I went to the Ranbu Outdoor Festival!
Ever since I stopped living with my partner over a decade ago, I've become an otaku at an unbelievable speed (people tend to cling to things that were kind to them when they were feeling down, after all!), and among all that, the content I've been hooked on for a long time is "Touken Ranbu." Despite being skeptical about the 2.5D genre, I got completely hooked after a friend invited me to a live viewing of the Musical "Touken Ranbu" (hereafter "Toumyu") (Atsukashiyama Ibun), and since then, I have always gone to see the performances in person. Of course, I continue to play the game in a small way, and while my Saniwa level isn't that high, I enjoy it enough to have sent all the boys on training and filled out the entire sword log.
Geez, that intro is too long!
Anyway, I love Touken Ranbu and Toumyu (in short), and then they announced that Toumyu would be holding an outdoor live concert for its 8th anniversary! Moreover, they decided on things like "It's Fuji-san because it's 'suehirogari' (ever-expanding)!" and "8 days for the 8th anniversary!" based on the number 'eight,' as if it were decided by high schoolers chatting at McDonald's. That said, I had been going to Fuji Rock (it's called Fuji, but it's in Naeba, just for the record!) for nearly 10 years, so I had some rough know-how about outdoor festivals and wasn't that resistant to it. Furthermore, I had been flying to regional areas every time there was a Ranbu Festival (because they said my favorite character would only appear there...) so I was excited. Initially, I planned to go on the 18th, when my favorite character Kurikara-kun would appear, and the final performance, where my other favorite, Chogi, would also appear. Then, I couldn't get a bus back on the 18th. Egged on by the Marie Antoinette in my heart saying, "If you can't get a bus, why not just book a hotel?", I ended up participating for three days: the 18th, 19th, and 24th. It's fine, it's within expectations (and I managed to get a bus for the 19th as well).
And finally, the 18th, my first battle, arrived... it was super sunny! I guess my daily conduct is good! (Straight face)
To play the Marie Antoinette role, I first left my luggage at a hotel 10 minutes away on foot and decided to get something to eat. What should we do? Should we eat Houtou since we're here? While saying things like that, we wandered into a nearby udon shop. This was a huge success!
It seems to be called "Yoshida Udon." It's udon with quite a strong chew, and it contains cabbage and horse meat (sakuraniku)! Since it was hot, I had it cold. Furthermore, using the excuse that it would be a test of physical strength later, I added fried mochi. So sinful. Even the plain water was ice-cold and incredibly delicious. So this is the blessing of Fuji...
With my stomach full, it was time to head to the venue.
Although I won the fastest advance ticket, this day was what you'd call a "buried seat." They said there would be audience interaction, but I was a little sad thinking I couldn't expect fan service... but then, there were mini-stages over there, and there, and there! Since I could see the mini-stages in the front, back, and diagonally behind me, it didn't matter who came where. As always, the employee benefits are generous.
Since this was the second day overall, I watched the first day's stream just in case to prepare, but it felt like the preparation was meaningless, or rather, I realized at the venue that what I saw on the stream was really just a tiny fraction. There was so much information, so much information...! Starting with "Hajimari no Kaze," followed by everyone's favorite "mistake" and "Kachi ni iku ze babe," it was a climax from the very beginning. The Touken Danshi ran around from stage to stage, and I felt like I didn't have enough eyes to watch them all, more than ever. I don't think there was anyone who didn't come near me.
And, the real thrill of an outdoor live concert is the magic hour. I've experienced in past outdoor festivals and concerts that being able to listen to music while the sun gradually sets, with the lingering light of the sun mixing with the darkness at the entrance of the night, only happens for a few minutes a day, which is why it's so beautiful and becomes an unforgettable memory. But I never thought I'd be able to experience that with my favorite sword's solo... I was savoring Ookurikara-kun's solo while thinking that I would probably never be able to hear it in such an environment and timing again. Magic hour REASON... And then "DARA DARA DANCE" after that, it was a great Date-gumi set. The Toumyu Honmaru Saniwa is a god... (I told you I'm a Saniwa). After the sun went down, rather than songs using the mini-stages, the focus shifted to songs performed on the main stage, and I enjoyed that contrast too.
It was great to see the new boys from "Kage Yureru Togi" growing rapidly through forced leveling, but on the other hand, seeing the veterans active was still irresistible. Among them, the one who touched me this time was Mutsu-kun, who participated for the first time in a while. His fierce singing in "Can you guess what?" was incredibly cool, and "Kakumei Zenya," which he joined as help for Sohaya, really hit home. Even though the atmosphere was completely different, there was a dignity that made me think, "Ah, he's a Tokugawa boy just like So-kun." Also, I was captivated by Mutsu-kun. He's reliable and comforting wherever he is. I wanted to live a life where Mutsu-kun would say to me, "I'm a man too, you know." (I'm writing this in the middle of the night. Forgive me...).
And then, the long-awaited drum song... wait, wow, it's Kage!!!!!! Actually, I was crying my eyes out a few songs earlier during "Dear you." Because they made Ichigo Hitofuri sing, "I remember it so well I don't even need to recall it" and "I want to call you by the same name"... I was crying because I remembered the last scene with Kage in "Kage~," so my emotions went haywire when Kage appeared, followed by Ichi-nii. Thank you, Musical Touken Ranbu. I ascended to heaven safely after Kissx3~ and Beast, shed beautiful tears during "Kimi no Uta," and was launched into the sky along with the fireworks.
When I heard that it was an 8th-anniversary live concert held over 8 days, the first thing that came to my mind was the "Eight Flames, Eight Sorrows" from Uta-awase. (By the way, I also wrote
this blog when I watched Uta-awase.) Toumyu has done various things in the past, so I was nervous, thinking, "Is there something about 'eight'? Could it be that after 8 days...?" but when I opened the lid, there was nothing at all! Hey! wwwwww Uta-awase was a Shinto ritual, and Ranbu Festival (2022 ver.) was a ritual to send off the gods, but the Ranbu Outdoor Festival was a super fun outdoor festival! One could speculate about what's going on with the "there" (the other shore) and "here" (this shore) in the Toumyu festival, but as you can tell from the sudden new song "Wassa! Wassa!", isn't it fine to say that this time they went all-in on a "festival"? If anything, isn't it tacky to speculate about this and that? (Though we otaku are the type to do it anyway!)
Like that, the Suehirogari was really, really super fun. The days I went were all blessed with good weather, too. I might write about the 19th and 24th, and the follow-up Fuji-Q a week later (I did it) sometime? For now, I'm in total withdrawal, so please give me the stream as a favor to a fellow human being!!!!!!!!!