Musical Kuroshitsuji: The Most Beautiful DEATH in The World - A Thousand Souls and The Fallen Grim Reaper (ミュージカル｢黒執事｣〜ザ・モースト・ビューティフル・デス・イン・ザ・ワールド〜千の魂と堕ちた死神, Musical Kuroshitsuji: The Most Beautiful Death in the World – Sen no Tamashii to Ochita Shinigami) is the second musical adaptation of the Kuroshitsuji series.[1] The first performances were held in the Akasaka ACT Theater in Akasaka, Tokyo, before the show traveled to Nagoya and concluded in Osaka.
A second run of the musical was announced in December 2012 and performed from May to June 2013. The first performances were again held in Akasaka, Tokyo, before traveling to the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka.
Synopsis
In 19th century England, the omnipotent butler Sebastian of the Phantomhive House is among the villainous nobles contracted to perform the Queen's dirty work. His true form is that of a demon, and according to his contract with the young Earl Ciel Phantomhive, a proud boy who faces his cursed fate head-on, he becomes Ciel's shadow and cleans up incidents in underground society.
One day, the two set out to investigate an outbreak of random murders in London on the Queen's orders. At the same time, the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society, burdened with the task of collecting the souls of the deceased, is troubled with a plague of "non-collectible souls." The reaper William T. Spears leads the investigation with his subordinate Grelle Sutcliff, honor-student grim reaper Alan Humphries, and Alan's partner Eric Slingby.
Demons, grim reapers, an incurable disease, and a cursed past. Can death visit a grim reaper? Why can some souls not be collected? The destiny of each participant entwines as the mystery is uncovered and the curtain rises on a grand opera performance hosted by one Aleister Chamber. This sad and painful investigation is a noir fantasy in which the strings are pulled by the Black Butler.
Credit goes to Ann-chan in Bleach Asylum.
Summary
Act I
The musical begins with a human chess board; women and men dressed in black and white begin a game of chess while William T. Spears asks people not to take photos of or record the performance. As a large covered object is wheeled out and people in cloaks and masks appear, Ciel Phantomhive, the sacrificial lamb, is revealed. Sebastian Michaelis interrupts the ceremony, singing "Keiyaku", dancing, and killing the humans present. He approaches the cage and forms a contract with the boy inside. Sebastian removes his glove, and a large banner falls from the ceiling, showing the contract symbol.
In the Phantomhive mansion, Sebastian helps Ciel dress while the young earl focuses on story in the newspaper about a series of murders targeting women. The servants interrupt, trying to catch a mouse with Baldroy's bazooka, and attempting to protect Ciel while causing him more trouble. When Sebastian catches the mouse, throws it like a baseball, and scolds them, Baldroy and Finnian return to their duties and Mey-Rin delivers a letter from the Queen about the recent murders. At the same time, on the streets of London, and mysterious figure covers a woman's mouth with cloth and abducts her.
Four Grim Reapers - Ronald Knox, William T. Spears, Eric Slingby, and Alan Humphries - appear, returning from work. They hand in their scythes and ignore Grelle Sutcliff running around them. William leads the group in singing "Shinigami Haken Kyoukai". Afterward, he reassigns Grelle's case to Alan, tasking him with collecting the missing souls of the murdered women. Alan turns down Eric's offer of backup, wanting to look strong despite the illness interfering with his work as a Grim Reaper. Grelle is upset by the reassignment of their case, as it now involves Sebastian. When Alan and Eric leave, William and Ronald discuss their close relationship.
A crowd surrounds a crime scene in London. Scotland Yard Inspector Fred Abberline is approached by reporter Sharpe Hanks, who mispronounces his name, but the two find many similarities and become fast friends. Ciel and Sebastian arrive, and Ciel tries in vain for a time to gain Abberline's attention. When he finally does and Abberline gives him details on the case, Sharpe gleans personal details from Ciel's appearance, making his own notes, before Ciel and Sebastian speed off. They decide to visit the Undertaker. After the man in question emerges from a coffin, Sebastian is forced to seduce him by singing "Ai wa Chimamire." Undertaker enjoys the performance and reveals that someone involved in the string of murders is not human.
Ciel and Sebastian leave Undertaker's parlor and begin singing "Black and White". They are interrupted by Alan and Eric, wielding their death scythes. Sebastian protectively leads Ciel away, and Alan suffers an attack from his illness as he attempts to fight. Grelle appears and explains Alan's sickness, thorns of death, and is delighted by Sebastian's offer to return with them to the Phantomhive manor. An unnamed soprano soloist sings "Shi No Toge" as Alan is circled by a dancer personifying his illness. Though no one else is able to see her, Alan attempts to follow her, and Eric struggles to bring him into the manor. When Alan awakens later in bed, Eric is sitting beside him. Alan insists he is fine and sings "Sei to Shi no Sukima," breaking down crying while admitting his admiration of Eric. Eric is visibly troubled by Alan's situation.
Grelle appears in women's lingerie with plans for Sebastian that night. They begin disrobing and seductively sing "R-Shitei," a song involving suggestive dancing. When the song ends, they bump into Sebastian and fall to the floor. Surprised and unprepared, they push Sebastian away, reassemble their clothing, and allow themselves to be roughly dragged away. In the morning, the servants are excited over Alan and Eric's presence. Ciel and Sebastian arrive and are joined by a disheveled Grelle, who has had a rough night and is slightly beaten, but Sebastian refuses to supply details and instead confronts Eric about being the murderer. He explains his deduction, and Eric attacks Sebastian in response. Distracted by Alan calling him, Eric is cut by Sebastian with Grelle's chainsaw, and his cinematic record is shows, revealing him killing women. He runs out, and Alan chases after him.
On the streets of London, Abberline and Sharpe are questioning passerby and potential witnesses as Eric watches a mysterious man targeting two women nearby. When the two women have recovered from the effects of the drug, they are tied up in only their undergarments. Aleister Chamber begins whipping them, ordering the women to make "cute" bird noises. He disapproves of the noises they make, breaking into the song "Druitt no Jibun Sanka". Eric appears and cuts the women free as they beg him for help, and Aleister rushes toward Eric but finds a scythe at his neck. Eric begins singing "Hanakotoba wa "Kodoku"" while Aleister plays with and teases the women as they attempt to escape. Aleister admires the way Eric slaughters women and finds beauty in it. Eric admires Aleister's ability to gather large numbers of women easily. Alan arrives and confronts Eric, but Eric is able to get a punch in when Alan is attacked by his illness. Eric and Aleister leave as Alan falls, and Sebastian arrives. William and Ronald discuss the situation as Ciel, Sebastian, Grelle, and the servants gather around Alan. Ciel is invited to Aleister's opera, a women and children-only event that men can attend only in the company of a woman. Ciel decides to attend the suspicious event, as Aleister's connection with Eric has been revealed and the murder victims have so far been only women. Abberline and Sharpe also decide to infiltrate the opera at Crystal Palace. The whole cast sings "Checkmate," ending the first act.
Act II
After the intermission, Ciel, Grelle, Finnian, and Baldroy have been forced into dresses, and Alan voluntarily dresses as a woman in order to find Eric. The servants are overjoyed to attend the opera. Abberline and Sharpe have also donned dresses as disguises. The opera begins, and Alan is searching for Eric. When the operatic singing stops, gas begins to enter the room and the panicked crowd tries to escape. William and Ronald join the commotion, and as they fight Sebastian, Eric captures Ciel and leaves. Sebastian and Alan pursue them. When Alan confronts Eric about the murders, Eric explains the legend of reaping 1,000 pure souls to heal the thorns of death sickness that Alan suffers from. Upon learning the murders were on his behalf, Alan quickly forgives Eric. Eric promises not to kill anyone else and they run away together, leaving their Grim Reaper glasses behind.
Ciel is bound, and Sebastian approaches him, mocking him and proclaiming he has been to kind to his master. After Ciel submits to his demands, he orders the demon to set him free.
Alan suffers from another attack but claims to be fine. Cloaked figures who may be the angry souls of the women he has killed attack him, and he fights them off and attempts to escape as Sebastian sings "Sen no Tamashii to Ochita Shinigami." Eric targets Ciel, but Alan protects him and reminds Eric of his promise. Eric cannot stop his swing, however, and cuts Alan, revealing Alan's cinematic record. Alan's past reveals that since the time when Alan was a new Grim Reaper and Eric was his senior, they have been incredibly close, with many character commenting on their relationship throughout the performance. After singing "Unmei" together, the play returns to the present time, and Eric begins to mourn his friend, having given everything to try and cure him. Sebastian finishes Eric off with Alan's scythe, and his body falls atop Alan's. The souls of Eric's victims are released and fly like snow, creating the most beautiful death in the world. After their deaths, William discusses the matter with Ronald. Ronald wonders why Sebastian had not taken any of the souls Eric had collected, believing there to be more to it than Sebastian only wanting Ciel's soul, as William suggests.
In the Phantomhive household, the servants welcome Ciel and Sebastian home. Ciel falls asleep in his chair and Sebastian sings "Hallucination," picking him up and carrying him to the front of the stage. Demonic music returns and the stage goes dark as Ciel sleeps in Sebastian's arms. Sebastian has no need for 1,000 souls; he only wants one, and the banner with the symbol of their contract falls from the ceiling again.
The final song in the show, "Namashitsuji no Theme," is sung by the full cast as they take their bows.
Cast
| Sebastian Michaelis |
Yuya Matsushita (松下優也) |
| Ciel Phantomhive |
Yukito Nishii (西井幸人) |
| Eric Slingby |
Taisuke Saeki (佐伯太輔) |
| Alan Humphries |
Shinya Matsumoto (松本慎也) |
| Grelle Sutcliff |
Takuya Uehara (植原卓也) |
| William T. Spears |
Takuya Nagaoka (永岡卓也) |
| Baldroy |
Dai Iwasaki (岩崎大) |
| Finnian |
Shota Minami (南翔太) |
| Mey-Rin |
Atsuko Igari (猪狩敦子) |
| Undertaker |
Shuhei Izumi (和泉宗兵) |
| Aleister Chamber |
Ray Fujita (藤田玲) |
| Fred Abberline/Auction Mask Master |
Naohiro Ise (伊勢直弘) |
| Sharpe Hanks |
Shigeto Aoki (青木隆敏) |
| Ronald Knox |
Yosuke Crawford |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Yuya Matsushita as Sebastian Michaelis |
Taketo Tanaka as the new Ciel Phantomhive |
Shinji Rachi as the new Eric Slingby |
Masataka Nakagauchi as the new Alan Humphries |
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| Takuya Uehara as Grelle Sutcliff |
Takuya Ide as the new Ronald Knox |
Teruma as the new William T. Spears |
Noboru Mashio as the new Baldroy |
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| Takuya Kawaharada as the new Finnian |
Saki Matsuda as the new Mey-Rin |
Syun Takagi as the new Fred Abberline |
Takeshi Terayama as the new Sharpe Hanks |
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| Shuuhei Izumi as Undertaker |
Yoshihide Sasaki as the new Aleister Chamber |
Songs
- "Keiyaku" (The Contract)
- "Shinigami Haken Kyoukai" (The Grim Reaper Dispatch Society)
- "Ai wa Chimamire" (Love is Covered in Blood)
- "Black and White"
- "Shi no Toge" (Thorns of Death)
- "Sei to Shi no Sukima ~Alan no Theme" (The Crevice Between Life and Death -Alan's Theme-)
- "R-Shitei" (R-Rated)
- "Druitt no Jibun Sanka" (Druitt's Self-Paean)
- "Hanakotoba wa "Kodoku" ~Eric no Theme" (The Flower's Meaning is "Loneliness" -Eric's Theme-)
- "Checkmate"
- Opera (Olympia's Les oiseaux dans la charmille aria, from Offenbach's opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
- "Sen no Tamashii to Ochita Shinigami" (A Thousand Souls and a Fallen Grim Reaper)
- "Unmei ~Alan to Eric no Theme" (Fate -Alan and Eric's Theme-)
- "Hallucination"
- "Namashitsuji no Theme" (Theme of the Live Butler)
Trivia
Poster of Yuya Matsushita included with the on-site single purchase
- Yuya Matsushita, who played Sebastian Michaelis, released a single in May 2010 titled YOU that featured his character's theme song, "Hallucination." The autographed single was for sale at the musical preview with a poster of Matsushita as Sebastian included.
Websites
References
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