Guest WuxiaFan Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 ZATOICHI - STAGE PLAY Starring: AIKAWA Show ABE Sadawo NAGATO Hiroyuki Written and Directed by: MIIKE Takashi In 2007, Takashi Miike staged a Zatoichi production in Japan in their famed classical theater, or Kabuki, starring Sho Aikawa as Ichi. Although it was a packed house, the production was filmed and shown on Japanese TV in February 2008. Merlin at samuraidvd.com then subtitled the stage play in late 2010. After ordering Zatoichi TV Season Two from samuraiDVD.com, Merlin recently sent me a trailer (see below for link) for the stage play on nipponcinema.com, and I was absolutely stunned! I immediately ordered ZATOICHI - STAGE PLAY and have finally watched it. I nearly sat for 166 mins in complete amazement of this stage play. Seeing how masterful Sho Aikawa played our beloved Ichi was incredible! Sho's swordplay was stunning as well. Sho was true to the Ichi we all know and love protrayed by the late KATSU Shintaro. This was a much needed and welcome relief after seeing the absolutely dreadful protrayal of Ichi by the Japanese "Justin Timberlake" Shingo Katori in ZATOICHI THE LAST. PRODUCTION: I was also in complete amazement of the actual stage production of Japan's Kabuki theater. The elaborate and detailed moving sets were incredible! The costumes were as detailed, ornate, and colorful as I've ever seen! There was nothing that was not an authentic replica of feudal Japan in this production. The katanas used in the play appeared to me to be REAL. Maybe they weren't razor sharp, but they looked real to me. They didn't look like stage props, but I could be wrong. Until I confirm it, I'm going on the assumption that they were real. At least when I watch it, that's how I think of it. ACTING: The acting was just superb, not only from Sho Aikawa, but also from every actor and actress on stage. The acting did not have that "stage play" sound and feel to it. To me, it was truly an authentic immersion into the characters. I FELT like Sho Aikawa WAS Ichi, along with all the other characters. The cameras got close up to the actors and their emotions were REAL. Because their emotions were real, I was completely immersed emotionally into the characters when I was watching it. I started watching this around 10:30pm and I was tired, but by 2:00am it didn't feel like I was watching something for 2 hrs, 45 mins. I was wondering where the time went. SWORDPLAY: As I stated above, Aikawa's swordplay was stunning and superb. Although I can't confirm this, I'm assuming he had taken swordsmanship in the past and is the real thing, not just having learned the swordplay moves for the production [if I confirm it one way or the other, I will edit my post]. The other actors who had swordplay action in the play also were extremely good. All of the swordplay action was incredible overall, but what is more stunning is that the this is performed live on stage. In a film, there's "cut! ... let's try that again" until it looks perfect. There's also film editing techniques to make it look perfect. Here in the stage play, it's one take! It's live! There's not a lot of swordplay during the play, as it all leads up and builds towards the grand finale. The grand finale was nothing short of amazing, stunning, magnificent, and unbelievable! (I'm running out of adjectives!) The amount of rehersal alone must have been exhausting, let alone the trust the actors put in each other not to get cut (again assuming the swords were real). I've NEVER seen anything like it before. EVER. THE DVD: The play was shot in anamorphic widescreen (16:9) and is a flawless, beautiful print. The Japanese audio is clear with no stage or theater echo or anything like that. I could hear every piece of dialog throughout the play. The English subtitles are well written and easy to read. Because some of the dialog among the characters is exchanged very quickly, the subs also appear and disappear very quickly. So, on occasion, I had to back-up the disc and pause it to read all of the subtitles. But overall, Merlin did a superb job with the subtitles. I did not check to see if the subtitles could be turned off. The DVD does have a menu with chapter selections, but all in Japanese. The DVD is not region encoded and is NTSC. The ONLY subtitled version available (that I know of) is from samuraiDVD.com. For any self-respecting Zatoichi fan, this DVD is a MUST HAVE! ZATOICHI - STAGE PLAY http://www.samuraidvd.com/servlet/the-59/ZATOICHI-dsh-STAGE-PLAY/Detail Here's the trailer from nipponcinema.com: http://www.nipponcinema.com/blog/tv-commercial-for-miikes-zatoichi-stage-play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted April 1, 2011 Administrator Share Posted April 1, 2011 Wow bro! I'd never even heard of this before! Don't know how I missed it, as I'm a huge fan of both Zatoichi and Takashi Miike! Sho as Ichi?! Awesome! He's a great actor, and I've seen him play drama, comedy, action, but I can't recall off hand if I've ever seen him in any chanbara roles. He probably has though. The crazy flick ZEBRAMAN marked Sho's 100th film role, and I certainly haven't seen all of his movies. Anyway, I can't wait to see this. Sounds awesome. Thanks for the head's up. BTW, I just accidentally stumbled across this: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-02-18/zatoichi/hakuoki-actor-fights-animated-enemies I think you guys and gals will definitely dig it. It's not really related, other than by genre and it's level of serious coolness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted April 2, 2011 Member Share Posted April 2, 2011 @ KFB: That clip is awesome, man!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I want to watch Samurai Jack. @ WuxiaFan: A stage production of Zatoichi? That's really interesting. I must see this dvd at some point. I'm not the "samurai" fiend that some of you guys are but I love the Zatoichi films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 BTW, I just accidentally stumbled across this: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-02-18/zatoichi/hakuoki-actor-fights-animated-enemies I think you guys and gals will definitely dig it. It's not really related, other than by genre and it's level of serious coolness. KFB - that was definitely COOL! LOVED IT! [quote=ShaOW!linDude;160607@ WuxiaFan: A stage production of Zatoichi? That's really interesting. I must see this dvd at some point. I'm not the "samurai" fiend that some of you guys are but I love the Zatoichi films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BlackLamaFaction Posted April 2, 2011 Member Share Posted April 2, 2011 After ordering Zatoichi season 2 There is a season 2 of Zatoichi on DVD? I have never been able to find that. That is awesome!! Is it the whole season or in volumes like the first season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 There is a season 2 of Zatoichi on DVD? I have never been able to find that. That is awesome!! Is it the whole season or in volumes like the first season? BLF - YES, Merlin at samuraiDVD.com has been releasing Season 2 of Zato Ichi TV Series this year. He is releasing them in 3-episode Volumes. So far for S2, he has released the following volumes: Vol 5, Episodes 13-15 Vol 6, Episodes 16-18 Vol 7, Episodes 19-21 Vol 8, Episodes 22-24 Vol 9, Episodes 25-27 Vol 10, Episodes 28-29 (w/previews of S3 and Shintaro Katsu's 50th birthday party) Here's a link to all Zatoichi TV Episodes, ZATOICHI 14 - ZATOICHI'S PILGRIMAGE, and other Shintaro Katsu movies. http://www.samuraidvd.com/servlet/the-STARS-OF-JAPANESE-CINEMA-cln-KATSU-Shintaro/Categories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 BLF - YES, Merlin at samuraiDVD.com has been releasing Season 2 of Zato Ichi TV Series this year. He is releasing them in 3-episode Volumes. So far for S2, he has released the following volumes: Vol 5, Episodes 13-15 Vol 6, Episodes 16-18 Vol 7, Episodes 19-21 Vol 8, Episodes 22-24 Vol 9, Episodes 25-27 Vol 10, Episodes 28-29 (w/previews of S3 and Shintaro Katsu's 50th birthday party) Here's a link to all Zatoichi TV Episodes, ZATOICHI 14 - ZATOICHI'S PILGRIMAGE, and other Shintaro Katsu movies. http://www.samuraidvd.com/servlet/the-STARS-OF-JAPANESE-CINEMA-cln-KATSU-Shintaro/Categories BLF - ALL of Season 2 TV series is available. See this thread: http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14223 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted April 26, 2011 Member Share Posted April 26, 2011 I'm So Broke!!!!!!!!! but I must buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted April 29, 2011 Administrator Share Posted April 29, 2011 I loved it! Miike fans will be familiar with actor Sho Aikawa who appeared in several of the director's films including his DEAD OR ALIVE trilogy. Here he portays Ichi, and he nails it! His performance totally captures the character's spirit the way that Shintaro Katsu created it. Now I'm not a big fan of plays, but I was completely sucked into this. The drama was completely riveting, the acting top-notch, and all of the elements were terrific- stage direction, scenery, costumes, and especially the music! I was amazed at the katana action they accomplished live in single, uninterrupted takes! Wow. Highly recommended to Zatoichi and chanbara fans. And thanks again for letting us know about this Wuxiafan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted June 2, 2011 Member Share Posted June 2, 2011 OK I just finally finished watching this stage play of Zatoichi and all I can say is that it was Amazing. I wish that I can understand Japanese without reading the Subtitles because I would have loved to have seen this play in Person. I think WuxiaFan's review is spot on excellent so there really isn't anything that I can add to it. I wish Takashi Miike had made this play into a movie using all of the characters. AIKAWA Show who play Zatoichi did an Amazing job, his Zatoichi was on the level of Shitaro Katsu's you love his Zatoichi, his Swordsmanship was amazing to watch as well, and I agree he had some kind of training to pull off her moves he did, it really was like watching Katsu all over again. The Actors were so into there characters that they got emotional and cried on cue it was unreal. There wasn't a lot of Sword fighting as mentioned until the end which was built up to an awesome finale. If they wanted to bring back the Zatoichi Franchiese then AIKAWA Show is the only person who could pull it off. Again this Stage Play is a must own for any Fan of Zatoichi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member waywardsage Posted December 5, 2013 Member Share Posted December 5, 2013 They should have taken this as a touring show. It would have really exposed the rest of the world to the awesomeness of Zatoichi! For now, I need to get the DVD stat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.