Black Light Special! Majisuka Gakuen ~Lost in the SuperMarket~ Stage Play Photo Report

| 48 / 46 Group | Posted by Kai Okudara on Aug.02.2016

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Black, the shadowy former Queen of Majisuka Gakuen’s Rappapa gang and single mother, steps into the spotlight at Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo for a limited run (July 25 – August 5) of “Majisuka Gakuen ~Lost in the SuperMarket~”, the second theatrical adaptation of the popular schoolgirl delinquent (yankii) series.

Yuki Kashiwagi (AKB48 Team B/NGT48 Team NIII) stars as Black, one of the former Queens of Majisuka Gakuen’s Rappapa gang and single mother who works at Super Seriwake Supermarket following her graduation. Nana Okada (AKB48 Team 4) is Katabutsu (straight-laced/stubborn person), a disciple of Black who struggles to cope with the deaths of her comrades who were gunned down in action. Yuka Tano (AKB48 Team K) is Uval and Mako Kojima (AKB48 Team 4) is Kamaboko; they are the younger sisters of Katabutsu’s deceased friends. Veteran actor Tokuma Nishioka plays the kindly owner of the supermarket where Black works.

Continuing with the food-themed groups at Majisuka Gakuen, Ryoka Oshima (AKB48 Team B) is Wuzhen, the leader of Team Monja (monjayaki) and Juri Takahashi (AKB48 Team 4) is Ikanome, the leader of Team Okonomi (okonomiyaki).

Team Okonomi is made up of Moe Goto (AKB48 Team B) as Ojuken, Chiyori Nakanishi (AKB48 Team A) as Kandore, Miki Nishino (AKB48 Team 4) as Nishigori, Haruka Komiyama (AKB48 Team 4) as Pelican, and Shinobu Mogi (AKB48 Team K) as Utena.

Team Monja is made up of Yukari Sasaki (AKB48 Team A) as CG, Seina Fukuoka (AKB48 Team B) as Hannama, Ami Yumoto (AKB48 Team K) as Orakio, Nao Nomura (AKB48 Team K-KKS) as Texas, and Erina Oda (AKB48 Team 8) as Sukinashi.

Team Okonomi and Team Monja appear on the stage to open the play, snapping their fingers as they make their way to center stage as if they’re the Jets and Sharks from West Side Story. Team leaders Wuzhen (Oshima) and Ikanome (Takahashi) begin to fight but with the entrance of Uval (Tano) and Kamaboko (Kojima), the one on one showdown turns into a battle royale of Majisuka Gakuen’s strongest seniors.

Katabutsu (Okada) steps in and breaks up the fight but, the situation escalates as some nearby thugs from the Makabe-gumi step in and begin trying to rough up the schoolgirls of Majisuka Gakuen. Barely a moment after appearing on the scene, Black (Kashiwagi) disappears into the shadows and defeats all of the thugs in a flash. She then leads the students of her former school in “Yankii Machine Gun” to open the show. As Black and Katabutsu leave, Team Okonomi and Team Monja talk amongst themselves about the the two fighters that had saved them.

Mentioning how Katabutsu had been part of the previous year’s strongest group, a flashback scene unfolds, showing her comrades being shot to death by the local gangsters. As the only survivor of the battle, Katabutsu is marked as a traitor for her actions. As the discussion heats up, Pelican (Komiyama) is pushed into taking out Nishigori (Nishino) with a flying “chin punch”. Hannama (Fukuoka) wonders out loud where she has heard the name Black before and Kamaboko shares that she has seen Black working at a nearby supermarket. Out of nowhere, Black reappears wearing a pantsuit and introduces herself as the new Vice-Principal of the school!

Meanwhile, at the Makabe-gumi headquarters, the thugs who were beaten by Black are punished harshly, with one of them being slashed across the face by Kamatari, the second-in-command. The leader of the organization, Makabe returns from the spa, gives his failed underlings a few kicks of his own and orders them to get redemption for being beaten so badly by a bunch of schoolgirls.

The scene shifts to Black and Katabutsu fighting, with Black giving her disciple a harsh lesson on how to become stronger. Ikanome asks Katabutsu, “Who are you?” and is simply met with the answer, “I am a traitor.” Nearby, Pelican is attacked and beaten by the members of the Makabe-gumi and Katabutsu ends up being shot in the shoulder while attempting a rescue. Black is shown speaking to someone on her phone, informing them that she has infiltrated Majisuka Gakuen, before rushing in to save katabutsu from being killed. Hannama’s eyes go wide as she realizes that Black is the “legendary Black of Rappapa”. Team Okonomi and Team Monja share a brief moment of friendship as it has become obvious they now share a common enemy but quickly revert to their bickering.

Another scene begins with Black and Katabutsu fighting before Uval steps in, similar to how Ikanome did in the previous scene. A flashback scene shows how Katsbutsu and her comrades decided who would go to the final showdown via janken, and she had been the odd one out as there were only 4 guns for the 5 of them. Uval now realizes that Katabutsu is not a traitor for what happened to her sister.

Black goes to visit her son Yuta in the hospital and encourages him to recover so he can continue to play baseball. In a flashback, Black is named the new store manager as incentive to work harder and pay for her son’s medical bills. As she is leaving the hospital, she is spotted by Pelican, who was receiving treatment for the injuries she received earlier.

With the most recent failure, Kamatari moves up the ladder of Makabe-gumi underlings, delivering a leg drop and is about to use his favorite blade again when Boss Makabe stops him. Giving the order to “smash Majisuka Gakuen using any means necessary”, the eyes of the delinquent take on a mischievous gleam.

Uval meets up with Kamaboko, Wuzhen, and Ikanome at the top of a staircase to explain how Katabutsu had not betrayed their sisters but was simply the victim of bad luck at janken. Meanwhile, down below, the Makabe-gumi began their quest to crush Majisuka Gakuen, attempting to take some of the students away. Team Okonomi and Team Monja rush in, armed with desks, brooms, and even griddles to save their classmates, Orakio (Yumoto) showing off some acrobatic skills with a series of back handspring kicks.

Black appears, again talking on the phone, informing the person on the other end that her “fight is about to begin”, before hanging up. Singing “Gunzou”, she crosses the stage and makes her way up the staircase on the other side. At the same time, a flashback sequence shows the owner of the supermarket being murdered in cold blood by Makabe and his thugs. As the final shot is fired, Black utters the line “I don’t want anyone else to die”, showing the pain she felt after her father figure was taken from her in a senseless act of violence.

Holding a gun in her hands, Black ponders what looks to be her inevitable fate as Uval, Kamaboko, Wuzhen, and Ikanome approach her. They invite Black to fight with them against the Makabe-gumi but are scolded for not understanding the seriousness of the situation and not being strong enough. Tracking down one of the murderers of the supermarket owner, Black demands an explanation after rendering him unable to escape with a few bullet wounds and kicks. Just as she is about to pull the trigger, Black flashes back to when she used her fighting skills to beat up a shoplifter. Instead of being fired, she is given a raise by the supermarket owner and he teaches her to smile. As Black returns to the present, she pulls the trigger and a single shot rings out, ending the scene.

As Wuzhen, Ikanome, Kamaboko, and Uval discuss what they are going to do about the Makabe-gumi, Katabutsu interrupts them and urges them to give up seeking revenge because the cycle of death will never end and it won’t bring back their sisters. Undeterred, they decide that if they become stronger, Black will acknowledge them and begin fighting each other.

In another flashback, Black arrives at the supermarket late as the owner is taking care of her son. He sees through her excuse and reminds her that she is no longer a student and should stop fighting. He gives her a promotion and explains to her that there is no such thing as a “normal family”, picking apart the fantasy of television families like those seen in “Sazae-san” (a decades long running anime broadcast on Sundays in Japan), and that he sees his employees as being his family members. Bedside in the hospital, Black tells her son that he has a grandfather.

Makabe and Kamatari sit in the sauna mulling over how they are going to deal with the growing threat of Majisuka Gakuen. Kamatari stands up to fan the steam with his towel and breaks into “Koi Suru Fortune Cookie”, easily delivering one of the biggest laughs of the play. Upon receiving more information about Black, in particular, the hospitalization of her son, Makabe decides to use it against her.

Clutching a letter of challenge from Makabe in her hand, Black stops Katabutsu from going with her to the showdown, asking her to protect the school instead. Kamaboko, Uval, Wuzhen, and Ikanome, followed by Team Okonomi and Team Monja appear before Katabutsu and insist that they go to help Black. When Katabutsu tries to stop them, history repeats itself as they decide to settle it with janken and she is once again left out due to an errant throw.

Black infiltrates the lair of the Makabe-gumi, engaging in a shootout with the lower level thugs and defeating them soundly. Kamaboko, Uval, Wuzhen, Ikanome, and Katabutsu arrive on the scene to continue the fight so Black can go after Makabe. Just as it seems that they have been cornered by a fresh wave of thugs, Team Monja and Team Okonomi come to the rescue with their griddles and spatulas swinging.

As Black pursues Makabe through the building, the rest of the members continue to take out the Makabe-gumi underlings. Katabutsu launches herself through the air, which ends up having her cornered momentarily before being saved by Ikanome.

Wuzhen, dressed in a white jogging suit to disguise herself as one of the gangsters, uses misdirection and the element of surprise to knock out her opponents one by one. When she is eventually cornered, Wuzhen is able to escape by distracting the remaining attackers by pointing and shouting “Mayuyu!”. Kamaboko knocks out 5 thugs right away, even throwing one off of the balcony as she runs down the stairs. Despite being knocked to the ground momentarily, she is able to get back up and emerge victorious from beneath the shower of kicks raining down upon her.

Uval unleashes her “chibi rage” after being mocked for being small by one of the thugs, teaching them a painful lesson with her fists and feet on why it is never wise to judge people on their appearances or size. Kandore and Nishigori from Team Okonomi seem to be trapped but the tides turn with a flurry of monjayaki shuriken and steaming hot okonomiyaki.

Kamatari pins Black down with a rain of bullets before stabbing her in the leg. Makabe steps in, crouching over her and cruelly mocking the supermarket owner’s pleas for mercy as he was killed. Even though she is able to get back onto her feet, Black is unable to do much else as Makabe points his gun at her staggering form.

Makabe is disarmed by a shot from Katabutsu, who appears at just the right time. Katabutsu and Kamatari throw down their guns and engage in an extended hand to hand fight scene that shows off the impressive stamina and power of Nana Okada. Yuki Kashiwagi may be the main character of “Majisuka Gakuen ~Lost in the SuperMarket~!” but, Okada is by far one of the most impressive performers of the production!

With Makabe unarmed and cornered by Black, Katabutsu, Ikanome, Kamaboko, Uval, and Wuzhen, he pulls out his phone in order to use his final trump card. Declaring that he had placed his men in position to kill her son if he doesn’t call them to cancel the order, both sides are left in what appears to be at a stalemate. However, when the Makabe-gumi go to pull the covers back on the hospital bed, Pelican jumps out and defeats them with the help of Team Monja. With his final card used, Makabe begs for his life as Black beats him and comes dangerously close to pulling the trigger on her gun.

Celebrating with okonomiyaki, it seems that Team Monja and Team Okonomi have finally settled their differences. However, a disagreement breaks out over how to share the food. Just as Pelican is about to cut it up into pieces, Texas (Nomura) insists that once “piece” (okonomiyaki) is one serving and that everyone should get their own.

Just as they are about to begin fighting again, Black makes her entrance, declaring that the members of Majisuka Gakuen cannot let their guard down just because Makabe was sent away. She begins assigning members to guard against the impending invasion of their neighborhood by rival factions, each group brandishing bigger and bigger guns. When asked where she will be, Black boldly declares that she will be heading to the kindergarten, possibly indicating that her son has recovered from his illness.

The story ended, Black and the rest of the members launched into “Majisuka Rock’n’Roll”, the entire cast making their way onto the stage to take their bows. The curtain call continued with “GIVE ME FIVE”.

Finishing up with “Yakusoku yo”, the cast returned to take another bow and the opening day of “Majisuka Gakuen ~Lost in the SuperMarket~!” ended in waves of applause from the audience.

Just when it seemed as if “Majisuka Gakuen ~Kyoto Keppu Shuugaku Ryokou” (2015) was the most action-packed stage adaptation of Majisuka Gakuen to date, “Majisuka Gakuen ~Lost in the SuperMarket~!” has definitely raised expectations for all future productions! Not only did the action get turned up several notches, the stage, costumes, and makeup has gone up in quality! While it is already to late to see it in person, make sure to check out the DVD when it comes out!

Photos by Nathan Gey

Related Links

AKB48 Official site: http://www.akb48.co.jp/

Majisuka Gakuen ~Lost in the SuperMarket~! Official site: http://www.nelke.co.jp/stage/maji2016/