Vampire Knight Musical

Hello everyone!

It seems to be musical after musical with me, I know! I must admit I have not gone to so many shows and musicals before coming to Japan. I love Broadway, Shakespeare, and some of the more modern American plays, but Japan's musicals just lure me in like a moth to the flame. This time, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend and see the ヴァンパイア騎士(ナイト) ミュジャカル (The Vampire Knight Musical) based on Matsuri Hino's (樋野まつり) recently completed manga run in Lala magazine. As a major fan of the Vampire Knight manga, I knew this was something I couldn't miss!

(The Lucky Ticket!)

While I often say that I was fortunate to see any musical, this one in particular was a lucky snag. This stage was announced back in late 2014 in Lala Magazine. Running only from January 21st to the 25th, tickets for this show were extremely hard to get. I ended up entering the early lottery with three time submissions, the first of which was defeated. After that, I got my second time submission pick. My seat was not super close to the front, but it was close enough to the stage, so I took it right away.

(Off to see the show!)

The stage was held at the Hakuhinkan Theatre in Ginza above the Hakuhinkan Toy Park on the 8th floor. The theatre was small and a bit compact, but that didn't bother me as it just meant that my seat, which would have been a ways back had this been a Broadway show, was actually relatively close to the stage. The Theatre itself, like many other theatres I have been to since coming to Japan, reflected the production itself in a way. It was almost like stepping into an opera house. The floor was decked in red with chandeliers made of crystal, lighting the place up. Numerous flower displays for the cast and crew were displayed in the lobby.

(Hakuhinkan Theatre in Ginza)

(In the right place!)

(Left: Promotional Photo with Schedule; Right: Entrance to the Theatre on the 8th Floor)

 

(Flower Displays for the Cast and Crew)

They did not let us enter until 11:30 AM on the dot (the show started at 12:00 noon), but as soon as you entered it was a question of where to go first. I choose to go to the right where they were selling goods, figuring it was better to go earlier than later. I first choose to go to AKIRA's CD line and buy her new Limited Edition CD containing the theme song of the musical as well as a few other numbers on it. (I was happy to see they were also selling her first single Aoki Tsuki Michite as well! I would have bought it, but I already had it!) By doing so, I was able to enter the lottery and obtained my number one Souvenir, AKIRA's autograph! And when I say Autograph, I mean, an actual, legitimate autograph, on Canvas Paper. You can literally see the groves in it and the ink where it landed. Yes, this was a total score!

(The Musical Goods Shop)

(AKIRA's Booth selling both of her singles)

(AKIRA's Autograph and CD)

After that, I went to the next line to the left, where I was able to purchase the Musical's goods. The goods were nice in that there wasn't an extreme number of different products, so you could easily pick and choose what you wanted. I was able to get the Clear File Folder, the Bromides, and the Program Book and then made my way over to the opposite side of the entrance hall to admire what I had seen right before going to AKIRA's stand. The beautiful, lovely, absolutely stunning Cross Academy Uniforms on display, literally close enough to touch. They were actually selling them for about 400 to 450 USD (Ouch!), but to be perfectly honest, as a costume fan, if I had money to spare, I would have dropped the money for at least one of these uniforms. They were just beautiful!

(Cross Academy Uniforms used in the Musical)

(Left: Night Class Uniforms; Right: Day Class Uniforms)

(Detail shots of the Male Day Class Uniform)

The Uniforms were made out of a wonderful suiting material, but even more impressive were the gems used to accent the ribbons sewn onto the jackets as well as the buttons, which were obviously ordered and made specifically for the musical as they fit Matsuri Hino's designs to a T (and out of all the many high school uniforms I have seen in manga and anime, these are still by far one of the most decorative and consistent ones I've seen). I also liked how the male uniforms were clearly made for a female figure impersonating that of a man. In other words, that was the job of these uniforms. Now why is that you ask?

(Cast Members out of Costume; Photo Courtesy of Twitter)

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Vampire Knight Musical, which is at its core a love story, was it was produced with the entire cast made up of female members. So naturally more than half of the cast were cross dressing on stage, including the main two male leads of Kaname Kuran, played by AKIRA, and Zero Kiryu, played by ROOT. While I know many people were a bit skeptical at first about this, both AKIRA and ROOT as well as their fellow cast members playing male roles, did phenomenal jobs with this challenge.

(Majority of the Cast in costume; Photo Courtesy of AKIRA on Twitter)

Both AKIRA and ROOT are well known for being Boys Style Models within Japan. What is that? Boys Style in Japan is a fashion revolving around more boyish clothing specifically for women. Sometimes it can create an androgynous sort of appearance, but it can also reflect or portray a more edgy, stronger, or even more laid back personality. (I'm not saying female styles don't do the same, only that this style specifically targets those qualities). Because of this, many Boys Style Models are women who essentially excel at the art of portraying themselves as males. So picking both AKIRA and ROOT to play the lead male roles in this musical made up entirely of women makes a lot of sense.

(Flower Display from Mangaka Matsuri Hino)

(Close up of the depiction of the main three characters that inspired the promotional photos for the musical.)

(Promotional Photo for comparison)

A bit more about AKIRA. AKIRA recently also rose to fame for singing the ending of 黒執事: Book of Circus (Black Butler Season 3) (the title of  the song was mentioned above). A beautifully, sad song, upon hearing it and hearing that AKIRA would be playing Kaname Kuran, I instantly was excited to see her in this musical. Prior to the musical, I had little to no knowledge of ROOT, other than that she was a model. After seeing her performance though as Zero, the casting choice made not just a lot of sense, but perfect sense to me, for which I'll explain more about later. Finally, Musical Artist Yumi Wakatsuki completed the main cast playing the role of Yuki Cross.

(Yumi Wakatsuki as Yuki Cross)

(ROOT as Zero Kiryu)

(AKIRA as Kaname Kuran)

Onto the actual musical itself though. The Musical was a 2 hour show with 15 minutes in between. Like previous shows I had been to, they often employed the use of moving stage pieces as well as projectors. A new use of the projectors I found too was that they essentially made a set of opening credits to follow the first song, which I rather liked a lot as it sort of felt like watching a piece of a live action movie.

(Show time!)

SPOILERS FOLLOW PLEASE SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE MORE CAPS

The Musical followed the first major arc line of the manga. Our female lead, Yuki Cross, along with her friend Zero Kiryu are Guardians of Cross Academy, where there are two classes, the Day Class and the Night Class. Their job is to keep the safety and peace of the school as well as guard the secret of the Night Class (that the Night Class is actually attended strictly by Vampires!). Yuki crushes on Kaname Kuran, President of the Night Class, who saved her life ten years ago. This often aggravates her friend Zero, whose family was murdered by a Vampire four years prior (only he miraculously survived). His goal is to find the most effective way to eradicate and kill all Vampires.

(Yuki Cross and a reluctant Zero Kiryu are introduced as Guardians of the School; Photo Courtesy of ROOT)

So naturally when Zero bites into Yuki's neck and drinks her blood, she is shocked, not having known that since the Vampire attack he has been suffering the slow and agonizing pain of becoming a Vampire himself. Soon after this revelation, a new girl enters the Night Class and Kaname realizes an enemy has entered their midst, preparing for the inevitable chess game about to take place.

(Zero's secret is revealed! Photo Courtesy of ROOT)

The musical follows the manga's story line pretty closely, only cutting certain parts short when needed. Some characters, such as Toga Yagari (Zero's mentor) do not appear in the musical, while others make surprise appearances, such as Zero's twin brother Ichiru. Overall, it was a very well done adaptation.

(Cover of Volume 1 of the English Vampire Knight Manga)

The music itself was a mix of classic vampire-esk tones as well as modern rock. Each of the cast members did a wonderful job of depicting the story line and emotions attached to it. There were many times that you often forgot that the cast was made up of women and just went on with the story, not noticing it, which is a sign of a very successful acting accomplishment. Furthermore, the special effects were spot on and often taken right from the manga (much to my and my fellow audience members' delight). For instance, Kaname's anger was often shown through the cracking of glass for no apparent reason and cherry blossoms often followed the weeping Kurikizaki hime. 

(The Final Cast all in Costume)

AKIRA as the player of the Chess game so to speak captivated the audience with her vocals. AKIRA's natural range is that of an Alto, possibly a tenor, but she can hit high notes as well when needed. She played the "Pureblood Vampire" (in other words, the king of Vampires) perfectly, without ever missing a beat. A perfect gentleman, with a darkness lurking in his shadow.

(AKIRA sings the final number; Photo Courtesy of Model Press)

My applause of the day, which though I loved AKIRA, had to go to ROOT. Although Zero remains and has been my favorite character in the story, that is not why my praise goes to ROOT. This predisposition  had me going in with a very critical state of mind in regards to Zero.

(ROOT and Yumi as Zero's instincts overwhelm him; Photo Courtesy of Tumblr)

Zero at the heart of the story is the "Vampire Knight". He suffers from physical pain, mental pain, and emotional pain through out the first arc of the manga. He looses his family, becomes a thing he loathes, often harboring suicidal thoughts based on the mentality that he is a threat to those he holds dear, and worse perhaps, watches the girl he loves sacrifice for him all while looking on at another boy. He fights an overwhelming addiction and increasing madness in order to try and save the person he loves. ROOT had a full plate with this role. She had a lot of emotions and a lot of difficult acting to get across to the audience. She did phenomenally. Her pain was our pain and her struggles became our struggles as we watched her heartrending portrayal of Zero's monolithic trials.

SPOILERS END HERE

My fellow audience members I'm sure would agree that the musical was nothing short of a spectacular performance. Amazingly too, this audience seemed to draw those of all ages and of both genders. I made sure to quickly reserve my copy of the DVD version of the Musical as well as go to the Gachas (think  to get pins of the cast members (lucky me again I got Zero and Kaname in the first go!). It's also my hope that they release a CD of the songs from the musical, since they were very beautiful, fun, tragic, and romantic.

(All the goods from the Musical)

(Zero and Kaname Pins from the Gachas)

Overall, the musical was a wonderful show and I look forward to getting my DVD. The cast members were phenomenal, talented, and made the show much more real than anyone could have ever anticipated. It certainly makes me hope that they will be in more shows in the future so we can see more of their talent. If you get the chance to buy the DVD, do it! It's well worth it and if you enjoy Vampire Knight, your collection won't be complete without it! See below, Kaname agrees! ;)

(AKIRA prior to the show's start; Photo Courtesy of AKIRA on Twitter)

Till next time,

Tactile Consideration

Hello once again,

This time a very short, basic post, but it's about the Tactile Paving system here in Japan. The Tactile Paving system is a series of slightly raised strips or bumps in the road meant to help the blind or visually impaired as the walk around cities and in town. And they are EVERYWHERE. In Tokyo, Kyoto, Saitama, Kumagaya, Okayama in train stations, in buildings, on almost every sidewalk. About the only place that I haven't seen them is on roads primarily for cars (not pedestrians). I mostly wanted to share this because it just blew my mind that they existed. What a considerate and smart thing to do!

(For when you possibly need to change direction)

(Along the sidewalk)

(Near the street)

(On the station platform)

I hope you can find a reason to smile today! :)

Swallowtail Butler Cafe

Hello everyone!

(Advertisement on Otome Road for "Swallowtail")

This time I wanted to document another adventure I had a while back (and my semi-reoccurring experiences too): Dining at Swallowtail Butlers Café. Japan is known for having a variety of interesting ‘cafes’ including Cat, Dog, Owl, and Maid cafes just to name a few. Perhaps the most well-known are the “Maid Cafes”, where your waitresses literally become your ‘maid’ the second you walk into the café. This kind of café has some variations, but generally, all of the waitresses dress in Maid Uniforms, address the customer as “Master” or “Madam/Mistress/Princess”, and often your food follows some kind of style, be it cute or fine dining. These cafes have seen much success and have been popular in Japan for years.

So in a way, it only makes sense that a “Butler Café” would be the next thing, especially with the popularity of Butler-themed inspired television shows, books, animes, movies, etc. The “Butler Café” has had a hard time starting off, with several of them crashing and burning after their initial openings. Customers complained that it was too ‘cheesy’, Host Club like (Not Ouran Host Club like, Actual Host Club like), or awkward. Finding the correct approach to creating a successful “Butler Café” was a challenge.

(Photo of the entrance from the "Swallowtail" booklet)

“Swallowtail” is perhaps the result of perfect execution in the creation of a “Butler Café”. Why? Well, because it’s not just a “café”, it’s "Fine Dining". “Swallowtail” is located on Otome Road in Ikebukuro, just down from Sunshine City. Honestly, you would likely miss it if you weren’t looking for it or were unaware of its existence (I did several times to be honest). However, it’s likely that this is intended. Before going to Swallowtail, one must make a reservation (likely about 2 weeks prior to said date of attendance). Its secluded location thus is likely to keep from an unprecedented amount of customers coming without a reservation.

(Entrance from a distance)

(Entrance sign)

(And then down the steps you go to the cafe!)

Unlike its female-counterpart, “Swallowtail” instead of the more common, flirty-cutesy approach, takes a more sophisticated and elegant take on how to entertain their guests. Décor within the location is based off of the Victorian Era with some modern updates. In some ways, it reminded me of stepping into the 1^st class section of the RMS Titanic. There are elegant displays of silverware, only the best mahogany wood adorning the walls, beautiful roses and chandeliers, curtains of lace, and the classic old books sitting on the shelves. The lighting is dim, but not hard on the eyes. Perfect. It is quiet save for the hushed conversations between guests as they eat their food and the occasional bell for a butler. When one pictures this in their mind, it’s easy to understand why one needs a reservation. If too many people entered, one could see how such an illusion of time might shatter. (Oh, and no pictures of the inside are allowed, save for of one’s food!)

(Shot of the interior from the "Swallowtail" booklet)

The first time I went to Swallowtail, I went with my friend Katey. Going together, we went down the steps to the entrance, waited outside for a moment before going in and being greeted by our waiters, who were of course now, our butlers. Their greeting was “Welcome back, Princesses” (English translation) with a humble bow, and it was about the only similar thing to it’s Maid-Café counter part. (Believe it or not, they ask for what one wishes to be addressed as when you make a reservation; princess seemed like a good option). After this occurs, bare in mind, we are here trying to keep straight faces and not blush beet red, not because it’s funny, but because really, how does one respond to that?

They take our coats and lead us into the main area, which is stunning. Upon seeing it, I remember thinking ‘I want to shoot costumes here’ because it was just that beautiful. We’re led over to our seats and are given two menus, both in English and in Japanese. When our Butlers finally leave us be, we can breath a sigh of relief that we can giggle slightly at what we have gotten ourselves into. I remember the second time I went, our butler spoke some English as well which was very helpful too. So if you're not fluent in Japanese and feel more comfortable with English, feel free to request a butler who speaks some English.

A bit now about the food. It was the best food I’ve ever eaten in a long time. One meal here is about 50 USD, so you better believe that it better be good and it was. For that you get a 4 course meal, each plate coming out elegantly and in perfect display of each dish. Fish, chicken, vegetables, soup, salad, parfaits, the list goes on of what there is for each Dinner Set. Each Dinner Set is named using names like “Elizabeth, Catherine, etc.”. They serve a variety of Juice, Tea, and Wine. And of course, desserts, which were by the way, simply divine. Needless to say, their menu, while expensive, is worth every yen. It is another part of why Swallowtail must be so successful.

(Shots of some of the menu choices from the "Swallowtail" booklet)

As your mouth waters a bit from the various options above, let me go on to discuss another reason, and perhaps the main reason why “Swallowtail” is so popular. Their butlers. Their butlers are the difference between dressing up like a butler and being a butler. They do not merely put on a tailcoat bought from a second hand shop, slick back their hair, wear a pair of costume store gloves and call themselves butlers. Each and every one of their tailcoats are made of high end material, are tailored, embroidered with the Swallowtail Emblem (a butterfly), and worn neatly, respectably, and properly. I was even impressed to see the beautiful stripe down the side of their pants. Every part of their outfits was beautiful and stunning. To top it all off, they were all well groomed men. What I mean by that is that they made sure that their presence was impeccable. They keep their faces from showing any signs of weariness. They stood with the grace of one waiting upon a queen. And for goodness sakes, it must have taken them all at least half an hour to get their hair to be so neat and incredibly stylish, reserved, and perfect.

(Shot of the butlers from the "Swallowtail" booklet)

But perhaps even more amazing was that their butlers not only looked the part, but they acted it too. They were charismatic. They were knowledgeable. They were professional. They were gentlemen. It was not like a host club where the waiters’ job entailed that they hit upon/flirt with the women. They were there to wait upon and allow their guests to be at ease and enjoy a quiet, relaxing meal. All of this allowed myself and my friends to enjoy our meal, chit chat amongst ourselves, and at the end, be given a beautiful fairwell (and get a nice cake to go too!).

(Shots of the cake from "Swallowtail" both with and without candles)

So how does Swallowtail work for the English customer? It’s not too bad. The English menu is excellent. Their butlers are not all fluent in English, but they try when they can to help the customer. Sometimes, you do have to just take a guess at what they are saying though. They speak somewhat formally, so even with my Japanese I did have some trouble understanding them at times. But otherwise, it was still a smooth and enjoyable dining experience (especially the second time around when our butler knew a good bit of English as well). Perhaps the most difficult part is just making the reservation online. While they do have a guide in English, I still recommend using Google Chrome's automatic translate to assist you if you are not familiar with Japanese.

Now let's say you can't make it to the cafe. You only have a limited amount of time in Tokyo, but you want to experience it, if only a bit. Since opening, Swallowtail has opened numerous small shops around Tokyo (some are even small cafes, minus their butlers though). Across the street from the café, Swallowtail also operates a Gift Shop with CD Albums, DVDs, Tea, Cakes, Scones, etc. available for sale. It generally has one or two butlers on staff and is the only store I know of where they do so.

(The outside of the Swallowtail Gift Shop located directly opposite the Cafe itself)

(The inside of the Gift Shop from the "Swallowtail" booklet)

Swallowtail has also for some time had a little stand, known as "Patisserie Swallowtail" outside of the Ikebukuro "Tokyu Hands", located on Sunshine City Street (通り) on the way to Sunshine City from Ikebukuro Station. It's primary function is for selling cakes and desserts.

Another stand that is attached to the Swallowtail franchise is in the new Radio Hall (Rajio Kaikan or  ラジオ会館) in Akihabara. This one is new to my knowledge as Radio Hall just recently re-did their entire store which they had been growing out of for quiet some time. It is on the second or third floor I believe within K-Books. If you are googling where it is on your map, type it in Japanese because you probably won't find it if you type in "Radio Hall". To give one an idea though it is outside of the Akihabara Electric Town Exit on the left side across the street.

(Patisserie Swallowtail in Akihabara)

My favorite outside of Swallowtail itself however, is the cafe run in Shinjuku's Marui Annex Department Building on the 6th floor. If you're a fan of gothic or steampunk styled clothes, you can browse around at the clothing stores on that shop and then grab yourself a scone from the cafe which is located to the right of the up elevator (if you are coming up it that is, not down towards it). While you can sit down inside of you want, you can also get things to go ("mochikaeri" - 持ち帰り), though I don't recommend eating what you buy as you look around on that floor.

(Patisserie Swallowtail Annex - Shinjuku)

(Cute little Scone from the Annex)

Finally most recently the Swallowtail line has expanded into the cosplay supply market, popular within Japan, with both online shops as well as several in person shops through out the country including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Kanagawa, Hyogo, Hokkaido, and in Chiba. I can't say much about these as I have not been to them, but their online shop has an impressive selection of wigs, colored contacts, shoes, and other cosplay supplies. You can visit that shop here: http://swallowtail-wig.com/ (warning though, it is all in Japanese and they only accept yen).

Appropriately it would seem then, Swallowtail is also known for doing collaborations with other major well known brands and pop culture shows. Most recently, it's collaboration menu was with the "Black Butler: Book of Murder" anime (Kuroshitsuji / 黒執事 : Book of Murder) including a Phantomhive dinner option as well as several desserts available at their various smaller shops. The collaboration menus change about every two months give or take and they have various specials that they change as well. Overall though, their products are general a nice way to take a piece of Swallowtail home with you or indulge a bit something you find enjoyable (chocolate, am I right?).

(Left: Collaboration Menu Poster, Right: Chocolate Top Hat Cake Set)

(Chocolate Top Hat Cake; image courtesy of Swallowtail)

(Bromide that accompanied the cake)

In conclusion, I highly recommend visiting Swallowtail. It has perfected the art that is a "Butler Cafe" and is worth the visit. For those interested in Swallowtail, you can check out and reserve a table on their website here: http://www.butlers-cafe.jp/  (note: the website is in Japanese, BUT, if you open it in Google Chrome, you can hit the translate button in the upper right corner and it will help you significantly if you don't know Japanese). It is a fabulous experience and one that will not disappoint, my number one favorite place to dine in Tokyo.

(Swallowtail Pamphlet)

Till Next Time!