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So, you want to get into the musicals and stage plays but don't know where to start? Don't worry! We have you covered!
How-to-Guide
Touken Ranbu (刀剣乱舞) is an online web browser game developed by DMM and Nitroplus in 2015, where players act as the Saniwa, a sage who commands sword warriors, manifested spirits or tsukumogami of Japanese swords, to travel into the past and protect history from evil forces who would seek to change it. With this context in mind, musical and stage play adaptations have been made using the game’s mechanics and sometimes adding their own as well, bringing the game’s characters to life on the stage.
Both the musical and the stage play have their own actors, storylines, and “rules” for performances - such as the audience being able to respond to the sword boys during the musical’s live portion, while the audience does not respond to the sword boys at all during the stage play under normal circumstances.
Musical Touken Ranbu
Musical Touken Ranbu is produced by Nelke Planning Co. Ltd, and most productions are divided into two parts: the first half being the main performance with a storyline and songs to accompany it (known as Act 1 or the musical part), and the second half being the concert live performance where the sword boys essentially become idols and perform for the audience (known as Act 2 or the live part). The second half includes costume changes and are considered a key selling aspect of the musical productions, since they involve fanservice for the audience as well.
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Key aspects for these productions include team leader changes for every musical run, such as Kashuu Kiyomitsu being the team leader for the trial performance and Atsukashiyama Ibun, and Hachisuka Kotetsu for Bakumatsu Tenrouden, and so on, all within the same Citadel and serving under the same master, and a voice that speaks to the sword boys during the musical part and acting as the Saniwa of this Citadel. Generally this production is considered to be the more fun and lighthearted adaptation, though it’s not to say that it is without its angsty moments in its stories.
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At the end of the year there is always a Shinken Ranbu Sai performance - a festival of sorts where all sword warriors and historical characters (subject to their actors’ availability) gather together to perform, and which goes more like a concert with not much storyline in it, so for these performances there are no team leaders.
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Official website at https://musical-toukenranbu.jp/, which aside from free content like information about past, current and upcoming shows, includes things like backstage photos and cast videos for premium members, people who pay a monthly fee of 324yen for the membership to access these things. Other than website content, premium members also get an extra chance to apply for musical tickets through a lottery system.
Touken Ranbu Stageplay
The Touken Ranbu Stageplay productions are managed by Marvelous Inc. and are solely storyline-based, and so contain more talking and action compared to its musical counterpart. As of the publication of this newsletter, the secretary of the stageplay’s Citadel is Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, the first sword to manifest there and the designated leader of the First Unit for all performances. In the event that there is another team of swords, another leader will be assigned to that group. Unlike the musicals, there is no narrator or backstage actor speaking as the Citadel’s Saniwa.
Fans have said that the stageplay is more brutal in terms of conflict, angst, tragedy and drama, in comparison to the musicals.
Additionally, because the musicals and the stageplays are produced by two different companies, there have been “repeated” sword boy castings, such as Mikazuki Munechika being played by Kuroba Mario in the musical and Suzuki Hiroki in the stageplay, and Ookurikara being played by Zaiki Takuma in the musical and Ino Hiroki in the stageplay.
Exposure & Fan Content
Generally, fans differentiate the two by adding a “-myu” or “-sute” at the end of “tou”. “Tou” is the reading for the character “刀” in 刀剣乱舞 (Touken Ranbu) meaning “sword” in English. “-myu” is derived from “ミュージカル” which is the Japanese romanization of the word “musical” in English. Likewise “ステージ” is the Japanese romanization for “stage”.
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Touken Ranbu has garnered so much international attention that the musical has had performance tours in China (Shanghai and Zuhai), and musical live viewings are commonly held in places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, and even Australia got their first musical live viewing in Tsuwamono Domo ga Yume no Ato in January 2018.
However, getting seats to watch either the musical or stage play live is a battle itself for fans. You won’t get to pick where you will be sitting as the seats are given by lottery. Musical sales usually start off with lotteries for premium members of the official Touken Ranbu Musical website (see above), so those people can try for tickets earlier through a lottery system of choosing the date and time of show, then paying for it if they win the tickets. Otherwise, general sales is the way to go - but these generally sell out within 1 or 2 minutes of sales starting! Even Japanese fans resort to resales which can usually go up to double or even triple the original price for good first-floor seats near the stage.​
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Fans have become more interested in Japanese history thanks to the growing popularity of Touken Ranbu. More people are visiting museums, temples, historical sites that are related to the story of the favourite sword. More examples of Touken Ranbu’s popularity influencing Japanese history and preservation of swords include the reforging of lost swords such as Hotarumaru (original crowdfunding amount needed was 5.5 million yen; in the end 45 million yen was gathered, which is a whooping 820% over budget thanks to the popularity of the sword through Touken Ranbu fans) and Yagen Toushirou (presumed lost in the Honnouji incident, then reforged and completed in summer of 2018 and now residing in Oda Nobunaga’s shrine), as well as the upcoming Swords of Kyoto exhibition in the Kyoto National Museum which is a collaboration with Touken Ranbu to showcase many well-known swords in 120 years of history.
Translators/Content Creator for Toumyu/Tousute Actors:
Jocelyn - rz-jocelyn.tumblr.com - Sato Ryuji
Esther - sutekiyomitsu.tumblr.com - Sato Ryuji
Aki - akiyomitsu.tumblr.com - Sato Ryuji
Tori - blackfireswallow.tumblr.com - Mario Kuroba
Charlie - ishikawadesu.tumblr.com - Mario Kuroba
Pam - pamsurowka.tumblr.com - Sakiyama Tsubasa
Angle - shqutarou.tumblr.com - Arisawa Shoutarou and Tamura Shin
Jaime - cool-prince-arsw-shoutarou.tumblr.com - Arisawa Shoutarou
Renni - a-lucky0614.tumblr.com - Araki Hirofumi
Riku - sohmariku.tumblr.com - fansubs for TouMyu and TouSute
Eri - need-a-little-haikyuu.tumblr.com - Mario Kuroba and Sakiyama Tsubasa
Places to Access Links:
There is a livejournal for information and links. However, it’s somewhat secret and locked unless you join and have an account. If you ask around, someone may direct you!
Also, going onto tumblr and searching - toumyu or tousute - will help you find scans, more blogs, download links, and more!
Link Requesting Etiquette:
As content creators share links, they are spending their money on productions, dvds, magazines, etc. Please be respectful and follow any rules they may address in their posts. Ask kindly for the link, be patient and wait since they are busy normal human beings, and enjoy the link when you receive it. The absolute most disrespectful thing you can do is repost scans, reupload links, or share the link without their approval. Read the rules, be patient, and appreciate the hard work that these people do for the fandom.
Birthday Charts:
