#every person in my theater was a tsuki girl like .............

[punkokkotsu]

my baby pudding cup :((((

[chemicalperfume]

Ruriiro no Toki (Moon Troupe 2017)

I saw the play on 5/6 in Umeda Theater Drama City, and it happened to be a very memorable show full of firsts: first solo lead for Miyaruri, first solo heroine for Umi, first show as a member of Tsukigumi for Reiko, and first live zuka small theater show for me. :’D It was also my first time seeing a live show by a troupe other than yuki or hoshi (i have my favourites and also the luck for my trips to coincide specifically with my favourites, apparently). I wasn’t planning on seeing it at first, but I am very glad I managed to. Plot summary for Act 1 (to not spoil it completely since the show is getting a dvd release) and my thoughts under the cut:

Plot:

Peniless actors, Simon and Jacques sneak into Chateau de Chambord -rumored former residence of the now long-missing Count de St. Germain- with the intention of searching for valuables to steal and ease their poverty situation. By chance, they find a hidden door leading to a secret room filled with treasures and a little box that contains a mysterious sphere of lapis lazuli -the Philosopher’s Stone. Over the room also hangs a portrait of the Count, which to their astonishment, looks exactly like Simon. In on them walks Theodore, the Count’s now elderly valet who was loyally waiting for his disappeared master’s return for over 60 years. He greets Simon as the Count de St.Germain, and Simon plays along to save the both of them from getting arrested for thieves. The two young men see this unexpected situation as an opportunity to rise up in society and live the good life among the aristocracy they’ve always dreamed of. Simon puts his acting skills to work and assumes the identity of the immortal and wondrous alchemist, the Count de St. Germain, making a triumphant return to the court of Versailles, enchanting everyone with his stories and his predictions with the Philosopher’s Stone. Jacques poses as his valet, Theodore, at his side. Marie Antoinette consults St. Germain about an ominous, recurring dream she’s been having, but he comforts her about its possible meaning. In Versailles, corruption and opulence reign, while the country’s finances are in a terrible state. The King and Queen are way too influenced by their close courtiers to pay attention to Minister of Finance Necker’s warnings about growing dissatisfaction and miserable living conditions among the populace. Maximilien Robespierre and his comrades are riling up the people to revolt. One day, Simon and Jacques’ old travelling troupe is brought to the Petit Trianon to perform in front of the Queen and her entourage. The two of them are stunned to see their old pals in Versailles, and quickly excuse themselves for the day to avoid being recognized. Marie Antoinette is impressed by the star performer of the troupe, Ademar, and offers her a position in the Royal Dance Troupe*. Ademar is a young woman of humble background who resents the aristocracy and Marie Antoinette as its symbol, because of the state they have brought France into which led to her parents’ death. However, she gives in to the peer pressure and half-heartedly accepts the Queen’s proposal. The clash between the aristocracy and Necker’s prudent warnings lead to his dismissal. In a corner of the palace, Count Province urges the King to send the military in Paris to suppress the brewing unrest that has spread all over following this dismissal. The King is ultimately convinced. Jacques and Ademar happen to overhear this conversation. Ademar’s hatred for the aristocracy only grows. She spots Jacques listening in too and finally finds out what happend to him and Simon. Jacques, disgusted that the aristocracy is willing to do such a thing to their own people, people like him and his friends, decides to adandon the court and tips off Robespierre about the imminent military action. Jacques tells Simon about the plan and urges him to leave this life behind, but Simon is too absorbed into the identity of the Count de St. Germain and refuses. The two friends part for the first time, as times are changing and France is moving closer to the brink of the French Revolution.

Overall: This show exceeded any expectations I had going in, which made me very happy since they happened to gather 99% of all my favourite Tsuki people (including brand new, shiny, fresh off the transfer oven, Reiko). It is not to say it was flawless. Harada-sensei could have given it a more concrete, less vague/open ending imo, and some characterisation fell short (see below for more on that), but it is an extrmely solid show, with stunning and at the same time somehow simple visuals, and AMAZING music, oh my god, can this soundtrack be on iTunes right now. I found myself immediately absorbed in the world of this play, was completely floored by the intermission, and even the aforementioned issues withstanding, left the theatre quite fascinated. One of Harada’s best originals, I dare say. When the show was announced I assumed the director would go for a fictionalised Count of St.Germain, going for an excuse to make Miyaruri a libertine in 18th century France. Which, lbr, would also make a great premise for a show, but I’m glad I was wrong, because the “we have no idea who/what the Count was, Simon just happens to look like him and runs with it” device was clever, and added extra mystery to the premise. Miya and Reiko, although acting together for the first time, make a fine brotp, and there are many layers to both of their characters, but mostly in the relationship between them. The whole play was very much about identity and relationships between people, and how relationships between people change in different contexts. I do wish the whole thing between the main 3 leads, in particular, actually went somewhere, but as i saw it, there is a lot of food for thought behind every layer in this play, every decision, and lots of room for the audience to deduce and fill in the blanks for themselves (occasionally *too* much room...), which is something that often counts as a plus in my book. On the technical side, the costumes were very elaborate and the set included a huge spiralling and rotating staircase which stood for more than just being a convenient, impressive-looking set piece. I also especially loved the secret door/panel set with the huge lizard on it. The (remotely controlled!) light sphere that served as the Philospher’s Stone was another very contextually important, plot-relevant prop, in a show where light usage was very cleverly handled.

Miya Rurika as Simon It feels almost unreal that this woman is getting her first solo lead show only now, at ken-15 (!), never having experienced a Bow lead, but Miyaruri somehow was not as firmly tracked as, and in the way of other, younger, way more pushed people her entire career, so here we are. 2 years ago, I plain couldn’t imagine her leading a troupe. She’d proved me wrong recently in Manon and King Arthur, now she got to directly melt my face off. Simon was a great role for her. She pulled off the long, curly wig like she was born with it, and performed her character and all his stages of growth and change with incredible heart and skill. She made the process of positive travelling actor Simon taking on the identity of the Count and almost losing himself completely in this newfound position of luxury, power, but above all being needed, flow inevitably, magnetically, beautifully. At one point, after he and Jacques disappear, Ademar laments the new lead actor’s terrible line delivery and points out Simon would have done it better. Later in the play Simon recites that same line, and I felt the difference to my very core. Her acting was solid, her dancing was fluid and expressive, her singing envelopped the hall, her chemistry with other characters was palpable. This woman has earned her top feathers. Hopefully she’ll get them some day.

Tsukishiro Kanato as Jacques For those who have spend less than 5″ on my blog, I am currently a Yukigumi girl over anything else in this life, and I am not even going to lie here, this being our precious Royal Dimples’ first show in her new home, is at least 50% of why I wanted to see it in the first place. I was happy to see she was fine. Reiko was a very good combi with Miya and blended in with tsukigumi very well. I felt she’d substantially leveled up compared to Maximilian or Aoshi, which is exactly what she needs and a big part behind this transfer as well, I am guessing. Jacques starts out joined at the hip with Simon, his loyal BFF4E, his trusted sidekick in life, but where Simon becomes the Count, rather than impersonate him, Jacques never loses his pragmatic view on things, never losing sight of his commoner roots, and in the long run choosing what he always knew, instead of the facade he came to know. Their fallout is both inevitable and bitter, and Jacques goes through several stages of character development, which Reiko handled great. While I adore her, I believe there is still tons of room for her to grow, especially in the acting department, and in this show she convinced me she is currently undergoing this process, taking steps to get there. The carefree Jacques of Act 1 who provided (unexpectedly!) many a comedic moment with his pal, is miles away from Jacques the Jacobin of Act 2, and there is even more after that. Unexpectedly #2, for someone this impossibly pretty, she has quite the stout, manly otokoyaku aura on stage, which personally took me by extremely pleasant surprise. In the finale she got to lead the musumeyaku, being lethal and illegal with her winks while doing so. Take care of this one for us, Tsukigumi!

Umino Mitsuki as Ademar Little-known fact about me, probably: Umichan is one of my most favourite people in the entire company right now, and I was THRILLED when the news she landed this role dropped. She makes a breathtaking team with Miya and Reiko, and she is an angel on stage. I could hardly breathe during her ballet scene, she was every bit a flower fairy. Her singing has noticeably leveled up, and she acted out Ademar’s strife and strong character with passion. The only issue lies not with her, but with Harada-sensei, who admittedly gave her little to work with. Harada is known for being kinda hit or miss and mostly miss with how he writes musumeyaku parts (especially lead musumeyaku parts), and I am very sad to say, that looking back at it, I can’t help feeling he kind of dropped the ball with Ademar too. On the one hand, I found it refreshing to be reminded that a lead musumeyaku doesn’t need to be romantically linked to someone to exist as the main female character in the story. Nor does she need to be nice and forgiving and inhumanly sweet. Ademar is largely driven by negative feelings: revenge for her parents, disgust for the pampered aristocracy who lives in a fishbowl and drives most of the country to live in misery. I also can’t say she was shafted for stage time, and she had without a doubt her standout singing and dancing numbers. Her duedan with Miya in the finale was heart-stoppingly beautiful, they complement each other visually to the nth degree. On the other hand though, the more I sit on it, the more I realise she is not very plot-relevant after all, especially in Act 2, most of all at the very end. We know little about her besides the very basics, and we also see much less of her than the other 2 main guys to figure her out more, and by the end this lack of depth becomes noticeable. “Okay chem, but this is just a 2h-long show, with a finale, there’s time limits and stuff” you’ll tell me, but I really don’t see how they couldn’t have spent 2 minutes of exposition/reminiscing or a short flashback scene to flesh out Ademar’s bond to the other two guys a little more. It is what it is though, and I am still happy for Umi getting this lead. Fingers crossed she gets many many more in the future!

Shirayuki Sachika as Marie Antoinette ALL OF THE ABOVE SAID, this show gets full marks for non-tracked senior onnayaku usage, for this very role. We’ve seen 50 Marie Antoinettes in recent years, but Sachika made the part not seem overdone to death and back, what kind of brilliant, award-worthy achievement. Her Antoinette was poised, majestic, adult, and somehow very human, very realistic. Closer to a real-life queen of the time, rather than a fictionalised image of one, she absolutely murdered the part, and made me once again realise how valuable and at the same time criminally underused seasoned onnayaku are. To be perfectly honest, Sachika’s Antoinette felt more like the main female character of the play than Ademar. She had probably an almost equal amount of stage time,  influences every single character, and very clearly affects Simon, who develops feelings for her (romantic? respect? affection? protectiveness? it’s up to interpretation, but they’re definitely there). She is a symbol in the play and at the same time very much a human being, and Sachika brought out both aspects as if she was born into this position, living it her entire life. I immediately saw why (Sakihi) Miyu respects and looks up to her so much, I saw a lot of her influence in Miyu’s acting here. We need more substantial roles like this one for senior onnayaku, learn y’all.

Uzuki Hayate as Robespierre Toshi seems to be getting good treatment lately, and that is awesome, because she is so talented, and has a very commanding aura on stage, she only deserves the best treatment. Robespierre was technically the sanbante otokoyaku role, which doesn’t say all that much in this play since everyone under the 4 roles i just talked about, didn’t get *too* much to do, but it was still a very decent role, and she still did an excellent job of it, leading the ensemble numbers and the revolution and stuff. She also got to lead the otokoyaku number in the finale, and wear a sparkly jacket, GET IT, Toshi. Special mention to the her hidden second role: she opens the play as Theodore, the -original- Count’s now elderly valet, and she was so good at it, I did not even recognize her.

Kizuki Yuuma as Necker Mayupon gets her own paragraph, because this is me and my blog, and I am never subtle with my bias okay. She rocked her ‘stache, was probably the one person not here for St.Germain’s fancy nonsense, and she also had!! a SOLO!! on the staircase!! Not Roi Arthur levels of yay, but still good in my book. Her stage presence remains double that of her experience years, and it’s stunning to behold. ♡

Other people: Kouzuki Ruu was Louis XVI, and considering she was Necker in 1789, it must have been an interesting experience for her to play both sides. She was elegant and also funny in her “inspecting” St.Germain up close bit. Takasumi Hayato was quite slimy as Count Province, the King’s brother. Her voice tone and body language oozed “I wouldn’t spit on a peasant if they were on fire” at all times. Kagetsu Miyako was a very spunky Countess Polignac, and she delivered perfectly to my very high expectations of her (she’s a delight to watch and i low-key love her). Hibiki Reona was ...there as the head of the travelling troupe, but honestly the part was tiny anyway. Harune Aki was unfortunately completely wasted in the general court ladies group, even if she had most of the lines that didn’t go to Nacchan. Yumena Rune was adorable as Philippo, the kinda useless troupe guy that had to replace Simon as the main lead. Kanoha Toki had barely 3 lines, in the troupe members ensemble. Hayaki Yuuto, Tsukasa Ren, and Kashiro Aoi (♡) were Robespierre’s 3 bros, mostly following him around, discussing revolution stuff with him and almost had the same stage time as him. They did a fine job for their part, altho I felt Tsucchii was overacting. Extra shoutout to all the babies who were St.Germain’s “shadows” and brought on the kurotenshi realness, down to the silver wigs.

Very much looking forward to the dvd release so I can revisit this beautiful play!

[thejpfdude-blog]

The Week in Anime (Week of 4/10/17)

Hello and welcome to a very late version of TWiA! Also the first (and only) "Wednesday” version of TWiA! Yep, quick side note, I’m moving the TWiA posts back to Monday because I like the timing of how it starts in the brand-new work week. So I’m just gonna plan better, and hopefully I can start actually posting on Mondays again!

Anyways, it’s been a while, and during that time a season has ended and a new one has sprung up. So I’m dividing this post into two parts: the Winter 2017 show version and the Spring 2017 Show version. So let’s start off with some rankings and get this show on the road:

FINAL Rankings (Winter 2017):

1 (0). Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon (8/10 FINAL) [12-13/13]

2 (0). Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2 (8/10 FINAL)

3 (0). Kuzu no Honkai (7/10 FINAL) [12/12]

4 (0). Aggressive Retsuko (7/10) [50/?]

5 (+1). Nobunaga no Shinobi (6/10 FINAL) [26/26]

6 (+1). Demi-chan wa Kataritai (5/10 FINAL)

7 (-2). Gabriel DropOut (5/10 FINAL) [12/12]

8 (0). Sengoku Choujuu Giga: Otsu (5/10 FINAL) [12-13/13]

9 (0). Nyanbo (3/10 FINAL) [26/26]

Rankings (Spring 2017):

1 (0). Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season (good/10) [1-2/25]

2 (0). Sakura Quest (good/10) [1/?]

3 (0). Aggressive Retsuko (7/10) [50-51/?]

4 (0). Hinako Note (decent/10) [1/12]

5 (0). Nobunaga no Shinobi S2 (decent/10) [1/?]

6 (0). Tsuki ga Kirei (decent/10) [1/?]

7 (0). Alice to Zouroku (decent/10) [1/12]

Awards (Winter 2017):

The Satisfying Ending Award: Kuzu no Honkai

If we’re talking pure emotion, this series’ last episode was a letdown. But I think even without all of that emotion involved, the show did a great job of ending the show. Sure, it wasn’t happy for all of the parties involved, but everybody learned something and at the end of the day, we avoided the nuclear ending similar to what happened with Kuma Miko. It was a nice satisfying end to a show that was a whole bunch of stuff from horrible characters (in a good way) doing horrible things in the name of love and pleasure. It wasn’t realistic like some said, but it was still an interesting take in a genre in anime that doesn’t really have too much going for it, AKA romance. Though I’m over the whole emotional swirl this show made me go through, I can still appreciate the journey that it took me, and realize that it isn’t just meaningless junk. Overall, a solid 7/10 for me: would recommend to those who want an interesting romance/drama.

The Stagnant Award: Gabriel DropOut

For the first few episodes, this show was pretty good with the gimmick that it had. The only problem was that once the gimmick got old, it stayed on course and eventually everything about the show got old. The same jokes were being played out, and the characters didn’t change at all from the first few episodes. Not saying that character development is required, but it would be interesting to see different sides of their personality or even other aspects of them different from what we saw in the first three episodes. Instead we have Gab being the same lazy bum, Vigne being the same nice girl, Raphi being the same sadistic weirdo, and Satania being the same annoying chuuni-like character. By the last episode, I was tired of the characters and their shenanigans, and just wanted the episode to be over. Hopeful at first, but at the end a 5/10 show: average CGDCT that I would only recommend to the hardcore lovers of CGDCT shows.

The “Oh My God It’s Over” Award: Nyanbo!

Hallelujah, there is a god after all! This show never got better, and by the final episode I was Rubik’s cube-ing my heart out instead of paying attention to our feline cardboard friends and their whatever toward space. I think this show along with all the other bad shorts out there taught me something, because from now on I’m not picking up a short just because it’s x minutes long, where x < 5. Lesson learned.

Best Finale Award/Best Episode of the Week: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

Oh my goodness, as if this show couldn’t get better. The finale featured life without Tohru, and it was a melancholy look which wasn’t hopeless but still pretty colorless. And then the whole scene with her father was pretty well done as well. A very nice ending to a very nice show. At the end of the day, though there are noticeable flaws (namely the fanservice), the comedy and heartwarming moments overshine them and make this into one of KyoAni’s better shows (which says something with the shows they’ve made). Every episode was at least good (most great), and I can’t say enough about all of the great things this show has from its animation to its characters to its art style. The obvious choice for AOTS for me, and a very solid 8/10, would recommend if you didn’t watch.

Awards (Spring 2017):

The “Best CG” Award: Alice to Zouroku

Hmm, that car looks... a bit off. But yeah, other than that abomination, this show has potential. Though which direction this show goes I don’t really know,

The “Shiniest Faces” Award: Tsuki ga Kirei

Wow, those are some shiny faces. In all seriousness though, this show looks to be interesting, though there were some cringeworthy moments when they didn’t talk to each other and hesitated, which I understand given they’re middle schoolers. I’m hopeful this doesn’t go the drama route and is just a nice wholesome romance. Don’t need no drama in my life.

The Hmmm... Award: Hinako Note

As the only CGDCT show of the season, I was obliged to watch this. And man were there some... interesting moments. Like the girl who ate paper. And the girl who was a scarecrow. Among others. BTW, I totally got the synopsis wrong: the show looks to be about a girl who was formally a scarecrow who moves to “Tokyo” (does not look like Tokyo at all, but okay), and wants to be in the high school’s theater club. Yeah idk either. Well, the first episode wasn’t horrible, and it’s a CGDCT, so I’ll keep sticking with this one for now. Hopefully it’s decently entertaining.

The “Red Flags” Dropped Show of the Week Award: Eromanga-sensei

Hmm... let’s compare this show with OreImo. Eromanga and OreImo have sibling love interests. Eromanga has step-siblings, OreImo has blood siblings. Eromanga has slightly less tsundere sister than OreImo (still tsundere though). After realizing this, I dropped this show midway through the episode. I wasn’t really about OreImo, and honestly this doesn’t look much better. Hey, maybe it might be better. But I don’t like the whole incest route. So pass.

Best Episode of the Week: Sakura Quest

Not necessarily the greatest first episode, but enough to keep my interest for the show. I got vibes of Shirobako through the character designs, and some Hanasaku Iroha for the shade being thrown at our main character Yoshino (if you’ll excuse my vernacular). So it’s a mixed bag, but I do like the potential the show has. Plus the last few minutes made it really interesting, so hey why not stick with it. If you’re not watching this show, maybe give it a shot?

And that’s all for this week! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next post which should be coming very soon!