One of the three distinct stage continuities, Kabuki Touken Ranbu (歌舞伎 刀剣乱舞) is a Kabuki Theatre production for the widely popular Touken Ranbu franchise, and is the fourth live action continuity in the series, following Musical Touken Ranbu, Touken Ranbu Stage, and the live action films.
The production was announced on December 8th, 2022, with the first play, Touken Ranbu: Tsuki no Tsurugi Enishi no Kiri no wa, premiering on July 2nd and running through July 27th, 2023.
On December 27th, 2023, it was announced that the play would have a theatrical release in Japan on April 5th, 2024.
Kabuki Touken Ranbu contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: Like in other live-action Touken Ranbu works, Konnosuke and the Tousou are absent.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Kobaihime has a crush on Mikazuki, who doesn't notice until she confesses, and doesn’t reciprocate even when she does. Yoshiteru himself also develops feelings for Mikazuki after spending time with him, which are described as love in the official pamphlet, but Mikazuki is unable to reciprocate due to his duty to being a protector of history.
- The Cameo:
- Sanjou Munechika and his attendants are depicted forging Mikazuki Munechika at the beginning of the play.
- The Saniwa of this citadel doesn't make a physical appearance, but he can be heard just before the Touken Danshi go on their mission.
- Chromosome Casting: Along with the Touken Danshi all being male and played by male actors, all of the female roles are played by men as well due to being a Kabuki theatre production.
- Conflicting Loyalty: This becomes a major plot point toward the end of the play. Mikazuki's loyalty to the Saniwa is tested when his former owner, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who he also loves, confesses to him that he wants him to become his vassal, and accepting would mean betraying not only his current master, but also his role in protecting history, as he was supposed to kill Yoshiteru to preserve it. In the end, he makes the tough decision to kill Yoshiteru in a dramatic and emotional scene to protect history and return home to the citadel.
- Cosmic Motifs: Mikazuki Munechika is associated with the waxing and waning crescent moon because of the crescent-shaped patterns on his blade, which becomes a recurring theme throughout the play. As he's being forged, the characters sing of the moon sword, and later, both Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Kobaihime confesses to him that whenever they see the crescent moon in the sky, they think of Mikazuki.
- Costume Evolution: Every character in the cast had their designs changed to better fit in with the aesthetic of Kabuki theatre, with Higekiri and Hizamaru being the most affected of the group.
- Cross-Cast Role:
- A very unusual example. Kogarasumaru is canonically male, being a Touken Danshi and all, but in the story is for some reason treated as a female role… but is still played by a male actor who is pretending to play a female role. Yeah.
- Higekiri's actor also plays the role of Kobaihime.
- Irrelevant Act Opener: Nearly five minutes of the play's opening sequence is dedicated to a theatrical recreation of Mikazuki Munechika's forging, which is only relevant because it transitions to Mikazuki's introduction as a character once it's over, followed by the introductions of the other Touken Danshi in the cast, but otherwise has no bearing on the plot.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Yoshiteru, his sister, and their vassals are deliberately left in the dark about the true nature of the Touken Danshi and their mission after meeting them. That is, until the final climactic battle when Yoshiteru compares Mikazuki Munechika and his blade to his own and realizes that they're the same.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Originally, only Kogitsunemaru and Kogarasumaru had long hair, but in this production, all main characters were given long hair.
- Kabuki Theatre
- Kill the Ones You Love: At the end of the play, Mikazuki is made to fight and execute his former owner Ashikaga Yoshiteru to preserve history after the Historical Revisionists meddling.
- Make Wrong What Once Went Right: As usual for a Touken Ranbu work, the Historical Revisionists are up to no good again, and the Touken Danshi are sent back in time to stop them from altering history.
- Multiple Demographic Appeal: Created to appeal to fans of Kabuki theatre and Touken Ranbu, as well as to pique the former's interest in the latter, and vice versa.
- Mythology Gag: The play uses many rearranged songs from the browser game, such as Mikazuki Munechika's attendant theme, which is heard after he is forged.
- Oblivious to Love: Mikazuki spends a good portion of his interactions with Kobaihime being oblivious to her very obvious feelings for him until she outright confesses.
- Out of Focus: Kogitsunemaru and Higekiri are barely in the play due being double casted as the historical figures Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Kobaihime, the former whom is the primary focus of the play along with Mikazuki Munechika himself. This is hilariously lampshaded in the story itself when Mikazuki asks why they don't show up more often, to which Kogitsunemaru annoyedly responds that it's his fault, with this also serving as a meta reference to the fact that the director of the play, who plays Mikazuki, is responsible for their lack of screen time.
- Perpetual Frowner: Unlike the Mikazuki Munechika's from the browser game and other continuities, who are Perpetual Smilers, this version of Mikazuki never smiles. Ironically, he is also a version of Mikazuki who displays the widest range of emotions beyond this, especially when it comes to expressing his sadness.
- The Protagonist: The play is primarily centered on Mikazuki Munechika's conflict regarding his former master Ashikaga Yoshiteru which culminates into him having to fight and kill his to preserve history after the Historical Revisionists prevented Yoshiteru's assassination.
- Real Name as an Alias: After saving Yoshiteru and his comrades from the Historical Revisionists, Mikazuki Munechika introduces himself to them as "Munechika" rather than coming up with a clever alias, prompting the historical figures to immediately connect the name to the blade that Yoshiteru currently owns, "Mikazuki Munechika," the version of himself from this time period. Fortunately for him, Kogarasumaru covers for him to avoid suspicion.
- Scenery Porn: Kabuki Touken Ranbu has the most elaborate and detailed sets of any Touken Ranbu theatre production, and a significant amount of time is spent breaking so the sets can be changed out during the major scene changes.
- Those Two Guys: As always, Higekiri and Hizamaru are treated as a set, and are even introduced together at the beginning of the play whereas everyone else got solo introductions.
- World of Ham: Played With. When interacting with the audience and historical figures, the Touken Danshi speak in the usual loud, overacted Kabuki style, whereas when speaking to each other, the Saniwa and the Touken Danshi speak fairly normally and in modern Japanese.
- You Don't Look Like You: Arguably, the entire cast, as only a few aspects of their designs and color palettes resemble the original character designs, but Higekiri and Hizamaru are the most affected, as their modern designs were completely changed to fit in better with the cast and Kabuki aesthetic, with only their hair colors distinguishing them as the original characters.
