#is Diana's reincarnation). but then again maybe we still would have had a mess on our hands. idk idk

[theinfinitedivides]

my dearest friend, what in the world is going on with SM??

if SM can't even tell you in words that are easy to understand after putting out a f*cking legal statement then i don't f*cking know sksksksk

[ultramarine-spirit]

I'm sorry if i'm bothering you, but i just wanted to know...If Claude ever had a mana explosion just like Athy when he was a child 🤔 It happens when someone has too much mana right? Perhaps maybe Claude didn't have much mana like Athy but it was still very strong so there was no mana explosion and he did not have any beast like blackie ? Because Lucas also didn't have a mana explosion when he was a child (if we ignore how he got injured when he attacked his master) so does that mean Lucas as well has strong mana, but still less than Athy's? So does that mean only Athy can reincarnate since she has too much and powerful mana? But according to the manhwa Diana also got reincarnated despite her not having strong and big amount of mana... Probably reincarnation doesn't have to do anything with how strong or big your mana is, but then again, i can't help and wonder how both Athy and Aetarnithas managed to get reinccarnated without any godly power😅

Lots to unpack here (not a bother though!)

Claude and Athy's mana, Sacred Beasts, and Everything Being Aeternitas' Fault

It hasn't been stated anywhere that Claude had a mana storm like Athy had, so my answer would be no. However, the manhwa did confirm that he had a Sacred Beast like Blackie (chapter 101), and that when the Empress abused it, it made Claude sick. Lucas said in the novel that Sacred Beasts were more common years ago, especially in the royal family (that's why he goes to the palace to try to find one and recover some mana), because they manifested when a person had an amount of mana too great for their body. Going by that, we can assume that Claude and Athy had a remarkable amount of mana, even for royal family standards. Even so, Athy's mana storm didn't occur "naturally", it was caused by Blackie making contact with her and the cursed ribbon Jennette gave her.

Another relevant thing is that Athy's mana is especially unstable because of Aeternitas' actions. Lucas said in the novel that Aeternitas ate all of the Sacred Beasts and even went as far as messing with his own descendants' mana (this is how he was able to reincarnate multiple times). That, in most cases, resulted in the next generations lacking in magic or, in Athy's case, having an incredible but very unstable amount, to the point it was dangerous for her body. That's what caused her near-death experience when she was little and was saved by Lucas.

Lucas, the most powerful being in the whole world and prettiest boy-warlock in all the realms!

Indeed, it isn't stated anywhere that Lucas had a Sacred Beast of his own. It could be a possibility, but the extra about his backstory doesn't address it. One could argue that because of his innate talent, his body didn't need to manifest his mana in another sentient being and could handle it all on its own, and that's why he (presumably) didn't have a Sacred Beast. Whatever the case, I don't think Athy (or Claude, for that matter) has more mana than Lucas, since the Wizard of the Tower is canonically the strongest person in the world, and Lucas (also canonically) is literally able to destroy the continent and even bring the end of the world if he wished to do so.

The most special girl in the whole world, literally

Athy's reincarnations are interesting. In the manhwa, everybody reincarnates, as Diana explains in chapter 100. Lucas further explains in chapter 109 that when a human dies, their spirit usually returns to the Sacred World Tree, the picture implying that the Tree is what makes the reincarnations possible. It's also stated by Lucas in chapter 75 that Athy's mana waves were something "he had never seen before", in chapter 80 that "she's a human who has traveled through time and space", and that it was very likely that she was able to have revelations of what happens after her death (refering to Athy's multiple visions of TLP's ending/Obelia burning to the ground). This is just my guess but, taking all of that into account, and how Diana said she had already reincarnated incompletely "somewhere in the continent" (as a swan, if volume 7's cover is literal and not metaphorical), I think what makes Athy's mana special is her ability to reincarnate in different worlds (Korea and Obelia) and times (presumably turning back time in Obelia in her third life). She also has some kind of special connection to the World Tree (who seems to be the literal god of wmmap's world, or at least "a god"). Make of that what you will. Athy is Jesus.

Everybody, pay your respects to our Lady and Savior Athy

In summary, for all the talk about the royal family being "immortal" and "eternal", none of them truly lived forever, they just have extended lifespans. The only one that has proven to be immortal in some way is Athy. Aeternitas didn't reincarnate with his own mana or ability (noted by Lucas to be particularly lackluster), he ate so many Sacred Beasts that he made them almost extinct, and he messed up and stole his descendants' magic. Anastasius' corpse got reanimated/brought back from the brink of death by Aeternitas, so again, not really his own doing, and that was closer to necromancy than reincarnation. My speculation (so not confirmed!) is that Athy's connection to the World Tree stems from it recognizing her as the one who could save/rule Obelia, and the only one of the royal line that truly lived up to the immortal name.

Hopefully that was helpful! I double checked my facts, but if a wmmap scholar Lithi has something to add/correct, please do!

[zukadiary]

Ocean’s 11 ~ Cosmos Troupe 2019

Ocean’s was great! I loved it so much! I thought the previous two versions were fine, but never cared for either enough to go back and watch them again. Turns out if you adore every single person in the troupe putting it on, the ensemble cast makes it a home run. 

If I remember correctly, there are some noticeable differences between the Hoshigumi and Hanagumi versions. This was a slightly tweaked and polished Hanagumi version. The show does a great job of featuring a lot of people; nearly everyone gets something fun to do (it’s consequently not the best taidan for Akkii or Riku, but if it wasn’t their last I’d really say it’s good for everybody). The scenes change quickly (and flow a lot better than I remember), so even if a given person’s appearances are short they’re typically fairly frequent. I’m not terribly pleased that the prolific use of projections seems to be a continuing theme in Takarazuka, but Ocean’s actually used them WELL, and with all the hacking/security/surveillance going on, and the flashing lights and artificiality of Las Vegas, it actually makes sense. 

There are three (3!) major ad lib scenes that are different every day, something I didn’t realize ahead of time having only seen the previous versions on DVD:

Tess walking in on Benedict and his lackeys trying to physically threaten the Evergreen people into handing over the rights to their non-profit and Benedict having to lie about what they were doing

Saul giving everyone a pre-caper “acting lesson” in which Susshii says something ridiculous and the rest of the eleven have to remember it and mimic her in unison

Rusty pretending to be “Dr. Johnson” to cart Saul off after the fake heart attack that serves as a distraction during the actual heist (for those who can read Japanese, one brave twitter user is keeping track of all the Dr. Johnson ad libs)

...and these made me really look forward to seeing the show again and again. I probably could have gone every day and been thoroughly entertained. 

Danny Ocean is the most boring vanilla blank canvas of a character and requires the actress playing him to really bring everything herself. Fortunately, Makaze and her devastatingly attractive body could have stood in the corner in those open-necked suits without saying a word for 3 hours and I’d still have given it a 10/10. On top of that though, I thought she played him perfectly. Her sort of low-key coolness that for me has come off a bit stiff at times with some of her other top star stuff was spot on for Danny, who I fully believed was chill, aloof, and sexy enough to both pull off such an impossible robbery without a moment’s anxiety, AND stalk the woman trying to divorce him such that she was not only NOT immediately put off completely but also ultimately able to fall back in love with him. In the dream sequence that opens Act 2, when Makaze changes from serpent to prince and leaves the bouquet of flowers on Tess’s bed for her to accept whenever she’s ready, my heart clenched so bad I accidentally groaned audibly the first time I saw it. She also sang the best I’ve ever heard her sing. 

Madoka is a beautiful Tess, and above all else I was THRILLED that they finally let her have such a grown up role and that she slayed it. I had absolutely no doubt that she’d slay it; she’s a fantastic actress who as far as I can tell is only battling her round little face and height difference with Makaze when it comes to getting mature roles. But they styled her flawlessly and her dresses were to die for and she looked so fantastic I hope all concerned parties got the hint that this is fine. I want to see the two of them do something sizzling hot together (although I have to admit, dude chasing after his wife who wants so badly to divorce him IS a fun dynamic that we never really get to see in Takarazuka, unless they’re doing Ocean’s).  

I love Kiki more and more every time I see her, and while it’s hard not to be annoyed that she’s not a top star already, I will be so furious if they take her away from Soragumi; I absolutely love what they bring out of her. I think she and Makaze have a great dynamic together, and she was both cool and funny enough to make Rusty very enjoyable to watch. There wasn’t a single Dr. Johnson scene I saw that didn’t have me laughing out loud and wishing I had another ticket. One day I sat in B-seki with a group of students on a class trip, and one of them gasped すごい when she finished her finale-opening solo. Here’s a funny story from Makaze’s ochakai that I read on twitter: there is a duet between Danny and Rusty during which Rusty lights a cigarette, and apparently Koike wanted to modernize Ocean’s by giving him an IQOS instead. Makaze convinced him that was the worst idea ever and wants all Kiki fans to thank her personally.

MVP: Zun as Benedict. I suspect her interpretation might be polarizing once the world at large gets to see Ocean’s, but I loooooved it. Once upon a time there was a Japanese meme going around about what kind of date various prominent otokoyaku would bring you on, and Zun was pegged as a young, sweet, filthy rich kid who would reserve the entirety of Disneyland and then take you there. Her Benedict was like the evil version of that. I appreciated so much that she went a different direction than Beni and Daimon and played him as just a rich sleazy horrible asshole without the over-the-top comical bits—and she was STILL very funny, just as the straight man to everyone else’s ridiculous antics. She was so dark, so angry, and had such a scary glint in her eyes for such a cute little muffin; so impressively gross it was weird to see her smiling genuinely in the finale. And she’s a DAMN GOOD STAGE KISSER, astonishingly so for someone who’s yet to have a romantic lead outside of shinko and Bow Hall. I very much enjoyed her team as well—mostly Mitsuki Haruka as Taylor, Aishiro Moa as Beth, and Hoshizuki Rio as Charles, keeping things funny and chaotic. Kihou Kanata/Manase Mira were even hilarious as the bodyguards (Wakato Ritsu was a fine Bruiser, but IMO it’s pretty hard to beat Taso... and I felt a gaping hole where Fuuma Kakeru should have been).

Seiko could have carried this show by herself. For whatever reason—and I rewatched the Hanagumi version recently—I didn’t think Queen Diana, outside of being sassy, was as good of a role as it was (does the DVD fail to show a lot of her antics? Maybe. Was I doing a lousy job paying attention? Possibly). But no, Seiko was all over it, convincingly the biggest force in Vegas (and this cast). I am going to miss her so so so much. Akkii and Riku ended up with the more senior but less meaty roles of Frank and Basher respectively. While Frank is on the quieter side during most of the scenes with all the 11 except for his opening solo and arrest, I personally, for probably biased reasons, really enjoyed watching Akkii and Sora in the background, where Frank is very frequently trying to coerce Linus into getting over himself and just doing the thing already. I don’t know if this has been especially tough on Riku, but her eye bags have eye bags :( As much as I’m going to miss her, I hope she gets through this and takes a nice long rest. The Soragumi landscape is going to be so weird and different without these three. They come down for the parade together with Seiko in the middle and I got choked up every single time. 

I’m thrilled that Sora got Linus mostly from a rank standpoint; they announced Ocean’s before Aichan’s transfer to Senka and I was positive she was going to be Livingston. The role itself kind of unfortunately emphasized how tiny and behind she is in this troupe, but at the same time she was SO grumpy and SO cute. I feel bad taking pleasure in her angst but boy was she cute. She talked about how interesting it was to play someone who was struggling to overcome his own roadblocks, both as the only upperclassman to ever play this role, and also having just turned ken-10, where otokoyaku are supposed to “come of age” so to speak. And the frustration and uncertainty she put into the role was extremely palpable. As I’m used to her being a disembodied arm or a blurry image over someone’s shoulder on most DVDs, I couldn’t be happier that she finally has a whole solid handful of her very own scenes that I might actually be able to see not only in the theater. She’s closer to the middle when the otokoyaku dance too, AND she moved up a parade spot. I most definitely teared up when she came down the stairs featured between Rara and Mineri.

Moeko was SO CUTE as Livingston, and the scene where Rusty busts into Livingston’s place pretending to be an FBI agent was one of my favorites, along with the one where Danny comes to get the Malloy brothers and they mess with his face on the security camera. I’m so enamored with both Kotti and Yuuki Shion (Yuuki Shion dangerously so, YIKES; she’s like the awkward baby Sora I fell in love with reincarnated, plus she can do Komu-esque things with her legs and jump so astonishingly high). I will forever be obsessed with Susshii and how much joy and passion she pours into playing even the most crotchety old men. I don’t know what it IS about Rinkira that screams old man to the producers (other than that maybe they just need someone to do it), but I even liked her as Reuben, and Akine Hikaru as Yen a surprising amount. I always thought of Yen as a scary role that you don’t want your girl to get stuck with, and for someone prominent I guess it would be a bummer, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed Akine Hikaru do much of anything before, so I was mostly just wide eyed at how acrobatic and good with a yo-yo she is. 

The finale is REAL good; Makaze is hot and a little sweaty and her hair is styled to make her look even sweatier. The top-star-in-a-harem-of-musumeyaku number is done in one of my favorite aesthetics, where the musumeyaku let their hair down (literally) no matter how intricately they were styled up to that point, and you can see the creases from their former pins and braids and it’s a little messy and loose and sexy which are all things I wish they’d let musumeyaku be more often, and Makaze is in the middle just like doing illegal things with her mouth and all that jazz. The otokoyaku dance is good too, and the duet dance is cute as shit (there’s a part where Makaze like boops Madoka’s nose and then Madoka pushes her like ~stop that~ and ugh). 

And speaking of ugh, the end of Act 1 where all 11 of them turn around and saunter toward the back of their stage after formulating their flawless plan put my stomach in knots, both for the sheer swagger and the overflowing love I feel for this lineup of this troupe. I know I’ve been saying this for like two years and it STILL hasn’t happened on the scale I’ve been expecting, but I can feel the transfers coming and I’m scared.