YMMV / Musical Touken Ranbu

• Actor Shipping: Given how much fanservice the actors give off by flirting with each other, it was almost inevitable that people would ship them.
  • In the early days of Myu, Kuroba Mario, Mikazuki Munechika's actor, and Ryo Kitazono, Kogitsunemaru's actor, were shipped alongside each other as an extension of the characters' close relationship. It helps that they have a natural chemistry as friends, and they don't seem to mind subtly selling the Kogimika ship in some of their post-performance selfies.
  • Okamiya Kurumu, Tsurumaru Kuninaga's actor, was quickly recognized as a huge fan of Kuroba Mario and his portrayal of Mikazuki Munechika after officially joining the Toumyu production team in Kishou Hongi, with fans comparing his fanboying over Kuroba to having a crush on him. It wasn't long after the two met and became friends that Kuroba was revealed to reciprocate the sentiment tenfold, and the two act very lovey-dovey with each other, to the point where even their friends poke fun at it. Inevitably, this fueled shipping between the two actors, which has continued even after Kuroba Mario announced his marriage to Yuki Sakurai in 2022. It probably helps that his lovey-dovey-ness toward Okamiya didn't stop, either.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Mikazuki Munechika's portrayal in this work is shrouded in mystery, which allows for a variety of interpretations regarding his possible motivations:
    • Why did Mikazuki Munechika turn into the time-correcting mechanism? In earlier performances, Tsuwamono Domo stated that he did it to spare the Saniwa the suffering of dealing with the unpleasant aspects of the role. However, in later productions, he seems to have developed a certain amount of resentment toward the Saniwa and appears to be acting out of a sense of duty, or perhaps because he feels, or actually is, trapped in the role. Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu throws another possible reason into the role, suggesting that he's looping through various time periods in search of something, or possibly someone.
    • In the Bakamatsu Tenrouden rerun, Mikazuki Munechika takes the form of a cat and warns Okita Souji about Isami Kondo's execution. However, he never explains why he did this, and technically allowing Kondo and Okita to meet before death could have changed history, which contradicts his role. Was it to bring the Okita swords and Souji closure before the latter's unavoidable death? Or was it simply an excuse to remove the silly "Historical Revisionists can shape shift into animals" aspect from the story, as it was in the original run of the play?
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • In the trial run, Imanotsurugi is rather chipper for someone who just saw his master and his best friend's master get killed, one even at his own hand. It may be implied that he's broken up over it during "Your Song", given that he opens up talking about how lonely he is and how blurry the sky seems when he's alone. He's made more explicitly saddened in the end of Ibun, though.
  • In Kousui, Nansen is given a few minutes to mourn Naosuke's death after witnessing his beheading, before the gang changes their moods and begins discussing buying food right next to his dead body.
• Awesome Music: It is a musical, but the live performances have amazing vocals and catchy songs, especially in the live segments where they explore more musical genres than the main performances permit without interfering with the performance's flow. Even some of these songs have been redone as singles and made available on streaming platforms.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Kogitsunemaru's performance for the Saniwa in Tsuwamono Domo, considering the subject matter has nothing to do with the rest of the story (it's a dramatic retelling of his crafting) and no one else performs for the Saniwa in that musical. It has a much better time fitting in 2017's Shinken Ranbusai since it was all about strange and scary supernatural stories.
  • The song number in Shunpu Touri no Sakazuki where Tsurumaru welcomes Ookurikara to the citadel by beating the snot out of him unprompted and then returning hours later to start digging a hole while he's unconscious for unclear reasons. Outside of the hole coming back as a Brick Joke in the ending, this scene doesn't get any clarification when Tsurumaru comes to collect Ookurikara for their mission, nor does Ookurikara seem to hold beating against him.
  • Uta Awase is more story-heavy than most other non-main story performances in the series, as it is a series of plays within a play, making the fact that the idol segments are randomly inserted throughout the story instead of happening at the end all the more jarring.
• Better on DVD: The DVD and blu-ray releases tend to have better editing and (corrected) vocals for the live performances than the archived streams that end up on DMM TV.
• Broken Base: In the early years of Tou Myu, Kuroba Mario's portrayal of Mikazuki Munechika faced mixed reception because it was believed that he was playing Mikazuki as too youthful and energetic when the character is intended to be a calm and elegant old man in a young man's body. The fact that his portrayal ran alongside that of Hiroki Suzuki from the stage play continuity—who is adored for his portrayal of Mikazuki—did not help either, inevitably leading to comparisons regarding which portrayal is "more accurate" and thusly "better." But as the musicals became more popular and Kuroba Mario's acting and singing abilities improved, people started to approve of Mikazuki's diversity of flavors, which was probably made easier by the fact that Mikazuki is never the exact same character throughout the adaptations, which became increasingly clear as more mixed media for Touken Ranbu was released.
• Cant Unhear It: As far as the fandom is concerned, Ryuuji Satou is Kashuu and nobody will convince them otherwise.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Yoshitsune and the gang having some greater power behind their violent and powerful actions was as clear as day. If you didn't get it from the swords messing around with them, you probably would have figured something happened when the blue and purple smoke filled the screen every time they got ready to fight.
• Continuity Lockout: By Tokyo Kokoro Oboe, it's made clear that the musicals aren't quite episodic anymore and you're expected to have watched and paid attention to the previous musicals to have even a shred of understanding on what's going on… and even then, it's still confusing. As well, to get the reference at the beginning of Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 Paris, you'd have to have watched Tsuwamono Domo first, despite it chronologically taking place after the first run of said play.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Kashuu Kiyomitsu. He was the first Toumyu character, and first 2.5D character in general, to get a series of solo performances after his actor Ryuji Sato proposed the idea to the Toumyu production team, the first round of which was so successful that he not only got a rerun, but also a tour across Asia.
  • Mikazuki Munechika, as well. While already on the verge of becoming a beloved character when Musical Touken Ranbu first had its trial performance (only a few months after the original game went live), the audience was charmed by his portrayal in the story, so much so that the character catapulted his actor Kuroba Mario to stardom.
  • The Genji brothers, big time. Where they were once not highly sought out swords in their home game, they are beloved in the musicals for playing off of each other and other swords well and proving some decent fan services. Their popularity also landed them the first Souki performance in the series.
  • The appearance of the Gou swords in the musicals has majorly boosted their popularity, as well as the popularity of the school as a whole, to the point where a Zepp tour for their 2022 Gou on Stage performance was announced and performed at the end of 2023 through early 2024.
    • Buzen Gou is probably the most popular Gou sword of all of them all thanks to the musicals, to the point where fans refer to him as "the nations boyfriend" due to his fanservice.
• Fandom Rivalry: At times with Touken Ranbu Stage. Both are based on the same game, but there are many differences besides the fact that one is a traditional stage and the other is a musical, such as tones, presentation, and characterization. Naturally, this has sparked debates about which adaptation is "better," particularly in terms of writing and characterization. Not helped by the works technically being in direct competition with each other, these debates have sometimes also lead to the actors themselves being attacked and criticized because of their portrayals.
• Fan Nickname: To distinguish the musical portrayals from other the Touken Ranbu Stage characters, the fanbase has taken to given the characters unique nicknames.
  • Kuroba Mario's portrayal of Mikazuki Munechika is frequently referred to as "Marichika" by fans, whereas Hiroki Suzuki's Mikazuki is called "Hirochika". Interestingly, Kuroba Mario himself started referring to himself in this way during the production's trial run, and his fans adopted the nickname for him.
  • Yamanbagiri Kunihiro is known as "Myunba," which is a portmanteau of his name and the word "musical" in Japanese.
  • During the Lives, the Touken Danshi aren't officially referred to as idols, despite being so in all but title, and their outfits are referred to as "live costumes." However, many fans still refer to them as idols regardless.
  • Okamiya Kurumu's Tsurumaru is known as "KuruTsuru".
• Friendly Fandoms: Again, with Touken Ranbu Stage. They're both based on the same game, but because of differences in tone, presentation, and characterization, among other things, fans regard them as separate works that avoid stepping on each other's toes and typically try to do the same, even if they prefer one over the other. Even many actors appear to agree with this sentiment, saying in interviews that they enjoy the other production, despite recognizing their rivalry in the 2.5D industry.
• Foe Yay Shipping: Seemingly encouraged by the production itself since they gave "Timeline", a ship teasing duet, to Oodenta Mitsuyo and Ookanehira in Shinken Ranbusai 2022.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The musicals have a large fan base in China, and as a result, a number of performances have been held there.
• Growing the Beard:
  • The first three musicals were not particularly bad, but as time went on, the series evolved with darker themes, more songs, better vocals, and stronger writing and characterization. Tsuwamono Domo, the fourth musical in the series, is arguably where things really began to pick up, as it set the tone for future musicals and be the first chapter in what would become the series' overarching storyline.
  • Budget increases as the series became more and more popular also saw to improved sets, choreography, props, makeup, wigs, and costumes. The difference is best seen when comparing the initial run of the first three musicals to their rerun performances. Not only are the aforementioned things improved, but so are the stages, lighting, lighting effects, projections, sound quality, and even camera recording quality, to the point where the initial runs look extremely dated, despite the fact that they were only performed a year or so before their reruns.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Iwatooshi tells Imanotsurugi not to blame himself for Yoshitsune's honorable suicide, because he "didn't do anything wrong". Well, that turned out to be truer than he believed in the games; there's nothing to blame Imanotsurugi for because he plain doesn't exist. This hits doubly hard come Tsuwamono Domo, as Iwatooshi had an inkling he and Imanotsurugi didn't exist even since the first musical, and his subplot with Imanotsurugi is making sure he doesn't realize the truth.
  • Izuminokami seems to be okay with not getting to be with Hijikata in his final moments, carrying the time he spent with the man in his heart with pride. Less so in Katsugeki, where he carries that regret with him for the last leg of the show, enough to make Horikawa risk bringing Izuminokami's original sword to Hakodate.
  • In 2017, Tsuwamono revealed that Mikazuki has become wrapped up in time travel shenanigans that have been wearing on him mentally but that he feels duty bound to follow through with to spare the Saniwa the suffering. Hiden would release in the stage play continuity the following year and reveal that their Mikazuki is also trapped into time travel shenanigans, except he's stuck in an endless time loop from which he is unable to escape and which has caused his mental health to decline.
  • Hindsight makes Higekiri's advice to the Saniwa not to worry about Mikazuki at the end of Tsuwamono—which revealed that he has taken it upon himself to correct history and has no plans to stop—a little harsher because Tokyo Kokoro Oboe gives viewers more cause for concern than ever. Mikazuki's meddling appears to have extended throughout history, and while most of the swords are aware of it, he has been doing it all on his own, bearing the emotional and likely physical burden of it all, and has not returned to Honmaru since.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In 2016, Kuroba Mario, Mikazuki Munechika's actor, revealed that Ojarumaru from the titular series Ojarumaru inspired his portrayal of the character in the trial performance. A year later, Ojarumaru released a live action special that featured a Mikazuki Munechika Expy as an extra.
  • Any time Kashuu sings "While being tied in chains" during "Otokomichi", knowing he gets his own solo, tied hands to feet in bondage later.
  • Izuminokami's elated statement of "no guns to steal our spotlight?!" and Horikawa's declaration of going to "the battlefield without guns" in Bakamatsu Tenrouden become much funnier when he's paired up with Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, a sword who welcomes such changes and carries a gun on him, in Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu and this continuity's own fifth installment Musubi no Hibiki. Even more so that these three are the de facto protagonists of the former, meaning they butt heads often.
  • The Idol Singer half of the musicals become this, due to Kotegiri Gou (a sword who very much wants to be an idol) being implemented. And as of 2019, Kotegiri himself gets to be an idol as well, thanks to his appearance in the sixth installment!
• Ho Yay: Being the most Fanservice-laden spin-off of Touken Ranbu, this isn't too unexpected, but the actors don't play around. There's so many examples that it warranted its own page (and that's not even all of them).
• Iron Woobie:
  • While it has been hinted since Tsuwamono Domo, Tokyo Kokoro Oboe implies that Mikazuki Munechika becoming The Constant throughout history by correcting timelines has entangled him so much that he has essentially become a function within history itself that is required to keep time flowing correctly, and can, at least for the time being, no longer return to the life he was once living as a Touken Danshi due to the role he has taken on. He is portrayed as an extremely tragic figure who bears numerous burdens, which can only be slightly alleviated by the assistance he seeks from the Mononobe and other Touken Danshi such as Suishinshi, but reassures Suishinshi that he is fine in this role despite the fact that he clearly is not.
  • Tsurumaru Kuninaga in Paraiso. While he’s deeply troubled by his role in preserving history, he chooses to put on a brave face in front of his teammates for the sake of his mission, and only snaps when all except his long-time friend Ookurikara is out of sight. The "iron" aspect of his woobieness might be waning, though, because there are moments in Shinken Ranbusai 2022 where he looks incredibly miserable. This reaches a peak in the audio drama Honmaru Hanagoyomi's 13th episode, where he spends the entire night staring up at the night sky and talking to Mikazuki in his memories, not even realizing how many hours had passed when the other swords arrived to collect him in the morning.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some people are interested in Musical Touken Ranbu solely for the music and the pretty boy idols. The production also caters to these types of fans, as they have yearly Concert Episodes that don't interfere with the main story, such as Shinken Ranbusai.
• Like You Would Really Do It:
  • Like you would really let Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, one of the most popular starter swords, perform a Heroic Sacrifice in the same musical he debuted in.
  • Yeah, like you would really kill off Tsurumaru Kuninaga in such an anti-climactic way.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Viewers are asked not to spoil the second act costumes while the plays are still running, so fans have taken to drawing the characters in their Uchiban outfits instead when depicting story scenarios.
  • Although Kuroba Mario's back is the talk of all sides of the fandom, Western fans in particular have taken to saying that "Kuroba Mario/Mikazuki's back shines brighter than my future" in reference to how the actor likes to take advantage of his Sexy Backless Outfit.
  • In Japan, fans frequently write requests for the actors/characters to see on their uchiwa fans, with some unusual requests such as "Please show me your abs" for Nagasone Kotetsu and "Please blind me," the latter referring to one of Izuminokami's in-game lines.
  • Following the performance of Tokyo Kokoro Oboe, the number one trend on Twitter in Japan was, hilariously, "I don't get it" due to how confusing and incoherent the plot was.
  • Designing idol costumes for Touken Danshi that haven't yet shown up in the musicals has been a trend since the beginning.
• Moe:
  • Imanotsurugi, Monoyoshi Sadamune. Urashima Kotetsu, and Hyuuga Masamune, all Touken Danshi with cute, cheerful, childlike personalities. Unfortunately, they aren't spared from the mental anguish the Touken Danshi are put through, which only makes you want to hug them even more.
  • Suishinshi Masahide quickly became popular among the audience because of his innocence and purity, as well as his strong sense of justice and duty and willingness to do whatever he can to help, if not save, Mikazuki Munechika. It's no surprise that in the second acts and in concerts, when the swords are allowed to interact more freely, everyone coddles him as if he were a child, particularly Mikazuki Munechika and Tsurumaru Kuninaga, the resident old man swords.
• Moment of Awesome: The plays generally have very well choreographed fight scenes. Any scene featuring the Touken Danshi fighting is sure to impress, even if it's just them sparring. However, the best scenes usually pit one Touken Danshi against several Historical Revisionists, creating a One-Man Army scenario and showcasing their unique fighting styles to the fullest.
• Narm:
  • The special effects used to indicate that the Touken Danshi have powers during battle are very hard to take seriously in the early plays. This is probably why they were phased out of the series in favor of straight forward combat choreography.
  • In some of the "flashback" sequences, the very adult actors frequently use childlike voices and mannerisms to pretend to be their younger selves. It's always meant to be serious, but it's funny to watch.
• Narm Charm: The musicals are set in a World of Ham, meaning that some of the performances and facial expressions that the actors make dwell dangerously into Narm territory, but they're so fun to watch that they go back to being charming.
• Only the Creator Does It Right: Chuji Mikasano, also known as Ito Einoshin, was the screenwriter for the majority of the musicals until Shinken Ranbusai 2022, when he voluntarily left the project in 2022 and was replaced by Sayaka Asai, who made her main story installment debut with Hana Kage Yureru Tomizu, which received mixed reviews due to the strange pacing, relationship dynamics, and characterization. Fans quickly deemed it was one of the weaker plays and wrote off Asai as the new writer, believing that only Mikasano could best convey Toumyus worldview. However, Asai's next main story installment, Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu, would be far better received thanks to improvements in pretty much everything, with the only major complaint being the lack of a conclusive feel, which was a deliberate choice according to Word of God due to it acting as a bridge to the next stage of Toumyus story.
• Periphery Demographic: Musical Touken Ranbu is probably the most blatant adaptation in terms of not being aimed at a male demographic, with the Fanservicey male idols and all, and is thus mainly enjoyed by women, but that doesn't stop some men from also enjoying the series for the compelling main stories. The manga adaptation is even labelled Seinen, a demographic aimed at college-aged Japanese men, and is serialized in seinen magazine.
• Quirky Work: You already have Touken Ranbu's premise, which is strange enough on its own. Due to a scarcity of human warriors in 2205, famous swords from different historical periods given life by the Saniwa travel back in time to prevent an enemy faction from altering history for unknown reasons. Understanding the concept of Tsukumogami and the series' serious approach makes the premise more understandable… that is, until you get to the second act, where you see those same sword warriors dressed up and performing as idols to entertain an audience of Saniwa in order to "hone their skills as samurai," which is just a thinly veiled excuse for the actions taking place. Even the director Isamu Kayano knew the premise was rather outlandish and off-putting to some, but was inspired by his previous work on the musical version of AKB49 – Renai Kinshi Jourei and wanted to give the idea a shot. Needless to say, it proved to be very successful, much to the surprise of everyone involved in the very first play.
• Spiritual Successor: Can be seen as a New Tens equivalent to the The Prince of Tennis musicals, being musical adaptations of male-centric franchises which grew wildly popular. Both musical series also share many of the same actors.
• Unexpected Character: Almost no one expected Yamanbagiri Kunihiro to appear in the musical because he was regarded as the protagonist of the stage play continuity, but he did, seven years later, making his debut in the musical Kousui Sanka no Yuki.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: If they weren't part of a Cast Full of Pretty Boys, Hachisuka, Imanotsurugi, and Yamatonokami's actors could easily be mistaken for women while in costume.
• What the Hell, Costuming Department?:
  • While Kuroba Mario is praised for looking like a real-life Mikazuki Munechika when dressed in costume, the light blue contacts he is forced to wear while performing have been occasionally criticized for the eerie vibe they give off when exposed to stage lights and camera flash, being likened to the infamous Blue-Eyed Stare meme. The actor's contacts in Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyokusai are particularly egregious, as they are so pale blue that they almost appear to be glowing white under certain lighting conditions. Interestingly, Kuroba Mario was made to wear dark blue contacts once during Shinken Ranbusai 2018, which did not have this problem, but these have yet to make a comeback.
  • The actors playing Ookurikara are made to wear tanner and dark make-up to match the character's tan complexion. While this has strange implications on its own, sometimes the make-up artists don't apply tanner evenly across the body, resulting in the actors' hands being much paler than their faces.
  • The make-up team for the play Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyokusai went a little overboard in trying to make the characters look as inhuman as possible, as the actors were barely recognizable as themselves with how much white ghost makeup was caked onto their faces. Fortunately, in subsequent performances, the team, or possibly a different team, returned to more natural-looking makeup for the actors.
• The Woobie:
  • Damn near every Touken Danshi is put through the wringer to protect history because they have to, regardless of their stance on whether history is worth protecting, their reservations about what they have to do to protect it, or if they have any lingering trauma associated with the time period they're sent to fix. They are given no choice in the matter, not even by their Saniwa, who at times toes the line of being a Bad Boss to them for how much stuff he knowingly puts them through.
  • Also, most historical characters, no matter how important or minor their role was in the grand scheme of things. A number of them are simply fated to be dealt the short end of the stick, and the Touken Danshi are usually forced to either do nothing to help them or become active participants in their suffering in order to preserve history.