Anime Magnetism
ONE NIGHT IN FEBRUARY AT THE KYOTO Theater in the heart of Kyoto, Japan—a city both ancient and modern, where skyscrapers and centuries-old castles coexist—a sophisticated, well-dressed, and 99 percent female audience eagerly yet patiently waited for the show to begin. For many of them, this was not their first or even second visit, as indicated by the merchandise they wore proudly, like badges of honor, in support of their favorite performers.
Superfan-hood comes naturally to the show, titled Touken Ranbu: The Musical—Mihotose no Komoriuta. A semi-historical sword-fighting epic, it’s derived from a Japanese PC/smart-phone-app video game, Touken Ranbu Online, in which legendary swords come to life as warriors called Touken Danshi (Sword Boys) to defeat enemies who plot to change the course of history.
The show is sharply divided into two parts: A nearly twohour Act One unfolds an epic tale of courage and camaraderie, filled with fantasy, drama, flashy musical numbers and intense action scenes with breathtaking sword-fighting—all staged in a style as sharp and angular as a cartoon. The climactic end of this portion left the majority of attendees in tears.
After intermission, Touken Ranbu turns into a full-out concert, with most attendees waving a spectrum of glow sticks in perfectly illuminated choreography, color-coded to reflect the dominant hue of the leading characters’ costumes.
But as off-the-charts as the devotion of these Japanese (superfans) seemed to be, they nevertheless appeared restrained, clapping politely, and generally demurring
