[Review] Musical ~Boukenshatachi~ The Gamba 9 (Musical ~冒険者たち~ The Gamba 9)

Hello my lovelies.

After watching this musical twice, I was literally left speechless. Unlike the other musicals that I have been to in Japan, this was very different, too good to be just a local production. And it would not do the play justice just comparing it with other Japanese plays that I have written about or it will end up getting 100 out of 5 stars. This is one of the plays that you will end up craving for more when it ends.

Musical ~冒険者たち~ The Gamba 9 working poster

Synopsis
   Two city rats who lives in a place of lavish only having to protect themselves from being trapped or killed by humans, ventures out for an adventure. Not knowing what they are up against and their capability, these two rats stuck with each other no matter what came their way.
    When a troubled rat from another clan came around, the naïve city rat, Gamba felt that with his newfound friends (that have far more experience in the real world than he does), he could overcome anything in the world. An over optimist and trust in others, naturally he discover life struggles the hard way.
    Few casualties along the way as a prize for the experience that he could not have obtained if he did not burst the comfortable bubble of a city life to venture himself to the world outside. It was outside the bubble he saw that life was not all fun and games. It was then that he learned what true friends were made off. It was then that he thought himself how to be strong not only for himself but also for all others that depended on him. He learned of the word independent and dependent. He learned and thought others to trust each other and to trust those who are different. Although the scene was really short and simple, Gamba not only learned to trust his heart to open himself up to a girl, but to let his heart and emotion learn the excruciating pain of losing that special someone.

Truthfully I am really on the edge writing a review for this musical. I was just unsure if I would do justice to the play and the players. Besides this review can never show how excited I was watching and how happy I was knowing there are such talent in this land of the rising sun. Not that I do not like it here, but for most musical I have been to was mediocre and just okay but there was nothing much to rave about.

I am so excited writing this, my mind is blanking for every other word. Where should I start, what should I write?

The first thing that crossed my mind exiting the musical was; The guy who played Gamba reminds me of Nick Piazza. A lot. Believe me, it’s an amazing thing. Nick is one of my all time favorite character in the broadway world and before Gamba, no one even came near to beating his first spot in my heart and Gamba is a tie now.

Kamiyama Ryuji as Gamba

The actor who played Gamba, Kamiyama Ryuji, were amazing in the musical. Although for the final show, during the entrance his notes were a little shaky (could either be nerves or just over excitement for the final show in Tokyo). Other than that, he was almost perfect. His dance were very clean and fluid, his movement is very precise yet very natural. His voice is good, not amazing but very good indeed. His control over the notes were incredibly spot on that, it was very hard to even hear a false note. Also his projection and imagery was more than amazing. Personally, the scene where he was crying almost at the end, broke so many hearts ladies and gentleman alike. His voice control was so powerful that even without looking at his face (I was in the 2^nd floor on the second show) you can hear that he was suffering emotionally and it was very clearly projected through his singing did not even wobble a second of it.

Kanazawa Hiroshi as Manpuku

It was no surprise to me that Gamba’s partner in crime, Manpuku played by Kanazawa Hiroshi was great in his character. He is a very well seasoned actor. He has an equally amazing track record appearing in musicals such as Chicago and Wicked. Kanazawa is a little on the heavier side but his movement on stage were very poised and very light. His presence on stage is so strong that he fits any characters that he was given. The way he uses the stage was pretty much perfect, very natural and he too have amazing voice control.

Tsuchiya Shion as Bobo

Another star that seems to have caught my attention was the young star who played the little mouse Bobo, Tsuchiya Shion. I am not sure whether his voice is really yet to be broken or he controlled it to make it sound really cute. I am not a big fan of his singing voice (he sound too much like Justin Bieber to my liking) but his dance is a totally different ball game. Not only his step were perfectly placed as he needed to be very awkwarly cutesy and immaturely naïve, his accurateness in the technicality of each step does not stop him from being gracefully natural in each and every step. Another thing that amaze me is that his character control and emotion projection is way beyond what meets the eye. He has a very bright future in the musical theater world. And he reminds me of Kevin McHale of Glee.

Wada Takuma as Ichirou

Wada Takuma who played Ichirou was equally good in the play as well. He possesses a beautiful voice as well and he is a good dancer. What affected me the most was that it seemed that he was not afraid to show his emotions overwhelmingly and he was not rigid and uptight. It just seemed like he was born to do the role. I am not sure was it the sweat or was it a tear that came out at the end, but his cry seemed very real to me. He is comparable to Patrick Wilson just that Patrick is a tad bit better at singing than Wada.

The other mice too were great. Their harmony and dances were exceptionally good. Their stage blocking were amazing and there were no sign of upstaging in anyway and even in their improvised scene, were so immaculate that it flows so naturally in the play. Another point that I would like to specifically express here is that these other mice too are very experienced in the musical world. It shows very well indeed. Their stage presence were very profound that even though they have no line in the scene or just in the dead space of the stage, their carriage of their character were so amazing that they were alive and individualistic yet they are very in control of their character that they did not outshine any main players for the specific scene.

Yamashita Sean as Chuta

Though I cannot say the same for one particular character, Chuta played by Yamashita Sean. Initially it was because of Yamashita that I even knew about the play, but it turn out that I was really disappointed by his performance. He looked like an understudy in a play of professionals. It was no surprise to me that his voice was not a match to the other players in this musical, since I am never a fan of his voice but his dance was just too technical. He looked like he was doing a cheer (cheerleading) instead of a dance at times. His facial expression was very blank at times and he looked lost when he did not have a line in a scene (if that was what he was aiming for than he did succeed in playing the scene well, other wise I am disappointed). He was a little better in the final show though.

Enough about the bad points of the musical and back to the pretty points. Minamoto Maho who played the damsel in distress, Shioji was no Sutton Foster but she was close enough to be dub the Japanese Lea Michele. She have a beautiful voice and her dance is very melodic. And she is very pretty too. The antagonist, Noroi acted brilliantly by Kon Takuya was a superb stage actor. He might not have as much stage time as the other actors but his presence were very vivid as well. 

Although, what surprised me the most were two dancers Aizawa Yu and Anazawa

Yuusuke. These two is probably the most unknown players in the play but the made quite a mark for the play. Anazawa Violin skill is either immaculate or he is very very good at listening to the music played to imitate the music. He is a dancer by profession, but still his dance surprises me.

Aizawa Yu deserves a paragraph of his own. He is a specifically amazing ballet dancer. His lines were amazingly clean and impeccably spot on. His voice might not be the best of them all but his is dance is so poised, so graceful and so unutterably natural, he make it seem like he was walking on air and he had no weight at all or he could be defying gravity with his body.

All in all, the highest appraisal should be given to the director of the play, Mr. Sugano Komei. His direction and choreography were exemplary to say the least. Adding bits of traditional Japanese dance (yosakoi-ish) to modern dance and mixing a little salsa to the mix was just genius.

To wrap things up, I would rate this musical an utmost deserving 10 out of 10 stars (11 out of 10 for the amazing Aizawa, Anazawa and Tsuchiya). I hope to see these casts in action again in action together or individually. I am looking forward for more amazing original show like this in the future…

Love and kisses,

GWRL

P/S: This musical is messing with my mind since my research studies does include me killing rats. Now how do I look at those rats the same again?