[Review] Shounentachi: Koushi Naki Rougoku [Kansai Juniors version]

*Note: Do read the comparison version to see the comparison of the two versions as this one contains spoilers of the specific version and my thoughts about this version.

The show ran from August 4^th till 28^th of 2010, and again I am not sure which show was taken to be recorded. As this is a live musical theater, although the story line would be the same, there will be slight difference in terms of the jokes, the performance and the dynamic of the story itself for each show. Since the one I watched is the recorded version and the only view I could see is what the camera captured, therefore there will be some background action that I will miss in this review.

In this version the story differs slightly from the Kanto version. Nonetheless it was not in any way less enjoyable or less interesting in fact this version captured my heart more than the Kanto version did. The Kanto version is more serious and this Kansai Junior (Kanju from here on) version has more touch of comedy in them. However the comedy does not in any way affect the effectiveness of the message that they are trying to convey and their performance.

Let me first start with the story. Unlike their Kanto counterparts, this version seemed to have actors who are a little younger so I do not think that prison is the setting for this one. It’s more of a reform school or correctional facility (I’m leaning more towards the later but just for the sake of Kotaki-kun being 14, let just put the setting as a reform school) rather than being a prison. There are no mean guards either. They have 6 Veteran wardens and 4 kouhai (of Gang Stars) under them. At the end of this post I will list down the main performers according to their character.

The opening itself was just awesome. The mask changing from Shigeoka was performed beautifully, he was less snappy than Tackey, but somehow I do prefer his fluidness rather than being harsh and snappy. The entrance at the very beginning was a little bit creepy but as the opening goes on, the dances began and the atmosphere starts to not tense up so much.

Right after the dance, the story began where the detainees were fighting each other, and the fight (sorry for saying this and apologies to ABC-Z , Kis-My-Ft 2 and Mis Snow Man’s fans in advance) was manlier when it’s done by these Kanju rather than their Kanto counter parts. Although the fakeness is still clearly visible, but it somehow looked more real and rougher than the Kanto version.

Shigeoka Daiki of 7West plays the part of a fresh detainee and he was very positive in his own way, and who keeps a diary. The diary part is important. In this version Shigeoka-kun narrates the story by actually keeping a record of his days in a diary; however in the Kanto version Totsuka-kun narrates the play by reading the diary.

Another big gap that this version has with the Kanto version is the detainees grouping. In Kanto there were clearly separated into 2 teams, but in this version the separation line is kind of blurred. Or maybe I’m just too ignorant to see who is on which side… but the two trouble maker is Kamiyama Tomohiro of 7West and Kiriyama Akito of Bad. These two can never meet, or they will forever argue about the smallest of things. Kiriyama-kun was awesome portraying a person with a grudge towards everything and everyone. Kamiyama-kun too was brilliant portraying a bad boy with a playful image (this makes me think is he actually like that or was he really acting.) and a teaser with a good heart nonetheless.

These boys are just itching to get out of the place back to their world. Shigeoka-kun initially did not want to be involved in the escape but finally he joined in. While the escape was being carried out, Kamiyama-kun somehow got himself caught by the wardens. Despite fighting with Kamiyama-kun, Kiriyama-kun is the one who saved him. At the verge of success to break out, Shigeoka-kun realized he accidently left his diary somewhere inside the reform school and ran back to get it. With that one mistake of going back in to find his diary, Shigeoka-kun paid his time with his life. But this time there was no gun-shot effect like the one on Totsuka-kun.

With the death of Shigeoka-kun, the other detainees were woken up from their reality and completes their sentence and became a new and reformed person. The yelping of the other cast sent chills to my skin and tears could not stop trailing down from my face like an opened pipe. Even the second time I watched it with my eyes close, still their emotion were so thick that it pierced my heart.

In the end they show he reformed boys that were let out and what had become of them. Senzaki’s ‘kamehameha’ was hilarious. Out of everything that had changed about him, that was one thing that did not change. Nakata as a father, well it suits him, he looked fine, no he looked super fine. If it was not for Hamada’s joke, it would have been a real serious scene... but without his jokes and puns, he would not be Hamada-kun.

Last part of the show is the showtime part of the whole show. Hands down, Kanju’s showtime was much much better than the Kanto’s version. Not only had they sang songs that enhanced them for what they are, most if not all are fans favorite and the songs are upbeat and fun songs. Even if this group had sung the broadway tunes, I’m sure they will not do any better than their Kanto counter parts. Their voices are just not right to sing that kind of tunes as they are not properly trained to sing broadway songs.

Overall I’d say the Kanjus had done a much better job in performing and planning the show than the Kanto Juniors. Their jokes were spontaneous and very much natural. There was a few scenes that really to be remembered such as the game using the a pants elastic where both end were held in the mouth and being stretched and another person would cut the middle (in this case the two victims were Nakama Junta ad Ito Masashi-kun and the person cutting the elastic was Kiriyama Akito-kun).

Another great scene would be Nakata-kun of Boys and Yamasaki Kunta-kun of Veteran mirror scene. I wonder how many days it took for them to get it perfect and how many months it took for them not to laugh at each other while acing it out. Nakata and Yamasaki-kun is not exactly people who can hold back their laughter but having these two combinations doing the skit was hilarious, especially, Yamasaki-kun reaction at some parts of it.

Next one that I could not help but to laugh is during the Muro Kyodai skit. Little Muro (Muro Masaya was just too adorable jumping on to his eldest brother (Muro Tatsuki) as he did. Tatsuki-kun could carry him with him hanging around his neck as he did was just too much for me… Not only they were adorable but they are also so weird.

However in this show, it really shows that Kotaki-kun is still a child in many ways. Although he may look and act like a matured teen but he indeed showed the childish side of him. This especially shows in the part where he pouted at Nakata-kun and also a part during the encore where Nakama-kun hugged him. *I just have to put this in. He is my bias after all*

In the end I really do not have much to complain about this show like I did about the Kanto show. This show was almost perfect for me that I have no bad comments about it at all. Well nothing major anyways. I just hope that Johnny Entertainment A&R people could see how much raw talent these kids have and how much they can do with lesser coaching like the ones that the Kanto Juniors are receiving, and yet having this kind of performance under their belt just show that they are amazing. These kids should be exposed more to the world.

To me this show deserved a perfect score from me especially looking at Kotaki-kun pout and the amazing showtime. I’m giving this show a ten out of ten (10/10).

Before I end, below is the list of actors and their respective roles:

Detainees:

BAD (Kiriyama Akito, Nakama Junta)

Boys (Nakata Daichi, Hamada Takahiro)

7West (Shigeoka Daiki, Kamiyama Tomohiro, Fujii Ryusei, Takemoto Shinpei, Shingaki Yuto, Kotaki Nozomu)

Senzaki-tachi (Senzaki Ryuta, Watanabe Reiya)

Warden:

Veteran (Ito Masashi, Kikuoka Masahiro, Hamanaka Bunichi, Muro Tatsuki, Muro Ryuta, Yamasaki Kunta)

Gang Stars (Kusumoto Yukito, Fugal Sawn Goku, Uemura Masaya, *another that I can’t remember his name*)

New Detainees (1^st round):

Kaneuchi Toma

Nitta Naoto

Muro Masaya

New Detainees (near the end):

Mukai Koji

*two more Kanju that I can’t remember their names*

And tiny little boys back dancing for the showtime as well as the ‘naze’ cross talk.

I think that about it…

以上、

～iejaーちゃんでした。

p/s: Click here to purchase the DVD