Note: The featured article will be stickied to the top of the web page for two weeks at a time. To read the latest, proceed to the second post of the blog.
Have you ever watched an idol DVD? An idol DVD is usually an hour to an hour and a half long documentary-like film featuring a certain idol doing different things or tasks. Originally meant for the male audience, an idol DVD features the female idol (ranging from 10 to 20+ year-olds) doing various sports, posing in different swimsuits, cosplaying and basically posing around.
A few years back Marvelous Entertainment, the one behind the successful stage production The Musical Prince of Tennis, started a trend in producing idol DVDs starring male actors, specifically actors who had starred in Tenimyu at one point. The DVDs were widely accepted by Tenimyu fans everywhere and had now become a trend. DVDs starring male actors were started to be fondly called Men’s DVD. Some actors like Katou Keisuke were also starred in such DVDs even though they have not starred in Tenimyu or any stage productions. (left: Katou Keisuke’s Pieces of Dream DVD)
Exactly what can one expect when watching a man’s DVD anyway? What eyecandy are stored in such a fangirl’s treasure?
(To ensure understanding of the text with the pictures, I have incuded the actor and the title of the DVD in the pictures.)
The first time they were released, men’s DVD were sold as is: containing the main documentary clip, a short making-of video, and a digital photo gallery. The recent ones though, now come with photobooks with shots from the DVD. They are sold separately so you can enjoy both the printed and digital versions of shots from the video.
A male idol DVD contains slightly different parts from a female idol DVD. Usually, the movie is shot in a place outside Japan, commonly in other Asian countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. The actor is usually depicted as someone who is exploring the place he ended up in. All throughout the film, a voice-over done by the actor himself would be narrating, telling his thoughts of his adventures and on certain things. The movie is usually divided into categories, all of which are, more often than not, common in all men’s DVD.
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When the photos of Ogurin (one of Oguri Shun’s nickname) for Caligula came out, I remember someone asking if he was playing “Jesus Christ.” Well people, not exactly. Caligula is actually a nickname for the Roman emperor, Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus. An archetypal tyrannical emperor, Caligula was known for his cruelty, insanity and yes, sexual perversion. Due to Caligula’s supposedly colorful life, many plays and musicals were derived from his story.
The only thing Kakeru wished for the most was to dance to his heart’s content. Who knew he would get his wish fast — for a price.
FROGS, unlike some of the more popular musicals taking Japanese entertainment by storm, is an original concept of scriptwriter Kiyasu Kouhei and director Kishitani Goro. With a cast made up of young promising actors of AMUSE Inc., dance sequences which are more of hiphop than the usual stage jazz, and a light-hearted yet touching script, FROGS has spun a child’s fairy tale into a colorful, inspiring masterpiece laced with humor and incredible dance moves.
The main stars of FROGS are not new to stage productions. Sakurada Doori, acting as the central character, has previously acted as Echizen Ryoma in the excessively successful Musical Prince of Tennis. His two co-actors, Aoyagi Ruito and Yanagisawa Takahiko, also acted in the same musical a year earlier than him. Uehara Takuya, though not very visible in stage productions, is a popular talent of AMUSE. All of them have high-leveled dancing skills and satisfactory singing and acting skills.
FROGS is first shown in BIG TREE THEATER last March 2007. It is then remade for another run on September 2007. It is one of the few stage productions that is given a chance to be shown on television and its DVD and other merchandise are always in demand.
Any real otaku is aware that Prince of Tennis has a stage adaptation. Anyone who is a die-hard fan of Oguri Shun knows that a few of his successful projects are on the stage (Caligula, As You Like It). Any one who knows JE (Johnny’s Entertainment), D-BOYS and PureBOYS remembers that almost all members of these group has had experience in performing on stage be it a play, a mini-musical or a theater live.
The Japanese stage has seen so much diversity in the years of its existence. The usual kabuki, the adaptations of Western plays and the act-out of Mishima Yukio’s books are companioned with the rise of animyu and contemporary stage productions and lives.
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