#mitsuki umino

[fayegumi]

Umino Mitsuki moi-même

From Feburary Graph 2023

Umino Mitsuki

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

In a time like this, what would she do? Various questions with two possible answers, let’s have a look at this lovely musumeyaku!

Questions

You have until tomorrow to create a hair arrangement!! But you’re exhausted today. What do you do?

Stay up all night and do it.

Sleep for now, wake up early and do it.

Stay up all night and do it (laughs) ! Especially during rehearsals, I’ll do it once, then again to fix it up... That’s my routine, so if I don’t get a start on it early, I’ll start fretting over it. There’s also a lot of times where I’ll work through the night, only for the sun to start to rise, but if I have 3 hours I’ll still sleep (laughs). 

2. What will you wear tomorrow?

Decide the day before

Wake up early and decide based on how you feel

When I have a photo shoot or something I’ll decide early, but during mornings with nothing going on, I’ll start by deciding on my hair. I’m mostly in rehearsals, so my highest priority is deciding what hairstyle I’ll have during rehearsals that day. However, when I’m getting into my role, my hairstyle will have the same type of vibe everyday, so to match my hair and earrings, I also change what I’m wearing. Depending on what role I have, my clothing taste will inevitably be decided by that.

3. Morning routine?

Get going immediately

Relax for now

When I wake up I immediately brew coffee, does that count as getting going immediately? (laughs) But drinking it is my time to lay back, so I guess it’s more relaxing. My cat will also wake me up sometimes, so recently I wake up super early. Even if rehearsals are at 1 o’clock, I’ll wake up at 7 or 8. Because I hate rushing (laughs), I make plenty of time to get ready to leave. 

4. Breakfast?

Japanese food

Western food

I boil vegetables without seasoning in advance, then that day depending on my mood I’ll add it to miso or consomme, so would that be Japanese food or Western food? Ah, but, in order to avoid iron deficiency, lately I’ve been eating meat for breakfast. I eat roast beef made from grass fed beef (cows raised on only grass) garnished with baby leaves so maybe more so Western food. I eat rice but also don’t. I make onigiri and bring it to the theater to eat before rehearsals.

5. Leaving for rehearsals!

I bring just what I need !

Paranoid... so I over pack...

My day-to-day luggage is the minimum, but in case something happens I have a bunch of spare leotards and skirts in my theater locker. So I have ultra-large luggage on the first day of rehearsals (laughs).

6. Tomorrow you have the day off for the first time in a while!

Ya-y! I’m gonna stay up late!

I want to do some things from the morning so I’ll go to sleep early

I do both of these~! I like movies, so if there’s stuff I want to watch I’ll stay up until 1 or 2 A.M., but despite that I’ll still wake up early, so I guess B. Especially on days off I don’t really sleep and wake up early and get done all the housework I can do!

7. You’re going to spend the whole-day at home!

Don’t leave the house all day

Go outside for a bit for fresh air

I won’t leave (laughs). During stay at home I did a lot of de-cluttering and rearranging and my ventilation got better, so spending time at home is a lot more pleasant. There’s a chair and table on my veranda, so if I want fresh air I’ll relax there. During days where I’m at home all day I will watch movies and YouTube and do my meal prep. 

8. You’re going out today. What will you do?

Stick to a plan

Go as heart your heart desires

Before I leave my house, I make a precise plan. Even if I can’t find clothes I want to buy in my allotted time, it’s a waste of time to just continue wandering looking for it, I’ll just go buy something online and move onto my next plan (laughs). If there’s something I’ve decided I want beforehand, I’ll call ahead to see if they have it in-stock then head out. During times when I have nothing but 1 day off, some level of effort is important (laughs).

9. If you’re going out...

Hands down, go alone

Invite someone out

Alone (immediate response). I think it would be impossible to date me, maybe (laughs). If I do go out shopping with someone, it’s about Costco level (laughs). If we go out for tea or food, you don’t decide on a time to leave and stay for hours, but that’s hard to do right now...

10. You found a piece of clothing you like♡

Bought it!

Look at other stores and carefully decide

There’s of course times where I took my time to decide, but other than that, there’s a lot of times where I think, “I want this!” then buy it. There’s times where it got to the point I wouldn’t even look at the price and buy it (laughs).

11. If you start to get hungry?

Go into a restaurant alone

Go home

I bear the hunger, and eat once I get home. Because if I didn’t I’d mess up my schedule and I hate that (laughs). It’s different when I include lunch time in my schedule from the start, but if that’s not the case, I feel like it’s time wasted ordering and then waiting for the food.

12. Today is all you can eat! What do you take on?

Yakiniku

Sweets

I think if this was a while ago I would answer sweets, but lately I’ve been all about eating healthy foods. I’ve always loved meat, and it really hasn’t been the best situation to go out to eat in, so if I were able to do all you can eat, hands down yakiniku. If I say I’m gonna eat, then I can eat quite a bit. I also love rice, so after eating a bunch of meat, I’d want to top it off with some rice.

[thena0315]

Official Naruto/Boruto Artwork

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Meaningful Highlights from Naruto Retsuden:

“Don’t give me that!” A vein popped up on Naruto’s forehead. “Which is more important—the future of the village or my life?!” “Your life,” came Sasuke’s immediate response.

The fact that among the people Naruto wishes could see Konoha in an era of peace includes Zabuza and Haku, because twenty years later, they still live on in his heart.

Yamato and Mitsuki having a strong friendship, where Yamato is the first person Mitsuki greets upon coming home, tells about his missions, and brings strawberry daifuku as a treat, coming full circle for Yamato be an important figure for a child with similar origins.

Naruto reflecting on how grateful he is to be Hokage during peace time: “After Old Lady Tsunade became Hokage, her first job was to treat shinobi injured in battle. When Master Kakashi became Hokage, his was to hold the ceremony commemorating the anniversary of those who died in the Great Ninja War. With the Fourth … I dunno what his first job was, but with the era being what it was, I’m pretty sure he had plenty of unpleasant work [...] And the first thing I did when I became Hokage was give a business license to a traditional sweet shop in the old city. Makes you laugh, right? That’s peace.”

The fact the Sakura says she's going to leave Sarada in the care of someone both her and Sasuke trust, and the reveal that that person is Iruka, who was the first teacher to both of them!

Shikamaru responding to Naruto bowing his head to Team 7 for helping him with, “The Hokage can’t go bowing his head to just anyone.” And Naruto's narration replying: He wasn’t bowing to just anyone. He was bowing to them.

Naruto's response to Sasuke trying to help him at the cost of his own life: If the opposite meant sacrificing Sasuke, then a lifetime of never being able to use chakra was a hundred times better.

Naruto's narration explaining that Team 7 has their own special meet-up spot where they watch fireworks and drink together during festivals and how they make it clear that both Sai and Yamato were invited and welcome!!

[liminal-roses]

Umino Mitsuki in Rain on Neptune

Umi Day!!

[mikyapixie]

So I recently found this image on Twitter (I refuse to call it X). So of course I liked it & wanted to post it here but then I realized there's a lot of pictures on this one ⬆️ that I've never seen before & So I got to lookin & found them!!! HOORAY!!! 🎉🥳🎊 But of course, like always I went into a Naruto rabbit hole & found lots of great pictures that I had to share here!!! 😁😁😁 P3

🧡💙🩷❤️🧡💙🩷❤️🧡💙❤️🩷🧡💙🩷❤️

[miriogumi]

tsukishiro kanato and umino mitsuki in eternal voice — 2024.

[zukadiary]

Hi! First off just wanted to say your blog is so super helpful! Also I had a question if you don't mind >.< Umino Mitsuki retired recently but I was super surprised to see she doesn't have any socials yet even though Reiko has been so active. Has Umino said she was just retiring from acting period or are you aware of what's happening with her?

Thanks so much for taking the time for everyone's questions!

No problem, I'm glad that you find my blog helpful!

No socials yet is not necessarily an indication of whether an actress plans to retire from entertainment entirely—some OGs retire and show up online immediately, others take months. Many Japanese promotion agencies are very strict about social media control, and based on what I've seen, individual entertainers tend to stay off social media until they know for sure if they will be signing with an agency/which agency they'll join, or at least who/what company will be managing their new fan club.

It can be hard to switch over or delete existing social accounts (especially for brand management reasons), and many agencies either demand staff-run socials (this applies to many top stars) or forbid them altogether (e.g. Asumi Rio). My guess re: Umi is that she's waiting for details to be ironed out. While not impossible, it's rare that a former top star would completely disappear from the public eye forever without making some kind of announcement.

[bioh4ck]

FULL SWING!

[yuzukahibiscus]

Retirement Conference Q&A: Takarazuka Revue Moon Troupe Top Star talks about the finale of the Sayonara Show, "It's good to end it with just the two of us"

(Source from Sanspo)

Takarazuka Revue Moon Troupe Top Star Tsukishiro Kanato embraced the closing performance on the 12th for her graduation performance "Eternal Voice"/"Grande TAKARAZUKA 110!" at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre on the 12th, bidding goodbye to the homebase. After the Sayonara Show, she appeared at the press conference. The following is the Q&A.

Q: Why did you choose the black tails?

Because there's still the Tokyo performances, and I'm still a Top Star, I'm still an otokoyaku, and it's far from the day I'm not living as my stage name and returning as myself yet. I chose the black tails to graduate at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre. Hayama (Kiomi)-sensei (a choreographer who passed away last June) always said, "Black tails is a costume without extra ornaments. That's the best thing to showcase in otokoyaku", so I wanted to present that myself too, and chose the black tails without other special design.

Q: You mentioned the god of stage in your speech.

I was able to finish the performance successfully today, that on the closing day I can enjoy this performance with my troupe members, and see the performance end without fail. As Top Star, I've always hoped that every performance would conclude successfully, but today as a graduating member, this feeling also stayed true, that when I'm able to embrace this closing day successfully and as a graduating member come down the grand staircase and give a speech, I think it's the god of stage watching over us, giving power to the graduates and also everyone in the troupe.

Q: How was the scenery on the grand staircase for the last time?

The graduates who went before me and other members were watching over me closely, and the graduates' faces were bright when they heard their name being called. Rather than the scenery before me when I came down the staircase, I'd say even now I remember much of how the underclassmen looked. Everyone looked so bright with beaming smiles, and that gave me strength to come down the staircase

What were you talking with Rei Makoto-san on stage?

It's a secret, I hope you understand.

What are your thoughts for the Sayonara Show?

The most memorable to me was when the graduates sang "Compass of Your Heart" (Rain on Neptune) and that was very good. It's a song with amazing lyrics, so rather than my song, this first comes to my mind. In the finale, it was my hope that it would be great if it were to end with just the two of us (with Umino). There are many Sayonara Shows that end with all of the troupe members or (the Top Star) alone, but now this is a Sayonara Show with Umino Mitsuki who has been with me until now, so I wanted to choose a song that was the most memorable to the two of us.

What does the Takarazuka Grand Theatre mean to you?

There's a great warmth filled in the Grand Theatre. A theatre that has such large capacity of power. There's the scenery from the opening day of my debut stage, and all of these experiences were in the Grand Theatre. All this time, I had been growing up with these various memories and experiences in this theatre. So it's a theatre that encapsulates so much energy.

What do you want to tell the next Top Star Houzuki An?

I don't have much grandeur to tell her, but during this time, I've had the chance to go to the Takarazuka Hall of Fame and I realise how many people have been part of creating Takarazuka till now. I think that all of that led to what we are today, and I felt proud and happy that I am affiliated as a member of (Takarazuka), so I believe this will continue to be relevant as Takarazuka continues to be loved by many when there are new Top Stars. That's what I think is so warm and amazing of Takarazuka.

[berserkerbarbie]

The cast of Classico Italiano ~The Tailoring Style of the Best of Men~ / Nice Guy!! ~The Rules According to the Man "Y"~ by Cosmos Troupe 2011

[ladies-and-jennes]

Tsukishiro Kanato and Umino Mitsuki of Tsukigumi

[don-dake]

《ブラック•ジャック ～ 危険な賭け》 (2022)

[anime97-99]

NARUTO COMPLEXITY

⚠️Sorry, this is going to be long and I may sound repetitive at times!! I have to say this is my point of view thought I tried to make it as objective as possible!! Hope you like it!! Also I apologize for a bad use of grammar and vocabulary since English is not my first language!!⚠️

This post is dedicated to exploring and analyzing Naruto’s characters through the whole series including Boruto. Starting with Naruto, he is supposed to be a pure and innocent boy, naive who doesn’t understand feelings and seeks acceptance from other people in search to experience those positive feelings such love, friendship and what feels like to have a family.

Since Naruto was young he tried to get attention from other people even if this attention resulted in disgust towards him, he acted out of fear of being alone, just imagine a child living alone in an old flat located on the outskirts of the village which is probably a dangerous area full of criminals arm with swords, shuriken…

Like this isn’t enough he is hated by the whole village without him knowing the reason and the only support came in money from Sarutobi, I suppose being the third hokage took a lot of time and he did what he could with Naruto but at the same time I think you shouldn’t just give money for the rent to only a child and that’s it. I think he wanted to secure his image at the same time protecting Naruto and the villagers from harm (if the villagers noticed that the hokage was supporting “the demon” they probably would have started to distrust Sarutobi and a fight between the higher ups and the villagers to get ride of Naruto would have taken place because of the fear of thinking that Sarutobi is allying with the enemy), so he chose to spend less time with him, which is not the best decision but it was made with good intentions.

Then Naruto has a goal and a dream, to be recognized and accepted by everyone becoming the hokage, that translates to turn the hate into love, the naive dream of being loved by everyone (falling in love with being in love, like Ada said, (fall in love with the love from others, when mother said “you just loved how much I loved you” in the movie Mother, which I recommend, they touched on this topic) Naruto is really idealistic and romantic (romantic not as love but as romanticism), themes that are presented in classic literature and offend end in tragedy, It almost looks like part of Naruto is heavily inspired by Romanticism literature, for example some similarities are that it is really idealistic, it has drama, love, tragedy, though the ending may not be the best it could be actually be considered a happy one.

The definition of Naruto’s personality as a selfless and self-sacrifice person. His worse fear is to be ignore and be alone, that is why he is loud and problematic, to attract eyes towards him. He is not self centered, he is the whole opposite, he cares a lot about what other people say that is why he is explosive since young, he is sad and shows that sadness with anger and a fleeing personality.

The first person that makes him not feel alone is Sasuke and this is really important, we have two kids with problems, they are obviously different from Naruto point of view but then one afternoon he sees Sasuke alone and they meet eyes, this is a really important scene they see themselves reflected in each other eyes that is why Naruto finally recognizes Sasuke and Sasuke sees Naruto who used to be only an annoying child, and with this it shows an union, two children who hates each other because of their differences have a lot in common and ends in them being the only ones to truly understand each other pain and loneliness. Thought this is more complicated since Sasuke knows about love, what is a family, what is friendship and he is popular and loved by teachers and students, but he also experienced since really a young age the pressure to be part of an important clan and to have a genius brother being constantly compare to you by everyone even his family, though his mother tried to calm him down by saying Itachi is different this is really bad to say to a child!! This comment will make him think that he is less that Itachi and will create distance between his brother and family, it will end in an inferiority complex.

Through Naruto’s series he will be so obsessed with revenge he will forget about himself and others, hurting the people that loves him in the process, he is so fixated in revenge that he forgets there’s more than just killing his brother but he is stuck in the past, showing obvious signs of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), OCD (obsessive compulsive syndrome). He could be compare with Coriolanus Snow from the Hunger Games who loved someone, looked like a good person and was loved by his family but his obsession with power made him a villain and someone to be feared. Like Niccolò Machiavelli said “the end justifies the means”, this is their ideology, thought Sasuke is still unable to kill Naruto, his feelings towards him are so big that killing him is worse than committing suicide.

Following Naruto, he is someone who only knows about negative feelings that is why he seeks acceptance an love, he is in love with the idea of love like Ada, he chooses Sakura as his crush because she is really intelligent and a very good student (I believe Sakura has the same fear as Naruto, she was bullied because of her forehead and she wants to be liked by everyone, so she studies hard to be the best student and if Sasuke who is the most popular and handsome boy sees her then those bullies who constantly hurt her about her appearance will shut their mouth, so just as Naruto she wants to be seen and recognized, though the way they act is different, Sakura is really insecure and has to prove herself through others praise this probably because of the bulling even if Ino is there they got separated at some point which made Sakura limit herself even more, she is like a white canvas that change not because of what she likes but what the others want to see on her. Sasuke likes long hair then she will have long her even though she obviously prefers a shortcut, that is why Ino was really important in her life, she was the first to tell her she is beautiful and she doesn’t need to listen to other bullies but Sakura necessity of being recognize through Sasuke and Ino liking Sasuke made them get separated and a healthier development for Sakura to explore herself with the help of someone to support and guide her as an equal was stopped). Sakura didn’t fall in love with Sasuke, she fell in love with the idea he represented.

Also Sakura’s inner voice is totally normal, it is not her having another personality it is just showing her subconscious and unconscious mind who everyone has. Just stop and analyze yourself then you will notice a tiny voice going on an on, it is just your brain thinking, it is completely normal. This reflects real Sakura, what she desires compare of how she acts to be liked by other people, or didn’t you notice for example a friend showing you a dress and you telling them is beautiful to not hurt their feelings but inside you are thinking it is horrible, it’s the same thing with Sakura is very human!!

You can’t analyze Naruto’s characters like Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke without taking account of their closest influence including each other, Kurama, Jiraya, Iruka, Ino, Tsunade, Sarutobi, Kakashi, Gaara, Rock Lee and maybe Sai with the other friends such as Shikamaru and Choji… So continuing with Naruto who works really hard the same as Sasuke and Sakura (even thought he doesn’t know and thinks of then just as genio is), but contrary of them he doesn’t obtain results ending in frustration, (thought he does gardening which is something psychologist recommend, is really good to maintain the mind relax focused and concentrate in just one thing and make yourself conscious of reality, this is to make the brain take a break from overthinking which saturates it, make it concentrate in just one thing at a time will help you to control yourself, it could be through meditation, but also through gardening, doing crafts, reading whatever you like always doing it without pressure just to enjoy, understand your feelings and let them pass being conscious of them but not avoid or succumb to them just taking notice of reality and that those negative thoughts and feelings exist and you can just let the past without judging yourself), (judging is negative while feedback is positive).

At the beginning of Naruto, since the first episode, you see Iruka as a parental figure to Naruto who loves him and supports him, who scolds him and teaches him, who protects him and accepts him, and Naruto realizes he is not alone, but also discovering that he is seen as a monster because he has a “demon” inside him. This gives him a reason to prove himself as a separate entity from Kurama and confirms the possibility of being loved and accepted because of Iruka (a villager who feared and hated him from killing his parents, but Iruka realized that he didn’t hate Naruto but the demon inside him thanks to the guidance from Sarutobi), and that is enough for him to keep trying.

Naruto’s goal to be hokage is getting stronger, but he is too worry about it to stop and analyze himself the same happened with Sakura and Sasuke.

The boy wants to love and be loved but he didn’t even know the meaning of this feelings that is why Naruto, the series, is about self discovery, the most important part when people realized what they are or want to be is during their teen years that is why we see the characters going through a roller coaster of emotions!!

Kishimoto has called Naruto too idealistic and naive who didn’t understand Sasuke, Sasuke as a pure and self-centered and Sakura as more than just cuteness!!

If we analyze it I interpret that Naruto love for Sasuke is too pure and he is too naive, someone that doesn’t understand love and is experiencing it, he is supposed to realized that he loves Sasuke in a different way and there are different kinds of love but it is still too early to understand, Sasuke who understands love and experienced all kinds of love realized that what he feels for Naruto is romantic love, that is why he gets frustrated at him when called his brother or friend, but Naruto that at the end explains what means to be his friend, (which is the same Ada said in Boruto to Mitsuke when explaining her love to Kawaki) he realized that he was special and their feelings were the same even if Naruto didn’t notice the difference.

And both, Ada and Naruto called themselves fools because of love!!

Now Sakura is not cute, it was said by Kishimoto, but for real being cute or not is not that important that is why Kishimoto says she is more than just cuteness!! She is intelligent and determined and if she wanted she could be really powerful remember she is the best at understanding and controlling chakra a quick learner, and she is the smartest of the three but her fixation in Sasuke limited her.

Talking about Naruto’s development as a person, for me Naruto puts a lot of limits on himself because he wants to pleased everyone and is scare of what other people will think of him. Naruto’s world is closed minded, with traditional thoughts, the representation of Japan at that time. The same way Sakura chose Sasuke, Naruto chose Sakura. Though I think he realized that what he felt for Sakura is the same he felt for others like Shikamaru or Choji, still since he liked Sakura a lot as a friend he thought it was good to love her, he didn’t understand what romantic love is, he just wanted to experience it, to explore it and to not be lonely.

His self dicovery soon would be questioned in the form of Sai, a sexualize boy who will make Naruto question his sexaulity, Naruto has never show interest in any woman, (he actually show interest in one and that one looked like Sasuke and that’s it) even Jiraya thinks it is strange for a teenager full of hormones to not get interested in beautiful woman or describe porn as boring. But Naruto gets loud and nervous towards Sai, he gets shy and blush when bathing with naked men and protected himself hiding under the water (it reminds me of the bath scene from Mulan), to make it more obvious for the readers Kishimoto makes Yamato say that Naruto shouldn’t act strange between men, showing what Naruto felt and Yamato acting as their society that they categorize his behavior as strange and not normal.

Naruto starts to understand himself and the possibility of being sexually attract to men but is afraid of what other people would say and rejects himself, he is just a repressed boy. He doesn’t like Sai he is a person who doesn’t care about being labelled and shows interest in Naruto without embarrassment (because yes, Sai is someone who doesn’t understand himself not his feelings but being with Naruto and Sakura made him understand what friendship was, the way he act showing it made Naruto nervous overthinking things because he was attracted to him and being too close made him nervous at how careless Sai was). He also got nervous and overreacted with Kakashi when he praised him thinking he likes him, and when ask what he is thinking about, when he is thinking about Sasuke changes and says he is thinking of going on a date with Sakura, which could be also a way to make others don’t worry about him being so upset and depressed about Sasuke or it could be his repressed feelings towards him, which he unconsciously has but is not aware of them and their meaning.

In Naruto Shippuden we see a development of Sakura’s character, in the first part she cut her hair symbolizing breaking through her fixation in being and do everything to please Sasuke, now in Shippuden to me she started to see herself as a whole, with her own identity, separating herself from Sasuke.

The decision of Sasuke leaving was positive for her character, she found a new goal and her feelings for Sasuke became more dull. I would say that see started to see Naruto as a love interest, someone good for her, a good friend that respects her but since she is observant and intelligent realized Naruto’s real feelings at the end and decided to not confess or she didn’t realized her feelings towards Naruto because she was too fixated in Sasuke and was confused at her change of heart.

For Sasukeas I said before, he always knew about Naruto’s feelings that is why when Naruto says that for him Sasuke is a friend he looks angry an confuse, as Kishimoto said Naruto is just too naive to understand Sasuke frustration, he showed it pretty clear, and as a Chinese proverb says “A picture is worth a thousand words”

Naruto is idealistic and naive, in this picture he is oblivious and daydreams imagining his own world without realizing that his world is centered around Sasuke and him, and that makes Sasuke frustrated because Naruto doesn’t understand his feelings. Naruto is obviously drawn in a compromising way, he is wearing shorts and a shirt, or maybe he is not wearing a shirt with the angle we can’t tell for sure, that shows a lot of skin, Sasuke is supposed to be thirsty but he is lost looking at him that he forgot the water, then we have Sakura looking at Sasuke, and Kakashi who is in his own world Xd. The water could be a representation of arousal, sexual deviance and the repression of desire.

Even thought at the end Sasuke understands Naruto, the guilt overtakes him and he decides to leave the village for redemption hoping that when he returns Naruto will be there for him but he is not, Naruto moved on and is getting married and Sasuke distanced himself from him too hurt to attend the wedding, also sending a poor congratulating letter which feels more like a mocking than anything else, though we don’t know what happened for two years, from Sasuke leaving to Naruto marrying Hinata, so maybe many things could have happened, I say this because Naruto seems to have changed, he looked serious when marring Hinata and he sleeps in another room separate from her, he is a workalcoholic and spends little time with his kids, he is a bad father.

People will get mad saying it doesn’t make sense, Naruto doesn’t understand love in The Last and he is a bad father but they forget that he never had a father or mother and he doesn’t understand the different kinds of love so through his adulthood he realized his feelings for Sasuke, that is why when Kurama said that Sasuke and Naruto are like brothers he said that he never felt it that way, Sasuke has Itachi and Kurama is like a brother to him not labeling his relationship with Sasuke.

Remember I said that he didn’t fell in love with Sakura but since he liked her as a friend and wasn’t able to differentiate the different types of love he confused it as a crush probably because he liked her (as a friend) and she was a girl.

Sakura was confused because she knew about Naruto’s feelings for Sasuke but at the end decided not to comment on it showing her dislike and opinion as a reflection of Naruto’s closed minded society, which is a critic to Japan’s society at the time, maybe it was not that and she just thought that Sasuke could hurt him again as she saw Naruto suffered during Shippuden. So instead of making him realized his feelings she encouraged Hinata thinking that she would be better for him, I believe she did it with good intentions but the decision she made was made based on her values and that wasn’t the correct decision for Naruto.

This way of thinking also shows in Iruka, his parental figure, and Kakashi, they know but they don’t say anything, this is obvious when Iruka gets mad at Naruto deciding to marry Hinata but doesn’t encourage him to talk with Sasuke, Iruka suffers in secret and thinks he did wrong not talking with him but at the end he will just observe (we are talking about Iruka, he is extremely strict, diplomatic and a person who always follows rules and he didn’t prepared anything to say in the wedding day that should be enough in what he truly though of it), Kakashi also knows but he never served as an emotional support at that scale those were Jiraya, who died, and Iruka who is part of the same village, maybe he is just afraid of what they will think and how could affect Naruto’s reputation since his “dream” is to be hokage, which actually was to experience love and be loved (like Ada) and not feel lonely.

The last two pictures compare a Sasuke’s card vs a formal card to give in a wedding and if you notice the villagers card is like the formal one but Sasuke is different, like making fun of it!!

As this quotes says, “hell is paved with good intentions not with bad ones. All men mean well”. George Bernard Shaw

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal

“Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions.” James C. Collins

A little poem reflecting Sasuke losing Naruto;

what's it to me

if you love me or

miss me or need me

when you are doing

nothing to be with me

if you can't allow me to be

the love of your life I will be

the loss of your life instead By Rupi Kaur

Japan at the time practiced arranged marriage, a marriage without love is not hard to imagine happening in Naruto’s world, even more between people with high occupations to unite important families. Hinata also commented on it.

The people that loves us can hurt us even if they have the best intentions.

Actually there are a lot of things that I didn’t say but I decided to stop here because if not it would be too long and for being repetitive!! Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it and feel free to comment!!

Also if you watched Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings you may notice why Kishimoto is so excited with Destin Daniel Cretton he really likes him because he is open minded, but actually the film when watching it reminded me a lot of Naruto!!

[bulanpagi]

[musumeyaku-forever]

[eien-no-gakusha]

Outen no Mon/Deep Sea

The Tale of Young Sugawara no Michizane

Outen no Mon the show made me want to read the manga.  Reading the synopsis, I originally joked with friends that this was just another Heian era swashbuckling mystery thriller or Onmyoji knockoff sans magic.  It is not just another Heian era swashbuckling mystery thriller, it is…different enough to be called unique.  Where Onmyoji was basically tale of a smartass, debauched sorcerer and straightlaced warrior who overcome their differences to save Heian-kyo to comical effect; Outen no Mon is about a smartass, bookworm scholar and playboy warrior who overcome their differences to save Heian-kyo.  As in any story set in Heian-kyo, it is haunted.  No wonder onmyoji business was booming during that era.  The difference is in Onmyoji the ghosts are real while in Outen no Mon the real danger lies in man.  As for the chick in the team, the immortal priestess is replaced with an imports and antique dealer who is probably also running a sweatshop of counterfeit goods.  But she has a good heart and uses her talents in service of the protagonists so don’t worry about it.

Characters:

In summary we have the brains, the brawn, and the street smarts for our protagonist team of investigators.  They can also be classified as middle class (Sugawara no Michizane), aristocrat (Ariwara no Narihira), and peasant (Shouki).  They are performed by our triple moon tops:   Tsukishiro Kanato, Houzuki An, and Umino Mitsuki respectively.  (I just realized the tops and niibante of moon troupe all have moon in their name.  Coincidence? ^^;)  This is my second non-romantic Takarazuka show in a row.  First I got a politically-charged Chinese historical fiction and now I got a politically-charged Japanese historical fiction.  In other words, this show tends to focus on the mystery and we follow the friendship of Michizane and Narihira more closely than anything Shouki is doing.  Reiko and Chinatsu portrayed their respective roles and contrasted each other admirably.  Michizane as a character is a shut-in bookworm and apathetic to the machinations of the court, choosing to mingle with the commoners whom he feels kinship with.  This often manifests as dressing casually to see the Emperor.  In the manga, he is a classic shounen hero with a difficult, socially awkward personality but still a morally upstanding citizen.  Reiko’s version is a bit more socially competent and suave because she is a Takarazuka hero.  Her Michizane comes across as an introverted and introspective youth rather than full hikikomori.  Since we aren’t privy to internal monologue in this staging, this is probably a better approach for presenting the main character.

Then we have Chinatsu as Narihira, resident playboy and military officer responsible for the safety of Heian-kyo.  While being a nepo-baby nobleman, he does take his job seriously and is open-minded.  His haughtiness and discrimination against the peasants is a result of ignorance rather than him being a dick and his friendship with Michizane begins with him opening his eyes to the plight of the disenfranchised.  I feel the fanservice was toned down compared to usual Takarazuka fare.  Narihira is so blasé about his charms.  Instead of a dramatic pose or drawn out moment where he puts his flirt on, he’s just going about his day and doing his job.  He just throws out a wink or wave while on patrol but marches professionally on when he’s on the clock even if fangirls are present.  That strikes me as a different portrayal of playboy from the norm.  Houzuki An is certainly one who would know she is suave without overcompensating. XD  Her makeup didn’t photograph well in some angles and I think she was attempting an old man but sexy look as Narihira is considerably older than Michizane.  Chinatsu’s voice is divine and it’s strong enough to carry.  Couple times she nearly blew out her mic in both the show and revue.  Also, I swear she had more costume changes than the Top Star since she’s playing a man of society so we saw her in dress uniform, street uniform, casual ensemble, etc.  On the other hand, Michizane is a maverick scholar known to be a slob who even dares to come to court in the Heian version of sweatpants and T-shirt so Tsukishiro Kanato is usually in the same outfit.

As the political intrigue features heavily in the story, the show is a bit of a sausage fest so there isn’t much for musumeyaku to do.  There are only three named female roles of note so it makes sense that Eri would take the biggest female role.  Shouki is a fun character in her own right and has no romantic subplot as a shrewd businesswoman and an equal member of our intrepid trio.  She is the ingenious friend who provides the resources to make Michizane’s plans a reality.  It is a refreshing role for a musumeyaku, who usually get stuck as love interests.  Of course, there is star-crossed romance on the side in case seinen is not your genre.  Narihira and Takako were lovers who tried to elope in their youth but circumstances of birth have rendered their relationship forbidden.  They resolve this the mature, Japanese way (those of you who watch Japanese historical dramas know what I’m talking about).  For a side character and love interest, Takako is a complex character with her own personality and drive despite her vulnerable social circumstances that Amashi Juri brought to life.  Generally, the female characters were well-developed and interesting even if sparse.

Kazama Yuno as Fujiwara no Mototsune is practically a lead character and a complicated antagonist.  He doesn’t have much depth to him as cold and calculating Fujiwara Jr who does most of foster dad’s dirty work.  However, his relationship with everyone else makes him interesting.  He had a not-negative acquaintance with Kisshoumaru, Michizane’s deceased older brother.  However, his younger brothers were responsible for Kisshoumaru’s death.  Thus, Mototsune and Michizane’s relationship is awkward to say the least.  If his solo number is any indication, he really did consider the Sugawara brothers as friends and misses their childhood romps while regretful about the harm his dick younger brothers inflicted.  Mototsune hasn’t completely gone to the dark side yet, perhaps due to him being a distant relative adopted into the main branch of the Fujiwaras or his youth.  Him and Takako are on the same boat as adoptees from a lesser branch of the family so he is more sympathetic and softer towards her.  He’s also willing to give respect when it is due, even if it is for the opposition.

Those are the characters worth mentioning.  The supporting cast do their jobs.  The two child characters are comic relief running around to sing the praises of Michizane’s genius.  Groups of women serve to showcase how corruption has disenfranchised the poor or as fangirls to promote Narihira’s star stud status.  The Sugawara household are a wholesome and supportive family who are scholarly and down to earth.  The Fujiwara household is…evil.  I joke but they portray a toxic and strained family.  Half are spoiled, despotic fools hiding behind the family name while the other half are miserable, calculating souls forced to make sacrifices and make up the slack of the former.  The emperor is young, naïve, and weak.  But he is always that way in any media featuring the corrupt Fujiwara puppeteering the throne (an actual stretch of history Japanese media love to defer to).  Overall, a strong cast from Tsukigumi!

Plot:

Story wise, it was a good opening but as the manga is ongoing and probably quite lengthy, it feels like we just completed an arc.  The arc is specifically about a demon parade harassing the streets of Heian-kyo that kills hapless citizens caught in its path.  By imperial decree among other circumstances, our main characters find themselves working together to stop the murders and uncover the truth of the matter.  The mystery of murder-ghosts was resolved but a lot of the interpersonal conflicts remained open-ended.  And what I mean by resolution is the streets are safe again now that the murderers are arrested but we never learn the motive or discover the mastermind.  In this respect, the musical did end a bit abruptly.  Regardless, I enjoyed the pacing, intrigue, and story immensely.

The plot was quite rich.  There is the main plot of why there’s a demon parade abducting people at night.  Michizane deduces this is a more earthly problem and together with his crew they catch the culprits.  Additionally, we are given lots of political intrigue with a naïve young Emperor being controlled by the Fujiwara clan.  Papa-Fujiwara is such a social climber he’s adopting all his country bumpkin relatives to be his pawns in court.  His heir is an adopted son and now he’s acquired a new daughter he’s trying to shove into the emperor’s harem.  Someone wants the emperor dead and someone is using the emperor for their own ends, all fingers point to the Fujiwaras but they are untouchable.  There are many layers to this show.

The character relationships are also complicated and the conflicts hit in the feels.  The main character is disenchanted with the Japanese court and is struck with wanderlust so strong he wants to go abroad and explore broader horizons.  He has big dreams and genius to match but is hampered by politics and domestic issues.  Reiko explains all of this in song form!  You have hard-working and practical Shouki who may be doing some shady business but the economy is bad and the system is against her.  Narihira and Takako are pining for each other, but are unable to reconcile their duty to family and their own pride.  Theirs is a bittersweet ending.  Mototsune has a lot of internal conflict to sort through but being a corrupt politician is hard work.  The list goes on.  I wasn’t moved to tears but was invested in the characters.

The musical is definitely plot driven.  I had more of an impression of that and the character development than I did of the musical numbers, which informed the story rather than serve as earworms.  The diegetic dance sequence in the imperial court was the only memorable number.  This was a grand dance number where Takako was meant to perform and seduce the emperor.  Then it transitions to the investigating trio being forced to duet together while they try to protect the emperor from assassination without ruining the banquet.  Lots of flashy bird costumes in this scene.  The court ladies are doing some sort of crane or heron dance with not-Takako at the center in a silver crane costume equipped with anachronistically showgirl style headdress.  Then Michizane and Shouki perform what appears to be a mandarin duck dance (based on the costume) but are interrupted due to Murphy’s law and lots of plots so Narihira has no choice but to take Shouki’s place.  Read into that what you will.  While the emperor has his attention on the stage within the stage, the audience is focused on the surrounding intrigue.

Overall, I quite liked it.  Now I will go read the manga and see how it compares.

The Carnival of the Sea Gods

After such an amazing show, I was underwhelmed by the revue.  Deep Sea?  More like “Glitter Cabaret.”  The theme was very subtle, which can be creative genius or WTF.  It was leaning towards the latter for me.  There were some ideas I liked such as the jellyfish tailcoats and personified pearls representing inspiration, courage, and hope.  The Mariana Trench episode was an interesting direction… Not all the ideas hit.  There were some snappy tunes but nothing memorable.  Lots of spicy Latin flavor such as tango, frills, spurned lovers, etc as advertised.  This revue was very shiny.  Blindingly so at times.  That is my biggest impression of it.

The revue was a hit-or-miss, but that is just my opinion.  My neighbors were significantly more impressed.  Amazingly enough, I was surrounded by sweaty dudes.  One grandpa was camped out with all his binoculars including a piece of equipment fit for birdwatching.  He was regularly switching between binoculars during both show and revue.  Another gentleman was clearly looking for a specific seito, perking up at specific times.  All the gentlemen fans noticeably leaned forward during the rockettes number.  No judgment there, Takarazuka entertains all!