Rumours from the Busho Matsuri 2013 event

The first of the three Butai Sengoku Basara Bushou Matsuri 2013 performances finished a short while ago, and as people come flooding out of the venue some are taking the time to update Twitter and 2ch with the news that was revealed for the benefit of those who couldn't be there. The event's name is officially abbreviated to Busho Matsuri in English so I'll be doing the same.

Everything in this post is an unsubstantiated rumour until Capcom updates their website or the press publish their event reports - probably tomorrow. I'm going to collect the rumours which are appearing most frequently as they're most likely to be true.

(Update: The final performance has now taken place, so the only further additions I'll make to this post will be to add more press reports as they appear online. We should get more information in the next few days when Capcom updates.)

Firstly, stage play information (that's the main focus of Busho Matsuri, after all). This is all now confirmed with the launch of the official website.

• The next stage play will be Butai Sengoku Basara 3 Utage Two. A sequel to the last one! 
• The stage play is a double feature: Kyouou Tanjou x Shinen No Utage ('The Birth Of The Dark King x Feast Of The Abyss'). The website went live immediately after the first performance.
• It will run from the 1st November 2013 in Tokyo (Tokyo Dome City Hall), Nagoya (Chuunichi Theatre) and Osaka (Mielparque Osaka). 
• There will be a total of 21 performances and tickets will cost ¥7,200. Fan club members will be able to buy tickets from 22nd July while general sales will begin on 22nd September.
• The main cast will include Ishida Mitsunari (Nakamura Seijirou), Katakura Kojuurou (Yoshida Tomokazu) and Sarutobi Sasuke (Murata Youjirou). 
• Date Masamune will now be played by Takigawa Eiji (replacing Kubota Yuuki), while the new Sanada Yukimura will be Yoshioka Yuu (replacing Hosogai Kei). This event gave Kubota and Hosogai a final chance to say goodbye (again).
• The Miyoshi Sanninshuu will appear for the first time. Kaneda Shinichi will play the eldest brother, while Endou Makoto and Shirasaki Seiya will be the second and third brothers respectively.
• Other characters include Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Odai Ryouhei), Uesugi Kenshin (AKIRA), Ootani Yoshitsugu (Nitta Kenta), Mouri Motonari (Kotani Yoshikazu), Saika Magoichi (Yashiro Minase), Kasuga (Chinen Sayaka), Fuuma Kotarou (Takahashi Hikaru) and Kuroda Kanbee (Shirakawa Yuujirou). The returning characters will be played by the same actors as before.
• Hanbee has not been confirmed for the new stage play, even though he's in the background of the promotional artwork above.

Other notes on the stage play content.

• The 'requested combat' battles at the event are different for all three performances (it sounds as though they'll be covering a lot of requested match-ups!).
• Requested match-ups in the first show with their ranks in the poll were Kojuurou vs Sasuke (6th place), Hanbee vs Motonari (7th place) and Nobunaga vs Oichi (special). Series director YamamotoD made a request too: Hyottoko Kamen (Shingen) and Tenko Kamen (Sasuke) vs the Young Tiger (Yukimura).
• The afternoon had a different selection. Masamune vs Ieyasu (special), Tsuruhime vs Kotarou (21st place) and Mitsunari vs Hideyoshi (11th place). Finally, KobaP's request was for Kasuga/Kenshin vs Oichi/Mitsuhide.
• The third show featured Masamune vs Yukimura (1st place), Magoichi vs Keiji (10th place) and Toshiie vs Nagamasa (special). The special request came from Kubota and Hosogai: a four-way Masamune/Yukimura vs Mitsunari/Ieyasu battle.
• Some random pictures from Twitter: Motonari and Hanbee, event poster (with the Toyotomi army positioned together!), Yumekichi flower arrangement, the ladies of the stage plays.

Next come rumours from the Sengoku Basara 4 news segment.

• There was a lot of cheering when Sakon said "Mitsunari-sama!". Guest Ikeda Shuuichi remarked it must be difficult for Sakon visiting a beauty salon all of the time...and that the Toyotomi army must have an amazing hairdresser (due to Sakon and Mitsunari).
• Ashikaga Yoshiteru's palace was shown with gambling-related motifs such as roulette. There will be parts which spin around and trap-like elements. A single picture is now available at the 4Gamer link below.
• The footage also showed Kojuurou (without confirming whether he will be playable).
• As mentioned in my Dengeki magazine rumours (I still don't have the magazine to confirm things!), Kojuurou's first meeting with Bontenmaru (the younger Masamune) will be shown in Sengoku Basara 4. This came up right at the end of the trailer; there was a line from Kojuurou about giving him a sword. 
• It seems that Kojuurou addressed Bontenmaru without the usual -sama honorific, something that has caused a great deal of excitement.
• Of course, the voice actors for the younger versions of Masamune and Kojuurou are still Nakai Kazuya and Morikawa Toshiyuki. It seems that Kojuurou is still quite similar in the flashback whereas Masamune sounds younger.
• A popular gag character from the stage play (an old Date army soldier or 'rouhei' with wild hair who provides comic relief) will occasionally appear in Sengoku Basara 4 as a background soldier in the Date forces. Nice reference, I hope he sings! Famitsu posted a picture of him and his fans should certainly see the resemblance.

• Hideyoshi still hasn't been formally confirmed for the game, however the seiyuu present at the Saturday evening show, Seki Tomokazu (Mitsunari) and Okiayu Ryoutarou (Hideyoshi), performed a dialogue together which was 'from Sengoku Basara 4'. Whether he'll be playable is anyone's guess but at least we can be sure that Hideyoshi will be appearing in some form!
• A Capcom employee later tweeted that Hideyoshi was definitely in the game (i.e. not a cutscene-only character) so he'll either be playable or a boss NPC like Yoshiteru.
• The last of the three Busho Matsuri performances included seiyuu Okamoto Nobuhiko as a secret guest, performing some of Katsuie's lines live on stage. Katsuie was said to come across as "exceptionally gloomy" and "super negative" with very challenging dialogue. His scenes were full of lots of "..." moments. 
• Fans were also given the chance to hear what he sounded like before his spirit was broken by the rebellion attempt which failed. There was quite a substantial difference; his laughter had a "Huhahahaha!" sound when he was up to no good.
• By the way, Katsuie's unofficial nickname amongst Japanese fans is okappa because he has a kappa-style haircut. He's gone down very well with the fans who saw Okamoto performing today; perhaps his popularity will soon increase to match Sakon?

There will be a DVD released with footage from the event in November 2013, imaginatively titled 'Butai Sengoku Basara Bushou Matsuri 2013 DVD'. It will cost ¥6,000.

Press reports and pictures:
Gamer
Famitsu (stage play coverage)
Famitsu (event coverage)
Mantanweb
Game Watch
Dengeki
Inside Games (part 1)
Inside Games (part 2)
Inside Games (photo report)
4Gamer

The Capcom website has been scheduled for its next update on 19th July (Friday) and that's now been confirmed as the date that the new footage will be released online too, so we'll probably have to wait until then for more details unless there's something in this week's magazines.

With the news about the stage play now having broken, Sengoku Basara 4 should be the focus of the rumours going forwards.