Movie "National Treasure"

Since I worked around Kiyamachi and Gion from the time I was about 17, I used to go see Kabuki at the Minamiza theater regularly with my aunt, who had worked in the entertainment district in the past.

She would explain the actors and the performances right next to me, teaching me all sorts of things, like what kind of acting or vocal quality was good, and how the performance turned out that day.

Work was tough, my romantic luck was at negative 10,000 points, Nostradamus was coming soon, and I had no dreams or hopes for the future, but only when I was watching movies and Kabuki could I forget it all.

My aunt has passed away now, but I watched it while remembering the time we spent together.

Honestly, only a few percent of even Kabuki actors radiate a strong light; of course, each actor has their prime, and the period during which they can play female roles is quite limited. Actors who can still play female roles even when they are older are truly a handful.

In that sense, the performance of Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama was amazing, and I felt that it was a level of acting that could only be expressed through extremely rigorous training, in addition to the talent they originally possessed.

To begin with, my motivation was at the level of, "Oh, it's a Kabuki story! And it's Ryusei (my favorite)! I have to go," but halfway through, I stopped caring about Ryusei and became completely immersed in the story.

Ryo Yoshizawa's acting was so incredible that I thought, "No wonder he would even storm into the house next door..." It was that amazing.

Also, Masatoshi Nagase appears at the beginning, and despite his short screen time, his performance left such a huge impression that it gave me goosebumps. I want to show it to my mother, who is a fan of Nagase.

It's nearly 3 hours long, so my husband fell peacefully asleep once during it lol
I also almost dozed off twice, but I managed to endure it lol

My husband seems to dislike long movies, but given the expression of the Kabuki performances, the detailed descriptions, and the structure of the story, I felt that the long runtime was unavoidable, or rather, that they valued the "pauses" very much.

The world-building was also wonderful, and I wished I could have seen it on a bigger screen. The build-up to the finale was so intense that it surpassed an actual stage performance.

Since the original author spent several years behind the scenes of Kabuki, dressed in black (kurogo) and continuing his research, it felt like I could hear the breathing of the actors that we can never experience in person, making it a very rewarding movie to watch.

I want to see it one more time while it's still in theaters!