Moon Saga

DETAILS

CREW

Leading role/Script: GACKT
Draft: CLAMP
Production management: Kodansha
Planning: Bon sales, DMM.com, DY Media Partners Hakuhodo
In collaboration with: ISE, GORDIE ENTERTAINMENT, PYROTECHNIST
Production by MOON SAGA Stage Production Committee

Synopsis

GACKT is Minamoto no Yoshitsune, famous warlord whose abilities were essential for the resolution of the Genpei conflict, in late Heian Period, between Minamoto clan and the Taira Clan (also known as Heike). The conflict later inspired the classical epic tale ‘Heike Monogatari’ and a number of Kabuki and Bunraku plays.
In the theatrical version, Yoshitsune possesses some mysterious powers.
Together with the rockstar GACKT, that plays the leading role of Yoshitsune, take part to the play the actors Taichi Saotome e Yuga Yamato. Saotome will be playing the role of a character not included in the original story, while Yamato, already part of the Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe, will interpret Tomoe Gozen.

Info:
For those who don’t know it, the word CLAMP is referred to 4 mangaka and character designer: Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi e Satsuki Igarashi, authors of many mangas, Card Captor Sakura e Rayearth among them.
Their works have sold 118 millions of copies, 92 only in Japan and about 26 in the rest of the world.

Plot and Characters

Historical Period:
Since ancient times, Spirits (Mononoke) and human being have been living together.
These spirits, that unlike humans were in possession of ‘supernatural powers’, were venerated and sometimes feared by people, but for a long time they were able to preserve a relationship like the one between God and human being.
But with the connection between spirits and humans soon spirits in human form, that had inherited the blood and powers of Mononoke, started to appear.
They came to be known as ‘Mononofu‘ that means ‘The non-human’.
Mononofues started to grow in number and were able to dominate human beings with their special powers.
For many months and years they extended their influence over the whole contry e soon the conflit deteriorated in a large-scale war.
The last days of the Heian period, the time in which Mononofu overruled mankind.
The ‘powers’ possessed by these Mononofu could be as numerous as the Mononofus themselves.
Among them there were those who could display a temporary superhuman strength, those who could manipulate human hearts, those who could command fire and water, those who could seal other’s powers, those who could walk on water and also those who could dance in the air.
This tale illustrates the short, but deep, ephemeral friendship of those born as Mononofu.
Yoshitsune no Minamoto: GACKT
The 9th son of the old Minamoto no Yoritomo. A naive innocent person. He doesn’t love troubles
People around him believe that inside his sleeps a demon.
He himself is terrified by the power of the ‘One hundred Demons’ sealed inside his flash by the monk Benkei and is frightened of losing his consciousness and free that power.
He questions himself over the feeling of prejudice that comes with an existence that walks between Mononofu, Mononoke and human beings, and the meaning of being a Mononofu.
Since his heart is pure, even if he is all grow up now, he is still able to see Mononokes.
He feels something more that friendship for Yoshinaka even if he is in love with Tomoe, but he never talks about it.

YOSHITSUNE MINAMOTO

Yoshitsune Minamoto was the 4th son of Minamoto no Yoritomo, head of the Minamoto Clan. Not long after his birth, at the end of 1159, the Heiji rebellion bursted out, and his father and older brothers died. While his onder brother Yoritomo, now legitimate heir of the clan, was exiled in Izu province, Yoshitsune was put under the care of the Kurama temple,  on Mt. Hiei, near Kyoto, and then under the custody of Fujiwara no Hidehira, head of the powerful north branch of the Fujiwara clan, in Hiraizumi, Mutsu province.

In the 1180, Yoshitsune learned about his brother Yoritomo, now head of the clan, and how he had gathered all the Minamoto troups to face the Taira clan.
Yoshitsune, together with his loyal Benkei, took part in the conflict.
In the Awazu battle, in the Omi pronvince, in early 1184, he defeated  and killed his cousin Yoshinaka, Yoritomo’s opponent over the position of head of the clan, proclaiming himself as shogun for a short period of time.
A month later, after the Ichi-no-tani battle, Kobe today, he defeated the Taira clan and repeated the dead in the Yashima battle, on the Shikoku island, and in Dan-no-ura, now in the Yamaguchi prefecture .
After the Genpei war, Yoshitsune accepted the invocation of the Emperor Go-Shirakawa to rise his army against his brother Yoritomo.
Defited, he was forced to ask for Fijiwara n Hideara help.
There, in the Mutsu province, Yoshitsune was betrayed by  Hidehira’s son, Yasuhira, and forced to commit Seppuku, together with his wife and daugther.
After his death Go-Shirakawa and Yoritomo reconciled and Yoritomo was appointed as shogun, starting the Kamakura shogunate.
He was burried in the shintoist temple of Shirahata Jinja, in Fujisawa, were his remains are still guarded.

Folklore:

In spite of his military abilities, Yoshutsune’s life met his end in a bloody way, that inspires sympathetic response among many people, at the point that in Japanese, the expression Hougan’biiki (判官贔屓), that means sympathy for hougan, then became sympathy for the underdog, includes Yoshitsune’s posthumous name, Hougan (判官), as noted before, that was granted to him thanks to the position that Emperor Go-shirakawa had graned him.
(An other way to pronounce  the word is Hangan, that means ‘magistrate’).
Furthermore, Yoshitsune’s life is considered to be heroic to that point that it deserved to be narrated.
Legends and tales with this theme grew in number as time passed, and so Yoshitsune’s fame took a shape that was far away from it’s original historical self.
Among the many legends, well-know is the one about his encounter in Oobashi with the strong Musashi, or the one in which, thanks to shaman Kiichi Hogen’s daughter’s help, he was able to steal 2 legendary volumes of military strategies,Rikuto e Sanryaku, to study them, or even more, the one about the sudden death of Benkei, worrior monk, loyal servant and friend, that died still standing on his feet in the Battle of River Koromogawa.
These legends grew in popularity among a wide audience in the Muromachi period, about 200 yeard after his death, thanks to ‘Yoshitsune’s Chronicle’.
He appears as the protagonist of the third section of the Heike Mongaatare, the classic tale that narrates the Genpei War events and that inspired  many later works expecially in No and Kabuki tradition. In particular, it is said that his victory in the Sunaga battle hed been due to his studies on the Tiger Book, conteined in the Rikuto scroll, and that since that moment, that same book bacame essentia for future victories.
In later periods, Yoshitsune’s was used to legitimize the glory of a lineage. For examble, there is a martial arts school that is supposed to have inherited its technique from Yoshitsunes himself or from the one that is considered his mentor, Kiichi Hogen.

CHARACTERS

MONONOKE

Kage
Is a silver-haired mononoke that become known as Kage,Shadow, because he constantly follows Yoshitsune hounding him since the moment he saved his life.
He has no gender and has lived for hundreds of years. Moreover, Yoshitsune can see his form only in full moon nights.
Hiyori
Is a mononoke, Kage’s Protégé.
Since his personality is more cheerful, she is known as Hiyori, the Sun.
En
Is a unique Mononoke with no physical shape.

YOSHITSUNE’S ARMY

Minamoto no yshitsune
9th son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Yoritomo’s half-brother.
He questions himself over the feeling of prejudice that comes with an existence that walks between Mononofu, Mononoke and human beings, and the meaning of being a Mononofu.
Since is heart is pure, even if he is all grow up now, he is still able to see Mononokes.
Satou Tsugunobu e Tadanobu
Brothers and members of Yoshitsune’s Shitennous (Four Heavenly Kings, in this case 4 powerful worriors close to yoshitsune).
Originally they worked for the Shogun Chinhufu, in the north of japan, Fujiwara no Hidehira, and followed Yoshitsune to spy on him, but their hearts were soon captured by him and sweard to share the same fate as him.
Masashibou Benkei
One of Yoshitsunes Shitennous, and their leader.
He possesses the ability of leadership and is able to calmly take decisions. Like Yoshitsune, he hated dicrimination among people

YOSHINAKA’S ARMY

Minamoto no Yoshinaka
Yoshitsune’s cousin, later known as Kiso Yoshinaka. Since he had never been defeated he is know as the ‘Demon God’ or ‘Yoshinaka the demon’ . Even if he is part of the Minanoto clan, he is discriminated and hated by the ruling branch of the family because he was part of the cadet branch, and thus he has an inferior status.
Tomoe Gozen
Her abilities in martial arts are superb even though she is a woman and handles her spear vigorously.
She supports and is close to her loved Yoshinaka both in public and rivet life.
Shida Yoshihiro 
Originally on good terms with Yoritomo, Yoshitsunes relatives and Yoshinaka’s father, and shared their family name, but after  a clash with Yoritomo’s army because of Yoritomo’s rules over oriental provinces, he takes the sobriquet of Shida. After being defeted in a conflict with Yoritomo, he joines Yoshinak’s army.

YORITOMO’S ARMY

Minamoto no Yoritomo
Yoshitsune’s older brother. Legitimate heir of Minamoto clan, after his father Yoshitomo’s death, leads the family.
He strongly believes that the aim of his exsistence is to eliminate every Mononofu apart from the Minamoto, and destroy the Taira clan to revive the Minamotoes.
Hojo Masako
Yoritomo’s wife.
Inherited the Hojo’s power and lineage she is a superhuman with an extremely high level of ability
Kajiwara Kagetoki
Originally commander of the taira clan, in the Ishibashiyama battle saved Yoritomo allowing him to flee.
From tht moment of he a close and trustworthy partner.
Kazusa no Hirotsune
Vassal of Yoritomo’s father, was before an intrepid commander included in the 17 generals of Yoshihira . Maybe due to his pride of commander of an army of 20.000 men, he stands out for his insolent and oppressive behaviour with his vassals.