#Ayanagi Shou

[eien-no-gakusha]

Touken Ranbu:  The Contradictory Tale of Genji

Part 3/3 - Overall Impressions:

On a technical level, the show is quality.  The main cast sang melodiously and music composition was suitable to the time period and mood of the show.  There was not so much dancing to judge but acting was superb.  Many actors had to play double roles such as anyone possessed by Genji or anyone on the Genji side of the plot.  The contrast was evident and well-done.  The child actor was very professional and I had no issue with her when I’m usually not impressed.  That was a pleasant surprise.  Set design was minimalist, which made for some creative setups but there were enough hints for the audience to suspend disbelief and jog their imagination.  The transitions were incredibly fast and most of it was done using a giant cloth sheet that represented a page of the novel that was waved about.��

Of course, I loved the costumes.  Combined with the actors, they effectively brought the characters to life.  Ladies and lead role Nanami Hiroki got the best picks.  Akira got an epic evil costume in the end to represent Genji going rogue.  It was a chaotic costume by design with mostly Japanese silhouette but what’s with the Chinese style double skirt, armor design, and hairdo?  (jkjk lol) I suppose turning evil turns you into a jumbled mess of modern art.  The real moral here is treat your fictional world with care or risk it biting you back.

 Now this is a sword show so naturally the fight choreography was incredibly smooth and stylistic while being cleanly executed.  Genji is no swordsman but a scholarly prince so his weapon was a fan that Akira wielded gracefully and skillfully in her fast-paced battles.  In fact, there was a lot of fan twirling and all done to perfection.  My praise is for the effortless ease actors were wielding fans.  I would expect them not to drop them as part of the job.

 The overarching theme concerning the value of fiction was compelling.  When the creeper fan confronts Murasaki and later curses all of Kyoto, the five precepts of Buddhism is referenced.  Among these precepts is the prohibition against speaking lies or falsehoods, which encompasses anything ranging from thoughtless remarks to “great fictions.”  The fan praises the book but is worried that spreading of such an influential fictional work will result in leading people astray and thus Murasaki would be punished in the afterlife for her sins.  In fact, in medieval history a memorial service was held to rescue Murasaki’s spirit from Buddhist hell over this very matter.  One can take the traditional Buddhist interpretation of life being hell because life is suffering and impose it over the musical.  Therefore, the isekai is a type of trial.  Just as the Empress and other readers of The Tale of Genji are grappling with their reality through the novel, they are reliving the parts of the book they resonate with to find a solution to the problem in their lives.  An even darker interpretation is the ghosts of Heian-kyo are in purgatory by living in the fiction they became consumed with instead of being present in society.  During Murasaki’s time, the upper echelons of society were obsessed with the Cult of Beauty at the cost of governance and economy so was quite corrupt and detached from reality.  What more fitting punishment in the afterlife than eternity in their vapid world?  Perhaps the touken danshi stumbled upon such a purgatory.

 There is also more contemporary views of fiction in this play.  Murasaki pushes back in the debate by respecting the intelligence of her fans and expressing the love she has for her writing and its very real value to herself.  Furthermore, her avid readership stand in solidarity by citing the novel’s beauty and meaning to their lives either as escapism or example.  Here we see more modern values on display with fiction enriching and enhancing reality or supporting readers through their struggles and triumphs.  One can also glean commentary about parasocial relationships as well with Murasaki’s interactions with her fanbase and the fans’ earnest love of a fictional character.  In short, this is a story about the influence and impact of stories on people and how wonderfully weird and beautiful that relationship is.

 The story I enjoyed a lot.  Many videogame and anime musicals are shallow cash-grabs but this one went out to tell a meaningful story.  I respect that.  I’m even tempted to buy the DVD lol.  Not like there’s any merch left anyways.  All that sold out before the curtains even rose.

[zukadiary]

Hi! I hope you're well! I wanted to ask something I was curious about. I recently saw a DVD of Me and My Girl with Yuzuka Rei as Jacqueline. I’m impressed by her versatility, I usually know her for otokoyaku roles. Could you explain how casting decisions are made when otokoyaku are given female roles or vice versa? Are there specific criteria for this? Also, any other notable performances of this kind you'd recommend? Thank you so much for making this blog btw! I've learned so much from it. ^_^

Hi! I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about this, but there are definitely patterns.

First off, there are certain female roles in big-name, frequently restaged shows that are either always or usually played by otokoyaku. Off the top of my head, some include:

Jacqueline in MeMy, as you mentioned

Scarlett in Gone with the Wind

Anita in West Side Story

Rafaela in Grand Hotel

Then sometimes they are just one-off casting decisions (Towaki Sea in Liszt, Ayanagi Shou in Hikarifuru Michi, etc). Regardless of the situation, it's usually for one or a combination of these reasons:

It's a "spunky," or more mature, or canonically cross-dressing role, that would break the mold of the musumeyaku-otokoyaku relationship

It's an incredibly high profile role, but the troupe has no top musumeyaku—e.g. Sena Jun as Elisabeth in '05, Nagina Ruumi in '09—and a secondary musumeyaku would not be nearly as much of a draw to the audience as a higher ranked otokoyaku

Or it's a really high profile role, and otokoyaku just bring in more money than musumeyaku, so a heavy supporting female role goes to an otokoyaku rather than a secondary musumeyaku

Fan service!

Here are some of my recommendations:

Grand Hotel - lots good about it, but cw for egregious racial makeup in supporting characters

Soragumi's Anastasia, for both Kazuki Sora and Kotobuki Tsukasa in female roles

All for One, which is quite fun, and features Saou Kurama as the Duchess of Montpensier

Ok this is pretty Tamaki Ryou heavy for some reason, but Legend of King Arthur for Miya Rurika's Morgane

Shall we Dance, one of my all time favorite shows, featuring Sagiri Seina as the female lead

A Song for Kingdoms, the 2003 Hoshigumi version, featuring Aran Kei as Aida (also cw for some racial makeup)

There's a lot of other great stuff too!

EDIT: HOW COULD I FORGET ADELAIDE??? Highly recommend thanks for the comment!

[wtheckzukasubs]

“A Passage Through the Light” subs

Download here: wtheckzukasubs.tumblr.com/shows (Scroll down to find it under snowskypx’s works)

This show wasn’t translated by us but offered to be here by @snowskypx who went through the trouble to translate, sub and edit the files so you guys can have easier access.

This was Daimon’s top debut in the Grand Theater (as was Kiichan’s), and the songs were done by Takako’s husbandFrank Wildhorn, the same guy behind Scarlet Pimpernel and Never Say Goodbye. The cast is great but a special mention to Shou, playing a super pretty onnayaku (though I’m still not very sure of the point of this character, she’s beautiful).

This was also the taidan piece for Saou Kurama.

snowskypx asked me to note how the Le Cinq script helped with the patching up and final polishing of the subs.

[leenaevilin]

[Announcement] 舞台『刀剣乱舞』禺伝 矛盾源氏物語 (butai touken ranbu guden mujun genji monogtari)

the show is set for February 2023 @ Tokyo & Osaka

Cast:

Nanami Hiroki as Kasen Kanesada (歌仙兼定) Ayanagi Shou as Ookurikara (大倶利伽羅)

homepage twitter natalie

[igura]

assorted lupins from twitter 💎💎💎

[adorare]

Hollywood Gossip (Snow 2019) subtitles

For personal use only. Do not rehost or alter. You may use these for your private streams, but please do not hardsub or upload to streaming sites.

Subtitles

Timed to the Blu-Ray version. They will also work with the Sky Stage version. Please adjust the timing of the subtitles if it does not match your version. Most media players should have an option that will allow you to do that.

[Download] .ass .srt

[bulanpagi]

since i've liked kpop for a long time, i got curious about whether are there japanese fans who like both tkz and kpop. so i did some browsing on twitter and found interesting tweets! 😆 this post is particularly about siennes/OGs and kpop idols who look similar from japanese fans' opinion.

Hanagumi's OG Top Musumeyaku, Ayase Senna & Blackpink's Rosé (Park Chaeyoung)

ooh i do agree with this one. they're both beautiful and have amazing vocals and dance moves. ayase senna and rose can speak english fluently too.

Soragumi's OG Top Otokoyaku, Ouki Kaname & Seventeen's The8 (Xu Minghao)

wah definitely!! soft voice offstage, alluring stage presence, graceful yet sharp movements!

Yukigumi's Otokoyaku Asami Jun & Seventeen's Jun (Wen Junhui)

op said aasa looks like mix of jun and nakayama yuma!

next one.. omg when i told you i cackled

Yukigumi's OG Otokoyaku, Ayanagi Shou & NCT's Yuta & Jaemin

honestly i don't see the similarity in shou and other nct boys but it would be amusing to see my fav otokoyaku assigned as nct's 25th member LOL

i might update the list if i see more :D

[kaynstein]

Poster Calendar 2021

[margridarnauds]

Ayanagi Shou as Madame Roland in A Passage Through the Light  ~Maximilien Robespierre, the Revolutionary~ (Snow Troupe)

[fallinginlovezuka]

[kittychan-sings-enka]

The Rose of Versailles: Giroudelle Side Story (2008)

aka ‘Oscar has a nice day for once: the Musical’

[zukadiary]

Hi! I just recently stumbled into Takarazuka and I'm in love with it! The costumes and set designs are so beautiful and the actresses are so talented! I was wondering is there any social media from the staff or troupes I can follow? Or does anyone have playlists for Moon Troupe singing or getting interviewed? My mom got into it with me and she adores Tsukishiro Kanato :3

Hello! Apologies for the long delay in answering. Here is the official social media that I know of off the top of my head/have time to wrangle at the moment. It is definitely not comprehensive, but hopefully people can comment on this post and we can crowdsource!

Company:

Instagram

Quatre Reves Twitter

Takarazuka Live Next

Staff:

KAORIalive (choreography)

Kento Mori (choreographer)

Mitsui Satoshi (choreographer)

Nishino Jun (conductor)

SHUN (choreographer)

Retired actresses (waaaaaay too many to list them all but here is at least a handful of top stars/more popular actresses who have retired in the last 4ish years, the algorithm should start kicking in from there):

Aizuki Hikaru

Asumi Rio

Ayanagi Shou

Hana Yuuki

Jun Hana

Kisaki Airi

Kurenai Yuzuru

Maaya Kiho

Manaki Reika

Miya Rurika

Nanami Hiroki

Nozomi Fuuto

Senna Ayase

Tamaki Ryo

Unfortunately the company is really strict with social media and internet-posted videos for current actresses. Sometimes you can find episodes of of the SkyStage interview show Cafe Break on youtube, but they are always appearing and disappearing.

[wtheckzukasubs]

“Spring Thunder” (Shunrai) subs

download here: wtheckzukasubs.tumblr.com/shows 

I wanted to release this when I found out Shou would play Goethe again, but I’m so lazy I kept delaying it. Well, I made it before the taidan, at least.

It’s a beautiful Bow performance and I feel so sad Shou never got a second a show to show how she’s improved ever since, because she was already superb. Also, this is penned by Harada Ryou (I mean, adapted from Goethe’s Werther but you know what I mean), which guarantees many feels.

I’ve loved this show since before actually watching it so I subbed it a long, long time ago. It’s not the oldest sub available here but one of, keep that in mind.

This is still Werther, so suicide is the elephant in the room, but the show isn’t as dramatic as I had anticipated.

Also, don’t miss Houshou Dai, she’s already great but wow! I was at awe. And now they’ll all be gone... You do get smol Hitoko and Kuracchi to make up for it.

Right, forgot to mention this was timed to Sky Stage (there’s no dvd release that I’m aware of), so you will need to retime it a bit to make it fit your recording.

[eternalyjun]

Phantom

[leenaevilin]

[Announcement] 舞台「フランケンシュタイン-cry for the moon-」(butai frankenstein -cy for the moon-)

the Blu-ray will be released July/August 2022☆ ☆ ☆