Trivia / Musical Touken Ranbu

aka: Tou Myu

• Ability over Appearance: The casting team does an excellent job of finding actors who match the physical descriptions of the characters, unless the character is muscular. A particularly notable example is renowned beefcake Nagasone Kotetsu, whose actor Yu Imari resembles him facially but does not match him in terms of body type, being extremely slender to the point where his Nagasone costume almost wears him during performances.
• Acting in the Dark: All of the Atsukashiyama Ibun actors, initially. Musical Touken Ranbu was Touken Ranbu's first adaptation, based on a browser game with no storyline, no reference for how the characters move, and minimal characterization. Actor Kuroba Mario, who plays Mikazuki Munechika, said all they had to go on initially was their names on the door and the characters' voices, requiring a little imagination to go into playing their roles.
• Breakthrough Hit: The series' director Isamu Kayano and many of the actors involved in the project have expressed that none of them anticipated how big of a success the trial performance would be, nor how the musical would go on to be a widely popular, long-running series with no signs of slowing down.
• Cashcow Franchise: In just three years, the musical series exploded into yet another cash-cow franchise based on its parent game for the company Nitro+ and has had continuous success as one of the most lucrative 2.5D series'.
• The Cast Show Off: Hizamaru's actor Takano Akira is really good at gymnastics and break dancing and shows it off in his performances.
• Cross-Cast Role: On the very rare occasion that female characters do appear in the play, they're played by male actors. For example, Megohime, Date Masamune's wife, was played by male actor Chidai Yu in the musical ～Shunpu Touri no Sakazuki～.
• Darkhorse Casting: While the production includes many well-known or established actors, they are also open to casting rookies and unknowns with little to no major acting credits to their name, such as almost the entire cast of Atsukashiyama Ibun. For some other (but not all) examples:
  • Shin Tamura's acting career officially began with his role as Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, as he had previously only worked in production on Bakumatsu Tenrouden and had no major acting credits to his name. He has since gone on to star in other projects while continuing to play Mutsunokami.
  • Okamiya Kurumu, who plays Tsurumaru Kuninaga, was one of the youngest and least experienced actors when he was cast in the role; Tsurumaru was only his third role at the time (though his actor counts it as only his second), and it came the year after he officially entered the stage scene.
  • Kohei Nagata had no acting credits to his name prior to being cast as Koryuu Kagemitsu in Kousui Sanka no Yuki and cites the role as the start of his acting career.
  • Hayashi Mitsuaki, who plays Onimaru Kunitsuna, only had one minor acting role to his name before being cast in the play Hana Kage Yureru Tomizu.
• Descended Creator: The Saniwa is voiced by the director of the musicals, Kayano Isamu.
• Dueling Works: With Touken Ranbu Stage. Both are stage adaptations of Touken Ranbu that have grown in popularity, albeit for different reasons due to their distinct tones and approaches, resulting in competition for revenue and internal fan comparisons. This was most likely not Nitroplus' intention, though, as they were planned as part of a project to provide fans with multiple ways to immerse themselves in the universe of Touken Ranbu, and both usually try to avoid stepping on each other's toes when it comes to scheduling performances. The musical production's website also has a link to the official stage website.
• Dye Hard: Daichi Saeki dyed his hair orange for the role of Iwatooshi in the trial performance.
• Enforced Method Acting: In order to give the audience the impression that they are truly witnessing the Touken Danshi brought to life, rather than just people dressing up and pretending to be them, the director Isamu Kayano strictly enforces this with the actors. This entails maintaining their physical fitness, making the Touken Danshi actors exhibit less physical weakness than the human characters, and even reprimanding them for not controlling their breathing during and after fight scenes to avoid looking winded on stage, since the Touken Danshi aren't human and therefore don't tire as easily as humans do. Several of the actors have gone on record to "jokingly" talk about how physically and mentally demanding their roles are, since they have to learn singing, acting, dancing, and sword fighting on top of an already hectic production schedule.
• Fan Community Nicknames: "Saniwa" for the fans during the concerts.
• Filmed Stage Production: Every musical is streamed live during performance, and the video is then uploaded to DMM TV following its initial runs. If there are significant differences in the performances, like who performed on a particular day, there are also occasionally multiple uploads marked with different dates.
• Friendship on the Set: Many of the Tou Myu actors have become close friends since joining the project, even hanging out when there aren't performances going on or attending performances they aren't a part of together:
  • Kuroba Mario and Sato Ryuji, who play Mikazuki Munechika and Kashuu Kiyomitsu, respectively, often discuss their friendship in interviews and how long they've known each other. As co-leaders of the Atsukashiyama Ibun production from the Trial Performance onward, they grew closer as a result of the difficulties they had during the project and the need for them to collaborate to keep everything together.
  • Okamiya Kurumu, Tsurumaru's actor, was a known big fan of Kuroba Mario, Mikazuki's actor, prior to joining the project, and was given the opportunity to meet him in person through his work on Kishou Hongi. The two were notably on a last name basis at the time, but a year later, they had grown closer, to the point of referring to each other by their first names with less formal honorifics.
  • Shin Tamura began his career as a member of Bakumatsu Tenrouden's production crew, where he met Arisawa Shoutarou, Izuminokami's actor, who would strike up a conversation with him between jobs. Heartwarmingly, Arisawa encouraged Shin to audition for a role in the musical, which is how he eventually landed the role of Mutsunokami.
• The Merch: The production has its own line of merch, such as the set of Nendoroid Petites, bromides, character themed penlights, bags, Uchiwa fans, keychains, et cetera. Suehirogari even sold water bottles with the characters' faces on them.
• Method Acting: In a 2019 interview, actor Kuroba Mario, who plays Mikazuki Munechika, revealed that director Kayano Isamu cited his lack of classical arts knowledge for hindering his portrayal of the character, advising him to study Kabuki theater and Noh performances to enhance his acting abilities. After a brief training session with the director, Kuroba conducted independent research to learn the exact vocalizations and movements of actors to use in his performances. His self-training paid off, as he was praised by Makoto Matsuda, chairman of the company that sponsors the musicals, and audiences for his performance in Tsuwamono Domo and his improvement.
• Milestone Celebration:
  • Musical Touken Ranbu in Itsukushiyama Jinja celebrated Itsukushima's 20th year as a registered World Heritage.
  • Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyokusai celebrated the fifth anniversary of Musical Touken Ranbu.
  • Suehirogari Ranbuyagaimatsuri celebrated the eighth anniversary of Musical Touken Ranbu.
• Newbie Boom: Since the series' inception in 2015, Musical Touken Ranbu has gone on to be considered the one of the pioneers of the 2.5 dimensional musical boom, with its performances renewing interest in and introducing new people to this subgenre of theatre production.
• No Export for You: Only the first few musicals saw overseas releases, so if you're outside of Japan, you'll have to jump through a lot of hoops to watch the rest of musicals on DMM, which are region-locked.
• On-Set Injury: Kohei Osada was absent from a few performances of Kousui Sanka no Yuki due to an unspecified on set injury.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Horikawa Kunihiro's actor, Yuuki Ogoe, was replaced with Shogo Sakamoto Musubi no Hibiki onwards due to Ogoe moving onto other projects.
  • Following the Mihotose rerun in 2019, Ookurikara's original actor Takuma Zaiki has been replaced by Hikaru Makishima.
• Portmanteau Series Nickname: The series' official nickname has been "Toumyu."
• Promoted Fanboy: Many of the actors were huge fans of Musical Touken Ranbu before joining the production:
  • Matsui Gou actor Sasamori Hiroki stated in a 2020 Engekisengen interview that he had always wanted to be a part of Touken Ranbu and that he was both anxious and excited when he was chosen to be in the musical. In fact, he was so nervous that he choked on his words during the rehearsals for the Uta Awase performance, which would mark the debut of his character.
  • Okamiya Kurumu became a fan of the Touken Ranbu franchise by watching all of the musicals in preparation for his audition as Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and occasionally posts himself with Touken Ranbu merchandise. He even owns a Tsurumaru Kuninaga Nendoroid.
  • Shin Tamura was already a huge fan of Touken Ranbu when brought onboard to work on the production of Bakumatsu Tenrouden. After telling himself that he wanted to perform on stage with the others, Arisawa Shoutarou, the actor of Izuminokami Kanesada, assured him that he would one day be able to give him hope, and after auditioning, he was cast as Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki in Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne.
• Schedule Slip: Many performances had to be cancelled and rescheduled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
  • Shizuka no Umi no Paraiso was hit pretty hard by this; originally slated to run from March to May 2020, performances were cancelled after only seven shows due to COVID-19 and rescheduled to be performed from September 27 to November 25, 2021, more than a year later.
  • In 2022, Tsurumaru Kuninaga Ookurikara Souki shutsujin - Shunpu Touri no Sakazuki- had a brief schedule slippage due to several of the performers contracting COVID-19.
  • Touken Ranbu: Daienren, billed as a major crossover event between "Musical Touken Ranbu" and Touken Ranbu Stage at Tokyo Dome in August 2020, was outright canceled due to COVID-19 and replaced with a cast talk event.
• Star-Making Role: From the trial performance onward, the production has had no issue hiring actors that are rookie or unknowns in the industry, some being as young as 18 years old, and their roles as Touken Danshi have propelled them to stardom. Much like with Tenimyu, this has made roles as Touken Danshi highly sought after for aspiring male actors and idols, no matter the age.
• Temporary Substitute: While Kogitsunemaru's actor, Ryo Kitazono, was out for medical reasons, Kogitsunemaru was played by actor Daisuke Iwasaki in the Paris showing of Atsukashiyama Ibun.
• Voice-Only Cameo: In situations where an actor is forced to miss a performance for the main installment because of illness or injury, their voice is typically recorded and their performance substituted by an ensemble member in scenes where they are meant to appear.
• Wag the Director: Sato Ryuuji, the actor who plays Kashuu Kiyomitsu, wanted to stay true to his character's costume and argued against wearing flat shoes while performing because his character wears heels. He successfully argued against wearing flat shoes, resulting in the size of his heel gradually increasing over time, though they are still not as tall as he originally requested for safety reasons.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In 2020, a long-awaited cast crossover event between Musical Touken Ranbu and Touken Ranbu Stage was planned as Touken Ranbu: Daienren, which would have taken place at Tokyo Dome. Unfortunately, the spread of Covid-19 resulted in the cancellation of this event and a cast talk being held instead. As of the time of writing, there has been no talks of another version of the event being held.
  • The director initially wanted Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai to be a grander event due it commemorating the fifth anniversary of Musical Touken Ranbu, but had to change his mind and make it smaller scale due to poor planning.
• Why Fandom Can't Have Nice Things:
  • Takuma Zaiki's time in TouMyu was cut short due to controversy surrounding his having a relationship. When pictures of him and his significant other were leaked, fan outrage led to his decreased presence in the following stage shows, and eventually replacement. This controversy appeared to have a long-term impact on other actors, as Kuroba Mario, Mikazuki Munechika's actor, had to make a lengthy announcement on Twitter in early 2022 that he had married. Thankfully, this news had a more favorable reaction, and he received little to no criticism for it, with people even joking about how he and Mikazuki's stage play actor Hiroki Suzuki announced their marriages within a day of each other.
  • Shogo Sakamoto had the rough of it when his performance of Horikawa wasn't as liked as Ogoe's, and got harassed by fans for it.
• Word of God:
  • Isamu Kayano, the musicals' director, stated in a 2016 interview that he decided to split the musicals into two sections—the main story and the live, or idol segments—because he wanted to create a format that had never been seen in a play before in which the audience could excitedly wave their penlights around in the second half of the performance and dance to catchy songs. His previous work directing the idol-centric musical adaptation of AKB49 – Renai Kinshi Jourei served as a source of inspiration for the direction this adaptation took, and he was fully aware of how disjointed the two acts might come across to the audiences.
  • In an early interview following the performance of Bakamatsu Tenrouden, Ryuji Sato, Kashuu Kiyomitsu's actor, revealed that Kashuu Kiyomitsu's solo performance was proposed by him to the production team due to his desire for more time spent developing his character, and his idea would make Kashuu the first 2.5D character to be featured in a series of solo performances. Years later, Hirofumi Araki, who plays Nikkari Aoe, would follow in his footsteps and propose the concept of a Tanki performance starring Nikkari, hoping that his performance would inspire others to propose that their characters also be featured in their own solo journeys.
  • Ojarumaru Sakanoue from the titular series Ojarumaru served as the inspiration for Kuroba Mario's initial portrayal of Mikazuki Munechika, explaining Mikazuki's youthful characterization in the Trial Perfomance.
  • According to an interview between Kayano and Kuroba Mario, Mikazuki Munechika's actor, in the Michi no Oku, Hitotsu wa Chisu pamphlet, the reason Musical Touken Ranbu doesn't have a set "representative" or "troupe leader" is that, since Atsukashiyama Ibun, Kuroba Mario isn't the type of person who likes to take center stage, thus leading to a rotation of characters who represents each musical.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: In a few early interviews, director Isamu Kayano admitted to doing this due to the difficulty he had adapting a work with no defined storyline and little characterization to work with, which he had never done before. He would check in with Nitro Plus for guidelines on the overall worldview Touken Ranbu, however.
• Written-In Absence: When an actor or character is absent from a concert, the other characters usually mention that they are on an expedition and fill in for them during song numbers.
• You Look Familiar: Ryoji Sugiyama, who is a recurring ensemble member / dancer in many performances, has also been cast in major roles in more recent productions, including young Date Masamune in Shunpu Touri no Sakazuki and Kage in Hanakage Yureru Tomizu.