02x01 - Tokyo Blade

[bunniefuu]

There was once a great battle.

Renowned warriors continued to fight

for their own beliefs and ambitions.

However, no one won the battle

and the 21 swords

that held the fate of the world

were scattered in the Far East.

This story begins

when a man obtains a particular sword.

BLADE

TSURUGI

KIZAMI

MONME

TOUKI

PRINCESS SAYA

TOKYO BLADE

STAGE PLAY

Princess Saya.

Touki.

This story is fiction.

PLAYING TOUKI

AQUA HOSHINO (16)

PLAYING PRINCESS SAYA

AKANE KUROKAWA (17)

2.5D STAGE PLAY TOKYO BLADE,

FIRST DAY OF REHEARSAL

Okay, let's take a ten-minute break.

PLAYING TSURUGI

KANA ARIMA (17)

PLAYING KIZAMI

MELT NARUSHIMA (16)

PLAYING MONME

SAKUYA KAMOSHIDA (22)

Kurokawa, you got a sec?

Yes.

Another season has passed

since the new B Komachi's first concert.

It's been four months.

Since then, we've had a few small concerts

and have been posting videos constantly

gaining more fans along the way.

As for Aqua,

he says he doesn't want to be an actor,

but he's been getting more acting jobs.

To be honest,

I don't know what he's thinking.

Oh, yeah.

He has a cute girlfriend now.

They started dating through a TV show

and they'll be performing with Senpai

in a stage play.

But according to him,

their relationship is strictly business.

He's a scum. An enemy to all women.

That's what I think.

HOSHINO FAMILY

I'm doing well.

Until the day I get to stand

on the Dome stage of your dreams,

I'll keep working hard as an idol.

IDOL GROUP, B KOMACHI

RUBY HOSHINO (16)

Watch me, Mama.

Tokyo Blade is a popular manga,

which has sold over 50 million copies.

It's a classic battle story,

where different teams in Japan

deepen their friendship and love

along the way.

Arima belongs to the Shinjuku Cluster

with other main characters.

The Shibuya Cluster, where Akane and I

belong, stands in their way.

The scenario for this stage play

is centered on the Shibuya Conflict Arc,

where these two teams fight each other.

I only have scenes with Arima at the end.

Are you disappointed you only have

a few scenes with Kana?

You guys seem close.

You came to the cast meeting together.

It's the opposite.

When it comes to acting,

she gets so passionate that it scares me.

I'm glad we only have a few scenes

together. She can't complain that much.

Right

But isn't it fun to talk about acting?

I can go on all day long.

You've got to be kidding.

That only applies to those

who have a passion for acting.

And you don't?

Nope.

Those who do theater

are those who basically love acting

and are sincere about it.

I'm different.

Acting is a way

to get close to the truth about Ai.

Representative of Theater Lalalai,

Toshiro Kindaichi.

The man who may have

influenced Ai in some way.

A way to get close to him.

-The break is almost over.

-Yeah.

Hang on.

Let's go.

I heard that Shinjuku, a lawless region,

has been unified by a certain man.

His name is Blade.

I see. That sounds interesting.

I'll go take a look at the guy.

Please don't pick a fight

without giving it any thought.

May I accompany you?

We don't have

any bad actors this time, huh?

My Allied Sword is called Iwadachi.

It's natural that Arima,

who's been acting for a long time,

and everyone in Lalalai can act.

I wasn't sure about Melt

when I saw him in Sweet Today,

but he's not bad.

Aqua said this is his first stage play,

but he's observant and flawless.

Kaburagi always picks the best ones

when he's referring them to others.

The rivalry between Arima and Akane,

the old and new prodigies

of the same generation, is exciting too.

The immersive type,

who absorbs herself into her role,

and the adaptive type,

who responds to others' performance.

They're completely opposite.

In my opinion,

Akane is one step ahead of her.

I hope Arima won't lose.

Don't be so sure.

This sword is too good

for a country samurai like you.

We have Himekawa after all.

Arima, is it?

Don't hold back.

PLAYING BLADE, TOKYO BLADE'S PROTAGONIS

TAIKI HIMEKAWA (19)

You want to fight me?

It doesn't seem like we can talk it out.

The winner becomes the sword's partner.

How's that?

Indeed, that's simple enough!

Don't complain when you die!

Right back at you!

Is that all you've got?

You're no match for me.

Stop yapping!

What's wrong? You wanna give up?

Don't get c*ck!

This is it!

What's so funny?

You're strong, huh?

G-Get away from me!

Kana Arima,

you wanna grab something to eat?

Sounds good.

I have so many questions to ask you.

Come with us, Melt.

Huh? Me?

Of course.

We have a lot of scenes together.

Kana.

Until recently,

she always put others first.

She wasn't the type of actor

to hog the spotlight.

She wasn't the type

who could act selfishly

to steal everyone's attention.

Is it confidence? Resolution?

Did she gain something by being an idol?

Lalalai has also been stagnant recently.

I accepted the 2.5D stage play

and having actors from outside

because I thought

we needed some kind of motivation.

They're all competitive, you see.

There's no way they feel nothing

after seeing something like that.

They'll be desperate

to come up with a way to compete with it.

If they're true actors.

2.5D STAGE PLAY TOKYO BLADE,

THIRD DAY OF REHEARSAL

For stage plays, we usually have

about a month of rehearsals.

We start at midday

and rehearse for six to seven hours.

Many of us are busy,

so not everyone can come.

Leading actors in particular are unable

to join the rehearsal due to other jobs.

So we often hire stand-ins

to replace them during the rehearsals.

But theater people love to act after all,

so they'll come even if they can

only participate at night.

Arima, you got a sec?

What is it?

How do you read this?

"Sakimori."

I see.

What? I thought it was "boujin."

You're so smart, Arima.

That's normal.

Why are there so many theater actors

who can't read kanji?

Maybe you should read more books.

I don't like books. Words are too tiny.

I like pictures better.

I get that. I only read manga.

Being a theater freak is

By the third day, groups have

started to form at the rehearsal hall.

I'll bring some books, so read them.

The leading cast group.

Fine.

Lalalai group

and the supporting role group.

And

My boyfriend seems isolated.

Is he not good at mingling with others?

I mean,

he is giving off a very negative vibe.

I can relate though.

Are you looking at Kana?

Yeah.

"Yeah?"

You know, I am your

Arima has a habit of adjusting

her acting level to others on set.

She's lost her jobs in the past

by flaunting her acting skills.

So, maybe it's her tactic

to survive in this industry.

Until recently,

she was surrounded by mediocre actors

and giving mediocre performances.

But this time,

she has Taiki Himekawa, the star actor

of Theater Lalalai, by her side.

If she's going to perform at his level

Akane, you want to beat Arima. Right?

At this rate, you'll lose. Big time.

Hmph!

Hmph!

If you're mad, just say so.

What are you? A child?

Should you be worrying about me?

At this rate, you're

I'm not trying to win to begin with.

I know I can't beat someone with talent.

B STUDIO

k*ll every single one

in the Shinjuku Cluster.

Kurokawa, give it a stronger tone.

Match your emotions with the others.

Understood.

Stronger. A stronger tone.

Like this?

k*ll every single one

in the Shinjuku Cluster!

Okay. Let's go with that.

Next, Shinjuku scene. Arima, you first.

Okay.

So that's what he wanted.

Um, how do we get to Shibuya again?

You've never been there?

O-Of course I have! Many times!

Don't mock me!

Are you sure? You know

she speaks with an accent sometimes.

I did? When?

Since the day we first met.

You didn't know?

I had a bit of a bad start with this play.

The reason is this script.

Princess Saya, the character I'm playing,

doesn't appear much in the original manga.

In the beginning,

she appeared as Touki's love interest.

But the fans started to ship him

with his enemy, Tsurugi.

And she ended up losing the scenes

as Touki's companion.

She's what you call a losing heroine.

In the latest chapter

of the original manga,

sadly, her character as Touki's fiancée

is pretty much forgotten.

Guys like girls who are expressive

and cheerful like Tsurugi, right?

I guess so. The manga seems to have

turned the story in that direction too.

If I stay silent,

girls like her will take everything away.

The fact that Princess Saya

doesn't appear much

means I have little material

for character analysis.

I have to fill in the missing pieces

with my imagination

and complete the character myself.

But my interpretation of the character

seems to be quite different

to that of the script.

Or more like, she's completely different

from the original.

She's turned into a stock character!

Originally, she's shy and gentle.

A girl who feels conflicted

about k*lling people.

But she's turned into a battle lover

in order to shorten

the play's running time.

It's like she's a m*ssacre-loving nutcase.

I know that some changes have to be made

when you adapt manga to a stage play.

But these changes are made for

the playwright's convenience.

I feel bad for Princess Saya.

After all she went through in the manga,

she's treated badly here too.

I like you.

But I guess it can't be helped.

The original author approved this script.

I have to work with this.

2.5D STAGE PLAY TOKYO BLADE,

FIFTH DAY OF REHEARSAL

Hi, I'm here.

Hey, GOA. How's it going?

The schedule for

my other script is falling apart.

They wanted the revised copy

by this morning. It's so tough.

I'm so sleepy.

Mr. GOA, the playwright, is here.

Yeah.

The original author is coming in too.

I guess that's why he came.

Hey, what do you think of this script?

Huh?

It's a bit different from the original.

Right.

But I think it follows the original story

for most parts.

It's 90 times better

than the last drama script I acted in.

Yeah, Sweet Today was a total flop.

If something's bothering you,

why don't you just ask him?

I can't. We're supposed to get

acting advice from the director.

Getting too much advice

will confuse the actors, right?

Mr. Kindaichi doesn't even allow actors

to give feedback to each other.

I see.

Do you have time to see Smash Heaven?

I think I can still get you a ticket.

-Yeah.

-Excuse me.

Kurokawa seems to have a question

about the script.

It'd be great if we could get

Mr. Kindaichi's opinion as well.

Hey, Aqua!

It won't be confusing this way, right?

Yeah, but

Hm? What is it?

Out with it, Kurokawa.

It's about Princess Saya.

How should I put it

I can't really grasp her character

from the script.

Like, why she is the way she is.

Ah, yes. She's much more aggressive

than in the original manga.

That's right!

She's more conflicted in the manga.

Well, yeah.

I had a hard time with that part too.

But if we try to show her conflict

in a medium like stage play,

though it's doable,

it'll take too much time.

In manga, you can depict how someone feels

in just one panel.

But in order to show that

to an audience far from the stage,

we need a considerable amount of time.

I'm writing a two-hour play

with many characters

conveying their various emotions.

In order to do that,

I need to make everything simple.

If not, all the scenes won't come together

and it won't make sense to the audience.

We wouldn't need playwrights

if we just used everything

from the original.

My job is to find and select

the exciting parts for the play.

I'm a fan of the original manga too,

so I don't want to change it up too much.

I guess taking on that unpleasant role

is part of my job too.

That said, you're the one

who's playing the character.

So, if it's bothering you, I'll change it.

Don't spoil her.

I've read the first few volumes

of the original manga.

And it's best not to include

Princess Saya's feelings.

Making her into an active character

simplified the conflict structure.

So it's easier for the audience to see

what we're focusing on.

This decision is not wrong

as a playwright.

That's why I accepted it.

In this play, your role is not about

showing how complex your character is,

but to show the antagonism

between the characters in a simple way.

There you go. Are you satisfied?

Yes.

CONFLICT STRUCTURE

SHOW THE ANTAGONISM IN A SIMPLE WAY!

In a simple way, huh?

Hi, everyone!

We have a special guest today!

Uh, um. Hello.

She's the author of Tokyo Blade,

Ms. Abiko.

I'm Kichijoji. I'm here to accompany her.

Ms. Kichijoji, it's been a while!

Ms. Arima, we haven't met since

Sweet Today's after-party!

It's nice to see you again too, Aqua.

Thank you.

Sensei, long time no see.

Oh, yeah.

I knew it,

but she's pretty cold towards me.

Well, you were terrible in Sweet Today.

As an original author,

of course she'd despise you.

Well, yeah.

Sensei, nice to meet you.

Hey, greet her properly.

Locking eyes with good-looking people

makes me panic.

I understand that, but still.

Please make yourselves comfortable.

Thank you very much.

What do you think, Sensei?

They're all very good actors.

I think the play will be great.

Well, of course.

Lalalai only has first-class actors.

I bet everyone has been

practicing really hard.

Sensei, you should say "rehearse"

instead of "practice" for a play.

Oh, really? I'm sorry.

I don't know anything about it.

They're amazing.

I could never do what they do.

But that's why I should, right?

I should say this myself, shouldn't I?

The script.

Can it still be changed?

Of course. But, which part?

"Which part?" Well

All of it.