Updated: November 18, 2024

Some time ago, we learned that there would be a 4th installment of the Bakuken series of stage plays, but I honestly don’t remember where or how we learned about that. You might find something worthwhile in the Search…

But, suffice it to say, the livestream announcing a bunch of information on the next segment in the Bakuken series of stage plays aired last night. I will be disseminating the information as we’re given it, so please stay tuned!

You can view it below:

[ THE CAST]

• Sakiho Motonishi // 本西 彩希帆
  　as Suzuki Magoichi 雑賀孫市
  – Towatsukai: Oz

About Suzuki Magoichi:
He was the leader of the Saika Ikki, mercenary groups in feudal Japan. This historical reference is super interesting to me because I used to live in Nagakute, Aichi, which is where a huge battle was said to take place (Nagakute Kosenjo). I’ll be interested to see what Yoko comes up with this.

• Kyosuke Suga // 須賀 京介
  　as Akiyama Yoshifuru // 秋山 好古
  – YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa: Accord
  – Bakuken 3: Michael

About Akiyama Yoshifuru:
He was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and was considered the father of modern Japanese cavalry.

• Miyako Maikawa // 舞川 みやこ
  　as Sasaki Setsu // 佐々木 セツ
  – YoRHa Ver.1.2: Commander White
  – Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Akasumi
  – Bakuken 1-2

• Fumitaka Kuroki // 黒木 文貴
  　as Ono Zenki // 小野善鬼
  – YoRHa Ver.1.3aa: Jackass
  – Bakuken 1-2

• Moe Tsurumi // 鶴見 萌
  　as Amakusa Shiro // 天草 四郎
  – Bakuken 2: Amakusa Shiro

About Amakusa Shiro:
(Amakusa Shirō, often romanized as Shirou), was a Japanese Christian of the Edo period and leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Shogunate. His imina is Tokisada and he is also known as Masuda Shirō. [Wikipedia]

• Sho Kadono // 門野 翔
  　as Togo Shigekata // 東郷 重位
  – Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Kurenai

• Tomohiro Sato // 佐藤 智広
  　as Hiraga Gennai
  – YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa: Wakaba
  – Bakuken 1-2: Hiraga Gennai

• Mizuki Chiba // 千葉 瑞己
  　as Minamoto Yoritomo
  – Bakuken 3: Minamoto Yoritomo

• Ui Hinagata // 雛形 羽衣
  　as Yatsume
  – YoRHa Ver.1.2: Rose
  – Thou Shalt Not Die Zero_KAI: Kuchiba

• Ukai Mondo // 鵜飼 主水
  　as Tokugawa Ieyasu // 徳川 家康
  – Thou Shalt Not Die Zero: Shinbashi

[ The Ensemble Cast ]

• Naoki Machida // 町田尚規
  – Kimi Shi ni Tamou Koto Nakare Zero -KAI- – Araigaki
• Yoshihiro Kanou // 加納義広
  – Bakuken 1, 2, 3
• Takafumi Nakano // 中野貴文
  – Bakuken 2, 3
• Shohei Umeda // 澤田圭佑
  – YoRHa Ver.1.3a/aa
  – Bakuken 1, 2, 3
• Eri Hirokawa // 堀川恵利
  – YoRHa Girls Ver.1.1a
• Waka // 倭香

• ACTOR’S TRASH ASSH → On indefinite hiatus / Currently Inactive
• DearStage Gekidan

[ NOTES AND POSSIBLE SPOILERS ]

• Since Michael traded his soul to save Yatsume, he has become a sort of wandering spirit known as Lucifer. We already know that Nobunaga tried to take Lucifer’s power and managed to subdue him in a way… so I imagine this sort of possession similar to Tyrann jumping from body to body in order to survive. Therefore, this announcement of Kyosuke Suga playing the role of Akiyama Yoshifuru seems quite plausible to me. We’ve already seen examples in which characters are introduced as their base personality (such as Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was actually possessed by both Nobunaga & Lucifer), so that may likely be the case with Akiyama as well.
• The title is likely a play off of the actual title for the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA, 大日本帝国陸軍).
• Yoko has said that Bakuken 4 takes place during that Taisho Period (1912-1926), but since he hasn’t written a line of the script yet, this might change. He mentioned that it might be actually something in the future that resembles the Taisho Period. Hmm…
• The introduction of Sakiho Motonishi is curious, as she’s the only new addition to the cast. She previously played the role of Mozu from another production from ILCA x Square Enix: Towatsugai.
• Throughout the entire Bakuken series, many of the same actors reprise their previous roles, but they often take on a new flavor, so there’s really no need to worry about catching up with the previous installments. Everything is pretty fresh and new with each play.
• Ono Zenki has the ability to switch between multiple personalities, except they’re not just mere personalities but likely REAL people… He might actually be possessed by multiple souls at once and he’s simply able to keep them all at his beck and call. We see this through his 3rd Personality, a female character that eventually sacrifices her “existence” (?) in order to help him. So, from this, we get more of a feeling that souls are able to float around here and there, and depending on the host, they’re able to either suppress or take command over those souls… or be drowned in their power. It feels a lot similar to Gestalt possession from NieR.
  • This honestly gives me the feeling that Yoko’s been after all along… that there’s a reason why important points in history went the way they did… and that there was some sort of outside influence that triggered them to go a certain way. This sort of thought is ABSOLUTELY within the realm of the overarching Yokoverse, but unless such a thing is revealed directly by him, we can only speculate!

[ BAKUKEN TIMELINE ]

[ TICKETS ]

Tickets are on sale from CN Play Guide, starting from:

• Monday, September 16 – 10:00am – Tuesday, September 24 – 11:59pm (JST)

There will be a livestream as well, but those details have not been released yet. Please stay tuned!