Coming full circle

Remember how I said that I got into the fandom because of TeniMyu? Well guess what, I'm coming full circle because now Gaku is going to be in Shin TeniMyu. So let me talk about that today, well, TeniMyu that is and Gaku and about my thoughts and feelings regarding this matter.

First things first, I was laughing (and crying) at the fact that the new Echizen Ryoma actor wasn't even born yet when Tenimyu first started. This franchise is crazy and really, it's part of the Japanese culture at this point. Of the modern day pop culture that is. It's so big it's almost a household name at this point. Among the 2.5D productions, it's probably the most well-known in the general public.

Shin Tenimyu (aka New Tenimyu) is a bit of a question mark at this point, though as it does not belong to the already established franchise per se. It is part of Tenimyu but the story and characters are different from what people know and have seen so far.

The original Tenimyu had a rocky start, with fans of the anime and manga going ??? at what was going on. 2.5D was still in its infancy and people went more for the lol factor and the actors than anything else but it became part of the fandom and then in the seasons that followed, the musical version actually managed to (in my opinion) do things better than the manga or the anime did sometimes.

I'll borrow Mokkun's (Ota Motohiro, my fav stage actor) words here because I think what he said about 2.5D productions and what he wants from them is really spot on. He said that he wants them to be different than the anime or manga but not in terms of characters or story but in terms of the angles you see things from. Mokkun said he wants fans to look at all versions differently and find different things in all of them to enjoy. It's quite deep and complex but I think he's absolutely right. I personally think a bit like this: the manga gives us the characters and the story, the anime makes them move and gives them a voice and develops their characters and 2.5D gives them life and sometimes more depth.

To be honest, I was SURPRISED when I found out Gaku was going to be in Shin Tenimyu. I was happy for him because this will mean a lot of exposure for him and all (I told him a lot of international fans got excited about him being in it when I tweeted about it and he was super happy and excited to hear that and said he'll do his best).

On the other hand, a part of me went "hmmm?" at the whole thing because I had expected something different when he said he was going into acting and had landed a job.

Don't get me wrong, Tenimyu requires a lot of acting but there is a lot more. I mean, in a way it makes sense because he has the skill set and it's kind of nice that he's using it but considering that singing and dancing did not come naturally to him (although he did admit that he came to like singing a lot) I wasn't expecting him to go into musicals.

I'm looking forward to seeing him on stage and to see what kind of Tachibana Kippei he will create. He talked about his role a bit, saying how the character and him were both very different from each other and yet very similar.

Since a lot of the Tenimyu actors made it (not necessarily big but enough to call it a job), I hope that Gaku, too, will be able to carve out a niche for himself in the industry. Of course I hope he'll be able to make the jump tat many others have made before, from Tenimyu to Tokusatsu. I'd be so happy and excited for him if he got to be in one of the next Kamen Rider series!!

And if he does end up being in Tokusatsu, yeah, then I'll really have come full full circle XD