. Everyone's role in the show is equally important, truly making it a group effort. While there are ensemble casts in American musicals, rarely will they ever get the chance to stand out in such a way.

Up front, I can honestly say most of the actors weren't hired because they could sing, which seems ironic for a musical. Saitoh certainly can, but by far the most powerful singers were Kato Kazuki and Shirota Yuu (Tezuka)—which is probably why they ended up playing the two team captains and getting the most solo lines in the songs. Many of the others seem to have been cast more because of their acting skills than their voice; at first I actually wondered why Yanagi Kotaroh was cast as Echizen Ryoma since it looked like he couldn't move OR sing, but after reading this article on Wikipedia I'm simply amazed he was alive and well enough to walk, let alone perform onstage.

Still, what the actors lack in singing range, they make up for with an honest, unmitigated passion. They truly valued their roles, and you certainly see that. As someone who's observed a great number of the cookie-cutter musicals on Broadway where many actors phoned in their performances, the raw energy and enthusiasm I see coming from every member of the Tenimyu cast is quite refreshing.

For a musical based on a manga, it surprisingly builds tension at all the right moments. Not every live production is able to have that constant progression to the climax/denouement, although I guess it's easier for a sports-based show that leads to a “final showdown” than for others.

Although the school that PoT mainly focuses on is Seigaku, while I greatly admire Tezuka's steadfast determination and Fuji's unshakable composure, I must admit I'm very much a Hyotei fan at heart. The Hyotei cast had me by the second rendition of “Koori no Emporer”; I'm pretty sure that would have happened even if Saitoh didn't play Oshitari.

Not that anyone is likely to care, but I found my absolute favorite number to be “Ikki uchi”, the duet between Tezuka and Atobe towards the end of Imperial Match in Winter. I've always had a weakness for reprisals of earlier songs that manage to harmonize seamlessly with each other, especially when they're sung by two opposing characters who each have everything on the line. Other favorites include “Do Your Best”, “Data wa uso wo tsukanai yo”, “Yudan sezu ni ikou”, “Koori no Emporer”, and “Katsu no wa Hyotei”.

So why is PoT considered a staple in the BL world? Well, considering the sheer number of male characters alone, it was probably a given from the very beginning. Even though the series itself isn't geared towards BL, a cast like that would certainly invite it.

And supposedly the fans already consider two particular relationships to be canon romances: Oishi/Eiji from Seigaku and Shishido/Choutarou from Hyotei. However, as I've witnessed even in non-slashable shows like MASH, that doesn't stop fans from creating their own pairings. From the info I gleaned from Google, the most popular shippers by far seem to be Tezuka/Fuji, Ryoma/, Oshitari/Gakuto, Oshitari/Atobe, and perhaps most surprisingly, Atobe/Tezuka. (Yes, you read that right.) While the main Tenimyu productions don't entertain these ideas, the actors appear to enjoy giving the audience “fanfic fodder” at the Dream Live concerts. Innuendo flows freely, and at one concert Oshitari even apologizes to Gakuto "about yesterday", saying he meant to call. There's also the reputation Tenimyu has as a launchpad for the careers of many cast members, several of whom have gone on to do BL-related work...

There's quite a few Tenimyu productions out there if you're interested, although the only one I've seen subbed is the “Imperial Match in Winter” featuring Hyotei Gakuen (not to be confused with summertime's non-subbed “Imperial Match” with the same cast.) At the very least, try watching that production along with the subbed Dream Live Third concert to get a good idea of what it's all about. Even if you end up hating anything related to Tenimyu, it's good exposure into the world of Japanese live acting.

The following are links to the subbed Imperial Match in Winter. Note: I DID NOT UPLOAD THESE VIDEOS--they came from a LiveJournal website found here. He has a number of other PoT-related videos as well, along with several other Japanese dramas and anime.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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A Drama By Any Other Name

I'm not exactly sure how I made the jump from listening to seiyuus in various anime to Japanese dramas (or, as some rather frightening otakus try to insist, “do-rama”...probably the same folks who missed the joke and still insist Hellsing's “Alucard” is misspelled.) The closest tie I can find lies with my attempts at finding a few seiyuus in live-action work. As it turns out, while many of them dub certain English movies that come to Japan, the vast majority stay within the realm of animation.

Oddly enough this makes sense, considering they're completely separate fields of work despite being in the same industry. Even here in America, I can't think of any actors who have managed to maintain a career in both fields at the same time; they usually give one up in favor of the other, or are primarily in one field with occasional work in the other.

At any rate, my venture into the world of Japanese live-action projects led me to a few names in the acting field, and one particularly interesting find: Saitoh Takumi.

Now, let me preface the following by saying that anyone who knows me is well aware how rare it is for anyone to catch my eye. When my friends had magazine photos of the latest “hot actors” on their walls, I had prints of fractals and photoshopped fantasy landscapes. I can be greatly impressed by someone's work, or admire their outlook on life or their humanitarianism, but I don't think I've ever really stopped dead to watch someone since I was about 14.

*ahem* That being said...

Oh. My. God. Saitoh Takumi. I would gladly pay any amount of money to watch him in ANYTHING. (I'm not kidding. Even just reading the phone book onstage. In Japanese. I don't care.) I'm quite proud to say I've never “squee”d once in my life, not even as a teenager, but this is probably the closest I've come to it. He's only two months younger than me, too. (Does this mean I have a thing for younger men? Heh.)

How did I find out about him? Well, the most accurate answer would be to say my friends are perverts (and you know who you are) who were more than happy to point me in the direction of live dramas when I told them what I was doing. They were curious as well to know if any seiyuus had roles in live projects; however, the only references they had on hand were BL dramas.

This means that, yes, Saitoh has been involved in a number of live-action BL movies along with his other “regular” work. Not pornography, mind you—apparently a line is drawn when the actors are actually seen as well as heard, for which I'm eternally grateful. These movies seem to follow the same rules as the games and Drama CDs as far as plot is concerned: they all focus on emotional turmoil over action/adventure (I have yet to see anything catch fire, get riddled with bullets or blow up on the set) and more than one of them have an ending so far from “happy” that driving shards of glass through your arm would actually lighten your mood.

As far as acting ability goes, coming in a close second to Saitoh Takumi is Kato Kazuki. I would explain where I saw him first (and since), but that would completely ruin the semi-chronological order I'm trying to maintain in my posts, so I'll leave that for another time.

Consequently, the fact I'm watching/listening to more Japanese media than American these days has convinced me of the need to actually learn the language—both speaking and writing. Not everything I've seen is subbed, and many of the subtitles I've seen lie somewhere between “awkward” and “completely different from what's being said”. So, in a shockingly rare moment in my life, I'm actually serious about something. God knows I have nothing but time on my hands these days; I might as well use it constructively. To that end:

Nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimas. Demo, mada jozu ja arimasen.

Exactly what projects have I seen Saitoh Takumi in, and what does he have in common with Kato Kazuki? That's in my next update.

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Hearing Voices

As mentioned in my previous post, I became curious as to why so many obviously talented Japanese seiyuus would lend their voices to eroge games aimed at women. Considering there's no similar counterpart in America (adult products are completely separated from the rest of the entertainment industry) and the fact that more than one actor's career has been destroyed when their involvement in the adult industry is revealed, I wondered why voice actors in Japan would participate in BL projects without fear of their identity being discovered.

Well, as I've come to learn, seiyuus involved in anything related to the BL genre are treated like nothing short of rock stars. No, I'm not kidding. Just do a search for “Live Pastel Collection” if you don't believe me. This probably explains why so many of them get involved without worrying about their reputation; if anything, it seems to boost their career in other areas.

There's a relatively small group of “regulars” from what I can tell, with the same names showing up again and again. I've actually come to be impressed by a number of them, the most talented in my opinion being seiyuu veteran Yusa Kouji. His resume is longer than the Amazon River, with a career that covers a great deal of projects; he's most famous for voicing Ichimaru Gin from Bleach, but that's far from his only mainstream anime.

I first heard him (perhaps unfortunately) as Midou Takanori in Kichiku Megane and took an interest in the actor behind the voice. This is rather ironic, considering I found Midou's path with Megane-mode Katsuya disturbing at best (outright horrifying at worst). Mini rant and a major spoiler ahead; highlight to read:

I take serious issue against any plot where one character drives another to the brink of catatonia/catalepsy yet you can still get a “happy” end (which, I may add, is only achieved because Midou shows up a year later and can't remember a damn thing during the time Katsuya abused him.) Right, so Katsuya finally realizes at the last second he pushed too far—so what? The player already notices about halfway through Midou's route that he's losing it. Katsuya's way too slow in the realization department.

/digression

At any rate, I first noticed the unique quality to Yusa's voice, and thanks to him I developed a deeper interest in Japanese voice acting as well as the English dubs. I explored the careers of other seiyuus, and wasn't surprised to discover a great number of them have crossed into both mainstream and BL projects: Yasumoto Hiroki, who voiced Honda Kenji in Kichiku Megane, is another Bleach alum and has gone on to voice the hunter Tooga Yagari in Vampire Knight. Even Hirakawa Daisuke, the voice behind KM's protagonist, has an extensive list of mainstream anime to his name. Other voice actors who have participated in both “regular” and BL projects are Fukuyama Jun, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Toriumi Kousuke, and Midorikawa Hikaru, just to name a few.

When researching the different voice artists I came to realize that one of the most popular products in the BL world seems to be the “drama CD”. Similar to the old radio dramas, they usually involve a plot device of sorts, and many of them have a “free talk” session at the end where the actors get together and discuss pretty much anything. Some are safe to play in public, others not so much, but I find it interesting that Japan has managed to keep the art of radio drama alive in the digital age.

From what I can tell, the vast majority of these men are straight, and many of them are married. They all seem to take a light-hearted attitude about the BL genre, which you would pretty much have to if you planned on working in such an industry for any length of time.

Given the extensive resumes of many seiyuus I researched, I wondered if any of them had also worked in any live acting series. Along the way, I discovered a few interesting things about the acting scene in Japan, and learned just how far-reaching the BL genre is.

...but that's a post for next time.
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You've Done WHAT With Your Time?

So it's been two months. I'm not in Irvine yet, but it's only a matter of time before I end up there or directly in L.A. Does that mean I've entirely stopped my plans to try out the VA field? Hell no. In fact, while I'm stuck in limbo, I'm taking the advice of my former college advisor (who's done VA work herself) and trying to lay out what my demo reel will sound like. She was a great help and did her best to tell me more about the field, even though she got a parking ticket from speaking with me for so long (I'm really, really sorry about that, by the way—if I'd known, I would have run up the street myself to put money in the meter.)

I don't feel like getting into where I've been these past two months, because it doesn't really matter. But I have been exploring a few things as I get my future together. Forgive the seemingly random order of my posts over the next several days, but if I don't break things up it's going to be one unbearably long post instead, and even I can't stand to hear myself ramble that much. At any rate, expect a few separate (yet loosely related) subjects to follow in the coming days when I have the time.

To start off, I'll discuss the springboard for much of my recent research. In a word or two, playing the intriguing yet (very) traumatic Kichiku Megane got me thinking about a few things. I was curious as to who exactly would lend their voice to such a game, if it was normal or even expected of male seiyuus to do so, and why they didn't bother hiding their participation in these projects like the actors in regular eroge games do. (I did indeed uncover answers to these questions, but I don't have room to discuss them in this post.) The results of my research have proven surprising, all the way down to the very basis of the BL universe.

In short, while the “Boy's Love” genre is a relatively new phenomenon here in America, it's actually a runaway success in Japan. It's aimed at women, oddly enough, and there's a definite distinction between BL products and products aimed at the gay male demographic. Generally, BL characters are prime examples of bishonen (“pretty” males, often effeminate) while characters aimed at gay men are more muscular, emphasizing the masculinity. Plotlines found in the BL world are also usually far more intricate and emotionally involving...often to a gutwrenching and/or tragic degree. You're not always guaranteed a happy ending; in fact, many times it's the exact opposite.

Conversely, I also wonder about products aimed at straight men involving relationships between women (AKA “yuri”.) They don't seem to be nearly as popular as the BL genre, and from what I've been told the plots certainly don't have the same kind of emotional depth and impact found in BL products. But would they really be more popular if they did?

So this leads me to believe that the perceived attraction to the BL universe is supposed to lie in the generally accepted idea that women appreciate beauty and strong emotion. My only guess as to why the result of that perception would manifest in the form of homosexual relationships is that it's something “new” for women, watching men take a role traditionally assigned to female characters in a romance story. Since it's not actually a woman being depicted, the usual socially accepted boundaries (such as the pursuer being too physically aggressive) are negated.

Or it could be something else entirely. Someone suggested that watching an otherwise “regular” human drama with an all-male cast attracts women because they don't feel any competition, nor any pressure to identify with the female character. Who knows? Judging from the rapidly increasing number of teen and college-age BL fans, I'm sure someone will write a great psychology paper on it someday.

As this post is getting too long already, I'll end it here. Next up should be my thoughts on the seiyuus who lend their voices to the BL genre, and how my interest in the rather expansive career of one particular voice actor indirectly drew my attention to the live acting scene in Japan.

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