TeniMyu Post #1: Tezuka & Fuji

This will be the first of a few posts, the succeeding ones dependent on how I can quickly assess the rest of the cast members. So please bear with me for the time being.

------

So now that I think about it, I think it's time I sat down and gave my own take on how I appreciate the TeniMyu series. ^_^ So here goes~

To start, I applaud Ueshima Yukio-sensei's awesome work time and again with the past 18 musicals I've thoroughly watched and followed (at this certain point), and I owe him and the entire cast a lot for bringing this awesome anime to the musical stage. It really deserves all the praise, after all. ^_^

I'm sure that for every TeniMyu fan out there, they secretly have their own favorites (whether it be a sole actor, or a cast altogether). So I shall focus on the changing Seigaku cast, and give my take on my favorite/s among them. Sad to say, but I will not be commenting on the 5th cast members (though I shall mention them anyway) for the simple reason that I have yet to seen them on stage enough to share any insight on their performance.

EDIT: Good news. After watching three musicals with the 5th cast, I'm here to provide my insights on them now~ Weee.

(~ ^______^)~

TEZUKA KUNIMITSU

1st CastA: Takigawa Eiji

1st CastB: Ohkuchi Kengo

2nd Cast: Shirota Yuu

3rd Cast: Minami Keisuke

4th Cast: Watanabe Daisuke

5th Cast: Baba Ryouma

~~Personally, each Tezuka actor I've seen so far brings their own take on the stoic captain. ~

1Ca- Takigawa: I will admit that Tezuka was my favorite character in the series, so I had high expectations for whoever would be portraying the role in the musical. I first saw Takigawa in the first cast's performance of Dream Live 1st. And I will tell you that I simply fell in love. I had this deep sense of respect for Takigawa that he could pull off the role so well, regardless of the flaws he had when it came to singing (I will applaud his singing regardless! *pumps fist in the air*). I'm glad that he was cast into that role instead of Inui (who he originally auditioned for).

1Cb-Ohkuchi: His brief appearance in More Than Limit St. Rudolph Gakuen was enough for me to respect him simply as an actor. While I may never accept him as a 'Tezuka' per say, the only reason he earned my respect was when he sang the song 'Dream Maker' with Kimeru. Their blending was quite good, and I give him credit for achieving that much.

2C-Shirotan: I will admit that the moment I had seen Shirota Yuu take on Tezuka's role, I was simply blown away. I had watched the Live Action of Prince of Tennis movie long before I discovered the musicals, so when I did start watching the musicals faithfully, I seriously had to pause and shift from the musical to the movie to realize that the 2nd cast (save for Echizen's role) reprised their roles for the movie. Of course, the whole idea got me excited, since I got attracted to Shirota's portrayal. But the added factor that won my heart was his voice. *squeals in excited fangirl-mode* It was after I watched him take on this role did I start hunting down his other works (SeraMyu, Koshonin, Rookies, Heat Island, Team Batista no Eiko, etc.).

3C-Minami: About the time I was watching Advancement Match Rokkaku feat. Hyoutei (debut of the 3rd cast), I was a bit skeptical with Minami taking on the role. Perhaps I was too caught up in my wild fantasies of Takigawa and Shirota to accept anybody else to get the role. But Minami proved me wrong at some point when I was listening repeatedly to songs off TeniMyu. It had taken a while, but his voice (and his look) was enough for me to accept him in the long run. ^_^ Actually, it's funny how he resembles Tezuka when he was in 1st year. Haha. Yeah.

4C-Daisuke: This man taking on the role of Tezuka took me by surprise. When I first saw him in a clip of Dream Live 5th (singing Yomigaerishi Mono), my initial reaction was: "WHY IS TEZUKA FLYING AND WAVING?!?!?! D<" But sitting down and watching through Progressive Match Higa feat. Rikkai and Dream Live 5th in full gave me another impression on him: "OMG he looks EXACTLY like him!" When all those impressions of him died down, I took a while to contemplate how I was going to take this new Tezuka actor. Coming into Imperial Presence Hyoutei feat. Higa, Daisuke gave me a reason to forget about his flying act in DL5 and appreciate his 'Jimonjitou' solo, which I did thoroughly. Another Tezuka actor has shown his worth to take on the role just by singing an awesome song. ^_^

5C-Ryouma: To be honest, I think Baba Ryouma is the first one I know among the others who needed a wig to look the part. ^___^;; Ah, backstage footage. *snicker snicker* But anyway, when I got myself a copy of Imperial Presence Hyoutei feat. Higa (5B), I pretty much had high expectations from both the 5th cast members and Hyoutei B cast since my only basis of comparison would usually be the singing voice. I'll be honest to say that at some points I even begin to wonder how or why Ryouma got the part. ^_^;; But hey, I must say he improved with each musical. I had this slight tendency to compare him with Daisuke during the 'Jimonjitou' solo from the same musical, but then I realized that despite that, Ryouma just wants to create his own kind of Tezuka Kunimitsu that you should learn to appreciate. I'm looking forward to this guy's performance during the Rikkai musicals to come.

FUJI SYUUSUKE

1st Cast: Kimeru

2nd-3rd Cast: Aiba Hiroki

4th Cast: Furukawa Yuuta

5th Cast: Hashimoto Taito

1C-Kimeru: A J-Pop singer who's contributed so much to TeniPuri already now takes on the role of Fuji Syusuke. Height aside, Kimeru makes up for that with his impeccable singing. Kimeru truly captures the nature of Fuji on stage, which makes him perfect for the role. The admirable thing about Kimeru is that he listed himself as an understudy to Echizen's role, which he did for Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine after Yanagi's accident before returning to his role as Fuji when Endo was casted. Whether he played Echizen or Fuji, there is only one thing you have to consider: HE BELTED IT OUT!

2-3C-Aibacchi: The longest running actor to have taken the role. Aibacchi makes an appearance with the 5th cast in Imperial Presence Hyoutei feat. Higa before Taito finally took over the role. Aibacchi should be given credit for the way he's so flexible, and I think we have to thank his background as a street dancer (along with TAKUYA aka Jirou) for that. His singing isn't all that bad either! Having worked with 3 different casts over the course of his involvement with TeniMyu, it tells you that Aibacchi truly loves the whole production to offer his services.

4C-Furukawa: Another height issue to take into consideration (he's the TALLEST among the 4th cast!), Furukawa didn't sit too well with me the first time I saw him in Progressive Match Higa feat. Rikkai. Basically I left my judgement at that. But that quickly subsided when he sang 'Tennis to wa' with Ogasawara (4th Cast Kawamura for two musicals). His performance of 'Heavy Rain' during Imperial Presence Hyoutei feat. Higa completely turned it around for me. Furukawa continued to amaze with his wonderful take of the song 'Boku wa Kawaru' from Treasure Match Shitenhouji feat. Hyoutei. Fuji APPROVED!

5C-Taito: By far the youngest Fuji actor in all of Tenimyu history. The first time I really got to see him in action was during Treasure Match Shitenhouji feat. Hyoutei since Aiba had reprised his role in the previous musical. You've got to give the kid credit, though. After all, in that particular musical, Fuji had a major role, especially with the epic match between Fuji and Shiraishi. I would have to comment though that unlike the other Fuji actors before him ,Taito's still moving a little robotic at some points (referring to 'Boku wa Kawaru). Whether it was from anxiety or otherwise, I guess Taito really just needs time to adjust and evolve as an actor. He'd do quite well, I'm sure, so I really look forward to the Rikkai musicals to see how he improves.

------

This will be it for the time being. My next post will focus on the Echizen and Momoshiro actors, so stay tuned for that!

^_______________^b