Seeing the True Colors 🎨

[riemaynine]

This entry is not really related to a certain song sung by American singer Cyndi Lauper, but mainly just a mini-review on Sen, Shoku (translation: dyeing, colors), the stage play that I watched last July 9 (yeah, I know it is already late writing about it lol) via Johnny's Net Online. The stage play is actually based from the short story written by Shige that was published in his collection of short stories Kasa wo Motanai Aritachi wa in 2015. He's also the one who wrote the script for the stage play adaptation of his literary work. The stage play starred Shige's kouhai, Masakado Yoshinori of Kansai Johnny's Jr. unit Ae! group.

It is about an art student Miuma who is lucky to have everything - friends, love, talent. But deep inside, he's lost and doubt his abilities. Until one time, he met a hooded mysterious character Mami who is painting graffiti on a wall. This is the same person who is completing his unfinished paintings. From there, they started having art collaboration and Miuma started being attracted to Mami, which eventually turned into having intimate relationship with her (intimate, meaning, they're having sex wtf), despite Miuma having a girlfriend (two timer tsk). At the end, Mami would disappear, and what is surprising is that, Mami is just Miuma's alter ego whom he "created" to escape from reality.

There are changes in the main characters' names, how they met and the ending in the stage play vs. in the actual short story. The short story is a love story since there's an actual woman whom the main character fell in love with, but the stage play is more like a psychological story since the main character just created his own ideal person triggered by his self-doubt.

I am not really proficient with the Japanese language so I wasn't able to grasp the exact lines that they had, but I think with the actors' effective acting skills, I was able to somehow understand the flow of the story, and in the end, I was really affected emotionally. Like, yeah, I also have these thoughts about something ideal for me - or let me say, my "what ifs" in life. I also have the moments when I really doubt my abilities, overthinking about what others thought about me, worrying too much if others really trust me. But at the end, I also realized that I should also help myself to overcome these doubts and believe in my own abilities.

Anyway, I really would like to commend Massan for a job well done - that was really a difficult role for him, since I could also see him sweating too much while acting and dancing lol. Miura Toko, who played the role of Mami, also did her best to portray that strange character.

By the way, I saw a thread in Twitter related to Sen, Shoku play, as well as the summary of all the short stories in Kasa wo Motanai Aritachi wa, including Senshoku (original story).

Of course, as what I am always saying, I am so proud of Shige-sensei for always doing his best to write literary works as a creative way of showing his own view of the world. It may be challenging for me to understand those (lol), but he truly inspires everyone, of course, including myself. I am forever a proud Shige-tan. 💚



The ticket



The stage actor and the playwright

I also bought the pamphlet right after I watched the stage play for the second time! (Since this time, Johnny's Net Online allowed it to be streamed several times for three days! And yeah, I bought the pamphlet just few days before selling period closes lol). I was just amazed seeing some clips from fans who bought it earlier, that when you put your hand on the cover or hold an open blow dryer (hot air) close to the cover, the artwork will appear, and I was more amazed when I actually tried it myself lol!



Before



After



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"And I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid
To let them show your true colors
True colors are beautiful
Like a rainbow"

Well... I just like to include that lyrics lol. 🌈

That's it, for now.