#秋春

I made a few posts already detailing my immediate thoughts after seeing the stage play (twice!!).

Now I have decided to compile my thoughts into a more coherent post.

Spoilers for the stage play, which covers the events of manga volumes 1-5, plus some of the extras from volume 7.

To preface this: I went the first time on the second showing in Tokyo, Saturday’s 6pm showing, with a friend. Seating was up to luck, and by pure sheer fortune, we got seats in the second row–which was effectively the first row. The second time, I went on Monday night, the late 7pm showing, alone. This time I was in the third row on the balcony. (Both views of the stage pre-show below the cut.)

(Side note about the second angle–that railing on the left was intensely frustrating. That part of the stage is Ugetsu’s bedroom and Haruki’s dining room (and also Uenoyama’s classroom, but ah….my priority is very much the Akiharu storyline). Haruki’s dining room turned out to be fine, as they are all sitting in chairs, nobody gets cut off. But Ugetsu’s bedroom, they’re so often just lying on the bed or sitting on the floor, and frequently the railings felt like serious obstacles during those scenes.)

The show was first announced as 2hrs 30mins with intermission, but it ended up at 2hrs 50mins, according to the official Twitter. (I think it might have in fact been closer to 3hrs, as the second time I went, they skipped intermission–more about this later, it was GREAT–and when I checked my watch as I was putting on my coat, it was already more than 2hrs 50mins past the start time.)

As per the manga, act 1 follows mainly Ritsumafu, concluding with the confession after their first live. Act 2 picks up from the two of them asking Akiharu for permission (Akihiko is crashed on Haruki’s couch eavesdropping while they ask Haruki for permission to date, in this version, which worked very well imo), all the way through the confession and up to Akiharu asking Ritsumafu for permission to date. (Full circle!)

It starts like the anime. 寂しくないよ/I’m not lonely, says Mafuyu, and we see him standing alone at center stage in an orange spotlight, hugging the guitar as petals flutter down.

This orange spotlight was the depiction of Yuki throughout the play. I loved it. They did not cover the specific events of the fight, which was narrated by Hiiragi while Mafuyu acted silently opposite the spotlight. Honestly, I didn’t fully appreciate how emotive they manage to make the spotlight during my first viewing. (Going into my second show, I texted @edragoon​ that I was a bit worried I wouldn’t appreciate it as much a second time if I got a less good seat, because I had such a great seat the first time; and she pointed out to me that the effects and such are so much better from a seat further back. It was the Yuki spotlight that gave me the sense, of YES, I’m so glad I did get to see it again from this angle.)

The music they used was from the anime. By which I mean the music they performed, yes, but also they used the soundtrack music as the stage soundtrack as well. Whenever Uenoyama and Mafuyu were playing with their guitars, they were genuinely playing the guitars, even if they weren’t necessarily hooked up to the amps. (Miming was only used for select scenes where the person playing was more or less irrelevant.)

What was fascinating was when they would hybridize a scene, and start out with the cast actually playing a piece, and then dive into a recording. They did this with the jam session–you know how Uenoyama starts with a riff, Haruki joins in, then Aki cuts in with drums and they sync up? From the drum section it switched to a recording.

The jam session was used as a kind of opening credits, where the whole cast comes out, with their names displayed on the screen at the back of the stage. Full cast was the 4 members of Given, of course, then Itaya and Ueki, Hiiragi and Shizu-chan, Take-chan, and Ugetsu. (Thank goodness Ugetsu was last, because I always got so enraptured when Ugetsu came out on stage and forgot to look anywhere else–more on this later too.)

Mafuyu’s actor was astonishing. The first time I went, my friend spent intermission googling to make sure that he definitely was not the anime voice actor in any shape way or form, because his voice sounded so similar. I loved every member of the cast, but sometimes I would fall into thinking about technical details. The only characters for whom I NEVER thought about the acting aspects were Mafuyu and Ugetsu, because both of them so perfectly embodied the characters they were portraying.

As the above is a complete list of the cast, this means that they *did* cut all the girls–the classmate who shares gossip about Mafuyu with Uenoyama was replaced by a letter, and Yayoi was entirely absent. I do think that perhaps Uenoyama’s character’s likability suffers a little, because Yayoi’s presence is what provides the counter to his usual Ue-sama mode. But as a storytelling tactic, it made a LOT of sense, and I was so grateful that they didn’t cut Shizu (unlike the drama), who is absolutely necessary to the portrayal of Hiiragi.

Scenes like banter were often performed quite quickly through the start of act 1, at times as if the actors were desperately trying to rush through the show to keep the run time under 3 hours. Having said this, when time was necessary for the scene, they DID take their time. The emotional slow scenes were not rushed at all.

Itaya and Ueki act throughout act 1 as a sort of banter happening off to the side while the other actors run around getting into their new positions. Itaya’s actor was, true to his character, VERY emotive and expressive. He was great, I wished for more Itaya scenes.

Take-chan is great too.

Now see, the second time I went, they didn’t do an intermission. When the curtain went down, Take-chan came out on stage and introduced himself with his full name (Yatake Kouji), and explained that because his name doesn’t appear anywhere in the story, he just hoped that we would remember it. He apologized for the lack of intermission, and as to the why, said, “良い子は22時には帰らなきゃいけない、とか、そんなもんですかね。まあ察してください” (rough tr. “I guess it’s something like, well-behaved kids have to be home by 10pm? Or something like that, please understand.”)

Then Take-chan said it would be tiring to spend 2 hours sitting down, so let’s all stand up and do some stretches. So…we all stood up. The whole theater. Take-chan was very shocked and very happy. (The lights also went from middling to fully on as everybody stood up, like the person doing the lights wasn’t sure either whether this should have audience lighting or not until everybody started standing up.) There was much laughter and much silliness as he guided us through stretches (one extra one because he was so happy we were all doing as he said that he asked if he could do it again). And then when he told us we could sit back down, he continued remarking with shock at the fact that EVERYBODY was standing. I was laughing so hard my eyes were tearing up, it was great.

As he bade us a reluctant farewell and returned backstage, he assured us that he would in fact be in act 2 as well. It was so fun.

Anyway, act 2.

I did NOT expect the story to go past volume 3 when I went the first time, so I was just in shock and awe that they acted out this whole story in under 3 hours.

I love Haruki spinning around stage happily sneaking photos of the sleeping Aki.

I love AkiHaru ribbing Ue throughout act 1–their synchronized 現代風のオシャンなギター！(that line about Ue’s guitar will be modern style contrasted to their Showa style) line that they give Ue just before that initial jam session was PERFECT. Aki’s 上ノ山のフォローよろ (that line about “you work on Uenoyama” just before he goes off to talk to Mafuyu) in Haruki’s ear was WOW.

But in act 2, of course, everything gets ramped up a notch, and OH.

I think I said after my first viewing, I didn’t really get the sense that Aki was so into Haruki in act 1, and I really felt the shift.

After my second viewing, I don’t think this is quite the case anymore.

Aki’s actor acts Aki’s attachment to Ugetsu SO WELL. It’s more like…Haruki is that not-quite-crush he has that he’ll never REALLY make a move on because he knows he’s taken.

It was heartbreaking.

Ugetsu and Aki’s attachment to each other was acted out to heartbreaking perfection.

The Akisame breakup scene, the second time I watched it, EVERYBODY around me was crying. It was all sniffles and people wiping their eyes.

An edit they did make was that after Akihiko delivers his “There’s no point telling you” line to Haruki during The Scene from vol 4, the scene goes on a little longer, Aki diving back down to resume what he’d started, making it abundantly clear, he did NOT stop.

They kept a lot more of the little moments than I’d expected, including the dragonfly. (Which was placed on the edge of the stage right in front of me the first time I watched it, which was amazing. And also how I know they ACTUALLY had a rubber dragonfly there, it was not mimed.)

Somehow, act 2 of the stage play felt a lot less rushed than the anime movie, even though they probably total out to about the same amount of time, and the stage play covered more terrain–they still had a lot of Ritsumafu interacting (though they did skip the fight about Ue’s jealousy), and the summer festival meeting with Shizuragi.

They kept the confession scene more or less the same as the manga, and ohhh it shot straight to my heart.

Aki’s hands were even shaking….which I know even though I was never at an angle where I could totally see this. The first time, I was at an angle where I couldn’t see his hands, but I saw his arms moving, and the way Haruki was looking down, and knew they were shaking. The second time, I was too far away, I could barely make out the shaking if I squinted. BUT THEY WERE SHAKING, and that’s what matters.

The live music was GREAT. They performed fully in character, it was astonishing. Mafuyu’s voice was audibly getting more tired as performances piled up, but the falsetto never suffered, nor did the emotion in his performances. In fact, the first time I saw the show, when Mafuyu sang, I got chills.

A friend gave me permission to buy stuff and forward them on (in addition to a DVD), so I bought a bunch of photos the second time around:

They are so cute!!! Haruki was perfect by the way. They even gave him different hairstyles throughout. (And of course he does go to Take-chan to cut his hair as in canon!)

Side note, a personal pet peeve of mine in the movie is that they reversed the order in which Take-chan sees Haruki and responds to Aki’s email, making his response a deliberate lie; in the stage play, they switched the order back in accordance with the manga, so Take-chan responds to Aki that no he hasn’t seen him, and then sees Haruki.

Take-chan playing with the Chashu Boys was fully mimed, unfortunately, but the actor played him SO WELL, you could get a sense from the way he played what kind of music he might be playing.

In summary, it was great. This is my favorite adaptation to date, second only to the manga.

I HAVE READ GIVEN VOL 7!!! Kindle version.

It’s great.

Especially the last extra, geez AkiHaru are SHAMELESS, flirting in front of the kids like that. Hats off to Ue’s look if SHEER HORROR the moment the subject of Haruki’s hair comes up, THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAS HAPPENED.

Also the layout of Aki’s apartment that reveals that Haruki’s “Akihiko~~ who was it~~” is utterly SHAMELESS. You can’t see the bed from the door, but it is RIGHT THERE. He could probably still see Aki’s back. He just answered the door, boy, give him five seconds before dragging him back to bed  

Shizu truly has no chill.

Ahhh Kizu-sensei does such great work, I admire her so.

The second song that Mafuyu brings to life with lyrics in Given is Yoru ga Akeru, and in the movie, is a crucial part of the plot.

I have only seen the movie with English subtitles once, and I have largely avoided looking at subtitles on videos on YouTube, but in that one time with English subtitles, it bothered me enough to try my own hand at translating this song.

Lyrics are much harder than other types of translations, much like poetry.

This song in particular is hard, because it has to apply equally to Mafuyu, Ugetsu, Akihiko, and Haruki. It’s hard because in Japanese, the title 夜が明ける is only ever stated one way, (literal translation: “the night will become light”); but in English, there are so many different ways to say this, and none fit the Japanese exactly. “Dawn will break” is the obvious one, with some wording variation, but to have the verb be “break” instead of “become light” is, I think, quite an atmosphere change.

That said, because “dawn will break” is such a common phrase in English, it is also unnatural to not use that phrase at all.

In summary, I fiddled around and have a translation that I’m not really happy with but I’ll never be happy with it and @magicpotatoobsession expressed that she would like it if I shared it anyway, so here it is.

Right from the get-go, I refuse to translate the title.

When I translate lyrics, I do tend to try to make them fit to the music, to an extent. And that is what I’ve done here. In a world where this is actually sung, though, I wouldn’t translate the crucial Yoru ga Akeru portion at all, at least in certain parts. (It’s repeated enough throughout the song that it could be bilingual in a lot of cases, once in English and once in Japanese or vice versa.)

Anyway, on to the horribly inadequate translation.

Yoru ga Akeru

Even sleepless nights end with the dawn
The darkness turns to light that holds my gaze

The stubborn, unchanging white wall of my room
Is dyed in morning light; the clock ticks time onward
Step by step, I’m being carried away from that dear season
That I shared with you; and I can’t tell which of us is left behind

I’d much rather stay drifting right here
In darkness

Even sleepless nights end with the dawn
The darkness turns to light that holds my gaze
There are things that change
There are things that end
There are things beginning
I can live on, even though you’re gone
And listen, that’s the saddest part to me
But see, night’s about to end in dawn
Dawn’s about to break

The blooming of the spring;
The withering of autumn;
Yet there will always be new seeds ready to sprout and grow again

Don’t focus on what was, focus on what will be
I know, I do

Even sleepless nights end with the dawn
Every hand we hold we must eventually let go
I can lose my way; can cry my soul to bits;
But one day the tears will end
I can live on, even though you’re gone but I
Am desperate to see you, even though your love is gone
Look at the sky, the dawn will end the night,
Dawn is almost here

Wishes we carry that no one can say yet whether they will come true—
These are what we have named “Hope”.

Even though you’re gone, the night will end in dawn
Our hands have let go, but there will be another to hold
It’s at the end of a long night that we come to know the light
That keeps me living through this terrible fear
The sun will rise, and I’ll walk on from here.
Look at the sky, the dawn will end the night,
And it’ll be okay

Look at the sky
It’s almost here
The night will end in dawn

So about Hanaoka’s hair salon.

It’s called Hair Salon Harusame.

春雨 means vermicelli.

It also combines characters from Haruki’s (春樹) name, as well as Ugetsu’s (雨月).

Haruki, Ugetsu, and Haruki’s hair.

Hanaoka is the keeper of Akihiko’s greatest loves.

EDITED TO INCLUDE: 春雨 does in fact also mean spring rain, the literal and more poetic meaning of those two characters.

However, I live a food-centric life, and I see 春雨 and I think vermicelli. The translations reflect my personal biases too; this is in the nature of translations too, and I’m embracing it.  

Including this for accuracy, but I would also like to point out…“Salon Spring Rain” isn’t quite accurate either. The word is more common as vermicelli now, and the use of spring rain is more from older poetry or literature.

It is all three at once: poetic and silly and meaningful.

It’s great.

I saw this once and could not unsee it.

Ultimate spoiler for Given vol. 4.

No translation because the words aren’t what are important.

We go from a scene of Akihiko taking Haruki’s hair—which he has just accidentally burned while lighting a cigarette—between his fingers, commenting on how he is growing it out so long. Haruki pulls away with such ferocity that it shocks Akihiko (who knows about Haruki’s feelings for him but not the emotion that he has put into his hair). Haruki contemplates that he has to cut his hair later…

AND WE CUT, to Yayoi chopping off her hair because Akihiko has—subtextually—rejected her.

It is so perfect.

This transition was different in the anime because they consolidated so many of the Akiharu scenes into ep 5, and I lament the loss of this foreshadowing.

(Also by the way, fun to contemplate how all of Akihiko’s rejections are subtext. But a meta for another day, when I have more time.)