#hajimari no kyojin

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!!!

Cross Talk #1 (Kenta, Kagechan, KT, Justin, Naoki)

Translator’s Notes:
1. As before, the interview was conducted before rehearsals began.
2. Brackets are preserved from the original text.
3. Scans available via @engekihaikyuuhere.

The “Summer of Evolution” over, they meet their official match with new weapons in hand. “The audience always banishes our uncertainty” – facing ever-new portrayals, the bond of the second years and the resolution of the first years!

Q: “Summer of Evolution” was a bit different from the other Haikyuu stage productions to date.

Shiota: Obviously we always have that “onward, onward” feeling each time, but this time it was mixed with uncertainty over “Will this actually work?” The show was created amidst that conflict. This is just a what-if, but now I really feel that if we were to restage Summer of Evolution we could go much much deeper. But we’re on to the next!

Kawahara: Our audience understands that the Haikyuu troupe is always on the attack, and on top of that they enjoy every production… Although in rehearsal we may feel lost and uncertain, when you experience the audience’s actual response, it makes you think, “the audience really banishes our uncertainty.” I think that’s why we’re able to keep pushing forward even further.

Miura: What everyone said last time was that “this is the most ‘theatrical’ production so far.” We challenged ourselves with showing the development of a story, something we couldn’t just force our way past with intensity, but this time we’ve returned to an intensity-based style, so… It’s rough. (laughter) It’s rough for those of us on the bench, but even more so for those in the match, probably.

Q: “Summer of Evolution” also had Tsukishima and Yamaguchi confronting each other over their feelings.

Kosaka: I wonder how we should work off of that fight and the feelings that Tsukishima and Yamaguchi overcame… The Tsukishima before and the Tsukishima after “Summer of Evolution” are a little different, so that’s still an issue for me, I think.

Q: Fuchino-san, the previous production was your first Engeki Haikyuu.

Fuchino: At first when we began rehearsals I was pretty bewildered. I was constantly relying on everyone else for help. What surprised me the most was Worry-san’s rehearsal style. It felt like even when we were practicing our group choreography if you didn’t add something of your own you’d go under… I’d honestly end up [just] being there, [just] doing what was decided. But I couldn’t come up with my own ideas like everyone else, and then the real show began… Around the time we got to the Tokyo rerun, I finally felt like I’d gotten the feel of the Haikyuu troupe and started to fit in. So my goal this time is “to be relied on.” We’re bringing in new members, and I’d like to leave a strong impression, point-by-point. Plus, at last we’re getting a close-up on Ennoshita, so I want to back him up right.

Q: Against Wakutani Minami (Wakunan). The time to show the meaning of Ennoshita’s presence has come.

Kawahara: Ennoshita is a character who represents the emotions of what it is to not be a starter. So I wonder how much the people watching will sympathize with that. I want to show “a normal person doing their best.”

Shiota: Ennoshita’s the NPC ace!

Kawahara: Uh-huh. I really think I’ve ended up as the audience stand-in on stage, so… Up til now I’ve seen precisely that point – soothing the audience, or giving them a break – as a critical responsibility, or to put it the other way around, I didn’t want anyone else to take it over. “This is my job.” Because of those experiences, I think Ennoshita and the audience have similar feelings. I want to work off of that, leverage it, and express the drama of this storyline with the right emotion and technique.

Q: And the connection between the second years, which we haven’t seen much of so far, is coming sharply into focus.

Kawahara: That’s right. These two [Tanaka and Nishinoya] have gone with the momentum of their “Soi soi!” thing (laughter), and there have been almost no opportunities for the second years to show their relationship in conversation.

Shiota: There are this time. The flashback where Ennoshita runs away and then comes back is like the proof of our history together and all our words and deeds so far.

Fuchino: We want to convey that to everyone.

Q: Yamaguchi’s also called onto the court… for quite a bitter experience.

Miura: Yeahhh… Yeah, that’s right. Um, there’s the part where Ennoshita comes to his rescue… it’s painful. You know how the subtitle this time is “The Start of the Giant”. But for me, the subtitle “Battle of the Cowards” is bam, right there.

Kosaka/Shiota: Ahhhh!

Kawhara: That’s good. Ennoshita and Yamaguchi, right?

Miura: The battle the two of them have with themselves leaves a really powerful impression.

Kosaka: The “giants” are Hinata and Nakashima, right? But just now… I kind of felt like the two cowards will go on to get bigger, or something.

Kawahara: Yeah. Maybe that’s one of the hidden meanings!

Shiota: The ones who read deep into a work to enjoy it more are the winners.

Kosaka: Okay, I’m going to think of it that way.

Shiota: But Tsukki’s been a giant from the beginning so… “Still a Giant?”

Kawahara/Miura: (burst out laughing)

Kosaka: There it is. (laughter)

Shiota: There it sure is. (laughter)

Q: Engeki Haikyuu’s famous raked stage is back, too!

Fuchino: This is my first time on a raked stage. I’m going to strengthen up my legs… I’m prepping for my thighs to be on par with a major leaguer’s this year.

Shiota: They really bulk up.

Miura: When you get up there once, the same day you’re immediately sore.

Fuchino: That’s what I thought.

Shiota: Just standing is tiring. (laughs)

Miura: We sat down whenever we could get a chance.

Kosaka: Now we’ve started to forget what it was really like, so I’m afraid.

Kawahara: But you know, a raked stage gets you more excited! Last time I caught myself thinking, “A level stage is a little bit sad.”

Shiota: I get what you mean, that moment when your adrenaline spikes. During matches, you’re moving for thirty minutes straight for a single match… Fucchi, soon.

Fuchino: No… that’s why… I went to see “Shousha to Haisha”, and even then it was like… just watching I thought I was gonna puke…

Kosaka/Miura: (explosion of laughter)

Kawahara: (laughter) That one was definitely a little abnormal!

Shiota: My feeling is… the ones before that were just right. For me.

Kawahara: Same! Of course even then you’re moving plenty, but that feeling where you think “A heavier load fires me up"… Well, I’m a little scared too, but. (laughs) Also, there’s the distance between us and the audience. There’s this sense of urgency like the audience gets on our level (of energy), or maybe we’re able to pull them along. Of course, the issue is always how far we can follow what Worry-san wants to do.

Shiota: Worry-san doesn’t hold on to anything. We leave what we’ve tried before there and move on to the next thing. But there are some points I want to keep…

Kawahara: That’s something you should definitely say at the moment you think it. "I want to keep this thing we made.”

Kosaka: Lasers!

Fuchino: The lasers were cool.

Miura: They were! I hope we use them again.

Kawahara: The LED panels are heavy, it was hard switching them out.

Shiota: I like the transparent panels more. They have a good vibe.

Q: Objects are a crucial part of Engeki Haikyuu, aren’t they.

Kawahara: These plays verge on shows, so the tempo shift between the appeal of movement based in a show aesthetic and the captivation of proper acting technique is what makes Engeki Haikyuu good. To optimize that balance we fight with the director, then receive inspiration from him in turn. We have to create it together.

Q: Karasuno have to make the adults think, “They’ve changed,” since last summer, after all.

Shiota: Definitely! That’s important.

Kosaka: I… think I’m going to bulk up. I mean, going through that summer, then stopping all these strong opponents in the matches after that, volleyball muscles must build up naturally. Even for Tsukishima. So when Tsukishima stands on the court I want him to give off an aura like"Huh? Has he gotten bigger?“ – like a sense of pressure. Plus, his glasses change. (laughter) I want to grow both inside and out.

Miura: This is our first official match after defeat. Karasuno is going on to become stronger, and in the middle of them is Yamaguchi. I think he’s changing inside, between his relationship with Ennoshita who’s also in the bench squad and especially his feelings when he saw Tsukki being so pathetic. Plus, this is when Hinata meets Nakashima and also starts to change even more… When it comes to the strength necessary to change, we also have to figure out "something” that will allow us to fight back agianst the talent of the new cast.

Shiota: It’s fine, we’ve got experience with that.

Miura: I know! That persuasiveness that makes the audience think “Oh, sure enough Karasuno are winning.” It would be great if we could use our experience to show these changes. Plus, we’re going to sweat a ton. We sweat on the bench, too!

Shiota: Johzenji is a “fun” school, but first, I want to show them just how much fun we have on stage. “Can you do this?” “Come on, let’s all have fun!” (laughter) Then, I want them to produce the power to overcome that, so I think “Oh, y'all are having fun yourselves,” and then I try to overcome that – I want that kind of synergy. Hopefully that will keep going from rehearsals. The drama with Tanaka and Daichi-san in the Wakunan match… I’ll show you Tanaka’s power in getting back on his feet! And then I’d like to be better about raising others up. I’ve learned that, that it can’t be all about me. Worry-san told me that pulling others along and lifting them up makes me better, too. That’s my issue to tackle!

Fuchino: Johzenji’s a high-energy team, so I don’t want Noya-san to lose on those terms. Last time, I somehow managed to get by on energy and meager skill, so this time I want energy plus equivalent skill. Noya-san’s a genius so I want to portray an appropriate mood. I have to show “he really is good.” I want to be a presence that doesn’t reveal his desperation, and rather has calm to spare.

Kawahara: Noya-san has to encourage Ennoshita when he tells him “Nice receive"… I want to get that from Fucchi’s Nishinoya.

Fuchino: My Noya-san will be able to say such a convincing line naturally!

Kawahara: Amidst the pressure of the Wakunan match, where loss means elimination, I hope I can portray Ennoshita’s feelings as they change from "I have to pull everyone here along somehow” to “Everyone here is helping me” with the right sensitivity, and… Kouhei said this too, but I also want to be conscious of when I’m standing by myself and when others are helping me stand.

Q: Team play.

Kawahara: Haikyuu is the story of Hinata, yearning to be the Little Giant, and in relation to him Kageyama, and of the rest of Karasuno. So as our ultimate destination we have to show, within the match, how Karasuno’s evolved and then also the moment that Hinata awakens as “a giant at the beginning”. Amazing performances from Johzenji and Wakunan mean that the more we compete there the better. I want us to travel along the path of the performance and convey a story as one.

let’s be real, unlike previous posts this is not so much a review as a report transcribed directly from the volleyball nerve centers in my heart. you have been warned.

* where to begin. where to even. begin. with kazuma, i guess. what can i say about kawahara kazuma that i haven’t said already? his performance last night was. incredible. i knew it would be, of course, but – god. between friday night, when i last saw the show (and around when i posted my initial review), and daisenshuuraku, we learned the following story:

on saturday night, kazuma joined kenta and kagechan for the third curtain call greeting. and he talked about how why this particular storyline is so meaningful. four years ago, when he auditioned for haikyuu, he was on the verge of giving up acting altogether. acting, which he’s been doing since he was ten years old. (“for the first time since junior high school, i skipped practice.”) but the reason he decided to audition for haikyuu was because he heard kenta was going to play hinata. and then he got the role of ennoshita. and it changed everything.

so during his flashback scene – when first year ennoshita decides to run away from the struggle, only to feel empty and unsatisfied until he goes back. and then, afterwards, in the locker room. “half of what i did was worthless. for the first time i feel like i was able to fight properly to the end, but i don’t feel satisfied at all.” like. it wasn’t just about ennoshita. it was about kazuma.

* the flashback made kenta and kouhei and keita cry. the scene between ennoshita and yamaguchi made kairi cry. and the scene in the locker room made kazuma himself cry. (my entire section was a fucking mess. self included, natch.) it was just. ugh. i’m so, so, so grateful that i was able to see this in person.

* i failed to mention shiota kouhei in my initial review. i really should have. he’s always been good at making tanaka lovable, but here he was also really good at showing his emotional slump. his tanaka is a little bit softer than the one on the page, but it worked. and like, the sheer amount of ennoshita + tanaka supporting each other in the background at all times – high fives, fist bumps, shoulder rubs. it was. a lot. (and it was even more affecting because of kazuma and kouhei’s relationship irl.)

* the curtain call. was so much. as usual, kazuma got an extra swell of applause during his first bow. then during the speeches, as soon, he got such an enthusiastic and long-lasting ovation that he had to cut us off. then in the middle of his speech everyone spontaneously broke into applause again. he tried to keep it upbeat and cheerful, instead of deep and emotional, but he couldn’t stop us having feelings!!! he did ennoshita’s usual closing bit – “ok, applause, applause!!” (clap clap-clap-clap) – which was cute, and it seemed like he’d gotten through it fine… and then, after yuuto, it was kouhei’s turn, and he spun his usual bravado into “thanks for loving tanaka-senpai! even though this time he got daichi injured… even though he caused trouble for his team… even though he had to be saved by ennoshita over and over…” and then kazuma had to turn his back and retreat to center stage and bend over and brace his hands on his legs to hide that he was crying. THEN kouhei did his usual tanaka wordplay riddle, the details of which i forgot, but the answer to which was “isn’t ennoshita great??” at which point kazuma stood up, walked over, and hugged him, so that kouhei ended up saying his final thanks while kazuma just kind of hung off of him. (then kazuma hugged yuuto as well. second years. ;_;)

andthen, after everyone had left the stage except kagechan and kenta, kouhei pushed kazuma back on to take another bow. it’s too bad it sort of overlapped with kagechan bowing, because they deserved their separate moments of recognition… but it’s also not, like, really in question who people were clapping for. if you know what i mean.

* meanwhile, kt-san was laying out his own fair share of emotions. he started with a simple explanation about how after shoen, he was replaced by akisawa kentarou, and then he was lucky enough to be able to come back – and at that ryoutarou just LOST it, like full on crumply face crying. which obviously his teammates thought was hilarious. and then when he saw ryoutarou crying, keita started to cry too. kenta: “guys. we still have the autumn show.”

according to twitter, keita did the noon show curtain call greeting as well, and kenta said that when he first heard from keita that he wouldn’t be coming back for saien, it was just as the anime was airing this part of the storyline, where daichi’s injured. so kenta was watching and like, crying alone in his house over keita leaving. .____.

then ryoutarou: i said i wasn’t going to cry but… (sniffly) keita-san, thank you for coming back.

* whoosh. ok. somehow i gotta move past karasuno. i love this karasuno so much tho.

* i knew yanagihara rin would be in trouble from the moment he came out for his very first scene (he and hinata watching the little giant) with a tear-stained face. and sure enough, he started to break down before his match was over… but to his credit, he still had a strong line delivery, and pulled off his scenes well. just. while visibly crying. XD

* it was pretty cute how although johzenji was the messy free-for-all team on stage they had it together for their curtain call greetings, whereas wakutani were just, like, an uncoordinated blubbering mess who could barely manage to say “thank you for cheering us on” properly. hasui yuma was crying so hard he could barely speak. goku, who looks like mister tough guy, was messy crying. rin started strong… and then lost his composure once he started talking about being together with such great nakama, haha.

* i was right about johzenji – those daisenshuuraku emotions added the last 10% their post-match scene was missing. matsubara, suzuki, and yasukawa were having a particularly rough time handling their feelings. i was on the opposite side of the theater so i couldn’t see misaki’s face, this might just have been nice acting, but her voice sounded pretty choked up? momo had a very sweet moment in her curtain call speech when she talked about how special it was to be part of two teams, and really feel like she supported them equally, and it doubled her enjoyment of the show. :)

* during the last couple nekoma vs fukurodani scenes, i suspect shouri was having some emotions – hard to tell what in his voice was natural hoarseness and what was feelings. but takato was unflappable as ever… until he came out for the curtain call and his little mischievous cat face crumpled in tears. (and i totally lost it. im not too proud to admit that.)

* HAVING SAID THAT, in my initial review i praised team johzenji for doing a great job balancing comic relief/bench work in the second act, so that they were funny without getting in the way of the main match, but people who have not learned that lesson? takato and shouri. (to a lesser extent takumi and shungo but it’s extremely clear who were the key instigators here.) i love them both to death, but it’s all about knowing the right time and place – a key emotional moment in daisenshuuraku is maybe not the time to be slapping shouri’s ass right behind the main characters, just a comment. i hope the camera and dvd production staff were able to capture those scenes so they have the proper impact without the distraction, and then also get doses of elementary schooler antics at other times.

* …however i uh i did appreciate my prime central view of takato spending the e n t i r e second curtain call leaning on shouri, putting an arm around his waist, cuddling him, whispering in his ear, just generally being Peak Takanyan. it was real good for me. XD

* another thing i didn’t mention in the main review – the show closes with a preview of saikyou no team, kagehina facing off with ushijima… who is then joined by a projection of the rest of shiratorizawa. and i want to give props to katou ken for the perfect eerie movements, craning his neck around, as tendou. i think they’re going to be really good.

* since i was just talking about how where you sit really changes your perception of haikyuu stage – this time i was in the fourth row far left, and i actually thought the effects were more impressive there than from eighth row center (my friday seat). some of the diagonal choreo looked particularly good from that angle. but most importantly, so close to the stage there was an incredible sense of height. i was already impressed with the wire work, as previously indicated, but from the fourth row, i had to crane my neck to look up(“ue wo miageru… kyuugi de aru!”) as they went shooting into the air and it really felt, like, awe-inspiring (cheesy, but you get what i’m saying) to see them soaring up there.

* literally, like, will i need to sell an organ to get daisenshuuraku tickets this fall? bc i’ll do it. i’m ready.

so. hello. i usually write up my butai thoughts as, um, 100+ tweet threads in the immediate wake of whatever i just saw, but this time around i thought i’d work them out into a proper report, of a sort. if you, too, have seen this show already and want to talk about it… please. any time. always.

about reviewing: this is my very favorite 2.5D franchise, ever. but this is also a review, not a cheerleading exercise, so not every single thing i have to say is unrelentingly positive. having said that, i respect kinoshita, wada, suga-zachou, and the staff at large more than just about any creative team in this corner of japanese theater fandom so like. i’m not here to drag, lol.

about spoilers: i talk about the plot elements covered but try to avoid spoiling any of the fun production surprises. :) happy to do a more spoilery play-by-play later if folks are curious.

about length: i just checked and it’s 2400 words im so sorry.

without further ado…

first of all, i admit that based on the preview clips i doubted, and i was swiftly taken to task for doubting. IM SORRY WORRY-SAN i trust u implicitly and i should have known better. after the major changes in shinka no natsu, i was concerned that bringing back the revolving stage and the original opening theme would feel stale/regressive. it did not. while they did bring back the revolving element they also extended the stage backward and added a second level behind a full stage height projection screen – the second level was used to do some neat staging for flashbacks/parallels and the screen was used to, how shall we say this, up their projection game in a major way, which i frankly did not think was possible. i will not spoil the details but it was pretty great, on a purely technical level.

i also realized that a lot of the repetition – opening with the bike scene, bringing back the original opening credits music, the staging, etc – is the “look back” over the last couple years that i’d expected to come this fall. they are very obviously already preparing for the end – you could think of this as part one of their last show, with the fall as part two. the show opens with a restaging of sixth grader hinata seeing the little giant on tv for the first time – then the current karasuno team take the place of the tv and hinata joins them for a team jog. “karasuno, fight!” “oh!” “fight!” “oh!” only then each character calls out their signature line from the show so far. “uchi no renchuu wa chanto tsuyoi” / “mou tobenai karasu nante yobasenai” / “murabito b mo tatakaemasu!”

and haha. let me tell you. BOY, DID I FEEL THINGS. a lot of things. i think yachi got me the worst but they were all real bad. (i have so many feelings about yachi’s story and what a beautiful job saitou ami did with her character on stage. god. ;_;)

the theme of this play was the role of captain – what makes a good captain, what a captain does for the team, and how to step into those shoes when the captain is gone. the johzenji match is fun, but here, in a sense, it exists more or less to set up the wakutani match – (re)establishing daichi’s importance so that his absence feels like the gut punch it is. and fully settling the weight of that responsibility on ennoshita’s shoulders, as both daichi’s substitute on the court and the captain-in-waiting.

with that in mind, the rival schools: imo it wasn’t strictly necessary to cast full teams for each school – each match got its own dedicated act, and unlike, for example, nekoma/datekou in karasuno fukkatsu (which had a similar story structure), there aren’t really any individual characters on these rival schools who have a role as such other than terushima and takeru. (you know, the captains. see above. XD) so in theory one could get this done with, like, one actor for each captain and then an ensemble cast playing the rest of the team across both matches. HOWEVER, having all those bodies allows them to do super cool stuff visually, and why force yourself to create the illusion of a full team if you don’t have to? i.e., /i/ sure am not complaining, isn’t it nice to have $$$ to achieve the max vision of your choreographer. XD

i also have no doubt that the kids playing these other characters are doing whatever they can to create a character within the ensemble, and i suspect there’s plenty for repeat viewers to pick up on, esp during say the johzenji match (see below). however for the first time viewer following the main flow of the story it’s more or less a very large ensemble cast.

the johzenji chaos was well expressed, haha, there was so damn much going on all the time that i hardly knew where to look. (i’ve also seen opinions on j-twitter that that diluted the impact and i can see that too – it worked for me as a “funny” match that didn’t cross the line into comic relief, but ymmv.) i thought the final scene with misaki would pack more of a punch, but i fully expect them to cry at daisenshuuraku so that might fill in the last 10% that’s missing rn.

wakutani are another Good Dance Team. one did get a sense, stylistically, of fukurodani- and nekoma-lite with johzenji and wakunan, respectively – i assume that was intentional. mirroring the cats vs owls match, as it were. yanagihara rin’s takeru was like… scary?? i had to rewatch those episodes this weekend to see if i’d just forgotten something, but no, stage takeru is not so much reliable middle brother as scowly quiet tough guy. he looked like a kyoutani tbh, and looking at the kid actually cast for kyoutani, one wonders if someone in casting mixed up some paperwork or something. having said that, yanagihara was great at being the character he was, i enjoyed what he did on stage. i’m just not sure that character was takeru. XD (edit: ok having just rewatched, i have to revise this somewhat, i think a big part of my impression was due to being too far back to properly see his expressions the first time around – up close he was much smilier, and bc i was thinking about it i noticed some nice details like him going over for a family hug afterward.) otoh big post-match scene – all of wakutani, actually – was really good. v effective, i heard sniffles around me.

during this match, johzenji reappeared dressed as takeru’s family: FUCKING HILARIOUS omg, everyone involved has clearly learned how to do this right wrt blocking, the very fine line between comic relief and intrusion, etc, after the, er, shaky shousha to haisha experiment of kuroken doubling as oikawa’s fangirls. seichou shita na, errone.

also, some great wire work for hinata and takeru – you could tell kenta is really comfortable up there these days. the first time the wires came into play one of the women behind me went “UWO!” which, when a japanese theatergoer makes a noise out loud, that’s a true sign something’s impressive. XD

nekoma vs fukurodani: Yeah, That Happened. it is a testament to how well done karasuno vs wakunan was that i didn’t just spend the entire time screeching BRING BACK CATS VS OWLS because fjkdajfkdlsfjd KYAA. another good staging moment – they used mirrors to create the effect of two full teams playing at a crowded gymnasium, it was brill. i won’t spoil some of the fun details but vvjakdlfjdf. and tbh i think the best performance of the four was probably shouri’s?? not that this is news but istg idk how someone so soft offstage does THAT on stage. is it this “acting” thing you speak of.

new bokuaka: i mean it was clear some of this material was meant for yoshimoto kouki and i did kinda miss him – i appreciate higashi-san’s pinch hitting and he did a solid job. but. ah well. HAVING SAID THAT. fucking “michi wo tsukurimasu yo” i mean we should all be grateful it wasn’t kouki and yuuki or it would have just been a fucking fanfic on stage. it was still bad and i don’t even go here. XD

and last but not least, arita ushiwaka kenji: not exactly the world’s most natural line delivery but that’s fine because, i mean, he’s ushiwaka. and his physical presence was perfect. which was about all he was called on to do in this particular show, ahaha.

now, for karasuno. and specifically, for my son, kawahara kazuma. remember what i said approximately a thousand words ago, about captains and captains in waiting and stepping up to the plate? (or onto the court, as it were.) ennoshita’s story was the heart of the wakutani match and kazuma carried the second act. he was. so. good. he had good material to work with, of course, but he made it even better. i was saying to a friend that in retrospect i think this is one of the very very few parts of the series that actually played better and more emotionally affecting on stage than in the source material (as opposed to differently good/differently affecting). in the manga/anime, you can only see what the paneling or the frame shows you, and those initial paneling/framing choices are focused on the drama of CAPTAIN DOWN. but on the stage, daichi goes down… and off to the side you see ennoshita freeze. and from that moment on, for kazuma, it’s go time. he doesn’t let up until the end of post-match scene in (here) the locker room – which, jesus, that scene. it packs ten times the punch it does in the anime. because of kazuma.

sorry if i sound like a crazy person here ahaha. but like. like, imagine you have been acting since childhood, you’ve studied dance with famous choreographers and innovators, you had a main role in The Franchise That Changed 2.5D as a teenager, you’ve done a solo album, you have a serious history in performing arts… and you get cast in what was initially the smallest role of the entire karasuno team. and you take it! and pull your weight! kazuma was a team player for three years and he deserved this chance to let his actual skills shine so much. ;_; because i don’t necessarily think he would have been better in any of the other roles than his actual teammates – but i do think he is a much better actor than several of his actual teammates. and he finally got the opportunity to show that.

anyway, when it came time for curtain calls, the applause swelled noticeably for kazuma – a louder ovation than anyone except kagechan and kenta. and one of those people clapping her hands off, say in row 20, just a random row choice, was definitely tearing up at the same time.

IN OTHER KARASANEWS. kt-san. LIVE IN PERSON KT-SAN BACK IN THE ROLE HE WAS MEANT FOR cries into my hands i love him daichi-saaaaaaaaaan. very occasionally his delivery reminded me he’s a model not an actor, if you know what i mean, but like, for the vast part it didn’t matter because he is naturally such a perfect fit. have i mentioned i love him.

new suga: mmmmm. he looked and moved fine but his line delivery did not convince me. tbf it’s not like suga has a huge role to play in these matches so 1) it’s not a huge deal 2) he didn’t get much chance to get into the character. either he’ll get better or he won’t, and if he doesn’t it’s not going to sink the next play or anything. he seems like a nice enough kid, i wish him well!

kageyama tatsuya: still can’t yell and enunciate at the same time. loved that they brought back the archer analogy from shinka no natsu though!! it was one of my favorite things about his kageyama, and it’s nice that it’s something he “owns” instead of imitating/inheriting from tatsunari.

tsukishima & yamaguchi: miura kairi continues to get even better, i’m so pleased. <3 also, i love love love that they still use the musical motif from shousha to haisha for yamaguchi’s jump float serve. it was the same in shinka no natsu, it’s the same here. THE TSUKKIYAMA WAS REAL CUTE, great detail work before and after the serve as well as after tsukki’s block(s). as for tsukishima, much as they brought back kageyama’s archer imagery, they brought back tsukki’s fancy katana kill block. (they didn’t waste kondou shouri, either, i’ll leave it at that.)

last but not least, MY ACTUAL SON AND FEELINGS TWIN, SUGA KENTA: ok like. to set the scene here. i have mad respect for this kid and also love him to death as a human. i think he puts more thought into this production than anyone else in the cast – he is practically worry-san’s AD. and he clearly has a lot of real deep thoughts and feelings about the source material. so deep in fact that it took a while for me to come around to his hinata because while, for example, tatsunari’s kageyama could have walked straight off my television screen, kenta went down to the manga and built hinata up from there. he didn’t have a choice – he’s nothing like murase ayumu’s voice. all too often we, and i include myself here, think of the two dimensions in 2.5D as anime, rather than manga… but just as there’s a big gap between the two dimensions of animation and the three dimensions of live theater, there’s as big a gap again between static black-and-white drawing, and movement and color and sound. and when i looked at kenta’s hinata as something created solely from furudate’s art style, it all slotted into place for me. (naturally, ymmv.)

it also took kenta longer than some of the others, i think, to portray all of what he wanted to. shoen hinata was pretty yelly, and pretty single-register yelly. hinata is a yelly character, of course, but the balance between that hinata and Serious Match Hinata was out of whack at first. this got better and better with every show. and then—

his encounter with ushiwaka here. was IT. it was what i was looking for all this time. his delivery of hinata’s big line there was like – i think maybe i clapped my hands over my mouth, unclear, bc it was like the final missing piece and i was so happy. kentaaaaa. ;____;

part of me wonders if this is what kenta’s always had in his head but maybe couldn’t get his face/voice to express the way he wanted it? OR, IT’S KENTA, SO MAYBE IT WAS ON PURPOSE and his previous Serious Hinata was meant to be like, just a feral hunger child whereas this is the kid who experienced the heartbreak of losing to seijou. i would love to ask him tbh. XD

anyway, my son, after five plays continues to grow in his portrayal of this character. kenta is the heart of gekidan haikyuu in so many ways, and i will be at their graduation show if it kills me.

(breathes out) i think that’s. everything. a best setter award to anyone who read this far, and feel free to ask if there’s anything specific you want to know about? i will be seeing it again this weekend for daisenshuuraku and will be sure to report back on who cried, etc. all hail volleyball stage the end.

after seeing wada-sensei perform live with the cast my conscience came back… for now. but here’s a tiny graduation eve present for you: “hajimari no kyojin” (main theme).