#but so does listening to yuria. like she just tells you to do stuff and commits some assassinations on the side

[tigercomplex]

once again i am struck by the urge to create a 3 hour long video essay on why i hate the lord of hollows ending

[hoshigomi]

Takarazuka Special 2018- Say! Hey! Show Up!

Man, am I lucky to be able to see so many incredible things in Japan. Under the cut are all the thoughts I had about this year’s TCA special! Forewarning- they’re hardly cohesive, they’re very personal and biased, they’re SUPER LONG because I’m not writing this for anyone in particular or editing it whatsoever, and they’re whatever came to mind between the two showings or while waiting at intermissions!

The Beni/Tamakichi/Mirio/Daimon group is like. Something else. You put all four of them up there and they split off into FACTIONS, and it turns out to be Beni vs. Everyone which melts into Beni and Tamakichi vs. Daimon and Mirio and by that I mean if Beni and Tamakichi are teasing Daimon and Mirio MAN can those two sweet, sweet women not hold up. Beni is a troll. Beni is relentless. I’d call her a predator to Mirio and Daimon’s prey. The teasing never ended- but to that end, the laughter never ended either, and honestly, I loved them. I loved it. They were all charming and they all shone and the way their personalities differ (OOH do their PERSONALITIES DIFFER) was the most obvious and beautiful thing in the world. We have a FUN set of top stars, y’all. It was nice to see them all together.*

*I missed Makaze for a lot of reasons, most notably: 1.) she would have made for another great target for Beni to give hell to, and 2.) there were a lot of silk, deep, deep v-necks, and it’s kinda cruel to leave Makaze out of that, don’t you think. See you next year, Soragumi. Your energy was missed. 

Daimon can’t eat gluten??? She certainly didn’t eat any bread in France, which has everyone including me pretty aghast.

Tamakichi used to? Swim? Play HANDBALL? They for sure teased her about being in the Olympics at the noon showing, but that’s as far as my Japanese got me. Makes sense though because have you seen her shoulders?

Sorry I need to say AGAIN how much Beni Ran This Shit. She IS the oldest top right now, by a year to Daimon and Mirio and like...more years to Makaze and MORE years to Tamakichi, and I’m sure that’s part of it, but I think the other part is that she’s a natural born emcee and comedian and she knows it. When I watch Beni I think ‘oh my God I love you so much for so many reasons,’ I love that woman. That’s my top star. But then MAN, I can ABSOLUTELY SEE how those reasons might make someone else feel the exact opposite. She also like applied herself for a bunch of this show and oooohhhhh it’s so lovely when she does. 

Tamakichi asked Mirio and Beni to talk about going to Taiwan, and they sung the little ditty that I don’t know the name of but clearly is done every time they go to Taiwan because they both knew it. Beni also spoke some Chinese for the Taiwanese live viewing audience. 

There was also talk about why they all chose their final songs, how their years went and what each troupe did, and some general banter. 

Aside from the Top Stars and Todoroki Yuu, no one really spoke. The Top Musumeyaku certainly didn’t talk. To be TOTALLY HONEST, as far as this live viewing went at least, unless you’re Top Star, nibante, Top Musumeyaku, or Kacha/Hanagata Hikaru/Akira/Kai you don’t seem to have TOO MUCH camera time. Still thankful for the fact that they do the live viewings! But it IS tough to spot your whoever-else, unless they’re doing their little solos. 

Moving on from our lovely Top Stars, here’s the quick-n-dirty lowdown on what stood out to me in the show!  (I’m sorry if I missed your favorite, there were a lot of people, a lot going on, and I’m REALLY biased towards watching certain people.)

Miya had a lot of great stuff. She and Saki both had some funky songs with acoustic accompaniment. Saki’s had kind of a Western vibe. (Like cowboys, not like Western Hemisphere.)

Sorry, back to Miya, I really really hope she hangs on to top. She has her act together. She knows what she’s doing onstage, she’s pretty polished, and I personally really really dig the general tone of her voice, especially when she goes a little high. 

I saw the show twice. Both times, when Coto came on for her solos, whoever the person next to me was like SLOW NODDED. Same, seat neighbors. God she’s good. She’s looking a lot more grown up!  She’s CUTE. I’m kinda obsessed! I can’t like compliment Coto enough. Y’all know how good she is. She stands out just because she’s THAT GOOD. 

Maaya Kiho. Maaaaaya. Maaya, come back to Hoshigumi so I can see you every day of my life. That girl has SOMETHING SPECIAL. Her energy is unique and a little aggressive but flirtatious? She has one of my favorite voices in the company, hands down. She knows how to work that like specific musumeyaku sexuality but you can kind of totally tell she also wanted to be an otokoyaku. She has that IN her. I love Maaya. I want to listen to like four hours of just Maaya. 

If I had to listen to something else for four hours, it would be Ari singing Yami Ga Hirogaru. 

If I had to listen to something ELSE it might be Aasa because her voice is definitely UNIQUE in a way that really pleases me. 

I also want to quickly shoutout to Tom for running as much of this as she did- and I want to comment that I like....like her voice. It has a REALLY unique quality to it now. She’s really interesting to listen to, and she’s still truckin’!

I want Mao Yuuki and Mikkii to stand exclusively next to each other for as long as they’re both in Hoshi because that height difference is SOMETHING else. 

Speaking of Mikkii, I’d like to challenge everyone who records and edits anything for the rest of her time in Takarazuka to actually put the camera on her for more than .9 seconds, because she is ON TO SOMETHING REAL. Tenju Mitsuki is always on. Whether or not you particularly care for what she’s doing, everything she does is done with 100% follow through and intention, she has a target, she isn’t doing anything superfluous or pointless with her body. She’s SHARP. Tenju Mitsuki is a fantastic performer and I really want to see more of it. 

Speaking of fantastic performers, shoutouts to Coto (sorry, duh), Daimon, and Maaya for being magnetic in the same 100% followthrough, target, intention way. What incredible performers. 

Yuki and Tamakichi sang OKLAHOMA and while I thought I knew what heartbreak felt like, it turns out I didn’t until I realized that we won’t ever get Tamakichi/Yuki Oklahoma. 

Daimon and Sakura’s Climb Every Mountain was NICE. 

I love these Top Musumeyaku Very Much. It’s almost dumb to say but God they just all bring such different things and personalities and voices to the table. 

Welcome to Top, Misono Sakura. It’s good to see you. <3 

Senna Ayase has Got It. She rocks. She has a lot of power and she led her musumeyaku in something really sassy and nice and I just want to say that man, I hope she loves her post-Takarazuka life. 

I want to compliment Maitii on everything and mourn the fact that she isn’t leading everything, honestly. 

There was a kind of long but not too long In Memoriam Section featuring the Top Musumeyaku all speaking for a few seconds and then mostly senka members + Kai + Akira with vocal solos all in white.

I never want to see another musumeyaku’s dress dragging on the ground. Someone almost Ate It when her dress got caught on something at the edge of the stage. Please. Keep our musumeyaku upright. Hemming things isn’t that hard.

Wow, Tsukigumi is fun. I also literally can not fathom HOW Baddy was THIS YEAR. As a whole they just have a really fun, kinda off-the-cuff energy that I find very endearing.

Shimon led Chaos Paradise, which, if you’re me, was one of the most satisfying things in the world. 

Tamakichi is so beautifully EARNEST in a way that really suits all the golden age musicals she’s been getting. Maybe we CAN cross our fingers for Oklahoma...

From now on I’m formally requiring 8-10 business days to prepare for hearing Inochi from Gaisenmon because I didn’t walk into Hey! Say! Show Up! expecting to get chills and feel the weight of the Human Condition on my shoulders. 

Shoutout to Yukigumi for replacing the ‘Nya!!’ at the end of Gato Bonito! with ...whatever sound they were approximating to imitate a wild boar. Happy New Year, everyone!

Irodori Michiru is just really cute and I love looking at her. 

Thank you Kai for your golden hair and 16 Year Strong insistence on being .3 seconds behind on choreography because you prefer being ~languid~ to being ~sharp~ because you sure were easy to find.

No amount of exclamation points, keysmashing, or attempts to describe it can make you understand how I felt when the music to Jump! from Oceans 11 started up, or when RUSTY was played by Kai. That was a dream come true. Nothing less. 

On that note, KAI SANG RAIMEI TOO, so I feel like God really Was looking out for Her Fans this Takaspecial. Thanks, God. 

Everyone’s medley started out with the Top Star singing something earnest or Powerful or Big, but our very own Kurenai Yuzuru elected to open up with SPECIFICALLY the doki doki waku waku bit from Another World. The audience loved it. I loved it. I love Beni and I love Hoshigumi and I love that they included Arigataya, Nanmaida from Another World also and I love that Kai was hopping around as Kiroku again with the biggest smile on her face and I love that we got to hear Coto’s PIPES and I love that the audience was clapping for Killer Rouge and I love Killer Rouge and I love the ENERGY THAT troupe has. 

Seo Yuria. Seooooo. Seooocchi. Get that fear out of your eyes, sweet thing. You have such a SMILE when you let yourself and your voice is THERE and you’re about to step into some big big shoes. Let yourself have this.

Rei and Saki are both coming into their own vibes! I’m excited to see where they go from here. 

Shoutout to Shidou Ryuu for getting WAY more screentime than intended because she was planted half a foot to the right and directly behind Tom at pretty much all times. Good to see you, Shidou!

The best thing about seeing people from different troupes performing together in any number is like....no one is quite WITH EACH OTHER. Like MAYBE your weird idiosyncrasies fit in well with your troupe, but they sure don’t fit with the weird stuff your neighbor is doing. It’s charming and it’s sweet and I LOVE seeing it. 

I didn’t think I’d cry either but tears DID spring to my eyes when Kai bowed. 

I would like to formally petition Takarazuka Forever to FOLLOW Sumire no Hana in encores because Sumire no Hana is kinda a downer and Takarazuka Forever is an upper but that’s personal preference.

They wished the audience Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in ENGLISH which felt like an extra treat. 

I didn’t mention every single actress in this (I’m sorry if I missed yours!! It’s so hard to remember everything and watch everyone when there are such weird combinations of actresses on the stage etc.), but God, I can honestly and truly say that to me, they all shone.  Everyone is so different and everyone is working so hard. Every person who had a solo did it with everything they had, and it was beautiful to say. While watching Saki and Tamakichi, the thought came to me that entertainers- people who choose to use their lives to make other people happy- are just so special. These women are all such hard working performers and dedicated individuals and the life they put into giving us this thing is incredible. I feel so lucky to even be able to say that I do what they do. Not with HALF the skill or talent but this was one of those shows that made me think. Oh. We are so lucky to do this. The world is so lucky to have this art form. Musical theatre really is the most wonderful thing in the world, to me. 

If more comes to me later, I’ll add it after the cut, but this is already 80 pages long and I’ve exhausted my phone notes. If you read this far, thanks and I’m impressed! I’m HAPPY to tell you more specifics about things if you want to ask, I can try to scrape my brain for whatever’s in there. 

Thanks for a beautiful 2018 in Takarazuka, everyone.  Happy New Year! May 2019 bring us beautiful things we could never have expected!

[zukalations]

Talk DX - The Scarlet Pimpernel: Kurenai Yuzuru & Rei Makoto (June 2017)

Long time no post...sorry about that! Hopefully I can keep the queue sustained this time~

This is an interview with Beni and Coto during the run of The Scarlet Pimpernel, published in the June 2017 issue of GRAPH. It’s pretty in-depth and very fun!

@chemicalperfume helped with editing and translating! Many thanks as always <3

Talk DX - The Scarlet Pimpernel: Kurenai Yuzuru & Rei Makoto

Kurenai: We’re nearly to the middle of the run. I’ve always wanted to do this show, so I’m so happy during every performance. Therefore, thinking ‘I’ve still got half the run to go!’ makes me really happy!

Rei: Me too. Each week goes by too fast.

Kurenai: Darn right!

Rei: I feel like it’s a better experience for us each time.

Kurenai: Yeah! The power of the audience is really immense. They say ‘one performance does more than 100 rehearsals’, so I really feel like the audience helps us continually improve our performance. It completely changes the atmosphere.

Rei: If I go back and listen to recordings from the vocal rehearsals, it’s totally different!

Kurenai: Yeah! However, a restage performance is really difficult, isn’t it.

Rei: It is.

Kurenai: It’s already been expanded on so much through the premiere performance and the first restage, so figuring out how to perform on top of that foundation is really hard.

Rei: For troupe members like me, who weren’t in the first production, there was a feeling that the audience probably knew the show better than we did, so that was really stressful… But there was also the reverse, where since this was my first time at it I performed as if to demonstrate ‘This is what The Scarlet Pimpernel is!’

Kurenai: Yeah!

Rei: The songs are all really well known—though they’re quite difficult songs (laughs). Every time I perform each song, I feel like I’m working together with the whole orchestra in that moment and it’s always a slightly different result. It’s really fun.

Kurenai: My favorite number is ‘Days of Glory.’

Rei: Oh~!

Kurenai: The power of the people is really important to the whole show, but in that song everyone finally comes together!

Rei: Yeah—but there’s still a lot of individuality.

Kurenai: Exactly!

Rei: It’s so good~! I really like ‘Into the Fire.’ It makes me so excited! My classmate Seo (Yuria) is in it so I asked her ‘Hey~ Hey~ What’s it like to be in that scene?’ Apparently due to the quick-changes and the moving platforms it’s really hard for the actual performers (laughs). But I’m always excited to watch it from the wings! It’s also really popular to watch from the side entrances; it’s always a struggle to get that spot.

Kurenai: Really? (laughs) When I’m doing that scene, somehow I feel like I’m really living. There aren’t a lot of moments like that on stage, are there? (laughs)

Rei: Definitely! (laughs)

Kurenai: I feel like I’m living as Kurenai Yuzuru and as Sir Percy, and that all the other members of the League are living as their roles too. It’s full of courage—it’s a wonderful scene!

Rei: Yeah, yeah.

Kurenai: Since the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel are all good friends, I didn’t want them all to treat me as an older brother type character, just because I was the most senior, so I told them that every time. As a result, I think we all felt like equals, or I hope we did.

Rei: In the rehearsal, there was a definitive moment where your group’s acting radically changed, so I was watching like ‘Wo~w!’ But you know, my team gets along really well too!

Kurenai: (laughs)

Rei: Starting in the Prologue, Deputy Robespierre (Nanami), Mercier (Seki), Coupeau (Sazanami), and I do the offstage chorus together. We perform in the spirit of the French alliance in every show.

Kurenai: I see (laughs)

Kurenai: How about that adlib scene about the clothes Chauvelin (Rei) should wear to the masquerade!

Rei: Oh gosh.

Kurenai: You don’t laugh a bit!

Rei: That’s not it, the truth is I’m really weak to adlibs…

Kurenai: Huh? Really?

Rei: Do you know how much I’m panicking right before then!?

Kurenai: I thought it was excitement (laughs)

Rei: No no no. But listen! You never tell me anything!

Kurenai: But then there wouldn’t be any point!

Rei: So I’m always so nervous… But I haven’t yet broken my vow not to laugh, have I!*

Kurenai: But it’s not like I’m trying to make you laugh there…

Rei: No~, you almost get me every time! And then when the audience starts laughing I really want to join in.

Kurenai: Ah, that’s so hard~ I had that same issue when I was Benedict (in Ocean’s 11).

Rei: Ah~!

Kurenai: There too, even though I didn’t want to laugh at all, Toyoko-san (Suzumi Shio) as Rusty really went all-out with adlibs. She’d use a wig that went bald at the pull of a string, stuff like that.

Rei: It’s a struggle every day!

Kurenai: It was~ I don’t do that sort of thing, generally.

Rei: But, you know, I’m training every day.

Kurenai: Sometimes you can even play off it a bit, right~ (laughs)

Rei: Maybe once in 15 times I’ll give it a shot (laughs) Mainly I just rack my brain frantically but it always ends up like ‘No, no comebacks here!’ (laughs)

Kurenai: The other day, during the final scene on the Day-Dream, a button on my glove got totally tangled up in Aa-chan’s (Kisaki’s) hair.

Rei: That must have been such a hard time! But you were amazing then. I was doing my quick-change, so it was a situation where all I had to go on was the audio, but you did some sort of adlib like, ‘Ah! I love you too much to let you go!’

Kurenai: Yeah (laughs)

Rei: They say to try and make something positive even of accidents.

Kurenai: It’s more fun that way!

Rei: If it was me I’d surely just keep quiet and act as if it hadn’t happened. It’s really amazing that you could announce it to everyone like that and work it into your acting.

Kurenai: Oh, you think so?

Rei: And for me, thanks to that issue, my quick-change was…

Kurenai: Nice and relaxing?

Rei: Yes (laughs). So from my point of view, that was a happy accident (laughs).

Rei: I always watch the ‘She Was There’ scene from the wings. In that scene Sir Percy (Kurenai) is released from all his turmoil, there’s the mirror behind, and all the lights are on Sayumi-san (Kurenai)... You are just so dazzling there!

Kurenai: Ahahaha (laughs) Really?

Rei: It’s amazing! Because, like, you throw aside the teasing attitude you used with Chauvelin, and how closed-off you were to Marguerite (Kisaki), and it’s as if ‘Sayumi-san’s Percy’ truly exists there. It gives me goosebumps every time.

Kurenai: That scene really has a different atmosphere. See, even if I remember when I did it in the shinjin kouen the exact same scenery is before my eyes.

Rei: Awesome!

Kurenai: But the way it feels to me is different. It’s like I can feel how everyone on the staff is all working together to help bring my Sir Percy to life. I can feel the audience too, and the whole Grand Theatre. And besides, I have to think about how to lead into the next scene.

Rei: Ah~

Kurenai: In the shinjin kouen, when that scene ended I was like ‘it’s over!’ but now I realize I’m seeing it as one piece in the puzzle of Percy’s life. I feel like that’s what the passage of 9 years does.

Rei: That’s true. I really love that scene!

Kurenai: Somehow, this time around, Chauvelin is somehow really helping you break out of your shell, I think.

Rei: Yes.

Kurenai: People mostly see you as this ��star student,’ right, Makocchan? But you really have a very human side to you, so it’d be good if the audience could see that.

Rei: Yeah…

Kurenai: Well, you’ve already been a great help to me, though. I’m really an unpredictable, spontaneous type of person,, so I’m grateful for your restraint. I think it’s precisely because we’re so different that things have come together so well. But I think if your attitude, rather than ‘it has to be this way!’ was more like ‘maybe I’m going to try that other way…’ then maybe in the future an even more amazing Makocchan will be born.

Rei: Yes… Yeah…

Kurenai: It won’t be as bad as you think.

Rei: For sure. Right now the biggest challenge is just that~ Wah~ You’re so understandi~ng! Sayumi-sa~n!

Kurenai: Chauvelin is a character who messes up a lot (laughs), but it’d be good if you could convey new sides of yourself through the audience seeing your struggles!

Rei: Thank youuuu~

Kurenai: The finale starts out with Makocchan. You look like you’re having fun (laughs)

Rei: I just feel like ‘I can smile too now~’ (laughs) It’s the first time I am given the duty of bringing everyone’s mood up, leading into the rockette.

Kurenai: That really struck me in rehearsals. ‘Makocchan has inherited the position I had up till now.’ So I really understand your feelings in that situation. It makes you really nervous in the beginning! Especially on opening night.

Rei: Gosh, I was so nervous!

Kurenai: And then imagine that being the New Years’ show, where they’re livestreaming it as well.

Rei: Ahhh…

Kurenai: (laughs) So you see I really understand those feelings, and it made me really happy. ‘I’m really passing the baton!’ I thought.

Rei: I...I’ll do my best!

Kurenai: In the ensemble dance I have with the group of musumeyaku, I’m supposed to be searching for Marguerite. It’s got a feeling of longing. Then in the next scene it’s otokoyaku! And it segues into the group sabre dance. Speaking of that, yesterday the sabre was really heavy.

Rei: Eh?

Kurenai: It definitely wasn’t mine!

Rei: They do vary a bit like that. The way the wood feels.

Kurenai: That little weight difference actually made it really hard, because I’m still holding it scene after scene. But to the fans, it’s not Scarpim** without the sabre dance on the Grand Stairs! That kind of feeling makes me happy somehow.

Rei: Yes! And then Sayumi-san leaves the stage first and that shout as you leave is…

Kurenai: By the way, everyone, that was thanks to Director Koike’s instructions!

Rei: Ahaha (laughs)

Kurenai: Although I might seem as if I’ll just say whatever if you give me a microphone, that was something I was specifically instructed to say. ‘Everyone Dances!***’ ‘Let’s dance! Dance, everybody!’ is what it means.

Rei: You always raise the energy level so much by saying that!

Kurenai: I always make eye contact with you, right Makocchan?

Rei: Yes!

Kurenai: In the duet dance afterwards, the costumes are actually super heavy, so it was really hard but… Aa-chan is so adorable.

Rei: Wah~ Squee <3

Kurenai: Even if she messes up a little bit I just think ‘well we all have our days’ (laughs). I’ll say something if I have to (laughs) but basically she puts trust in me too. So it’s really fun.

Rei: When watching I can tell that  you both put your heart into it, so it makes me happy to see. After all it’s your Grand Theatre debut show!

Kurenai: It is! And me, Aa-chan, and Makocchan were all in Star Troupe the whole time.

Rei: That’s right.

Kurenai: Therefore I want to make sure to respect our seniors and the longtime fans. But it’s not like I’m going to take on too much there, I want to enjoy things and show ‘this is how our Star Troupe will feel!’ I want to keep on in the Star Troupe style, in a way everyone can enjoy!

Rei: I’ll follow right behind you!

* I’m not sure if Rei is discounting her breaks in the last couple performances of the Takarazuka run (at least) or if this interview took place before then.

** ‘Scarpim’ (or ‘Sukapin’ in the Japanese spelling) is the fandom nickname for the show.

*** English in original.