Bakuken Stage Play

[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]

  1. Series Overview
  2. The Details
  3. The Cast
  4. Links to the Broadcast
  5. Scheduled Times and Tickets
  6. Report Mirrored Broadcasts
  7. Merchandise
  8. Additional News and Links
  9. Speculation

This page is a work in progress. Additional information will be added once the play wraps.

[ SERIES OVERVIEW ]

This is a series of stage plays written by Yoko Taro and directed by Matsuda Ichidai

  • Bakuken 1 // 爆剣 ～幕府御前試合～
    Wednesday, March 24 – Wednesday, March 31, 2021
  • Bakuken 2 // 爆剣〜東京転生死合〜 
    Sunday, February 24 – Sunday, February 27, 2022*
    　　* 5 performances from February 25-27 were cancelled.
  • Bakuken 2 // 爆剣〜東京転生死合・再戦〜
    Sunday, March 1 – Thursday, March 5, 2023*
    　　* This was a re-run of Bakuken 2 in its entirety due to being prematurely cancelled in 2022.
  • Bakuken 3 // 爆劔 〜源平最終決戦〜
    Thursday, September 14 – Tuesday, September 19, 2023
  • Bakuken 4 // 爆剣 〜帝国幻想兵団〜
    Thursday, December 19 – Monday, December 23, 2024

[ THE DETAILS ]

Bakuken ~Shogun Imperial Match~

  • Yoko Taro
    Original Story / Script
  • Matsuda Ichidai
    Director
  • Schedule: Wednesday, March 24 – Wednesday, March 31, 2021
  • Dates:
    • Wednesday, March 24: 6:00pm
    • Thursday, March 25: 6:00pm
    • Friday, March 26: 6:00pm
    • Saturday, March 27: 1:00pm, 5:00pm
    • Sunday, March 28: 1:00pm, 5:00pm
    • Monday, March 29: 6:00pm
    • Tuesday, March 30: 2:00pm, 6:00pm
    • Wednesday, March 31: 1:00pm
      * Seats at half-capacity.
  • Location: CBGK: Shibu Geki, Shibuya

All are the strongest.
All are madmen.
And all are foodies.

The war-torn “Hinokuni” was conquered by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Swordsmen who have lost their purpose to fight happen to meet at the restaurant “Yatsumedo.”
They heard a rumor that an Imperial Match* would be held for the shogun to choose his swordsmen.

  • Imperial Match (Gozen Jiai, 御前試合): A martial arts match held in front of shoguns and daimyu during the samurai era. Also a match to be held in front of the Emperor.

[ TOP ]

[ THE CAST ]

Ono Zenki
Kuroki Fumitaka (黒木文貴)
– YoRHa Ver.1.3aa: Jackass

Bokuden Tsukahara
Kawabuchi Kaori (川渕かおり)
– Motion Capture Actress: Zero, 2B, A2
– Voice: Simone, Jackass

Sasaki Setsu
Maikawa Miyako (舞川みやこ)
– YoRHa Ver.1.2: Commander White
– Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Akasumi

Sasaki Kojiro
Koga Ruito (古賀瑠)
– YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa: Lily

Yatsume
Hinagata Ui (雛形羽衣)
– YoRHa Ver.1.2: Rose
– Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Kuchiba

Hiraga Gennai
Sato Tomohiro (佐藤智広)
– YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa: Wakaba

Togo Shigekata
Kadono Sho (門野翔)
– Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Kurenai

Mori Ranmaru
Miyanoo Miyu (宮ノ尾美友)

Yagyuu Mitsuyoshi
Sakuramachi Taro (桜町たろ)

Yagyuu Munenori
Oguri Ryo (小栗諒)
– YoRHa Boys Ver.1.0: No4
– Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Suou

Tokugawa Ieyasu
Ukai Mondo (鵜飼主水)
– Thou Shalt Not Die Zero: Shinbashi

[ The Ensemble Cast ]

[ TOP ]

Below is a quick run-down of the various streams that will be available on NicoNico. All information you may need to purchase a NET Ticket for the English subtitled version is listed on the NicoNico page.

When you go to any of the pages on NicoNico listed above, the page will automatically sync with the location/time zone of your system (ie. If you are in Japan, it will list all times in JST. If you are in Eastern Time Zone, it will list everything in EST). Please check the page to see when each show will be available for your specific time zone.

[ TOP ]

[ SCHEDULED TIMES ]

Sunday, March 28 – Afternoon (Japan Time)

  • Open: 12:30pm
  • Start: 1:00pm

Sunday, March 28, – Evening (Japan Time)

  • Open: 4:30pm
  • Start: 5:00pm

NicoNico NET Ticket Prices – Single Show, Afternoon or Evening

  • Standard Members: 6,000 pts
  • Premium Members: 5,500 pts

NicoNico NET Ticket Prices – Afternoon & Evening Set

  • Standard Members: 5,000 pts
  • Premium Members: 4,500 pts

[ TOP ]

[ REPORT MIRRORED BROADCASTS ]

Please help support the creators by reporting any unauthorized mirrored broadcasts and re-uploads of this content to the email address listed below.

[ TOP ]

[ MERCHANDISE ]

As stated in the above official tweet, the following merchandise will be available at the shows:

  • Pamphlet: 2,500 yen
  • Script: 1,500 yen
  • Character Bromides (set of 3 KG photos): 1,000 yen
  • Random Bromides (1 2L photo, 55 in total): 500 yen

These items are now available on the DearStage website! Although they will not ship internationally, you can use a forwarding service to make purchases!

[ TOP ]

[ ADDITIONAL NEWS AND LINKS ]

[ TOP ]

[ SPECULATION ]

I’m going to separate this speculation into two sections, before and after actually seeing the play.

[ BEFORE ]

From a quick glance, this play doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the overall Yokoverse like Yoko’s other plays*, but purely looking at the setting and aesthetic of the stage dressing and costuming, I can’t help but think of something like Akeha’s story in Re[in]carnation. Below are some cues that have struck my interest.

* It’s still only speculation that Thou Shalt Not Die is part of the overall Yokoverse even given its multiple hints and allusions.

  • The setting appears to take place during roughly the same time period of 18-19th centuries feudal Japan.
  • The mash-up of historical figures, some who were not alive when others were, makes it seem like this is some sort of gathering of tales, like an anthology of tales sitting on a dusty shelf in a huge library. This also gives me hints of SINoALICE, where multiple unrelated characters begin to interact with each other.
  • With that in mind, the singular location where all of these characters come together is a restaurant… the Yatsume-do, a sort of waypoint run by a woman of the same name: Yatsume. I would not be surprised of Yatsume turns out to be something more than what she seems, maybe a sort of “outside” character similar to Accord who has knowledge of the “bigger picture.”

[ AFTER ]

I was able to attend the 5:00pm show on Saturday, March 27. Due to COVID precautions, the first row of seats were left unoccupied and every seat to the front and back, left and right of your seat was kept empty. My seat was B-19, so I was essentially in the first row on the right side of the auditorium. It was nice to be so close to the stage to see the actors’ faces well, but it made it a little difficult to read anything on the mesh screen where all the special effects and text were projected.

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be any direct connections between this and any of Yoko’s other works… but there are several “interesting” things at play. The plot actually deals a lot with DEMONS and making “pacts” with them.

Spoilers:

The main plot point deals with Nobunaga Ieyasu making a pact with Lucifer. Generally speaking, the demon is more powerful than the human they make a pact with, but Nobunaga actually crushed Lucifer’s soul with his own, thus taking over his power. Nobunaga is killed, but Ranmaru preserves his soul to be transplanted into new body. In the end, it seems like the good guys are able to “seal” him away… but the very last scene shows Nobunaga, Ranmaru, and two others appearing in modern-day Japan.

Additionally, Ranmaru is a sort of magician who is able to conjure MANY demons. We see her conjure many of the 72 demons in the Ars Goetia and many are mentioned in The Lesser Key of Solomon. What’s interesting here is that many DOD characters are named after some of these demons like Caim and Gaap (ie. Gaap is the father of Caim from the original Drakengard).

So, even though there doesn’t seem to be a direct connection yet, there’s enough here to make it extremely interesting… not to mention the play’s CLIFFHANGER ending (Nobunaga and his gang appearing in modern-day Japan). I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t create something new from this point forward.

Another interesting aspect of the play was its frequent use of JAZZ arrangements of the SINoALICE soundtrack. There hasn’t been any such soundtrack released yet, so I’m curious if they’ll do that at some point. There were other themes from OG NieR as well as Automata that played as well, but they were mostly new arrangements and not taken directly from the OST.