Geten no Hana Hotarumi no Utage (下天の華 蛍見の宴, roughly translated as "Flower of the Human World Firefly Viewing Banquet") is the first Geten no Hana only live stage event which had two showings on June 30, 2013 at Kawaguchi Cultural Center Lilia. Voice actors of the game recited a drama and monologues on stage, sang character image songs, and participated in improvised group variety segments for the program.
Hotarumi no Utage does not have a DVD recording available for sale, but the Treasure Box edition of Geten no Hana Yumeakari includes a complete transcript of the drama and monologues with colored text and bonus visuals. The revised pamphlet includes character interviews for the Yumeakari cast; each character shares their impressions for a banquet.
Cast
(in order of first appearance)
- Masaya Matsukaze - Nobunaga Oda
- Kenji Nojima - Mitsuhide Akechi
- Hiroshi Okamoto - Nobuyuki Oda
- Nobuyuki Hiyama - Naomitsu Momoji
- Showtaro Morikubo - Hideyoshi Hashiba
- Kensho Ono - Ieyasu Tokugawa
- Nobunaga Shimazaki - Ranmaru Mori
Summary
Prologue
Nobunaga is walking the shores of Lake Biwa late at night. Mitsuhide catches up to him and chides him to be cautious. The Oda lord grunts that he sounds like his nagging page and gestures for him to look at the fireflies. Their radiance heartens Nobunaga to someday share the view with his followers. His general warns about the increasing enemy spies, especially since his lord is so close to achieving unification. Deaf to danger, Nobunaga lets Mitsuhide handle the spies and returns to the main keep.
Nobuyuki walks into the scene after his brother leaves and admires the fireflies. Momoji arrives to his side moments later. The younger brother figures Nobunaga was inspired by the illumination; he grumbles that the sight may be his last. After his shinobi assures that the preparations are complete, Nobuyuki intimidates Momoji to stay loyal to him and to keep out of sight.
Hotaru no Touka, Yume no Kagaribi (Zenpen)
"Firefly Torch, Bonfire of Dreams (first part)"
Three weeks into the game's main narrative, Hotaru has infiltrated Azuchi Castle as Mitsuhide's sister and has disappeared from the castle one night. Mitsuhide searches for her, Nobunaga, and the other missing members of his closest circle near the castle's main gate. While he ruminates about their whereabouts, he hollers for the enemy spy watching him to reveal themselves. Momoji drops from the tree, disclosing his surprise at being spotted. Mitsuhide snidely attempts to extract information from the shinobi before the duo trade blows. Momoji fails to land a hit and chooses to flee through a smoke bomb. With the shinobi gone, the general muses that it may be beneficial to let the intruder go for his purposes.
Meanwhile, Hotaru is enjoying the fireflies and the moonlit Lake Biwa with Nobunaga and the others. Hideyoshi rejoices spending time with Hotaru and invites her to join a secret boat ride with him. The Oda lord jests that it is no longer a secret and urges him to lower his voice. Ranmaru objects to the casual gathering due to the jeopardy of spies; Nobunaga derides his page to drop it. He brought his brother and friends to the lake to enjoy the scenery, not to be nagged. He kept their outing a secret from Mitsuhide to prevent his second-in-command from stopping them.
Nobunaga entreats them to share a round of poetry spontaneously themed to fireflies, first passing the torch to Nobuyuki. The younger protests to being put on the spot but manages to conceive the following poem: "The wind absent,/ the fireflies/ dance freely." Ieyasu remarks that the words for wind absent is a pun of a phrase for calmness and praises his ingenuity. Ranmaru is similarly moved by its elegant simplicity.
Next up is Hideyoshi. He is rearing to devise a lovely composition to woo the lady in their company. The page is in the dark about Hideyoshi's reference and reminds him that his poem is supposed to be about fireflies. Nobunaga nevertheless permits it. Hideyoshi's poem is: "Fireflies are dancing./ I love you,/ oh Lady.♪" After a beat of silence, Hideyoshi revels her stunned silence as a sign that she's positively charmed by him. Nobuyuki replies that she looks nauseated.
As they walk, Nobunaga notices a frog has hopped onto one of his sandals. Ieyasu gushes over its cuteness and fondly nicknames it Gerosuke (roughly Sir Ribbit). Ranmaru strangles his abject terror. The Oda lord is amused by his page's reaction and questions if he is afraid of it. His page is obstinate that he is a warrior and fears no such beast. Nobunaga then orders his page to dedicate a poem to frogs to prove it. Ranmaru panics when his lord steps closer to him and desperately obeys the command with the poem: "A frog/ I spot near my feet/ I rush home."
His denial persists so Nobunaga hails for Ieyasu to contribute, chiding his friend to pay attention to their conversation. Ceasing his adoration for the frog, Ieyasu apologizes for his rudeness and recites a poem: "Little frog/ its complexion like/ nightingale down." Nobuyuki utters that it does seem similar while Ieyasu chimes in merriment. The poetry round has finished, and Ranmaru pleads for them to change the subject before he gets nightmares.
Ieyasu becomes nostalgic. He is grateful that Nobunaga would take him on similar outings during their childhood. It was because of Nobunaga's kindness that he realized a vast world existed outside his isolated imprisonment. Following his momentum, the group trail onto their thoughts of the world and changing era. Pleased by their hopes for peace, Nobunaga encourages his closest circle to assist one another for their dreams. Hotaru's awe delights him, and the others speak similar flattery for her. On the way back to the castle, Ieyasu picks up the frog. He wishes to show its cuteness to Mitsuhide as compensation for not bringing him along.
During the midnight hours, Momoji finds Nobuyuki alone in the castle's outer forest. He apologizes for his failure to implement the poisonous letter into the main keep and confesses to have been stopped by Mitsuhide. Nobuyuki overlooks the shinobi's rare fault once he is confident that their relationship remains a secret. He pardons him from duty.
Hotaru no Touka, Yume no Kagaribi (Kouhen)
"Firefly Torch, Bonfire of Dreams (second part)"
Momoji overlooks Honnouji from a nearby forest during the evening hours. He recaps events up to that point, stating that Nobunaga survived the assassination attempt at the firefly viewing banquet and Nobuyuki is imprisoned. His contract is still in effect, and the shinobi will assist his master through any means necessary.
Inside the temple, Nobunaga is leisurely enjoying a game of Igo with Ieyasu. The Tokugawa lord wonders if they should be relaxed yet Nobunaga has no fears of his younger brother. Ranmaru rushes in moments later to report an emergency. They are surrounded by an army of 2,000 under Nobuyuki's command. While Ieyasu is alarmed, Nobunaga is amused. He wishes to wait for his brother within the temple's flames and urges the two youths to save themselves. Both remain adamant to stay beside him, each stating their devotion to him. Appreciative in spite of himself, Nobunaga permits them to stand with him.
The fire rages and Nobuyuki bolts inside. He threatens to end his brother's life. Ieyasu's pleas for peace are rejected by Nobuyuki, so Ranmaru declares his will to stay by his lord to the end. The younger brother taunts that he has 2,000 on his side and Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide aren't there to save them. He is aghast to see the two named generals rush into the scene. Their armies hurried to the site once they were informed by a frantic Hotaru. With the tables turned against Nobuyuki, Ieyasu and Hideyoshi try to reason with him to surrender.
Nobuyuki's cries of rage triggers Momoji's arrival into the scene. He eggs Nobuyuki to regain his focus and remember his past. Although his contract is annulled, the shinobi states he has the responsibility to oversee his master's carnage. The shinobi volunteers to take on the Oda vassals by himself so the Oda siblings can duel one another. Nobunaga's followers contend that Nobuyuki has no chance of winning or becoming the land's unifier; Momoji counters that it means nothing and engages them at once.
Content with the chance to speak to his brother alone, Nobuyuki bellows that Nobunaga must pay for the six years of torment he bestowed upon him. He wishes to be freed with Nobunaga's death. The older brother jeers that he is the Sixth Demon King and shall not fall easily. The drama ends with the Oda brothers clashing blades.
Translations
Mitsuhide
"This incident appears to have taken an unexpected turn. I wonder if my little bird can manage... (chuckles) Then again, it's not as though I gave you that much authority to work with. My little bird entertains in more ways than I could have ever anticipated... Those enigmatic transformations of hers are interesting. She has talent in her work. But... at times, her behavior is odd for a shinobi. She wants to know more about me, or something to that effect. Countless times has that plea escaped her raucous lips. On one hand, it is irritating. And on the other, it's strangely soothing. Well, for now, that part is my little secret."
Nobunaga
"Tonight's firefly gathering made another desire clear to me. Flowers may bloom everywhere in the world, yet there is only one flower that I love. You were the one who fluttered towards me. ...But you still keep your eyes away from your feelings. Abandon your figments of imagination, and accept your true thoughts. Take my instinctive love for you."
Hideyoshi
"She hadda nice face earlier at Lake Biwa. I wanna know your heart. Not the shinobi or the princess side; the real you. Hey, Princess, someday you and me really should get a small skiff for the both of us and see the world together. I love you, my one and only princess."
Ieyasu
"Your face that I saw at the lake... had the fireflies' shine in your eyes. They were so noble and filled with pure kindness. They were so bright I had to turn away from them. Your smile has always been so lustrous, even when I first met you... Someone as cowardly as me can't hope to face it yet. But, someday, when I do have the courage to be so forward... Would your smile be meant for me?"
Ranmaru
"That innocent face of yours... Your unclouded gaze stole mine. I was pledging my loyalty to Lord Nobunaga. Before I knew it, my eyes were searching for yours. Such rudeness is unforgivable for a page like me. Yet an emotion I am not familiar with stops me from condemning myself. When we next have time alone, I wonder what you would say if I told you about this..."
Nobuyuki
"Dream for the land, huh. Isn't that a tantalizing thought. Why does everyone cling onto that fairytale? The princess's smile tonight... was heartfelt. She has been nothing but good will ever since she witnessed my tears. That's why she can be swept in by Brother's lies so easily. For some reason, whenever I look at her, I get a little frustrated. I swear, she's an irritating princess. ... But, if she wasn't Mitsuhide's sister and I wasn't Nobunaga's brother, perhaps these feelings I have would be different..."
Momoji
"Must be still green to be spotted during a mission... No, that's not it. It's because I reunited with you, here at Azuchi. It's not a matter of raising you for the sake of the village anymore. Seeing you after all this time, you aren't that soft child from long ago anymore. You're... No, I should stop there. I can't afford to think that way now. If you've been assigned your mission, I need to prepare for the day when we might clash blades."
Finale
Momoji: "Seems I attract saps like flies. But, looks like I can't bring myself to leave this one alone. I've babied this one for so long may as well see it to the end. Got to be the old connoisseur for him."
Nobuyuki: "I honestly don't know how I feel right now. Do I hate Brother or not? I do know one thing. I will never know a moment's rest until Brother is gone. That Brother needs to vanish from this world. I stake everything to make that become a reality."
Ieyasu: "If Master Nobunaga succeeds his unification, I know there will be days of peace and radiance for all. For that, I will do my best to fight beside him!"
Ranmaru: "Lord Nobunaga is my lone master. And he is the only person worthy of uniting the land under his name. No matter what disaster may strike, I shall see to it that Lord Nobunaga remains safe!"
Hideyoshi: "Lord Nobunaga's death here will hurl the land into another cycle of warfare. You wanna fight your brother? You don't gotta fight like this. Smack him upside his head within the castle if you need to. I'll stop this revolt in its tracks!"
Mitsuhide: "Everything I do is for Lord Nobunaga. Any gripe I endure is always for him. The dawn of his land is on the horizon. My target is in sight. Naturally, I shall cut it down."
Nobunaga: "Envelope the land with might, and create an interesting world in its wake. This is my unfettered dream. It may take a lifetime to fulfill. As long as life remains within me, I shall always race towards my dream!"