#this is the clifnotes version yes lol the other post would have been much longer LOL

[akkivee]

i was going to type out a huge post about the stage since i snuck in one last full watch before it went away but tumblr killed my post as i was making it and i don’t feel like making another one lol

so new encounter thoughts: clifnotes version!!!!! it’s fitting bc that’s what this stage was anyway lol

i enjoyed myself!!!!! i wasn’t disappointed by any performances, tho since i was ride or die for akira ichiro and ayukawa jakurai, i felt those losses keenly lol. i was also surprised how much i felt like i was missing aramaki sasara watching this play lol. there were some changes to the origin stories, ofc lol, but the stage has always had superior bb takes so i really appreciate them changing ichiro’s more shallow dismissal of his bros in canon to him being scared for them after what happened with samatoki and chuuoku. it’s his biggest conflict in these battles so i appreciate them making it a primary focus

i read a tweet from a fan idk who they originally stanned but said they were considering becoming a hama lady after the stage and abso-fcking-lutely LOL uehara-san is incredible as samatoki, yuki-san can also inspire the masses with his looks and dancing and flow and tho stage rio didn’t have much presence in the play, him opening his heart to samatoki thru their battle and then teaming up with the both of them after fighting together is a great slight change to their origin story

*slams thru the wall like the kool aid man* AND THE NEW BAT HAIYUU ARE ACTUALLY MAGNIFICENT like backwards order since i have Things to say about nakanishi kuukou lol but nakatsuka-san’s hitoya is very cool!!!! his voice envokes almost the same amount of hype takeuchi-san’s voice does for me, like it’s deep and rough when he’s going and it’s sooooooo good. stage hitoya in the legends era cared for jyushi certainly, but i don’t think he flat out babied jyushi as much as he did in new encounter like my god lmao. it might be more indicative of the difference between actor’s personalities lol and i suppose hitoya did try to get kuukou to lighten up on jyushi when they first got started. also, there was this look he gave kuukou when kuukou started to goad him into being on his team that exuded cool charisma i think nakatsuka-san might be another actor too cool for hitoya LOL

i didn’t think it was possible for a jyushi to be even more baby than daigo-san’s but goddamn i think sakayori-san managed it LOL and again i do think some of that is bc of the source material they were adapting. i saw reports that new encounter jyushi was kinda spoiled by his team and i could see the undercurrents of that in the way kuukou would pat his back when getting up or the way jyushi would lean into hitoya and hitoya would actually wrap an arm around him lol. but i’m not complaining ITS CUTE. sakayori-san’s silhouette is so crazy like his build i think is exactly the way i envisioned jyushi’s so i kept vibrating out of my seat whenever he did a flourish and i got to see his figure lmao. i saw a report commenting that he needed to work on his vkei mode voice bc it was hard to differentiate and maybe???? idk i could tell the difference just fine, even if his voices don’t have as much of a gap as sakakihara-san or daigo-san’s

i want to throw up out of excitement thinking about nakanishi kuukou which is how i know he’s officially part of the kuukou brainrot LOL he’s kuukou!!!!!! he is so purely kuukou that everything i feel about kuukou is pushed onto him and i feel like i should apologise rn bc that comes with a heaping dose of objectification!!!!!! but it’s chill!!!!!!! *kicks down a wall* HES GOT MUSCLE ON HIS TINY FRAME!!!!!!!!!!!! like when he gets going going, that jacket starts slipping off and the camera caught just the right angle and lighting to show the contours on his arm muscles and i started yelling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thick neck thick calves thick arms HES BUFF!!!!!!! BLESS NAKANISHI-SAN!!!!! and thankfully it’s not for the aesthetic like he’s athletic asf too with jump kicks backflips air somersaults and the like. he is probably the best person to have gotten the role after someone like hirono-san, whose kuukou has shaped the character so thoroughly that even in this new stage, direction choices were made to preserve the hype his kuukou envokes. if the writing on nakanishi kuukou stays the course, it’d honestly be a bonus to have that extra hype kuukou lol. and on that note

I DONT HATE STAGE KUUKOU WRITING LOL🙌🙌🙌

now it’s just an origin story so there’s plenty of time for shit to go awry but rn i’m feeling massively satisfied lol. there were some lines that were raising my hackles but frfr??? that’s just me being sensitive after all these years lol it’s fine. no nod to kuukou’s history with ichiro but tbh i don’t come to the stage for that lol but it made me think of the complaint that nagosaka’s get together story felt rushed compared to the other divisions. and they were lol but i’m not sure if that’s the stage’s fault or the source material. on bat’s side, bc they formed nagosaka alongside the og teams in the stage, ramuda’s development thru bat got axed in favour of jyushi falling for rei’s scam that brought dh together. it’s a choice that further isolates nagosaka so while within the stage narrative it makes sense (does jyushi’s character a disservice tho), it kinda annoys me thinking about the long term lol but it’s probably not going to matter in the long term either so ultimately it’s fine. i guess. maybe lol

one last nakanishi-san ramble and i’m done lol but that fanservice part really showed off his charm lol like when he rolled up on some fans arms spread wide and demanding their ears and attention!!!!!! 😫😫😫😫🙏🙏🙏🙏 and as he was heading back on stage, there was a lone bat fan along that aisle so he paused and leeeeeeeeaned back into that backtrack and flashed the bat hand sign at her and i couldn’t stop my unholy noises even if i tried he’s so cute omfg help he’s adorable like actually 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜