The Yomiuri Shimbun had a chat recently with Kenta Suga and the nine other actors who play members of the Karasuno High School volleyball team in "Haikyu!!" to talk about their feelings on the series, which is based on the manga of the same name.
The "Haikyu!!" series is what's called a "2.5-D theatrical production," referring to the 2-D world of manga, anime and games being taken on stage. Suga plays protagonist Shoyo Hinata.
When he was very young, Hinata admired a star volleyball player nicknamed "Little Giant." At Karasuno High School, Hinata belongs to the school's volleyball club, where he becomes a teammate of genius setter Tobio Kageyama.
Tobio's team defeated Hinata's when they were in junior high school, so Hinata vowed to beat Tobio some day. They're initially hostile toward each other in the high school club but gradually acknowledge each other's talents while overcoming various challenges together.
The first work in the series was staged in November 2015.
The 10 actors discussed that first play, in which they felt like they were fumbling their way through the performance, as well as third play "Haikyu!!: The Winner and the Loser," in which each one tested the limits of their physical strength. The sixth part, titled "The Best Team," will begin later this month and depict the volleyball team playing in the semifinal of a preliminary for a national championship.
Kohei Shiota: What I remember most is the first day on stage in November 2015. We were finding our way during the rehearsals, and I was so worried about whether the play would be really fun for the audience. But I felt rewarded when I heard the loud cheers at the end of the first act. It was totally different from other performances I've been in. The cheers were like a boom, the sound of a cannon being fired.
Keita Tanaka: There was a roar and then all at once the audience members began to talk with the people next to them. I was worried, too, because I couldn't imagine what effects would be created by a mixture of screen images and lighting.
Justin Tomimori: The cheers were loud during "The Winner and the Loser," too.
All: No, no, there's no comparison.
Suga: In "The Winner and the Loser," I could hear big sighs from the audience, like they'd witnessed something painful. We had to keep moving for all three hours in a story where our team was defeated. So it was mentally draining and made me cry.
Tomimori: It was really a sport. My legs couldn't move [toward end of each show]. We were really exhausted.
Tatsuya Kageyama: The amount of sweat is so unusual with "Haikyu!!" Makeup comes off during the opening act.
Shiota: The quick costume changes were challenging. In one case, I had only 20 seconds to change my wig and costume in the wings.
Kazuma Kawahara: One time, I had to speak my lines while I was adjusting a wig and rushing to the stage.
Suga: It was tough and thrilling. The backstage was like a battlefield all over.
Shiota: There's no show that makes the actors so worn out, is there?
Keita Tanaka: I'm finally used to it. But acting on a sloped stage was tough, even just standing on it.
Kairi Miura: It's practically unnoticeable, but we were doing the position rotation under the rules of the sport just like an actual volleyball match. We played volleyball without a ball. It was tough to show the movements of an imaginary ball with our gaze and gestures, like there's a real ball.
Yuto Fuchino: When I joined the cast, they were always mentioning the number of beats. I couldn't follow what they were talking about.
Shiota: You had to end your lines while the music was played.
Kawahara: We had a chat like, "It would be nice to complete the lines during a four-count break of this song."
Fuchino: I'd never had an experience like that.
Suga: None of us had. Only in this play.
Kageyama: It was also unusual that we had a brainstorming session for ideas, though I had heard about that.
Shiota: [Director] Worry Kinoshita has overall performance plans. But he's the type of person to have actors think and adopt good ideas.
Tomimori: For an hour or two, we couldn't come up with any ideas, and suddenly an idea would pop up. Then, if that idea moved things forward, I thought, "Way to go."
Kawahara: From the audition stage, Justin [Tomimori] was stuck on the idea of speaking out loud a line of Asahi [Azumane] -- "It's an ace player who can spike the ball for a point in a tough situation." Initially, this line was to be projected on the stage, but [Tomimori] kept proposing saying it until the first day of the first play [of the series] and eventually the idea was adopted.
Tomimori: I wanted to say it out loud, because it was what Asahi most wanted to say.
Naoki Tanaka: When I joined the cast, I was impressed by how they strengthened the familiarity among the actors by having them move closer to each other while passing a ball and shouting the names of other actors. I thought that boosted our unity.
Miura: I'm shy with new people. I was impressed by Kohei [Shiota], who actively approaches and talks to new cast members who are joining opposing teams to get familiar with each other.
Suga: Shiota-san is a good person. He tells our stage positions to opposing teams like, "I'll do this, so you should do this if you want to show that." But he says that in a strong tone that scares others.
Shiota: Everyone gets shocked, and Kenta [Suga] helps relieve the tension by saying, "He's not angry."
Kageyama: I can't do anything alone. I have many friends. Many depended on me. I've learned a lot of things from this production.
Naoki Tanaka: I've learned the importance of connecting with each other in volleyball as well as in a stage performance.
Suga: The latest play is the last in the Karasuno High School series that we'll be in. We'll perform while looking back at all the things we have done before in the series. Then the last one will have depth. Please look forward to it.
Schedule
Forty-four performances will be staged at the following venues:
Oct. 20-28: Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo
Nov. 9-10: Hatsukaichi Culture Hall Sakurapia in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Pref.
Nov. 15-18: Amashin Archaic Hall in Amagasaki, Hyogo Pref.
Nov. 23-25: Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka
Nov. 30-Dec. 2: Tagajo Civic Hall in Tagajo, Miyagi Pref.
Dec. 7-16: Nippon Seinen-kan Hall in Tokyo
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