spsn | Takizawa Kabuki 22.08.2015 (Reply)

To be honest, I actually hesitated to book ticket for Takizawa Kabuki Singapore show because the Japan cast included Kitayama and Yabu, both whom I'm not fond of, plus no 4U. But I thought since it's my birthday, why not splurge and this is the first Johnny's butai show in here. My excitement started to build up when they announce Kawai to replace Yabu for SG show (blessed 24Hr TV) and after I watched Shokura's segment of Serenade. That's the first time I really pay attention to SNOWMAN. So, with this in mind I went to the 22nd Aug show.

I reached at the venue quite early because MBS is huge and confusing and I slightly freaked out when I saw FB update on the goods queue. Thankfully, almost no queue when I reached there and there're still some pamphlet left. Non fans must be confuse on how can pamphlets sold out so fast to the point that organizer must limit to 1 per person. Well, it's Johnny's, if you don't put enough stock, this is what happened, and you'd never know how much is enough stock. Then I did people watching. There're so many Japanese fans that I didn't feel we're in MBS at all.

The loot of Johnny's rarity... English the keyword here.

The show was about 10minutes late and everybody on my row had their binoculars ready. There was 1 lady took out a notebook... how she could write in the dark and enjoy the show at the same time is beyond me.

Though I have watched quite a number of Johnny's butai DVD, mostly Playzone though, it didn't prepare me for watching Johnny's butai live. When watching Johnny's concert live is like watching a dream, watching Johnny's butai live is like experiencing the magical dream. Each segment went so fast that you didn't have a chance to think and analyze (probably this is why people go more than once). I can see straight away the charm and the sparkling world of Johnny's and how it can be addicting. When you watch the dancing on DVD, you see what the cameraman set you to see, but see it live, you come to appreciate how precise and accurate each movement is and when it's dance formation, it's so synchronize, plus you get to see the whole stage, not close up. This is when I started to appreciate SNOWMAN. They really are Johnny's elite dancers and formidable dance troupe. Their movements are sharp, swift, efficient and very very light. No wonder they have tons of fans.

While Takizawa Kabuki main star is, off course, Tackey himself, except from the kabuki part, which was amazing (I'm no kabuki expert), and for his solo part, I have the tendency to drift my eyes to Kawai instead, especially when he sings and dances. Together in ABC-Z, Kawai blends in with the rest of the members and not particularly stand out, especially if you have an energy ball like Tsuka-chan in the group. But alone? My heart skipped seeing his performance live. The only description I can only come out with is he was born for butai and he puts his life on stake when he performs and it shows! He basically shines, especially if you use binoculars to zoom in for his expressions. Fortunately, the show is to be seen from afar and Kawai's costume was not as elaborate as Tackey's, else you'll see some obvious moments that the sidekick outshined the star. And Kawai-kun, you just got yourself a new fan LOL.

And why my eyes drifting away from Tackey? To me, it's because he's so stiff, seldom change of facial expression, and as for his dancing, especially when you have the whole troupe of SNOWMAN, MADE, MAD, Theybudou, Kawai and even Kitayama, his stiffness is apparent. However, this does not mean that he's not good. He's still a pro and moreover, Johnny's after all. He made it up with the kabuki segment. His eye movements and moves gave me goosebumps.

Now what are my fave segment?

Mask ~ Mask changing - I watched the old performance where he stood on stage and kept on changing the mask and thought, 'wow, it's so cool, how did he do that?'. Then in here we have the 3 of them danced and changed the mask. There's the part where they just nodded their head down and the mask changed. How on earth??? It's mesmerizing and at the same time mind boggling, and more importantly, it's freaking cool.

Taiko- this segment came right after the mask. They really know how to arrange the order of the segments because it must be difficult to top the mask performance and taiko have enough elements to be at least on par. What I love about Johnny's is that they often take traditional Japanese art, and add the sparkles and Johnny's magic to it. This is the general description of Takizawa Kabuki, but taiko emphasized this aspect. Now, let's go to the cool part. Having an army of half naked army of guys, with at the minimal 6 pack abs muscles, beating taiko drums is already a feast to the eyes, not to mention Tackey's ubberly impressive muscle structure. Then we have Tackey beating taiko upside down, which is already quite mind boggling. But what surprised me is the rest sat down and beat their taiko drums effortlessly (no wonder all of them have 6 packs lol). Displaying all those together in one get go? Wow, just, wow.

Rasa Sayang Sayange - While I'm not fully sold on the idea of exchanging performances eg. Serenade with the local kids sing and dance or singing the local song, the outcome of this is quite nice and in particularly this song, we get to do the furi too. Now my hands will move along when this song plays. But what made me went d'aww was Kawai happily joked around with the local boy dancer while cheerfully sing on the background.The cuteness was just over the top. Nevermind that Tackey was being super stiff that he reminds me of Higashiyama.

Projection Mapping -Arashi introduced me to this type of performance in their 2011 con and then Kouhaku. But, nothing beats this performed live by SNOWMAN. They use black and white plus swirling dragon as the background. This is where their dancing skill shines, and how much precision put into for a what looks so effortless delivery.

Oshichi -While I totally have no comprehension of the Engrish introduction despite of the ganbare effort, Tackey's performance here was splendid. The lady movement was very restricted and very doll-like, total opposite from the earlier Goemon performance.

Crane Prince and Crane Princess -Tackey played dual roles here and how he changed over from prince to princess with completely different costume in matter of seconds is beyond me. The setting and climax gave me feels like watching Kouhaku performance.

Some fun stuff:
There's a miss at the beginning where the huge opening benner didn't scroll down properly so we can see the dancers on the back preparing for the awesome entrance. Kind of diminish the impact.
The kanji for today is 美 (bi = beauty).

After watching the DVD, I kind of understand why we have a shorter show duration and from the performances that they cut (I totally disagree cutting out Serenade though, hmph). For example, Nezumi scene has lots of dialogue, which won’t fly considering we have non Japanese audience, plus the setting in Tokyo has the traditional rooftop props nailed to the ceiling and side of the venue, which also won’t fly in MBS. They also cut some of the song and dance performance and I’m guessing it’s due to the concern of the non fans getting the wrong idea of what this show is all about (well, the kabuki segment is already not sum up to the majority in the show duration, so they need to make it more concise, somehow). Again, I still don’t buy the idea of including Singapore Kids segment and local songs, but through execution and the order of the show, these segments can blend in and doesn’t look so awkward.

Overall, I love the show, and as promised, Johnny's shows always deliver you those feels and dreams that you'd always feel a pang when it ends. Now, can we have Playzone performed here in SG next year? I'll do whatever I can to secure a ticket if they'd even cast Yaracchi in it and have it in SG (their props is definitely lesser than Takizawa Kabuki's plus the troup is not much different, sort of like exchanging SNOWMAN with Travis Japan).

And for me Takizawa Kabuki is the appetizer for the excitement awaits me next month, V6 20th anniversary concert!!