#haisute

ledamemangociana:

with the final Haisute tour now on, and coz i still have SO MANY (SO. MANY.) gifsets planned, and coz i feel like some of the other gifsets i’ve made could use a bit more attention, here’s a masterlist of all the Haisute gifsets i’ve made so far

i’ll put it under a cut and of course will be updating it as i keep making more gifs

Keep reading

Updated again! I’ll be making more, especially now that I have my (paid for!!!) copies of Fly High,Strongest Challengers and Battle of the Trash Heap, and also because the very, very final show of Itadaki No Keshiki 2 has officially been cancelled coz two of the staff tested positive.

Makes me sad to see this highly succesful 2.5d franchise go out with nary a feeble puff of air. It’s no one’s fault, of course, that’s just how it is now, literally It Is What It Is™, but it’s still very sad. Such a shame Karasa-new aren’t able to get their full due coz of two cancelled tours. Hopefully one day they’ll be able to perform this final show at least one last time to give the whole franchise the proper send-off it deserves. For now, we can only thank the cast and staff for 6 incredible years and 12 incredible shows, and wish them all luck in future endeavors, and cross our fingers that we get to see this last show in all its glory one more time, and do our best to support the show and the cast and staff the best ways we possibly can.

hello, engeki-haikyuu tag on tumblr

i just saw that someone reposted my entire “Tetsuko and Kenko” gifset with the gifs in non-chronological order. i did not, and will not ever, give permission to repost my gifs like that. for those of you that don’t know, reposting someone else’s work just like that, especially without proper permission, is a big no-no. 

i’ve properly and politely asked the person who did it to please take that post down and to reblog my post instead, and i hope they do at least take it down. some of you might not think it’s a big deal, but it kind of is to me, considering i can’t art and i havent been able to write fanfic in AGES, so i feel like GIFs are the only thing i can make and contribute anymore, and considering how my Haisute gifsets aren’t even getting anywhere near as many notes - let alone reblogs coz i guess the trend has changed and people dont like to reblog things anymore the way we used to back in the 2010s - as my Critical Role gifsets and some of my BNHA Ultra Stage gifsets, it really sucks to see someone else take away from those scant few notes even more. reposting feels like someone else taking credit and attention away from my work, even passing it off as their own in some cases, and in most circles that’s called plagiarism, which, you know, is not cool.

so i know i havent been putting the “PLEASE DO NOT REPOST” request on my gifsets like most people do, but that’s because a) i use a very visible watermark on my gifsets in the hopes it will discourage reposting without permission, and b) being reposted this much, where an entire gifset was stolen and re-uploaded just in a different order, has never really happened to me before. i do not want to have to start putting that request in my gifsets, and i’ve been making gifsets since all the way back in 2010 (i’ve been here since 2009). so im just asking people to please be respectful and not repost work that isn’t their own willy-nilly. if you get proper permission to post someone else’s art or fic or whatever, that’s great, but don’t just do it without permission. if you ask but are rejected or ignored, don’t defy that, don’t repost.

so this is a blanket post now to remind everyone that while i am VERY appreciative of reblogs of my gifsets, and i’m so glad you like them even if i’m way behind on my love for Haisute coz i just started watching them in january this year, i do not allow reposts of my gifsets. maybe if one or two gifs appear in a compilation with other ppl’s gifs, i can let that go. using my gifs as reactions in posts is also okay in general. BUT what i dont allow is the downloading/saving of my gifsets and then reuploading them as your own post. doesn’t that take way more time than just hitting REBLOG anyway? you can try to ask me for permission to repost my gifsets, but i can guarantee you that 99% of the time, my answer will be no, and i would really appreciate it if that answer was respected.

also, i would rather that people didnt post my gifs anywhere else outside of tumblr. in the case of Haisute, @engekihaikyuu has a post on why their scans and gifs getting reposted outside of tumblr could be troublesome in terms of how japanese fandom works, and the same honestly stands for my gifs. i’m happy to make them and post them here for people to enjoy, and for those who don’t know that these stage musicals are a thing to maybe discover them - i’ve seen a LOT of people discover that the BNHA Ultra Stage musical/s exist coz of the gifsets i made a couple of years ago of the first one. but long story short, japanese fandom is far more respectful and appreciative of copyright and proper fan support when it comes to merch, art, interviews and photos, that sort of thing, and it’s already kind of pushing the limit of what’s okay by making gifsets here on tumblr, where there is far fewer japanese fandom to run into than on twitter. (there’s nothing we can do about google, unfortunately, google’s algorithms and tumblr bots like tumblar and tumgir will find and aggregate them into the search results.)

this has gone on longer than i was expecting it to, so tl;dr, please dont repost other fan’s crafted work, especially without permission. rediscover the reblog button, please. if you’d like to have my gifsets on your blog, feel free to check out my “GIFCIANA” tag on my blog and reblog from there.

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu : Itadaki no Keshiki Digest Video 2

Cross Talk #1 (Karasuno: Kenta, Kagechan, KT, Justin, Naoki)
Cross Talk #2 (Karasuno: Kairi, Ryoutarou, Kouhei, Fucchi, Kazuma)

As always, scans available via @engekihaikyuuhere.

“The court is our playground.” No matter the dilemma, Johzenji stick to their own style of volleyball – “having fun” – to the end. Their vivid acrobatics fire up the show!

Johzenji’s appeal is their poppy cheer. First, introduce yourselves.

Funaki: I’m Funaki Masahide, playing Terushima Yuuji. Terushima looks like the one pulling the team along the most, but I think that’s because everyone else is supporting him… In one sense, he feels the most like the youngest child. Terushima is who he is because of the team. I want to keep in mind that it’s thanks to everyone else that he can stay so high-energy.

Morinaga: I’m Morinaga Ayato, playing Bobata Kazuma. The charm point is these sleepy eyes. (laughs) The image I have of him is someone who’s always acting in sync with Terushima and bouncing around idiotically with him. I get a strong feeling like, when it’s time for fun he can go all the way, very Johzenji-like. I think I resemble him in that way.

Suzuki: I’m Suzuki Youta, playing Futamata Takeharu. In my opinion Futamata is the “shadow mistress” of Johzenji. Amidst these very unique looking members, not least of which is Captain Terushima, Futamata has black hair and just looks like a normal high school student. I like that just-as-I-am feel, and how he’s always smiling. I hope both Futamata and myself can stay smiling.

Arata: I’m Arata Shihou, with the honor of playing Numajiri Rintarou. Numajiri doesn’t have many lines in the original manga… One’s impression of him is that you notice him on the edges having fun with everyone. Rather than taking the initiative to go wild, he’s thinking “these people look like fun” and all of a sudden being in the same place as them starts to be fun, and next thing he knows they’re playing volleyball together… is what it seems like. He’s hair’s cute too (laughs) and my image of both his appearnce and his personality is sort of roundish. But he whacks those spikes through, and receives when he needs to, and uses his head when he moves around the court. I want to highlight that he’s not just nice and sweet.

Yasukawa: I’m Yasukawa Aiji, playing Iizaka Nobuyoshi. Iizaka has the most strait-laced image in Johzenji. He’s big, he has short black hair… He’s not really the playful type. (laughs) But when he’s playing volleyball he takes off his limiters and has a good time. I’d like to show that gap. I want to pace myself and have a good time without letting any juicy chances go by (laughs).

Matsubara: I’m Matsubara Rin, playing Tsuchiyu Arata. Johzenji is full of super bright people, but my character is the one scaredy-cat, or well…

In the manga his mouth is a quivering line…

Funaki: Rin is naturally like that.

Matsubara: Yes. I'm… how to say it… I’m usually pretty scared…

Funaki/Morinaga/Suzuki/Arata/Yasukawa: (laughs)

Matsubara: So Tsuchiyu is me.

Did you sympathize with him when you read the original manga?

Matsubara: I did. Like, “Oh, here, my role… is me!” (laughs) He doesn’t have that many lines, but the more I read, the more I identified with him.

Morinaga: You’re already perfectly in character.

Yasukawa: For real.

Matsubara: (laughs) I’m glad I was able to get such a fitting role for my first play.

Tell us what you think the appeal of this production is and what the “Johzenji highlights” are.

Funaki: The scene where Sawamura from Karasuno is overlaid with the former Johzenji captain. I really really liked that part in the manga, too. It’s the moment you get a look inside Terushima’s head.

Morinaga: I think… the mental strength of a team that sees the synchro attack, which they’ve never done, thinks “that attack’s super cool, let’s do it ourselves”, really goes for it, and even though they fail tries it yet again. Seeing a team going after the satisfaction of success and staying true to their own style of play is refreshing.

One feels that the team won’t be shaken from what they consider important.

Funaki: They’re really cool. If it were me… I might go on the defensive.

Morinaga: Right. That even when they’re on the brink of winning or losing they persist in what’s “the most fun” – that style is what I like most about Johzenji.

Suzuki: For me, it’s when Terushima’s like, “I was sure you were gonna hit it!” In that scene, while the match has them up against the wall, Johzenji remembers their fundamentals – “having fun” – and puts that back into practice. You could feel the whole team’s trust in each other in their plays, it was impressive. Like, because everyone was thinking the same thing they could keep moving forward.

Arata: If I start recommending scenes I’ll never stop, but one thing I think is really impressive is that reading the original work, you can appreciate the story from both schools’ point of view. Being able to enjoy [it] in many different ways is one of the highlights.

Yasukawa: I have a lot of favorite scenes too but… I think it’s everyone’s “will to win”. I also like the process of Hinata and Kageyama influencing each other and lifting each other up, and I love the purity of everyone in Johzenji as they focus on winning.

Matsubara: I’m also short, so I think the way Hinata challenges opponents bigger than him is cool. I sympathize with him. Also, the feeling at the end when Johzenji say “We want to play more"… As a reader, I wanted to see more, too. It struck home.

What’s rehearsal like?

Yasukawa: Yesterday we all went out to for dinner after rehearsal…

Funaki/Morinaga/Suzuki/Matsubara: Whoo!

Arata: (laughs) As you can see, just being around each is fun – but just as in the play there’s that line, "A time will come when it’s not fun any more”, I have no doubt that such a trial is likely waiting for us. But even so, with this group, I think we’ll be able to have a good time… to go forward in the Johzenji spirit. And if we can get the audience to enjoy our teamwork there—

Funaki:The Best, right.

Arata: Yeah. The Best. (laughs)

Suzuki: To be honest, I still don’t believe I’m here. There’s so much I’m learning at rehearsal every day… At the same time, I’m looking forward more and more to seeing how I’ll change, and how Johzenji will grow. Dinner yesterday was really fun! It felt like a real club outing.

Funaki: I get that. Where you’re excited and having fun but your body is worn out.

Morinaga: I was thinking yesterday that everyone on Johzenji is the stoic type. To make this play a success, little by little we’ll tackle the things we can’t do and create something good. We all feel that way, to a high degree. The way we help each other out at rehearsal, like “I can’t do this,” “I’ll show you how,” is also fun like a real club. It would be wonderful if people watching were able to feel that enjoyment.

Yasukawa: I used to live in Kyoto, and I left for Tokyo when rehearsals began… Going out together is fun, and I feel a real sense of completeness when we’re together as a team. During this rehearsal period, it feels like my whole life is “Haikyuu!!”.

I imagine you’ve solidified your goals for when the show opens…

Suzuki: Johzenji’s particular team style on stage is based on acrobatics. Since our style of play is “Having fun playing”, no matter how hard, no matter how difficult it is on stage, we can’t show the strain. I think moving on a raked stage will be tough, but no matter how hard it is we can’t let our smiles slip. Personally, as the youngest, I’ve learned a lot from my senpai and I want to work my hardest to grow.

Arata: Johzenji is so to speak an enemy school, but in “Haikyuu!!” enemy schools aren’t really portrayed as “enemies”, you know? I’m very happy to be a part of a production like that. Each character stands on their own, and when you think about how they all have their own lives within the work, you enjoy the story even more. Whether from the point of view of the audience, or of any character, or of any school, the story’s a winner. We want to come together so that everyone enjoy’s Johzenji’s story.

Yasukawa: You can really feel every Haikyuu!! character’s will to win, including Johzenji, and that’s something I really like about it. And acrobatics are what’s going to convey Johzenji’s playful spirit and the passion in our play. At rehearsal, we’re always thinking, “If we can show everyone acrobatics flashier and more smoothly linked than any other team…” as we practice. My personal goal is to work moves from taekwondo, which is my speciality, into the acrobatics somehow.

A nice masculine feel.

Matsubara: Tsuchiyu’s the libero, so as a character he doesn’t jump much, but as a performer I’m the one who wants to jump most, or…

Funaki: Rin can do amazing things with his body!

Matsubara: Yes. I want to put my six years of experience doing parkour to use in my performance as libero, and do acrobatics no one else can. I want to run around and around the stage like I’m a ball myself.

Arata: Incorporating our individual specialties into the performance makes us all better and better.

Matsubara: I think so. Like yesterday one by one everyone learned how to do a move we’re practiced for the first time… back handsprings and backflips too. It’s like “Oh this is crazy, I gotta stay on edge” and I end up adding an extra rotation. (laughs)

Funaki: Uh-huh. Everyone’s really practiced hard. I thought “I can’t lose” myself.

Matsubara: We’re all rivals, it lights a fire in you.

Yasukawa: It’s great~

You won’t lose to your own teammates.

Funaki: I do think that.

And of course to Karasuno.

Morinaga: Because Johzenji is supposed to be a tough rival. We want to go into this with a fitting aura for a strong enemy, a stronger feeling than anyone of “Come at us, we’re not gonna lose” – like we’re not going to lose to Karasuno’s strength or to their passion as experienced members. We have to attack from the stance of, “If your summer ‘evolution’ is such a big deal, then bring it!” I want to act well enough to overcome Karasuno’s heat.

Johzenji makes one think, “They’re glitzy, but strong.” You find yourself loving them even though they’re irritating.

Funaki: Right? I want to boost that vibe until even supporters of other schools end up saying afterwards “Johzenji were great.” For me, I hope I can lead the team along at the same time as I keep that desire not to lose to anyone among the six of us. We have Rin for moves, Shihou for dance, Youta our smile director… and height, and a sleepy face, and…

Morinaga/Suzuki/Arata/Yasukawa/Matsubara: (huge laugh)

Funaki: Everyone’s wonderful. I want to create “our” Johzenji as we all help each other out, and as we pull each other along. We plan to play through to the end at full strength and full power, so please, we hope for your support!

Morinaga/Suzuki/Arata/Yasukawa/Matsubara: Thank you!!!

uh so i am starting to post my text translation backlog as promised but then i had the bright idea of translating/subbing the shousha to haisha backstage. currently about half the script is done, but…….. is there anyone out there who’d be interested in helping with timing/technical stuff? i CAN do it myself but man do i hate it. (and i’m very very slow.) send me a dm or a chat if you’re interested!

if all goes well, i might try and tackle the itadaki no keshiki documentary… i know various other groups have made attempts but i don’t think anyone’s ever come up with a finished product, or am i wrong? i don’t wanna step on any toes, i just want to get as much content out there before everyone graduates in december. :( so that we can all fully emote together.

edit: thanks for the very kind offers, guys, hype to get started on this!

(sorry for the delay! i moved home from japan to the states the day after… technically the day of posting the last report so obviously it’s been. Busy. last one tho!! ♥)

previously:
day 1 (shoen)
day 2 (itadaki no keshiki)
day 3 (karasuno, fukkatsu!!)
day 4 (shousha to haisha)
day 5 part 1 (shinka no natsu)

guests: kenta, keita, funaki masahide, yanagihara rin

Hoo Boy this was by the most outright emotional of all the screenings so far. like, shousha to haisha was intense, but the content was intimately familiar by now. the impact of this was fresh – and we all knew it was the end, you know? the end of our happy little week, obviously, but also the beginning of the end for karasuno. over the week all those showings had built up this tidal wave of Feelings it then unleashed here, aha. so that the cheering was right on the edge of desperate, like there were real results on the line. self extremely included. this was our last chance, in all kinds of ways.

(i, aware that i would be leaving the country in two days, was perhaps a little more desperate! but it sure as hell wasn’t just me. cheering along at the top of our lungs to the opening/closing karasuno jog i described here… it was. a lot.)

of course the reaction to certain parts were as you’d expect. there was dead silence for ennoshita’s big scene(s). the cheers for his receives were like nothing else. when ennoshita tells yamaguchi “let’s fight together” kenta reeled backward like he’d taken a physical hit. (my son, i love you.) and of course kenta and kt were emoting all over the place for that whole storyline – kt was wiping his eyes after daichi had to leave the court, and then they both teared up over “thank you for coming back” and “captain ni tsunagenakya!”

and of course when it came to rin and funaki they had their own moments – rin obviously got misty-eyed when all of wakutani started losing their shit, lol, and funaki surprised me by wiping his eyes after misaki’s goodbye to johzenji. (my guess from daisenshuuraku was right, btw, momo was crying irl during that scene. awww.)

OK BUT BACK TO THE BEGINNING sorry.

once again kt was tricked into dashing out before everyone else. XD
kt: um this is not how rehearsal went.
kenta: what are you talking about? :(
funaki: this is just like we practiced.
rin: (nods furiously)
kenta: isn’t it?
kt: ………yes. fine.

so they accidentally grabbed the afternoon’s MC script, whoops. which i’m sure kenta noticed as soon as he glanced at it, but didn’t turn a hair until it was time for their self-introductions. “playing kageyama tobio, i’m kageyama tatsuya—”
kt: playing nishinoya yuu i’m fuchino yuuto ^_^
funaki: hahahaha PLAYING KUROO TETSUROU IM KONDOU SHOURI
audience: (CHEERS)
rin: (squints at script) playing konoha akinori im… (mutters) ….azuma… takumi…?
kenta: ….you were IN A PLAY WITH HIM
rin: is that wrong
kenta: what have you been calling him all this time
rin: …………azuma…..kun……….
kenta: and what did he say to that
rin: …"yes?“
funaki: well he does seem like he’d just roll with that
kenta: IT’S HIGASHI HIS NAME IS HIGASHI

kenta: i was the MC for the shoen screening, but earlier this week, rather than do it twice himself, ryoutarou turned it over to yamagiwa kaito-kun–
audience: (bursts into giggles)
kenta: …yeah so i thought maybe tonight i’d give someone else a cha–
funaki: ME I WANT TO
kenta: –ok here you go
funaki: wait what
kenta: you looked like you really wanted to so
funaki: I SUPER DO :D
funaki: so uh (flips pages) next uh –
kenta: r u srs

i was SOOO fond of funaki omg what a friendly bro ahhh. so cheery and good-natured. :D (can u tell i like em dumb and smiley, apparently.) whereas rin-kun was… endearingly ditzy. XD (is he an ex-johnny’s? he kind of had that air. it was like looking at ueda tatsuya circa 2005. in no small part because of the wakunan towel tucked into his waistband, which draped to the floor.)

funaki: don’t forget to call the player’s names during the starting order, like "terushima!” or “terushii!” or “yuuji!”

funaki: so next we’ll practice cheers! i, the MC – yeah yeah yeah (rapper pose) –
kenta: masakki!
kt: masakki!
(like. funaki + masahide = masakki? apparently? i was unfamiliar with this nickname.)
funaki: ok now yanagihara-kun’s gonna lead the cheer practice
rin: nice to meet you i’m MC rin ^_^
rin: where were we again?
kenta:
rin: wait right. this is. a cheer screening. so we want you to cheer!
kenta: they know that.
rin:
kenta:
rin: wait ok i remembered!!
audience: GANBARE
rin: :D;;

it took SEVERAL MORE FALSE STARTS before we actually got to the cheer practice. poor rin-kun. XD but he wasn’t like, shy or embarrassed like takumi-kun he just. was kind of a ditz. “NO WAIT :D lemme try again :D wait where are we? :D”

kt: ARE YOU FIRED UP
audience: WHOO
funaki: ARE YOU READY TO GO
audience: WHOOOO
kenta: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD
audience: tamago kake gohan!!

the screening: abovementioned emotions aside, plenty of dancing and choreo as you would espect, especially from funaki. rin apparently was young terushima in the flashbacks! so he and funaki did all the double terushima scenes together. and rin did all of his white coat dance choreo as well.

during the opening, kenta joined rin so he wouldn’t have to do the wakunan choreo alone. XD and funaki and rin played kiyoko-san and yachi ahahaha. then when hinata and ushiwaka begin to turn on the revolving stage, kenta started scuttling around stage trying to “revolve” himself with limited success.

yamaguchi: (snubs shimada’s high five)
kenta: don’t mind!!

despite kenta’s gleeful delight in audience comebacks, there were understandably few of them from either him or us because it was everyone’s first time watching the show since daisenshuuraku! the demon elementary school children did get this massive cheer that made kenta almost fall out of his chair laughing. ditto akaashi’s “michi wo tsukurimasu no de” – that was one of the most full-throated mass “KYAA"s i’ve ever heard (again… self… included…) and kenta thought it was HILARIOUS.

i myself was reminded all over again what a great show this was, ugh. blah blah I Love Kawahara Kazuma digression aside, please take it as read, IN ADDITION i know i briefly talked about the, like, emotional sensitivity kouhei brought to playing tanaka but fjkdlajfd the close ups on his face made it so much worse, ffffffff. GOD. dude’s emotions were A Lot. just. please. gimme the dvd already.

i was also so caught up in nekoma vs fukurodani the first time i watched that i didn’t notice how well kuroo and kenma’s final scenes onstage functioned as a goodbye for takato and shouri. when you’ve been in four consecutive shows, you deserve to go out on a meaningful note. (yes ofc we don’t know what the future holds etc etc but.) shouri’s delivery of "you’re our brain, and our spine, and our heartbeat.” fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff murder me.

ahem ok. the aftertalk:

funaki said that he was used to watching videos of himself on stage to review and practice with, but it was the first time watching from a normal spectator’s perspective. “oh, THAT’S how that came across.” and that the effect made him cry.

rin had a really nice thing to say about how watching really impressed on him how haikyuu stage in particular is a work that is dependent on everyone’s contributions combined – i.e. it’s not just the lead characters, it’s the combined effect of the characters in the spotlight and the characters in the background and the white coat ensemble and the technical staff that make haikyuu stage the unique production it is. (this was hard for rin to express in japanese, tbh, so idk how well i’m getting it across in english but his point was that when he says “it’s a show we all create together” he’s not referring to ideas or feelings but quite literally saying that everyone’s contributions on stage are necessary to make haikyuu stage what it is.)

and kenta talked about how (attending every single screening as he did, lol) it was great preparation for saikyou no team to have had the chance to look back on each different production – especially to look back on the schools and characters that appeared in just one show and carry their feelings forward to the next play.

…then they discussed how quickly rin’s hair had grown back since daisenshuuraku. XD
rin: tbh… i was emotionally moved when i first looked in the mirror and saw myself with hair.

then as soon as keita prompted them for backstage stories kenta was like GOKU. DEFINITELY GOKU. apparently at daisenshuuraku he started crying before wakunan even huddled up for their pre-show cheer. “I CAN’T HANDLE IT, IT’S TOO MUCH.”
kenta: i was watching this like R U KIDDING ME WE HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED YET
rin: ahaha during the show as well, idk if this is good or bad, but he was always crying, like – there’s a bit where hanayama calls “takeru!” as he makes a toss
rin: and goku was always like “(sobs) TAKERU!!”
kenta: ONE TIME HE CRIED SO MUCH HE SHORTED OUT HIS MIC
audience: EHHHHH?
kenta: how did that many tears even GET there
funaki: probably the sweat plus the crying
rin: incredible.
kenta: that’s haikyuu stage. so much sweat and tears we destroy our mics.

rin also told us about the wakunan red bull rule. they did a lot of team practice on their own, and people were chronically “just barely” late – i.e., never more than a few minutes, but it was enough to throw off practice. so they instituted a rule that whoever was “just barely” late had to buy the rest of the team red bulls. to this day, as they’re preparing for their august 25 event… whoever’s late has to buy everyone else red bulls.
rin: we also took a lot of purikura together
kenta: yeah they had such a reputation that whenever they were late karasuno would be like YOU WERE TAKING PURIKURA AGAIN WEREN’T YOU

then for johzenji funaki told the story of “The Take Two Incident”, in which during johzenji’s ad libs he fucked up his lines two shows in a row – and the second time was so bad he thought “what would terushima do???”, straight up yelled “TAKE TWO” and started over. after which kenta collared him backstage like “did you seriously fuckin do that???”
funaki: i reflected deeply on my actions.

johzenji also had iizaka, who’s a pretty reticent and quiet character. but he had to do something on stage when johzenji was… being johzenji. so karasuno came up with a quirk for him: every time johzenji successfully scored or blocked he would pump his fists and happily yell “MAAA.” (5 foot nothing suga kenta reenacting this was delightful, fyi.)
kenta: he played the nakashima household’s father too. nakashima masayoshi. nakashima… MAA… sayoshi…

THEN, UGH, keita talked about how he gave the post-curtain call greeting for maeraku (i.e. the second-to-last show, the one before senshuuraku). and of course in the greeting he talked about leaving and coming back – and as he did, suga kenta appeared on stage behind him with exactly the same staging/lighting/sound that daichi does during the play, and said daichi’s line, “tanaka keita, thank you for coming back.” at which point (in the greeting) keita broke down in tears. he somehow managed to relate this story to us without more than a suspiciously husky voice, haha.

(PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD INCLUDE THIS ON THE DVD)

final messages:

rin started off by talking about what a warm atmosphere haikyuu stage has – not only is the production itself good, the people involved in the production are good. this is particularly notable because of the number of people involved. productions with this many people are usually difficult in all kinds of ways – and in his opinion this production is as welcoming and smoothly run as it is thanks to suga kenta.
rin: i mean, we’re the same age, so as a goal – well he’s not my goalbut—
kenta: excuse u??
rin: WAIT NO
kenta: U COMPLIMENTED ME AND THEN
rin: no that’s not what i meant!!
kenta: WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME HUH (mock flounces off stage)
rin: PLEASE LET ME DO IT ONE MORE TIME

(takeru’s line, “mou ikkai yarasete kure yo” XD)

he then nicely cleaned it up into what he meant to say about how much he respects kenta and how grateful he was to be part of haikyuu stage.

funaki: WELP JOHZENJI LOST so. that’s. my first and last appearance in haikyuu stage. but. tbh. watching this. i really. want to be in it again. i want. to go back. BUT I CAN’T. but all of us in johzenji will do our best in our different venues so maybe we’ll meet again. thanks for loving our play so much.

keita: (deep breath)
lone audience member: okaeri <3
keita: tadaima :)
keita managed to get through his without tearing up… i think. (i love him!!!!) he talked about how of course during a normal show one gets energized and encouraged by the audience’s applause, but the energy from these screenings were different and even more direct. “it was like we were all a team.” ;___;

and kenta talked about how enjoyable it was to share the emotions of a match directly with everyone, and that looking back on all the productions so far, he was reminded of all the friends and companions that got them this far, including of course the audience. :)

and that’s a wrap for the summer week screenings! as i said before, i’ll write up a little report about the haikyuu day event – they did an aftertalk after the livestream ended just for the theater – but it should be relatively short compared to these monsters. thanks for tuning in, everyone! ♥♥♥

previously:
day 1 (shoen)
day 2 (itadaki no keshiki)

guests: shouri, naoki, shou, acchan

it’s been really interesting to see how each screening has a different flavor depending on the show and the guests. for example, the first two shows were very much influenced by the interaction between the audience and the screened content, while the first act of this event was not so much a screening of “karasuno, fukkatsu!” as it was a live-action show of “kondou shouri, fukkatsu!” like. oh my god. I THOUGHT KENTA WAS BAD ABOUT REENACTING CHOREO at least he stayed seated half the time, shouri was straight up diving and rolling across the stage for every single one of nekoma’s matches plus some of his white coat scenes as well. because if you put him in front of an audience this is just what happens.

BUT I DIGRESS. let us begin at the beginning.

first let me apologize for the fact that the first act will be light on shou and acchan because i was way up front, meaning i could only watch one half of the stage at a time, and it was real hard to watch anything other than The Kondou Shouri Hour. but more about them in the second act and aftertalk!!! …also, i’m not gonna lie, i did not absorb a lot of the first five minutes or so because i was like, entranced by naoki’s face. good lord that man has cheekbones. ANYWAY.

shouri: tbh this is the first time i’ve had a script to MC an event… honestly, who needs it. (tosses the clipboard over his shoulder)

he also mentioned he was at the screening the night before to figure out how this whole cheering thing worked, WHICH WOULD EXPLAIN THE PART WHERE RYOUTAROU AND JUSTIN WERE CLEARLY LAUGHING AT SOMEONE IN THE WINGS fldajfkldjf i thought at the time it was juudai and sonde, or maybe that kenta was there again (…i mean, he was, lol), but i bet it was shouri.

so then it was time for cheering practice. nice kill, nice receive, jump serve…
shouri: oh and then when someone gets a point, cheer for them. you know like, I-I ZO, KU-RO-O, O-TO-KO-MA-E
(roughly “NICE, KUROO, YOU’RE THE MAN”)
naoki: LOL WASN’T THAT YOUR CHEER IN HIGH SCHOOL
shouri: yes :D
shouri: ii zo, shouri, otokomae!!
naoki: oh my god
shouri: …let’s do it now :D
naoki: WE REALLY DON’T HAVE TO
shouri: (already backing up for a run up)
naoki: ok. cheer for kuroo, ok.
shouri: no, for shouri :D
naoki: …………….
shouri: (runs up and does a massive jump spike)
audience: I-I ZO, SHO-U-RI, O-TO-KO-MA-E!!
sound tech: (WHISTLE BLOWS)

to explain the whistle thing – so each night when the cast got too far off track or were going too long, a ref’s whistle would sound. the previous two nights, it happened once or twice. how many times did shouri get whistled off? A LOT.

of course we practiced the datekou cheers as well!
shouri: datekou, please show them how to do it
acchan: but i mean, in the actual show, nekoma-san did this part, right
shouri: right!! we did!! in the white coats
acchan: so we’d like to leave it to you now ok thank you :)
shouri: …wait

(in the end they both did it.)

they then cued up the next screen… which was the entire datekou vs karasuno rap. XD
shou: look. the rap is long and complicated, it’s tiring, i’m sure it would be tough to do the whole thing. but even if you can’t. everyone just please be sure to do sakunami’s line. “funk it block.”
naoki: and yamaguchi’s. shoubu no wakareMEEEE.

then shouri started explaining the special cheers/moves he thought up that he wanted us to do flfjaf;djkfdf. when nekoma sway back back and forth to their theme he wanted us to wave our thundersticks in time. “I THOUGHT THIS UP A MONTH AGO,” he said proudly. “I WAS REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS EVENT!!!”

shouri: and here’s another one i thought up a month ago
shouri: in the manga there’s a cheer that goes ike ike nekoma, right. so this is what i want us to do –
shouri: ike ike nekoma, nyan nyanya nyanyanyan! (waves cat paws)
sound tech: (WHISTLE)

as before we ended by chanting ose ose nekoma / go go datekou except this time after about two seconds shouri and shou were like, yelling out at the top of their lungs running around the stage while naoki maded increasingly desperate whistling motions toward the sound booth.
shouri: let’s do it again!
naoki: ISN’T THIS ENOUGH
shouri: IM THE MC I MAKE THE RULES
naoki: kansai people are terrifying.
shouri: (super thick kansaiben) I’LL DO ANYTHING FOR A LAUGH

(and that, incidentally, is the difference between what shouri and kenta were doing w/r/t choreo – you get the impression that this is probably how kenta watches these shows at home whereas put shouri in front of an audience, even if that audience is two people, and he can’t help but perform. his and takato’s consistently over the top ad libs suddenly make so much sense…)

all this, and the actual screening hadn’t even started. deep breaths.

tonight the audience started calling out “furudate haruichi!” “worry-san!” “nakayashiki-kun!” when their names appeared on screen just like they were some of the players, it was cute. XD also even though kiyoko wasn’t yet physically present, every time she “appeared” off stage the audience swooned “KIYOKO-SAAAAN”.

so for the opening, of course they came out and did their own parts (props to acchan and shou for how well synced they were with the screen, their timing was super impressive) but then they all took turns doing not just a little bit of the rest but EVERYONE else’s. iirc shouri was oikawa, naoki was iwa-chan, shouri was daichi, naoki was suga, shou was asahi, acchan was tanaka and ennoshita (the timing broke down a little bit here XD), naoki was takechan, shouri was ukai, naoki was kageyama, and shouri was hinata.

it was funny because like, when they first start doing other characters naoki was like, laughing at himself, still a little self-conscious but by the time he ran out to do kageyama’s jump he was super into it and getting huge amounts of air lol. that was sort of the pattern of the night, naoki was clearly enjoying himself and excited in a normal person way but then kept getting dragged into increasingly weird shit by shouri and by the end would be like FINE LET’S GO LET’S DO IT.

as previously mentioned this resulted in them reenacting the vast majority of nekoma’s choreo in full, in the center of the stage. flips and rolls and dives and all. shouri also kept forgetting this was not, like, a concert or something and would literally be bouncing up and down waving his thundersticks when he wasn’t actively dancing. but then he got all embarrassed during kuroo’s “that sparkling stage…!” speech and walked off stage… but BARELY, he was hovering so close in the wings that i could still see him ahaha. the closest he could physically force himself to actually leaving the spotlight. XD in contrast, naoki was so embarrassed during his first couple lines/closeup that he tied his nekoma towel around his face, walked off stage, and didn’t come back for a full minute. hee.

shouri also made naoki leave the stage with him so that they could walk back on for nekoma’s pre-match entrance, this time with shouri wearing his jacket specifically so he could reenact the dramatic toss and catch, which he then intentionally dropped a la the DVD blooper roll, as naoki took hinata’s role of pointing at it in shock.

naoki was also apparently the “voice” of kiyoko behind the “tobe!” flag, shouri was very excited to make sure we knew that. OH for the first scene between kuroo and kenma, SHOU came out as kenma with shouri trailing after him measuring the height difference between the two of them and making exaggerated confused faces. and after nekoma waved goodbye and left the stage after the practice match was over, naoki also waved goodbye and walked off but shouri was so caught up in watching that he didn’t notice naoki was gone for at least a minute and then did a huge doubletake at the empty chair. XD

last but not least, for the kurotsukki fans out there, i know you’re reading this, during the practice montage at the end of act 1 shouri acted out tsukki’s bit standing there tossing a volleyball with one hand like :|, and his attempt at a bored tsukki expression was hilarious, shouri’s face just doesn’t do that naturally. XD

so while the first act was like a show on stage we were watching, the second act was, of all the screenings so far, the most like an actual proper call-and-response cheering event. first was the tokonami match, of course, and honestly the biggest compliment to how well and effectively this match was staged is that there was zero snark – instead, i heard several people sniffling – and the applause after ikejiri walked off stage went on for a long, long time.

but then the datekou match had so much for the audience to do! there was a LOT of cheering and chanting to take part in, and of course acchan and shou acted out big scenes like aone and futakuchi’s “lock ON”, the big blocks, “TEPPEKI DA” etc. by the end acchan was just on his feet making frustrated faces when he got blocked out ahaha. but this is the part that felt closest to actually being part of the student cheering squad at a volleyball game… if part of the cheers were a rap.

(at some point shouri and naoki came back on stage as well, and to be fair to them, for a split second when they came out again i was like OH NO LET THE DATEKOU KIDS HAVE THEIR CHANCE TO SHINE but while shouri did get very into reenacting their choreo he stayed off to the side and didn’t distract from the main characters. thanks kondou-kun. XD

daichi: like [iwaizumi] said, datekou are really strong
acchan: ^__^ (nod)
suga: three months ago their iron wall totally destroyed us
acchan: ^____^ (nodnod)
suga: to be honest, we still haven’t wiped out the fear from that time
acchan: ^________^ (nodnodnod)

my favorite part about datekou, though, was at the end, when we got our first real emotional casualties of summer week. so first, aone’s handshake with hinata also got a really, really long ovation, and shou started to look super emotional. then the datekou third years’ retirement scene happened. because i know kimura atsushi, i was locked on (heh) to him from the moment it began, and was therefore able to watch in real time as his mouth slowly turned down and his face crumpled and his eyes glinted with tears. then when moniwa started talking about how next year’s iron wall would be even stronger, he suddenly stood up and just nodded emphatically at every line but couldn’t even smile. acchan i love u.

another sweet thing was that during that scene, the final “we played… we played volleyball!” scene with the losers, shou just took a long, slow look around the audience with this really gentle expression and later in the aftertalk he said he could see people crying and that he was really touched and grateful.

so, speaking of the aftertalk!

shouri and naoki also talked about aiia closing and how it felt kind of destined that it was where they had both their haikyuu debut and now their last haikyuu event.
naoki: appearing as members of the cheering squad.
shouri: as the ensemble cast.
naoki: shouri, you were definitely the loudest person here.
shouri: because i’m the MC!

they dragged-slash-complimented shou for his scary aone face. “yeah, i’m kind of scared by myself when i see the recording tbh because it’s not like i could SEE myself when i was made up on stage.”
acchan: but off stage he’s really nice!!
naoki: yeah, you always gave off this kind of sweet idiotic air in the dressing room.
shou: …actually… something like that happened today…

and then he explained how during the scene when aone is blocked out by hinata and lands with a thump back on stage, he reenacted it today… and when he landed in a crouch, his pants tore. XDD CUE EVERYONE DUCKING BEHIND HIM AND LIFTING UP THE SHIRT TIED AROUND HIS WAIST TO CHECK OUT THE TEAR AND FALL AROUND LAUGHING like literally naoki was lying on the stage paralyzed with laughter. shouri kindly demonstrated to us exactly where and how large the tear was, thanks shouri. “lucky i wore a shirt around my waist today!” shou said.

acchan also explained how he and shou did different variations on the “lock ON” on asahi, so of course shouri made them demonstrate – and they did one in which futakuchi tries to push aone’s arm down, it pops back up, and futakuchi then walks his fingers cutesily up aone’s arm as he says “yamenasai!”

then naoki told us about how during the scene when hinata spikes with his eyes open, one day takeru came up to him and said super seriously, “what’s the deal with hinata closing his eyes? don’t you normally spike with your eyes open?” naoki explained there was a line about how he hits with his eyes closed earlier, to which takeru replied, “i didn’t hear anything about that, idk what you’re talking about” and that was when naoki realized he was speaking as yaku. “i get staying in character but he WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO ASK ME ABOUT IT.”

speaking of, shouri also said that the show was just around the time the volume with the nekoma third years’ backstory came out so that if you watch the full stage recording you’ll see kuroo and yaku squabbling and kai trying to break them up in the background and such.

then, another takeru story, for one particular scene when the nekoma cast was holding up the iron wall it was always incredibly hot, because they’d already worked themselves into a sweat during their actual match as nekoma, then they’d have to put on these long white coats, so it was unbearable… and then on top of that, takeru would come over and like. squish up next to him. and it would be even MORE hot. so naoki would be like, “pssst get away from me” and takeru would just sit crouch there dead still staring straight ahead. “i got SO MAD AT HIM.”

so that’s why today takeru was tweeting “…what did shouri and naoki say about me.” XD

finally, their final messages! that’s when shou said the bit i mentioned earlier about how moving it was to see the fans’ reaction, and added “I’M DEFINITELY COMING BACK i mean i don’t know if that’s actually possible BUT I DEFINITELY WELL.” acchan fell all over his own words and then was like I CAN’T PUT HOW GRATEFUL I AM INTO WORDS i love haikyuu bye. naoki said how how grateful he is that his first and last experiences at aiia were both, specifically, “karasuno, fukkatsu.” and shouri just talked about how WOW HAIKYUU’S AMAZING WORRY KINOSHITA IS AMAZING. (naoki: just pretend he’s an alien or something, ok guys?) and then, also, that he owes his career to the show basically and is super grateful and proud to have been involved.

OH, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST – the sound tech got the last laugh on shouri. they thanked us for coming and bowed… and then the credits music didn’t start like it did for everyone else, they had to start singing it themselves – “da da DAH da da da DAH da da da DAH da da da dah” while shouri yelled at the sound booth “HEY, DON’T PUNISH ME” until the tech took pity on them and cued up the music. then shouri purposely “tripped” and fell going off stage, naoki held back shou and acchan from going back to help him, and they got whistled off one last time. XD

…the end. jesus that was a lot, how the hell are we going to get through shinka no natsu as led by shouri, we’re all gonna die.

tonight: shousha to haisha………………. pray 4 me. see you tomorrow!!

previously:day 1 (shoen) report

guests: ryoutarou, justin, juudai, sonde

ryoutarou was the MC and he tried so hard bless his heart heehee but juudai and sonde, real life matsuhana, were ALLLL over him. they were giggling as he earnestly read from his script so he broke off–
ryoutarou: what?? I PRACTICED THIS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
sonde/juudai: he’s trying really hard, please cheer for him.
juudai: yesterday ryoutarou’s master (shishou) got everyone REALLY excited, we heard.
justin: that’s right. kenta-kun.
ryouotarou: today i will overcome him!!
juudai: that bar’s pretty high lol.
sonde: don’t worry. with me, you’re invincible. (ore ga ireba omae wa saikyou da.)

so then although of course ryoutarou did a great job overall, they jumped all over the little misses, like extra long pauses or flubbed lines. (ryoutarou: yesterday’s screening was shoen… how was it? justin: um, i wasn’t there???) to the point that sonde ran over, ducked down, hugged ryoutarou around the waist and yelled LET ME DO THE MC. they did the same cheering explanation/practice, only when they got to cheering for characters by name ryoutarou flubbed again–
ryoutarou: you cheer like if makki—makihara—
audience: AHAHAHA
sonde: (slinks toward him singing) ♫ tatoeba kimi ga iru dake de kokoro ga… ♫

(for the record “kimi ga iru dake de” is not in fact a makihara noriyuki song but it was immediately clear what sonde was going for, i think he got it mixed up with “donna toki mo”. XD)

then when they did a practice play on stage for us to try out our cheers on, sonde spiked on juudai’s head instead of the ball at first. (this is after he’d come running out at the beginning Extremely High Tension and spiked first on juudai then on ryoutarou, i assume he knew he wouldn’t be able to reach justin. XD)

ryoutarou: ok but let’s practice everyone’s names for real come on
sonde: makki
audience: MAKKI
juudai: mattsun
audience: MATTSUN
ryoutarou: tsukki
audienec: TSUKKI
justin: (pause)
sonde/juudai/ryoutarou: JUS
(fall about cackling pleased with themselves)
audience: jus! jus!
justin: my character has a name.
sonde/juudai/ryoutarou: asahi, yeah, asahi
justin: well, the cheering is up to you, so whatever you feel like–
audience: JUS!
justin: please stop.

last but not least, tobe tobe karasuno/ose ose seijou, but while yesterday the cheers led into the beginning of the screaming, today juudai specially asked to end with ennoshita’s don don-don-don clapping rhythem, and it turned out this was because he and sonde had practiced a pose ending with their hands on each other’s shoulders making dramatic faces at the audience. (aka the フォーリンラブ/fall in love pose if you are familiar with comedy. XD) like i said, real life matsuhana.

FINALLY, THE ACTUAL SCREENING sorry. XD during the opening, everyone got up and acted out their choreo – ryoutarou couldn’t wait for his own entrance, though, and got up and did oikawa’s part first, right down to the cutesy double v-sign. then for his own scene he held his thundersticks up to his ears as oversized headphones, ahahaha, and then started doing both tsukki and yamaguchi’s parts.

the cheering/whispering division was even worse than last night, juudai and sonde spent a solid half of their time their whispering to each other and cackling at their seijou teammates, they’re terrible. (i love them.) thanks to the screening last night, this time EVERYONE was yelling “don’t mind!!!” at kageyama failing to get into shiratorizawa and “nice catch!!!” at hinata picking up the ball. (and “nice receive!!” when kindaichi casually tossed the ball to kunimi. XD) juudai and sonde could not get over the calls for kindaichi, they were like, falling out of their chairs laughing. meanwhile, ryoutarou and justin got very into the MST3K aspect and were calling out their own oneliners on the regular. also since asahi doesn’t appear much in the first half, every time justin appeared in the background holding up the net etc he would jump up and run up to the screen and point himself out. then he got really into his own match and got up to yell (ofc) “SUGAAAA” and “uchikitte koso—”
audience: ACE!

it was fun to see who got different reactions at saien vs shoen – a BIG suga-san/ino hiroki crowd tonight, while other characters got squeals or name calls, at the loving closeups on suga the audience literally dissolved into dreamy sighs/whimpers of “KAWAII”. which, i mean, they’re not wrong. big seijou crowd as well, juudai and sonde looked so unimpressed with the screams for oikawa ahahaha.

the aftertalk: as i remember it, mainly embarrassing seijou stories from juudai. he explained that when seijou was the Seijou Chorus in white coats, naturally they’d take a breath before reciting their lines, then exposed the fact that arisawa shoutarou was so earnest and serious about being in unison that he would specially practice taking the breath and settling his shoulders, and as a result you can pick him out super easy in the background because when he takes a breath the movement goes from the top of his head all the way down his spine.

furthermore worry-san held auditions for the rap bit and the one most enthusiastic was kaito, all I’LL DO IT, I’LL DO IT. and then when he did…
juudai: the rap was me, sonde-san, kenshin.
sonde: i remember it super well.
juudai: we were lined up like this
sonde: and yamagiwa kaito-kun was?
juudai: not there.

when hinata gets hit in the face during the neighborhood association match, kindaichi runs out with the ball – sakamoto kouta also volunteered for this role. (“in shoen it was masa-san – wada masanari –” “BUT NOT KAITO.”) but he always had to hurry to get his coat zipped up and hood down in time. during one show, he was too rushed and just had to run out with his coat thrown on but not zipped or hooded – so instead of a faceless ensemble person it just looked like kindaichi was really cold and threw on a coat before running out to smack hinata in the face.

then ryoutarou said, “this is just between us here, but when were out on tour everyone got pretty close, right, and juudai and i were always sharing a room–
juudai: um what do you mean JUST BETWEEN US, that’s not a secret?? you’re making it sound like it’s a different kind of relationship–
justin/sonde: (nod nod nod) ahh, i see, i see how it is.

oh, and of course ryoutarou and justin dragged ken-chan for his very unique interpretation of the choreo. XDD

ryoutarou: so, after today, are there any of the other screenings you want to join?
juudai/sonde: …shousha to haisha.
sonde: obviously.
juudai: it’s the only other one we’re in.

then ryoutarou and justin started talking about – was it hajimari no kyojin? and it just KEPT GOING so eventually juudai and sonde turned toward each other and started a faux-conversation like, "what are you doing tomorrow?” “nothing much just mumble mumble” “oh yeah cool sounds fun” until karasuno noticed. “oh, no, go ahead, we’re talking, it’s fine.”

oh yeah and ryoutarou mentioned that HE would be back for shousha to haisha.
ryoutarou: i’m supposed to be the MC but… that might change after tonight.
ryoutarou: what if we make kairi the MC
audience: (screams)
ryoutarou: I WON’T GIVE UP TIL I OVERCOME MY MASTER
sonde: …then why did you ask.

finally, they also each said a few words about “saikyou no team” – not as heavy as the shoen quartet, iirc, but nice! juudai talked about joining in from saien, sonde talked about how watching saien made him look forward to rejoining the production for their last show, justin talked about all the changes in and how they planned to do their best on behalf of the cast members who’d left as well, and i can’t even remember what ryoutarou said because i, along with the rest of the audience and guests, was hanging on the edge of my seat to see if he’d get through it without tearing up. XDD IT WAS CLOSE BUT HE MANAGED, justin and juudai both had these evil grins like they knew exactly what was going on ahahaha.

tonight, fukkatsu with shouri, naoki, arai sho, and kimura atsushi! i’ll check in again tomorrow!

guests: kenta, keita, kouhei, kazuma

ok like – so much happened. i’m sure i’ve already forgotten a ton of stuff.

so i thought we’d just watch the screening and then the cast guests would come out for a talk portion afterwards, but no, they were on stage watching and cheering with us for the majority of the screening. first they came out at the very beginning – to be specific, keita dashed out way before everyone else was ready and just stood there laughing his daichi laugh all by himself while the audience melted down. once they were all gathered, they oohed and ahhed over the nifty thundersticks everyone received and talked us through the guidelines for how and when to cheer (ONLY THEN THEY IMMEDIATELY BROKE THEIR OWN RULES but we’ll get back to that), tried and failed to do a little rhythmic thunderstick performance because tanaka “haha the truth is during shoen i couldn’t count rhythm at all” keita started it off three times faster than they’d practiced, and practiced some cheering ideas with us. from volleyball, haikyuu. kooto chuuou no netto wo hasande ni chiimu de– etc. (kenta: ……..wow, you're…. perfect…), to the standard tobe tobe karasuno/ose ose seijou, to the jump serve drumroll of “ohhhh… oi!”, to:

kenta: and cheer for good plays too! like, “nice serve”, “nice receive”–
kouhei: “nice toss!”
kazuma: “nice bench.”

so according to the guidelines, the cheering was supposed to be limited to the opening and the matches, and not distract from the quieter scenes. it took all of fifteen seconds for THAT to go right out the window, starting with the cast themselves. exactly as one might have predicted, suga kenta was incapable of staying still and/or seated for about five seconds at a time and ended up reenacting i would say about 75% of the choreo from his seat. XD (keita and kenta were on one side of the stage, and kazuma and kouhei on the other – i would say the former two did more choreography flail, and the latter two more whispering and pointing and laughing, but each pair did PLENTY of both. hi i love them.) so with that kind of encouragement the audience got really funny and clever and the cast themselves were cracking up at some of the snark, it was so delightful.

kageyama: there’s a powerhouse school here… but i didn’t get in.
audience: don’t mind!!!
hinata: (picks up the ball rolling to his feet)
audience: nice catch!!
suga kenta: (BURSTS INTO LAUGHTER)

each actor of course encouraged the audience to cheer the most for his character. well, i say each, but mostly it was kenta and kouhei, keita encouraged everyone to cheer for everything, like a good captain, and kazuma was like – because ennoshita had relatively little to do compared to hinata, daichi, and tanaka, the audience cheered for basically every tiny thing he did on screen and kazuma was clearly dying inside. XD during the scene where he’s trailing suga around in the middle of the 3-on-3, ennoshita got a cheer basically every time he imitated another one of suga’s movements until kazuma slid out of the chair and was just kneeling on the stage in embarrassment ahahaha, culminating in his one line – “suga-san, faito!!” – which brought the house down.

biggest audience squeals for tsukki, seijou in general (makki was surprisingly popular, i was so delighted for sonde-san!) and of course kageyamanari. everyone lost their shit at kageyama’s first king of the court appearance INCLUDING KENTA istg he’s tatsunari’s biggest fan. he kept cheering for him too, it was so cute.

kageyama: motto hayaku…!
kenta: don’t mind!!!
kageyama: i tossed and no one was there…! (stage crumbles around him)
kenta: (JUMPS TO HIS FEET AND STANDS THERE QUIVERING while on the other side of the court kouhei and kazuma point and laugh)
tatsunari: (takes his final bow)
kenta: (dashes up to the screen and reenacts his special tatsunari jazz hands

as a matter of fact, all four of them reenacted their curtain call choreo, which was especially cute for keita/kouhei/kazuma.

other cute/hilarious screening moments:

• when seijou appear at the end of act one, and again for their scene at the end of act two, our loyal karasuno cast literally just stood up and walked off the stage.

• during oikawa’s intro kenta played along to the dramatic string beats on an imaginary violin made from his thunderstick. he looked like a fiddling gnome.

• speaking of the music, my fave KazumaWatch™ moment was how he kept playing around with the beats as everyone clapped their thundersticks – obviously the audience couldn’t really get more complicated than a simple four count or whatever, but kazuma would go for patterns and syncopation on top of that, sasuga DJ Kazuma.

i know there’s so much i’m forgetting, if there’s a scene you’re thinking “wow i bet their reactions to that must have been hilarious” please ask and maybe that will jog my memory fjdafkldsjfk.

the aftertalk: i definitely am getting this out of order but. kenta said was that after watching it, he wants to restage it again! everyone else agreed – it’s such good material, as a show, that they watch it now and think, we could do so much more with that now, we could make that scene so much deeper, etc. especially… because some parts are seriously embarrassing now. XD

kenta: like what did you notice that was bad?
kouhei: RYOUTAROU’S SHITTY BLOCKS

they dragged poor ryoutarou extensively (and lovingly). then kouhei called out kazuma having to wobble on his tiptoes during the final wing choreo because he was surrounded by tall people. “heehee it was cute.” kazuma: (giggles in embarrassment while everyone else screeches “CUTE”)

kouhei: and kenta… well, nothing really to say there
kazuma: he was good
keita: he’s good at volleyball
kenta: haha, no, no… ^___^

and

kenta: yeah we went backstage and everyone else was like “haha this is so fun, this is great” and kazuma’s first words were EVERYONE’S FACES LOOKED SO WEIRDLY DIFFERENT
kazuma: THEY DO THO

kenta also talked about how aiia will be closing down this fall, so he’s really grateful they have a chance to do a big event here where it all began. :’) and then–

kenta: it would be really nice to do a proper show here again before it closes down
keita/kazuma/kouhei: ohhh LET’S DO IT done
kouhei: organized by the suga kenta production committee.
kenta: uhhhh
kouhei: you should do your own show.
kenta: my—
kouhei: sugamyu.
kenta: LOL, A MUSICAL, RIGHT
kouhei: hyper projection engeki sugamyu.
all: (fall over laughing)

at the end they each said a few words about “hajimari no kyojin” and it was surprisingly, like, deep and emotional! keita went first, kenta told him not to cry, which i thought was a joke AND THEN HIS VOICE STARTED WOBBLING as he talked about leaving and coming back while kenta and kazuma like doubled over with laughter in the background. kazuma talked some more about the growth of ennoshita’s role, especially looking back at this first show when his character was kinda all over the place, and that now that he’s gotten the chance to properly show ennoshita’s story he’s going to do his best to support everyone, because he’s really grateful to do this show with these people.

i really liked what kouhei had to say, which was that it takes longer to make really good friends as you get older – kids become best friends instantly, but the older you get the longer it takes. but gekidan haikyuu have been together for three years now, so they’ve had a really special opportunity to become true, close friends – kouhei himself went through his three years of junior high without making any friends like the ones he’s made here. (cut to me, in the audience, a roiling mass of emotions.) then he said that honestly the atmosphere here felt like watching it at home with his family or something, like, laughing at your own dumb facial expressions and everything.

and kenta talked about how interesting and fun it was – for himself and hopefully for us, the audience – to rewatch shoen in light of “hajimari no kyojin”. he noticed the audience’s appreciative reaction at some of the lines and scenes that were referenced in later shows and he loved that we get excited at the same things he does as an actor.

ffff there was definitely more in kenta’s greetings and it’s just not coming to me. IM SORRY i’ll try better tonight. one down, five to go, plus haikyuu no hi… GANBARIMASU.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST as referenced here and also on cast twitter, the audience all received super cute thundersticks to cheer with – by the end of this week i will have like six sets of these things and as much fun as it would be to start my own gekidan haikyuu cheering squad, i’m planning to give away the extras so stay tuned! :D