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Kuroshitsuji: The Most Beautiful Death in the World

Getting this to play on my projector was like fighting a hydra, but oh my god was it worth it. I thought it would be the Red Butler arc (that's the next one, apparently), but it's an original story like the first musical—that one can't hold a candle to this, though! The tragic romance of musical-original shinigami Eric and Alan is—forgive me the pun—to die for, and the numbers were on a whole other level compared to the previous one. It's also one of the cutest things I've ever watched. I cried, I laughed, I went a little bit insane—a rollercoaster of emotions that I will hold dear in my heart always.

Castlevania: Awakening in the Moonlight

Now, I know absolutely nothing about Castlevania so I can’t judge how good of an adaptation it is, but the friend I watched this one with was always going wild whenever a new character appeared or when they played one of the songs from the game, so I’ll assume it’s a hit with oldtime fans of the franchise too. I’m not sure how I feel about the screens—on the one hand, they kind of looked like cheesy, cheap CGI from 2000’s movie; on the other hand, I love cheesy and cheap CGI from 2000’s movies…! The story was quite different from what I expected, and I enjoyed it a lot—I love stageplays about vampires, after all! The songs were all great, and I just loved Alucard and that cloak of his (and also the Succubus and Magnus ♡). I don't know if what surprised me the most was finding out that the castle being called Castlevania or that the franchise in japanese is called Akumajou Dracula…

Legend of the Galactic Heroes @ Takarazuka

LOGH Takarazuka is a concept so catered to my tastes it feels like it's cheating. What am I even supposed to say? That it's one of the best things I've ever seen? Well duh! It's beautiful, dramatic, grandiose. The musical numbers were top tier. The costumes were gorgeous. There were a lot of green lasers.
I have to admit that there's something a bit funny about having all those starfleet members dancing and singing about. This doesn't apply to Reinhard though, he really is the sort of character that goes well with a troupe of backup dancers. It's like he was born for it. Also that Oberstein was so cunty. Kind of an insane watch.

The Rose of Versailles -Oscar and Andre-

Sometimes I forget just how much I love this series, and this play brought all that love forth once again. A dashing Oscar, a very dramatic Andrè (and such a darling Rosalie to top it all off)—I was in heaven. The costumes were beautiful, the musical numbers were mesmerizing. It was quite a magical experience. You know, I almost can't believe I finally watched a Takarazuka Rose of Versailles adaptation! There you go, teenage Winter—it was even better than you expected.

Patalliro! Stage Play

Honest to god one of the best things I've ever watched. The BanMara kiss. The musical numbers. The fucking Glass no Kamen jokes. All the other jokes. The Tamanegi. The Maya Men. The number one pretty boy Patalliro himself. It's all so stupid. It's all so good. I almost had an asthma attack from laughing so much (at dinnertime my dad even asked what was I laughing about so much in my bedroom (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ). All the chaos and fun (and love!) that you'd expect from Patalliro, tightly packed into less than two hours of pure joy.

Kuro Sekai (Downpour ver.)

Six stories following Lily's first 100 years of wandering around after the events of Lilium, a journey made less lonely than one might've expected by the presence of a Cocoon-induced headmate in the form of sharp-tongued Cherry. She gets rained on a lot, she gets kidnapped a lot, there's quite a bit of singing and dancing…it's not bad, but definitely lower tier compared to the other TRUMP plays I've seen. This is only half of the story, but I can't say I'm looking forward to watching the other one that much…

Bungou Stray Dogs on Stage: Dead Apple

I’m just watching these in random order…anyways. I also gave the movie version of Dead Apple 3 stars on Letterboxd but I feel like they were earned in completely different ways. Or maybe not. It’s just as watchable, but the cool things in this one are more the stage props and effects than the fight scenes. I was honestly surprised by just how much of the plot I had forgotten. After the first half my opinion kept rising and falling from "oh my god this story fucking sucks" to "holy shitttt so cool 🔥🔥🔥🔥" every 5 or so minutes which is probably par for the course for me as far as BSD is concerned

Bungou Stray Dogs on Stage

The very beginning of the story with quite a bit of added silliness. This arc always unearths memories of catching half-episodes back when they aired BSD on Rede Brasil in the late 2010s…anyways. Nothing better than seeing people dressed as anime characters running around a stage, am I right? Very funny and very fun, I had a blast!

Musical “Moriarty the Patriot”

Anime adaptation found dead in Miami(or maybe I should say the Thames to stay on theme?). Either way, this one really takes the cake. Superior in every way. The numbers were top-tier, I was really impressed. Probably a given since it's a musical and all but damn those guys can sing! The right amount of grandiose combined with some hilariously silly bits(mostly from the Sherlock side). An amazing experience all-around. I'll definitely watch the other Ops soon...!

Musical “VERACHICCA”

Worries about TRUMP and immortality are reduced to passing mentions in this house where everyone is—very understandably—in love with Nora Verachicca, played by the wonderful Miya Rurika. I can only describe the numbers as magnificent, the type of thing that makes my eyes shine and has me smiling from ear to ear. The cast (oh hey, Sebastian's here!) put on some great performances, and the story was very good—it actually made me cry. This one deserves a rewatch soon…!

Bungo Stray Dogs on Stage: Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen

Even though I consider this my like, second-favorite arc (hell, I even dressed as this specific iteration of Dazai last Halloween), I remembered almost nothing about the story, so I got to be surprised by the twist all over again—being forgetful has its advantages sometimes. Go, me! I didn't like it as much as the Dark Era play but that's to be expected. “Do I even like this arc?” is probably the wrong question to ask. Rather, it should be “do I even like BSD?”—but it doesn't really matter. It was still pretty fun to watch. Probably.

That Butler, Friendship

Silly filler episode antics. That Sebastian is so short(though his performance was nothing to scoff at)! I must say, for a musical, the performances here were often…not very good, but it was a fun watch. I laughed a whole lot. For most of the runtime I was going, “so cute!” at everything— I guess you could call it “comfy”. My favorite part was the Undertaker’s number. They should've given him a tiny singing rat in the 2008 anime too

Bungo Stray Dogs on Stage: Dark Era

Saying this is my favorite arc of BSD would be a tad misleading, in the sense that it's the only arc I could actually be said to like—and boy did this play do it justice. The projector effects (plus the props and choreography) were SO fun. I know I'm having a hype moment when I'm briefly convinced that Kaze ga Fuku Machi is a good song (somehow it never hits as hard in any other context…!) — Reason Living is also my favorite opening so when that played at the end I also felt like I was ascending. Odasaku…!

Elisabeth: The Rondo of Love and Death

A while back when I was browsing letterboxd I came across the profile of someone who logged this play like every other week and oh my god I get them. I feel like I want to watch this every single day. I have fond memories of watching the Empress Sissi movies with my mom, so this one was sure to be a personal hit, but I didn't expect to love it to this level. It's so beautiful, so magical! Such wonderful performances from the whole cast.
I think I may be in love with Asumi Rio’s voice. Her Der Tod is, well, to die for. I'll keep this one near and dear to my heart always.

Dancing☆Star Pretty Cure The Stage

I made a beeline to watch this as soon as I discovered it existed. A musical about a team of boycures seemed like the most fun thing in the world—and it really was!
I couldn’t stop smiling, sometimes outright laughing, at all the silly effects—it was so awesome, especially the transformations⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝☆ Just pure undiluted happiness. Can’t help but wonder what Pas De Deux (the mascot) is cooking, though…
The protagonist felt like a kamen rider mc, which I guess makes sense. I’m not sure who my favorite Cure is—maybe I’ll decide that in the next stage. My friend’s favorite was Pado, which is funny since I’m usually the one defending the mascot character from him…

The Poe Clan

The Poe Clan is one of my favorite manga ever, and this adaptation didn’t disappoint. Those elaborate sets, that gorgeous costuming, those wonderful musical numbers! It’s all so grand. Takarazuka actresses playing gay vampire boys might be my own personal heaven♡
Also, all these years I somehow never realized that “Edgar” and “Allan” were named after the writer until I heard their names said out loud…I may be stupid(╯_╰”)

Musical - MARIGOLD-

The path to hell is paved with good intentions, so maybe the path to tragedy is paved with love? Either way, this is such a lovely musical! Great performances all around. Some of the numbers were super fun to watch, some others were absolutely heart-rending. A family broken apart. A lonely girl surrounded by beautiful flowers. The shadows of the past remain in many forms—one of them being Sophie Andersen, who’s on new levels of Going Through It (with several resulting casualties). I can’t say I’d handle losing my soulmate any better, but damn…

PEACEPIT 2017 stage play “Grand Guignol”

This is one of the best so far. Genuinely heartbreaking. It gives Dali Delico such a whole new depth! The new characters it introduces are also amazing, especially Sue and Frieda. Their struggles through the violence and lies that uphold the vampire’s rigid class-based society are so human—wait, is that the right word? Well, you get it. A series of tragedies that will soon lead into another (and another one after that!). In this world, someone is always trying to hold the stars in their hands, always saying the same lines to each other—This one actually made me cry. Ul……

Patch stage vol.6 「SPECTER」

I already knew a little bit of Ga Banli’s backstory because of the manga, but there was a lot of new stuff for me still. So that’s how he (and Sophie) got their names…I know this was about as long as the other two, but it felt like it dragged on forever. The costumes looked like they were made from my grandma’s carpets (not necessarily a bad thing), and the acting was fine, it’s just that there was nothing to really grip me. Sadly, it’s just plain mid…( -_-);

LILIUM -Lilium Girls Purity Theater-

If a musical starring Hello Project and Morning Musume idols about vampire girls at a boarding school wearing white dresses didn’t turn out to be my favorite thing ever, then there would be something wrong with this world—or me. But thankfully, that’s not the case! This is seriously amazing! I’m in love!
Ahem. The singing and choreography are impeccable, as you’d expect from a cast of idols. The performances are so passionate. My heart was totally gripped.It has less funny/silly moments than TRUMP (though they’re definitely present), and it was also a lot more impactful. This series is turning out to be a keeper alright. Now, who wants to come over and play vampires with me? （ゝ。∂）～☆

TRUMP (2013 D2)

I read a manga based on this play a couple months-or-so ago so I already knew the story, but that didn’t make this any less fun. Hilarious, entertaining, sometimes mesmerizing—I had the time of my life for about 2 and a half hours. So this is what these stageplays are like…! I can’t imagine how fun it would be to see it live in person, but it’s also amazing that I can join the audience’s shouts of “DALI-CHAN!!!” in my bedroom on the other side of the world (and over a decade after the fact! ). I think this series might become a favorite of mine…

✦ yes, my lord. ✦