I know this one kabuki actor and his name is Ebizo.
And yes, being a kabuki actor is passed down to the following generation.
I think the manga shows how kabuki is like. Yes, kabuki is a rather closed art community, and most actors perform for their family business.
Actors pass on their stage name from generation to generation. Like in a manga someone shouted from audience to Sougorou "Tamano". I think it's his stage name? Many stories are well know for everyone so it's important how actor plays it compared to for example their father. Some poses are specific and it's hard to learn, and the most hard part is speech - search on youtube, they say everything with such intonation even some japanese can't say what they're talking. So it's impossible for someone who is 20 years old to start as kabuki actor. They are trained from childhood. Kabuki is a more open to actor interpretation than Noh performance where you really have a strict script on how you move every finger haha. Kabuki star actors often appear in television or movies so yes, they can become a huge celebrity.
I didn't see kabuki without make up because this is a way to show audience the type of character actor plays and their personality (there are 8 style roles for actors: hero, villian, woman, demon etc.). There are mostly 2 types of performance - historical dramas and domestic melodramas. Costiumes and make up is important to represent time in history the play is located, the characters etc.
Kabuki changes, so even if most kabuki actors wear make up, maybe there is some trend to not do it (for example like modern plays??). Well that's what I have read for classes but I don't live in japan so maybe something is not right xD
Wow, I always like a shounen ai manga when they use japanese traditional cultures in the plot..it becomes very informative. But anyone here understands japanese culture care to explain how accurate this manga is in depiciting kabuki world?
Is kabuki stage really being passed down for generations in the family and become a real deal family business like this?
Can that family/actor become well-known and rich like getting featured in magazines and all?
I've searched articles for kabuki, and it seems they usually wear elaborate makeup...but here some of them even use bare faces, is that happen often in kabuki stage?
Any info will be much appreciated