This is a review for my English development.
I saw Naushika Kabuki.
It’s the first ever manga adaptation in kabuki and it runs about 7 hours. It consists of 7 acts and 3 of them are played during afternoon and the rest are played during evening.
This kabuki based on 7 volumes comics. That’s why it runs so long.
It was really good performance. I was moved when huge creatures appeared on the stage.
It’s difficult to move them or to show their feelings because they are quite huge models.
But Kabuki has good solutions.
In kabuki there are sometimes mythical spirits like flowers, trees, or animals. Actors play these spirits and they look like human even though they wear strange costumes and makeup.
In Naushika kabuki a huge creature appears. First the production show the creature as real-sized model then an actor plays same creature. Of course, he isn’t huge but we understand he is a spirit of huge creature. He represents the creature. He can walk, speak and express his feelings.
This production succeeded in showing creatures with huge models and actors.
The climax scene which features two creatures fighting each other was replaced with traditional Kabuki dancing. Two actors shook their heads and swung their hair instead of fighting.
I think it’s also good solution because it’s difficult to make models fight each other. They have to resolve many technical difficulties.
It was a great representation of emotional struggle. I believe that the two styles are easily interchangeable and the performance was very pleasing to the eye.
Act 1 closely follows the Naushika movie. The creators may bind themselves by the movie’s specific scenes that captivated the minds of many fans but are sure to please the viewer with the return of their beloved characters.
This allows the creators to focus on the story that follows and introduces the audience to a brand new experience.
Naushika isn’t set in Japan, but the Kimono-like costumes are well adapted to Kabuki and the characters are easily identifiable.
Overall while it’s a unique adaptation, it certainly makes sense from the perspective of the story.
