Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Engeki-hen - The Passionate Emotions of the Cast, Director & Staff Explode on Stage

EVENT
Oct. 29, 2014 00:00 PDT

■ I want you to definitely see this ever-charming cast

With complete cooperation from Gainax, the hot robot anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has become a stage play for the first time. The cast were all chosen through auditions, which may make the stage play quite the dueling arena. Over 2,000 actors applied for the auditions! Visuals released of the chosen cast members from among them dressed as their respective characters, and they became popular for their high quality.

Directing the play is Izam, who launched the performing unit Benibara Usagidan in 2008 and performs in a style not captured by preconceived notions. For this new stage play, he is also billed as producer. It seems the auditions were quite exciting. According to Izam,

>“I was surprised that we received 2,000 resumes for the cast auditions. The audition was a >two-step process of uproarious laughter and actors letting their personalities out from >beginning to end. I was also surprised by the amount of public votes we received. Also, >speaking of hardships, the obvious aspect of knowing I couldn’t fumble the selection of the >exuberant cast was difficult. But, after that the worldwide poll passed, and the cast members >who made it through took on the burden of the emotions of the many cast members who >have performed on stage before them. I want you to definitely see this ever-charming cast.”

■ Using visuals from the anime, and the high quality of the actors
The Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann movie comes to the world through famous lines of dialogue!

The stage play sets are extremely simple. First, it opens with a romantic scene between Kamina and Yoko. There is often a pattern to these types of works that they open with a extravagant sword fight, so opening with a gentle scene is quite admirable. Moreover, there’s a famous line at the very beginning, and the audience is drawn into the world and heated up through music and characters appearing. The story then progresses through tales, episodes, and dialogue fans will know well.

The cast members who made it through the audition are the cream of the crop. Kotaro Ito is playing Simon and Shota Motokawa is playing Kamini, both in a 2.5D style that even fans were won over by. The latter half of Act 1 shows Kamina and Simon in a situation so spot-on it will overlap with fans’ mental images of the anime. The rest of the cast is befitting of their respective roles as well. Already looking just like the characters themselves are Takuro Sawada as the older-sister-like Leeron, Seitaro Chiba as Kittan, and Shungo Takasaki as Rossiu. Rikuhei Fuji as Lordgenome appears in Act 2 and, being of course a skilled hand-to-hand fighter with a sharp, battle-ready presence, “seems powerful” just be stepping on stage. We by all means hope that he goes on to play diabolically evil villains in other 2.5D stage plays as well.

The visuals used during the play are of the anime itself. In the case of stage plays, the visuals are remade on stage, but in this case the play succeeds in cleverly syncing the visuals to the actors’ movements on stage, giving audiences the excitement and thrill of when they saw the anime. Of course, similarly to the original work, messages of believing in friendship, camaraderie, hopes, and dreams are transmitted well, and the stage play is making even audiences who don’t know the series interested in it.

Famous lines of dialogue are sprinkled throughout Gurren Lagann, and even just to this extent fans will likely be pleased with the stage play. Even the energy from the actors’ powerful performances is transmitted to the audience.

This tag team stage play with Gainax is the fruit of two years of planning by the director, who even put strenuous effort into the action scenes. If possible, we hope he makes a sequel too. If you attend the stage play, also make sure to check out the considerably rare items on display at the exhibit in the lobby.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Engeki-hen Stage Play

Source: animeanime
Source article written by Hiromi Taka