#suga kenta

Scans, as usual, available via @engekihaikyuuhere. See end for notes.

Before we started shoen rehearsals, Worry-san held a workshop where we split up into Karasuno and Seijou teams and each picked a single kanji and a song that made us think of the team… any song, didn’t matter what kind, that made us think “this!”. We had to think about a color, as well. And most of us were meeting each other for the first time, so it was all pure, like, “What about this one, maybe?” During times like that, your personality obviously comes out, and it’s a chance for you to learn how others are thinking. That left a big impression on me as “This is how Worry-san does things.” Now we can bat around those sorts of ideas as a matter of course, but having that experience before orthodox rehearsals began was really big. I very much think that the staff are the ones who first established our foundations.

I’m always thinking about aiming for the ‘summit’ of a new type of theater, and I say that a lot, but what we’re attempting is both theater and performance. [see footnote.] As actors, that’s absolutely the main thing we’re thinking about, so – in a good way – we’re not trapped in the 2.5D genre, and both the genre itself and our performance improve together, in synergy. That’s our fundamental attitude. A critical element of that is “heat” [passion], and so shoen may have been the most unpolished, but I want the audience to see that volatility for themselves, er, (laughter) rather, thinking back on it that’s totally part of its attraction… The heat was really at a boiling point, I think. There was a certain amount of roughness we couldn’t predict, so the work we did to make up for those moments in the final product gave rise to a passion and energy that was really just like reading the comic. That means of expression is something unique to Haikyuu Stage, and our strength, and a point of pride. I flatter myself that we might be in a new category altogether.

Hinata is… hard. That’s the one point I feel strongly on. Even now, every week a new Hinata appears, and after reading I find myself thinking “He’s going that far, huh” or “he’s really growing” – in the present continuous tense. In addition to focusing on that, being the “current” Hinata is of course an unknown quantity. That’s exactly why when there are scenes [in the manga] like, “Ah, I did something like this in one of the ad libs”, I think “Good, I wasn’t mistaken.” When a certain interpretation of Hinata I tried out links up with the source material, it feels like someone showed me the answer key, like, “I’m doing it from the same point of view.” It’s gratifying. With Kageyama… Tatsunari and I talk about how to play our roles surprisingly infrequently, and I feel like that produces trust between us. We’re at the point where we can read each other’s intent, or like, often we somehow understand, “Oh, right now he’s seeing this in me, and getting this from me.”

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how much easier this would be if I thought of it as just work. I’ve been a huge fan of the original manga from the start, so it’s really important to me… I’m taking a lot on myself, you know? Of course, we have an amazing group of people here and I really want to work together with them even more to create this production… My feelings are complicated, I don’t know either. Yeah, this is what I do for fun. (huge laugh) Honestly, I have confidence in it right down to the “!!” at the end, and this is a production that repays fans’ love with more love, so I hope they feel confident in coming to see it. I absolutely want to keep delivering a good product. We want to keep growing as the genre “Haikyuu stage”, and to create our own unique world. I want to keep doing Haikyuu stage until my legs come off. (laughter)

Translator’s note: When Kenta says what they are attempting is both “theater and performance”, the words he uses are engeki (演劇) and shibai (芝居). Engeki was the word coined in the Meiji era for Western drama, while shibai had previously referred to performaning arts such as kabuki and puppet theater. They are now used in overlapping contexts and do not directly translate to English particularly well. Haaaaa. Essentially, what Kenta is trying to say is that the troupe isn’t just focused on eyecatching theatrical elements (projection mapping, the 2.5D “look”, etc.), but also pure acting and story. …maybe if I weren’t just an amateur theater fan I’d be better at putting this in words. Both showmanship and technique? Anyway for further reading in English on the differentiation between the two and concepts of Japanese theatricality I recommend critic and academic Mitsuya Mori.

(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! ♥♥♥