Takizawa Kabuki ZERO 2021 Online Broadcast

For someone who didn’t manage to get any ballots for this show, it was a blessing in disguise that they decided to do an online broadcast of “Takizawa Kabuki ZERO 2021” on 9 May 2021.

The show started at around 17:30, and came with a 30-minute break in between before ending at around 19:50.

Program

[Act 1]
Opening
ひらりと桜
One Heart
Greetings
九剣士
変面
Maybe
My Friend
腹筋太鼓
Shadow Dance (IMPACTors)
Black Gold
生化粧
Wild Fire (IMPACTors)
滝沢歌舞伎
「男と女の舞」
「石川五右衛門」
「組曲」 (MOVIE DIGEST)
「花鳥風月」
[Act 2]
鼠小僧
With Love

Act 1 Highlights

“Hirarito Sakura” was decorated in blue instead of pink this time. According to the TV interviews with Snow Man, it seems like the idea of “blue” colour was to show respect for the hospital staff and other related personnel for their efforts in this COVID-19 situation.

There was this new ballad number “One Heart” which Meguro did some sign language. I have no idea what that means though but surely it was some message he wanted to pass on to the fans or whoever is watching this online show.

I really enjoyed “Maybe” from the scene that I saw from the Takizawa Kabuki 2019 Blu-ray/DVD release, and was looking forward to the one today. The 2020 Movie version did not feature Sakuma, so I was really glad they brought him back in this number with Raul. I screamed a little when the two hugged in their dance performance. The song is beautiful with the duet from Fukka and Abe-chan.

Date-sama was looking really suave in his flying performance during “My Friend”, complimented by the beautiful voice from Shoppi. As what most fans of Yuri-gumi will be reacting, it was an “emoi” (emotional) moment.

腹筋太鼓

“腹筋太鼓” was a muscle galore for all fans, especially with Hikaru-kun. Fukka has a blue sakura petal stuck to his back too, so you can track him easily among all the topless boys. I think I may go back and loop for the close-up shots in the Takizawa Kabuki ZERO 2020 Movie Blu-ray/DVD version too.

The performance for “Black Gold” was brilliant with their costumes coordinated in black and gold colours too. The highlight part was the transition from Fukka solo to Raul solo. So so cool!

It was quickly switched to the scene where they were doing “生化粧” (live make-up) for the next Kabuki act. 2 members from IMPACTors were helping to do the MC for this part, where they did some self-introduction and also did Koji’s recent gag “もみあげ手裏剣”. I wanted to hug Koji and ask him to take a deep breath where you see him with trembling hands trying to do his make-up. And Fukka doing some last MC parts after he has done his make up was just too funny to watch.

They had to cut the part for “組曲” in order to follow the Tokyo guidelines of the state of emergency to finish before 20:00. Instead, it was replaced by a short digest with shots taken from the 2020 Movie version. Frankly speaking, I think many were disappointed because this is a really powerful performance where they dance with a lot of strength under the “rain”.

So in order to continue with the “rain” performance, they did it with “花鳥風月” and it was beautiful. I thought the movie version was prettier with all the neon colours though.

30-minute break time

I was surprised when the screen showed that there is a 30-minute break. But come to think of it, with all the water they have “rained” on the stage, they probably need time to clean up and prepare for Act 2. So I thought I could take some rest, but instead, the screen showed some interview scenes with Snow Man and IMPACTors.

Interview Time with Snow Man

It was a nice surprise indeed! We learned that Meguro got his height genes from his father who is 186cm tall. Sakuma’s favourite animals are shark and opossum. I think everyone went to google what opossum is. LOL!

You have to give it to Arata Sato for asking Raul on what he likes about Meguro. Raul listed 3 things: 1. His masculinity and tolerance that makes you feel protected 2. Men’s talk (about girls) 3. That warm feeling that he will rub your head

The best part comes from Date-tama (the character for Date-sama in 鼠小僧) where you can see Date-sama speaking in his super cute dog costume. In fact, I think he’s the MVP for Act 2 with his character. Too cute!

We also got to know that Hikaru-kun is most confident about his erector spinal muscles (脊柱起立筋). Of course fans will need to google which muscle part this is again… We get some fan service from Hikaru smiling with his single-handed rabbit ear pose.

Act 2 Highlights

Act 2 is mainly the story for 鼠小僧. The pet dog is Date-sama this time instead of Abe-chan who played the cat. As usual, the 金さんと銀さん part by Sakuma and Shoppi was too comical, and I think Shoppi laughed at the end as well. Close to the end of the story before the last battle scene, where Raul’s character was going to join forces with Hikaru’s character, you can see Raul tearing too. Great close-up here!

The last performance “With Love” has this warm, cozy feeling and you get to hear their live singing. I’m always amazed at how Fukka can sound so good and stable. There’s a close-up on his beautiful hands at the end too. Raul’s voice was trembling but it felt so real and you really want to give him a hug. Koji was looking all manly and handsome with his “all-back” hairstyle.

I think I was too used to having a closing speech at the end of the Endless SHOCK that I thought there will be one for this show, but nope, there’s no closing speech.

Overall

All in all, as this is an online show, it really depends on the camera work to bring the best angles and express the atmosphere of the show as much as possible. If given a choice, I will prefer more of a stage view instead of too many close-up shots. Over the years, I have learnt to enjoy more of the combination of the whole stage layout, lighting, formation, dance performances, etc. instead of just focusing on the face of my favourite boys.

THANK YOU!

Nevertheless, a big thank you for such a great show put up under all kinds of restrictions. It seems like they will resume the live shows from 12 May 2021 onwards. I guess it’s a very difficult decision to make, especially now that you have fans who got the tickets but couldn’t go due to the decision to stop the shows until 11 May. And now those fans who have tickets at later dates can go.

Seriously, with this crazy COVID-19 situation, I can’t bring myself to rejoice much even if I know I got the ballot for some Johnny’s shows, because you never know if they will stop the shows because of new measures or anyone related to the show got the virus or in close contact, etc. Only until I can safely enter the venue, finish watching the whole show, know that there is no issue with any COVID cluster or related matters, then I can really have a piece of mind. Fingers crossed that we can get our vaccination sooner! Till then, stay safe and act in a responsible matter!