[Review] Takizawa Enbujo’08 DVD

My precious DVD ♥ ♥ ♥ This is the most long-awaited one for me ne~ been thinking about it since Takki announced that DVD cams were present that day. You won’t know how many times I’ve listened to my preciouses :) On DVD, the audio was recorded from their mics, so the background music wasn’t loud like in my preciouses, but the speech is clear which is good. I just need to get used to it haha. Although DVDs will never be as good as the real thing (and sometimes they left out the funnier footages… but…), this DVD IS SUPERB!!!!! Needless to say, it’s my ichiban favourite :) I knew it’ll be, and it didn’t disappoint me at all XD

*Warning: Random and very long-winded thoughts w/ images SPOILERS*

PACKAGING

When Irene passed me the package, I was like “Mirror!” lol~ it didn’t look like that from the graphics posted on the web. It’s hard to take pictures of it but it fits as a follow up of Enbujo 2006’s. That was gold, this is silver! I think this time, they put more effort in the box design. I really love the silver case!!

The 2 boxes inside the hard silver case: red (discs 1 & 2), and blue (disc 3). I like the prints on the discs, which is similar to that of the silver case. And the covers of these inner boxes are silhouettes of onnagata Takki! Now I wonder what the “regular” press looks like. The booklet that slots into the blue box is made up of pictures of stage photos which were on sale at the venue. I think I have all of them.

If I have any complaints about the packaging, it’s 1) the quality of the booklet 2) the pictures used in the booklet – they should use ‘new’ pictures instead of stage photos which we already own… But I shouldn’t complain! After all, it’s the content that matters~ *la la la la~*

DISC 1

第一部：滝沢流にほん昔ばな史

Mich’s favourites: Make Up, Takizawa Kabuki, Chuushingura!

At the start, they used footage from the evening show. I think they wanted to include that chibi Jr shigin during Byakkotai (he was in school so he didn’t perform in afternoon shows). I was surprised they used this one coz the music abruptly stopped when Takki was talking on the hanamichi. Hmm… I love the bubbles scene, when that chibi Jr burst a huge one in Takki’s face, and he went “Abunai yo!” XD

During the face-changing mask performance, I love the close up of Takki’s hand cheekily moving over his face before the change. And of course I love the “biceps song” :) Now you know why I said I couldn’t help but stare at *Romeo* sometimes?

They had a very good shot of Tono during the make-up scene, turning to Tottsu (with a bit of his nose painted lol), then to the camera (i.e. audience) and nodded. KYAAA~~ KAWAII!! ♥ I love that amount of concentration he puts in while painting his lips, but i swear I felt more SUGOI when watching that live…

滝沢歌舞伎 ♥ I love the way she rises from the hanamichi with the umbrella, and all her movements in that purple kimono~ and the one where the men in black were “controlling” her movements… All of Sagi Musume to Yagura no Oshichi. お七大好き〜！！ I love how she tried to climb the tower (her side view is so pretty~~~ ^^). And when she finally struck that pose on top of the tower~ SUGOI!! The fire backdrop was captured well on DVD. Ahhh… BUT I WANNA WATCH THIS LIVE AGAIN!!! *SOBS*

The thing about DVD, we can’t decide if you want to see the stage as a whole or a close up. It depends on the director. There are some scenes which I want a full view (like when Oshichi throws the ropes both ways~ I wanna see how the “guys” get thrown off~). Yet, I love that close up!! So, the bottom line is, they should have multi-angles =P

Once Tono paints his face, he immediately transforms into a woman. It is like a protective veil, something which gives him the ‘go-ahead’ to become a female. It’s so different from Enbujo 2006’s onnagata where his face wasn’t painted (I think that held him back a little~). Did you guys notice her legs…? 内股！！ Yes, UCHIMATA!! fufufufu~~ And for “Shuujaku Jishi” (the lion head-twirling dance), I appreciated it much more after watching Disc 3 lol…

Chuushingura, the segment filled with most of the ‘dangerous’ stunts. I love that “platform falling towards the stage and sakuras flying in the air” scene. Finally I know how it’s done after watching Disc 3. The dance with the girls in white was so beautiful when watching it live, but maybe it’s bcoz I was always using the binocs so it’s always a close up. On DVD, I love that final “strike” where the girl arches back in front of him~ that was a nice shot XD And the background music – from the moment that platform fell towards the stage to the dance with the girls – is so beautiful!

They captured that stunt on the hanamichi (with the 45deg plank) from the camera on the left instead of the right. It’s quite a close up shot. And Takki makes it look so easy. In disc 3, he slipped when he first tried that stunt u__u;

DISC 2

第二部：　義経（秘）悲話

Mich’s favourites: Marshmallows, Shadows, Farewell, Final Battle!

They used the evening show’s marshmallow and shadows part. It was funny, but the afternoon show’s was funnier to me (coz Tono told the girl to “stand up!” and apologise to Saburo). But I think they chose this show’s footage coz of the Venus furitsuke and the Shonentai adlib (which was funnier than the other show’s~). In its place, they had to sacrifice the part AFTER the shadows scene *SOBS* I wanted to see 3 of them falling flat on their faces, tugging at each others’ legs!! But no, it wasn’t chosen for the DVD… It’s a pity… sigh…

Benkei’s Venus, Saburo’s Venus, and Takki’s little Venus = *ROFL*

Saburo and Benkei chose “Shonentai” over Tono… which made Tono fall onto the ground LOL! Poor kouhais later being forced to answer if they really prefer Shonentai… Benkei was just silenced… and Tottsu’s smile to Tono sums it up so well. That smile was so funny! It made Tono laugh, and that makes me happy~ At least this was on DVD! ^^

I can now see the expressions of the 4 Jrs, which I didn’t notice much during the show (coz my eyes were only on Tono ^^). I thought all of them played their part well. Even the other Jrs who were the “baddies” in the final scene. Oh, I prefer Kawai as the evil guy at the end, rather than as Togashi at Ataka Pass. I think he can pull off that *ebil* cunning look really well!

I like Tottsu’s Saburo a lot. When Tono gave him the sword and they had to bid farewell, both of them looked so tortured… Tono’s eyes were sparkling *sobs* I still can remember how touched I was by that scene. Saburo’s death was really well-done. This line always gets to me, 「俺頑張りましたよ！」 And then Tono’s farewell to Benkei~ I like the way he knelt down facing Benkei. I also like how he ran off the hanamichi with one hand stretched out~ *kakkoii*

Kitayama looked and sounded evil in the rain haha. I love the final fight between him & Tono, when he hit the sword off Tono’s hands, it was so real~ the entire fighting scene was well-choreographed and executed~ and I like the body posture of Yoshitsune who just had his sword hit off his hand! The look in their eyes when they glared at each other… THEY REALLY SEEMED TO HATE EACH OTHER! LOL! That bottom right picture above (of Yoshitsune staring at Kitayama) was almost the same view I had thru my binocs when I realised my vision was blurred – by my tears…

That final scene again… I love how he shouted with his raw voice, 「弁慶、三郎！この義経の流す涙、しかとその身に受け止めよ！」 The entire final battle scene was so real and dramatic.Tono looked like he really wanted to kill off the entire Johnnys Jrs hahahaha… And the Jrs were spitting blood all over him fufu~ It was more dramatic watching it live coz the music and sound of rain and thunder was so loud that you get so sucked into the atmosphere, but still… watching that scene on DVD made me cry. It brought back so much memories…

At the end after Tono slashed himself… Now you know what I meant by it being REALLY BLOODY!! LOL!! XD As for the closing speech, Tono, even with that mad-man “hair” which was dripping “blood” on his bare body, still looked so kakkoii!!!! His eyes, so puppy-like!

殿だいぃぃぃぃぃ好き！♥

DISC 3

DOCUMENT TO TAKIZAWA ENBUJO’08

THIS IS THE BEST!!! ♥ 100mins of Behind-the-scenes! You can really see how much hard work is put in to stage a production like this. Especially for Takki, who not only had to practice his acting, fighting, stunts, kabuki dances and make up… As zachou, he also had to take care of the other aspects of the play like rehearsal schedules, costumes, music, timing etc etc… He looked tired, but he seem to have so much passion in his work! *bows* After watching this disc, I went back and re-watched Discs 1 & 2, and somehow I see him in a different light… Now I see him more of a “producer” than a “performer”. Perhaps he’ll be happy to know this ne~ :)

He looked relaxed in his dressing room before the opening show… having a plaster over his nose, and a T&T towel – from Best Tour that just ended 6 days before – on his couch. And his laptop is on the purple furoshiki (Enbujo’08 goods). Rehearsals started in Feb/March, and at that time, WEREN’T T&T STILL TOURING JAPAN? T&T Best Tour only ended on 26th March, and Enbujo’08 started on 2nd April. It must be really taihen…

The part that made me LOLSS… was when Takki put on the “lion head-swinging” hair, and started practicing the head-twirling… He twirled and twirled until the hair got curled around his neck and until his face was blocked… He was stretching out his hands like a blind man LOL. I don’t know why but it set off a laughing nerve in me! I dun think anyone else had that kind of reaction haha. I just went totally *bonkers* and couldn’t stop laughing!

When he practiced the make up, he was so cute – especially when drawing his lips… And when he laughed at the end, he looked REALLY SCARY! LOL… Onnagatas aren’t supposed to laugh with their mouths open yo! They’re supposed to cover it and go “ho~ho~ho~ho~” slowly rite? haha~~ While he was wiping off his white make up, I noticed how red his neck was. He must have wiped it many times to get that thick paint off. And that paint should be the cause of that pimple on his nose too.

Ah, I like that cute little ponytail~ :)

He’s still using the red mogu ne. He already had it in 2004, when he did that 24hr TV interview for “Chi chi no umi, boku no sora”. I googled and found out that it costs 2,940yen. Maybe I should get one too lol… maybe a red one with long arms? fufu~

I love it when he talked about looking forward to the opening show etc, but the “only problem” is this (*points to his nose*) LOL! Don’t worry, Tono. Even with that infection pimple thing, you’re still the most kakkoii guy to us! XD

The practice for the chuushingura scenes~ That falling-along-with-platform thing is so cool! Dunno why but I love that stunt a lot… The resulting wind was so strong!!!! Tono’s reaction was so cute! Haha! And all the free fall training~ the actual platform is much higher than the practice one (and doesn’t look as stable). And I screamed out a little when I saw him slip while practicing the 45degree-platform jump thingie… Kowai…

Oh yes, there was the thing where the Jrs hold white strips of cloth and Tono’s supposed to jump on it. During the rehearsal, he jumped on it like a little kid, and after turning, he fell onto the floor. LOL!! The bubbles practice was cute too, especially when he blew many bubbles within a big bubble. I wonder why he didn’t do that for the actual show…

And Takki sleeping on the rehearsal floor… then climbing onto someone’s lap and falling asleep there? He can be so cute and playful like a little boy sometimes, and at other times, so grown up, stern looking and serious. Sometimes, I forget he’s only 26.

It was so funny when Takki stuck his head in between the “ghost heads”~ ahhhh, they look so scarrryyy!! My mom happened to walk past and she went “Eeeeeeee, wat’s that~? so scary!” LOL… and when Takki did the bubble thing over his head~~ Kawaii! ^^

And they were so sweet to celebrate his birthday for him!!! When the music first played, he was nodding his head, and when he realised it’s the “Happy Birthday” tune, he stopped! LOL~ Takki thought it’s a new song? I also had the same reaction. Initially I thought it was a practice bell (for the 5 minute warning before each show), but when I realised it was the Happy Birthday tune, I went “Ehh…?” first, then “Wowwww~” and clapped my hands LOL. Tono’s so cute when blowing the candles, and maybe they expected a speech from him, but all he could say was “Thank you” :D

They changed the costume of Oshichi just a day before Opening show? And even up to Senshuuraku, minor changes are being made for every show. Ah, yes, and Taisuke FINALLY bucked up his courage to ask Tono for his email address… on senshuuraku day! XD

DISC MENUS, CREDITS, ETC

I have to talk about this as well… The disc menus are pretty and I love that music. They should really release a soundtrack ne, something like “MUSIC OF TAKIZAWA ENBUJO”! Maybe we should start requesting?

When I watched Enbujo’08 last year, I fell in love with the music played during the KABUKI MAKE UP scene…. And I was quite disappointed when you can hardly hear it during the act in Disc 1 itself. BUT… BUT… It was played in the credits of Disc 2!!!! Yay~ Now I can rip it to my handphone and use it as my ringtone :D

If I have any complaints about the discs contents at all, 1) they should split it into Chapters (like Dream Boy DVD) so that I can re-watch any item I want, 2) they could have used funnier footage from the evening show mixed with funnier footage from the afternoon show, so that they can show the best of everything wahahahaha… but I guess that’s too much to ask for, since it might affect the “flow” of the show. Hmm.. and finally, 3) they should have MULTI-ANGLES!!! Ok, that’s not a complaint, but a “request”. I really don’t mind paying 10,000yen for such a disc~

=

JUST DISC 3 ALONE is worth that 7,300yen IMHO! Now for that price (or lesser at places like Amazon), you get 3 impactful discs of hard work, blood and sweat… From the 100mins (ok, actually it’s 98mins XXs) of Disc 3 alone, you can really see how much work goes into a production like this! Having an idol like Takki, who not only shines in front of the cameras, but behind it as well, is something I am really really proud of XD

If you haven’t bought this DVD yet, you can purchase it online at:
Shinseido | Towers | HMV | CDJapan | Amazon