Mirage of Blaze: The Showa Chapters

Mirage of Blaze: Showa Chapters (炎の蜃気楼 昭和編 'Honoo no Miraaju Shouwa Hen') is Takashima's second collaboration with Kuwabara Mizuna. Kuwabara created the parent series, Mirage of Blaze, in 1990. Since its original creation, a manga, anime, OVA, drama CDs, and image albums have been made. Since Mirage of Blaze deals with reincarnation, Kuwabara has made many prequels and side stories dealing with events alluded to in the main story as their own, fully fleshed out stories. The Showa Chapters deal with the events that took place during the Showa Era (1926 to 1989).

Plot Summary
As the events of the Showa Chapters relies heavily on knowing the events of the original work, this plot summary may not make too much sense, but here's the official description on the book:

"Tokyo, 1950s. In the Bar 'Regalo' near Shimbashi Station, Marie's singing voice resonates tonight too. After closing up, Busboy Kuchiki is attacked by a man who is a friend who was killed in battle and had his name swindled, and Marie and Kase, who is in charge of the Bar, ends up saving him, but...! The Showa Chapters now begin!" Kase is Kagetora and Marie is Haruie. Of course, other members of the main cast, including Naoe, show up as well.

Characters

 * Kase Kenzou (Uesugi Kagetora)
 * Kasahara Naoki (Naoe Nobutsuna)
 * Kosugi Marie (Kakizaki Haruie)
 * Miyaji Ryou (Yasuda Nagahide)
 * Kuchiki Shinji (Oda Nobunaga)
 * James D. Handow (Mori Ranmaru)
 * Sasaki Yukio (Irobe Katsunaga)
 * Shikkou Kensaku
 * Kitazato Minako
 * Nazume Kouta
 * Shinonome Jirou
 * Kousaka Danjou
 * Takayashiki Tetsuji
 * Masa

Publication History
There are a total of 11 volumes in the series. They all have additional subtitles, as follows:
 * Volume 1: Nightingale Blues (夜啼鳥ブルース 'Yanakidori Buruusu') released December 2013
 * Volume 2: Swallowtail Butterfly Blues (揚羽蝶ブルース 'Agehachou Buruusu') released April 2014
 * Volume 3: Lapis Lazuli Swallow Blues (瑠璃燕ブルース 'Ruri Tsubame Buruusu') released July 2014
 * Volume 4: Hoarfrost City Blues (霧氷街ブルース 'Muhyou Machi Buruusu') released December 2014
 * Volume 5: Dream Magic Lantern Blues (夢幻燈ブルース 'Yume Gentou Buruusu') released May 2015
 * Side Volume: Demon Squad Boogie-Woogie (夜叉衆ブギウギ 'Yasha Shuu Bugi Ugi) released September 2015
 * Comprised of nine chapters, four of which were released as one-shots in Cobalt magazine. One was also released for Kuwabara's 25th Anniversary Special Issue.
 * Volume 6: Hoodlum Star Blues (無頼星ブルース 'Burai Sei Buruusu') released January 2016
 * Volume 7: Bridge of Dear Wishes Blues (悲願橋ブルース 'Higan Hashi Buruusu') released July 2016
 * Volume 8: Bright Red Hill Blues (紅蓮坂ブルース 'Guren Saka Buruusu') released December 2016
 * Volume 9: Nirvana Moon Blues (涅槃月ブルース 'Nehan Tsuki Buruusu') released August 2017
 * Volume 10: Dying a Glorious Death Blues (散華行ブルース 'Sangekou Buruusu') released December 2017

Stage Plays
The whole story of the Showa Chapters was condensed into a five-part stage play with Takashima's art used for all the advertising, and subsequent media releases. All have been produced by Trifle Entertainment. The details are as follows:
 * Part One: Nightingale Blues
 * Took place at Theater Sun Mall in Shinjuku
 * Original run dates were September 17th to the 23rd, 2014
 * A DVD was released February 28, 2015; distributed by Trifle
 * Part Two: Lapis Lazuli Swallow Blues
 * Took place at Theater 1010 in Kita-Senju
 * Original run dates were October 8th to the 13th, 2015
 * A DVD was released March 30, 2016; distributed by Trifle
 * Part Three: Demon Squad Boogie-Woogie
 * Took place at Theater Sun Mall in Shinjuku
 * Original run dates were October 21st to the 30th, 2016
 * A DVD was released April 1, 2017; distributed by Trifle
 * Part Four: Bright Red Hill Blues
 * Took place at Theater 1010 in Kita-Senju
 * Original run dates were October 12th to the 17th, 2017
 * A DVD & Blu-Ray were released March 25, 2018; distributed by Trifle
 * Part Five: Dying a Glorious Death Blues
 * Took place at Space Zero Renrouzumi Hall in Shinjuku
 * Original run date were August 11th to the 19th, 2018
 * A DVD & Blu-Ray were released January 30, 2019; distributed by Trifle
 * Additionally, a Documentary DVD of a photo shoot that took place for the promotional images was released on December 28, 2018 and was produced and distributed by Trifle. The shoot took place on June 25th & 26th, 2018 in Niigata.

Cast
The regular cast was: Other cast members included:
 * Tomita Shou as Kase Kenzou (Uesugi Kagetora)
 * Aramaki Yoshihiko as Kasahara Naoki (Naoe Nobutsuna)
 * Replaced by Hiramaki Jin for Bright Red Hill Blues and onward
 * Tsukui Masami as Kosugi Marie (Kakizaki Haruie)
 * Fujimoto Ryou as Miyaji Ryou (Yasuda Nagahide)
 * Replaced by Igarashi Maasa for Bright Red Hill Blues and onward
 * Masada Yuuki as Kuchiki Shinji (Oda Nobunaga)
 * Hayashi Shuuji as James D. Handow (Mori Ranmaru)
 * Kasahara Shinji as Sasaki Yukio (Irobe Katsunaga)
 * Mizutani Atsushi as Shikkou Kensaku
 * Imade Mai as Kitazato Minako
 * Replaced by Onogawa Aki for Bright Red Hill Blues and onward
 * Kawasumi Bishin as Nazume Kouta
 * Nakamura Ryuusuke as Shinonome Jirou
 * Tomita Kentarou as Kousaka Danjou
 * Replaced by Kanegae Kou for Bright Red Hill Blues and onward
 * Miyagi Koudai as Takayashiki Tetsuji
 * Replaced by Tanaki Naoki for Dying a Glorious Death Blues
 * Yuasa Masayuki as Masa

Trivia

 * In addition to doing all the illustrations and covers for all 11 volumes in the Showa Chapters, Takashima also did a few magazine covers in which the story was featured.
 * As shown in the gallery, Takashima's art was used for all Showa Chapter related promotions--the Stage Play DVDs, Ads, event notices, and of course, at Kuwabara's table for signing at Meet-and-Greets.
 * There was a LOT of merchandise available from the Stage Play, but some of the coolest items included a Regalo Bar Coaster and Flute Wine Glass.