Kabuki Kool - Season 5 / Year 2017

Season 5 / Year 2017

Episodes

The Star Dramatists of Kabuki History
Explore 400 years of kabuki history through plays of different eras. Actor Nakamura Kazutaro introduces famous writers from each period.

Imoseyama Onna Teikin (Husband and Wife Mountains)
Explore the Japanese "Romeo and Juliet", Imoseyama Onna Teikin. Actor Nakamura Kazutaro introduces scenes from this deeply tragic romance.

Onnagata Props
Explore some of the props used by onnagata, kabuki actors who play female roles. A props expert joins actor Nakamura Kazutaro to explain how these items are made and how they're used in performance.

Tachiyaku Male Roles
Kabuki actor Kataoka Ainosuke is in the studio with Nakamura Kazutaro and explores some of the male tachiyaku roles of kabuki, including tragic heroes and battle scenes.

Powerful Aragoto Heroes
The strong, manly aragoto style of kabuki acting and plays is our focus this week. Join kabuki actor Kataoka Ainosuke and our guide Nakamura Kazutaro as they examine its history and try out some aragoto moves in the studio!

A Visit to the Kabukiza
Kabukiza is the only theater dedicated to showing kabuki all year round. Explore unique stage machinery based on centuries-old ideas, the backstage, roof garden, and shop.

Kabuki Stage Sets
Kabuki actor Nakamura Kazutaro explores the unique nature of kabuki stage sets, stage machinery, how these items are made, and the work done by stagehands during performances.

The Peerless Chikamatsu Monzaemon
The universal plays of Chikamatsu Monzaemon were written 300 years ago yet are still used in movies and TV today. Kabuki actor Nakamura Kazutaro explores his genius.

Kabuki & Ukiyo-e
What's the link between ukiyo-e art and kabuki? Many famous prints are of kabuki actors and were sold to fans. They're key documentation of staging and costumes. Explore this fascinating relationship.

Japan's Historic Kabuki Theaters
Several old theater buildings around Japan give a feeling of what it was like to see kabuki in the Edo period. Experience these performances from up close.
Recently Updated Shows

Æon Flux
Credited for laying the groundwork as one of the first anime female superheroes, Æon Flux returns as a reimagined live-action series. Set in a post-apocalyptic near future where countries no longer exist, reduced to Spartan like city-states locked in perpetual war, where children are turned into lethal soldiers and every citizen carries a gun, one young woman rises up to rebel against her Orwellian government as she becomes the hero known as Æon Flux.

Stranger Things
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood
Outlander: Blood of My Blood explores the lives and relationship of Claire's parents, Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp, and Jamie's parents, Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser. The series centers on these two parallel love stories set in two different time periods, with Jamie's parents in the early 18th-century Scottish Highlands and Claire's parents in WWI England.

Loot
In Loot, billionaire Molly Novak has a dream life, complete with private jets, a sprawling mansion and a gigayacht — anything her heart desires. But when her husband of 20 years betrays her, she spirals publicly, becoming fuel for tabloid fodder. She's reaching rock bottom when she learns, to her surprise, that she has a charity foundation run by the no-nonsense Sofia Salinas, who pleads with Molly to stop generating bad press. With her devoted assistant Nicholas by her side, and with the help of Sofia and team — including mild-mannered accountant Arthur and her optimistic, pop-culture-loving cousin Howard — Molly embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Giving back to others might be what she needs to get back to herself.