#osk revue

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

Arthur and Mordred from OSK's Knights of the Round Table

[asakusasisters]

Lecture about all-female theaters in Osaka

A Short Report on Past Events ✨

On May 26th, we had a lecture in Osaka dedicated to women's theaters in Japan! We discussed the revue genre, the emergence and popularity of women's theaters in Japan, and how these theaters evolved over 100 years.

We were pleasantly surprised by the significant response we received, given that this topic is relatively unknown and unfamiliar to many, even those living in Japan. Despite this, many people attended the lecture, asked very interesting questions, and supported our presentation.

As a result, we even organized a joint trip to a recent performance at the OSK Nippon Kagekidan show in Kyoto! 🤓❤ And we’re not stopping there, hehe.

Thanks to all our wonderful guests! Without them, we would definitely not be where we are today!

[jewlwpet]

TAKARAZUKA FANS

You may have heard of OSK. It's a company based in Osaka that performs Takarazuka-style productions.

What if I told you that their equivalent of Sky Stage (where you can watch productions on TV) was available for subscription overseas for 550 yen a month?

BECAUSE IT IS! You can subscribe to the OSK Channel on Nicovideo for that price, via PayPal.

SADLY there are no English translations of their shows, but you don't really need to understand the words to enjoy a revue imo. Full musicals yes, revues not so much.

They have a couple full shows on their official YouTube channel as well, including their version of Me and My Girl! Just go to "videos" and sort by popularity to see them.

[yugiri315]

[ブギウギ] Japan's Queen of Boogie

NHK recently produced a dramaticized "biopic" (aka historical fiction) of jazz singer and actress Shizuko Kasagi. It so happened she started her career in Shochiku Gakugeki Club, the proto-OSK Nippon Kageki, under the stage name Shizuko Mikasa. As such, NHK hired a bunch of OSK actresses to star in the women's revue scenes as their very own predecessors! It's short and sweet and has many nods to the Jazz age in Japan.

They paid attention to a lot of little details in portraying post-war Japan both on and off stage. I only pulled the OSK-relevant scenes given this is what my audience would be most familiar with. Sempai-kohai relationships are strict as usual. Otokoyaku hair has not yet evolved to the current form and not everyone has cut it all off. Otokoyaku still wear skirts. Everyone talks kansai-ben off stage. Kimono are stripey. A quant, fun watch.

[kuruk]

hiii sorry to bother you but do you found somewhere to watch takarazuka/all-female theater stuff online? my gf is really into elizabeth(?) but neither of us has been able to find any other ones

oh yes ^_^!! https://nightless-castle.dreamwidth.org/ <- here is where you can watch takarazuka and osk revue recordings, you have to make an account and subscribe. I think you have to wait to be approved to see it first though, but it didn't take that long for me so yeah. it's really hard to find takarazuka stuff aside from this but people do like planned watch parties so you could also keep an eye out for when takarazuka fans are doing one of those like by seeing who does those in the takarazuka tag maybe. I've never tried that way *shy* but it seems like a popular way to get to watch them

[galahadmordred]

Arthur meeting his son Mordred for the first time

[pellicano-sanguino]

When I was on a zuka trip in Japan in 2018, I was sad my vacation was just a bit too short that I didn’t have time to go see OSK Revue’s Knights of the Round Table that was running very close to the days I was there. I’ve been curious about non-zuka all-female groups, and I’m fascinated by arthurian legends, so I wished I could have seen that.

Well, OSK Revue has been temporarily uploading full shows on their official youtube channel lately. Currently, Knights of the Round Table is still up there. So I got to watch it, even if I missed it during my trip.

Frankly speaking, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, unfortunately. I was hoping for more swordfights/-dances and less characters just standing around having plot exposition dialogue (theater is a visual form of art, show us the story, don’t have someone just tell us about it). And I was hoping to see more of the titular Knights of the Round Table. All we get are Arthur, Lasse and Mordred. Come on, not even Gawain? But I should have expected this after seeing OSK’s take on Dracula where the only humans opposing the count were the Harkers. OSK works with small casts. I did like the musumeyaku who played young Mordred. Usually adults playing kid characters annoy me, but she was great. And I approve of musumeyakus with swords, we need more of those.

One thing I was not prepared for was Merlin looking attractive. I don’t know how I feel about this.

When it was time for the minirevue, he looked especially pretty in the sparkly tailcoat.

He looks like Tod’s younger cousin or something. 

[shiningafterglow]

[teigeki-graph]

“OSK Sakura Night” Takano Urara Comment Video (BGM: “Akai Katyusha”)

[kittychan-sings-enka]

Status Report of other All-Female Revues

(Because some companies don’t have an entire railway corporation’s funds to survive on)

The OSK revue appears to be getting through things ok: they are not currently performing and the performers are/were spending the free time hand making masks to distribute. They’re much more active on social media than Takarazuka, so they have been posting many videos and currently have a running series of full performances to watch for free on youtube (full schedule in this blog post).

It’s unclear when they intend to resume performances, but they’ve always had shows much more spread out than Takarazuka. Their July performance has been cancelled, and no further announcements on later performances are up right now. 

If you want to support them and can figure out payments/shipping, you can purchase from their web store or subscribe to their premium niconico channel (some of the niconico productions are being released on youtube, but there are many more available there).

The Huis Ten Bosch revue resumed performances on June 1 (attendance restricted to Nagasaki residents only; this restriction lifts on the 19th). They also appear to have delayed the auditions for the new class of performers. Their theatre seating has been rearranged to comply with coronavirus precautions. They also have a web store.

The Sakai Girl’s Revue also appears to be fine. They resumed studio lessons with coronavirus precautions recently. (This revue is very new and seems to be largely supported by lesson fees from the children, so they have no merchandise on sale.)

Revue Konohana (of Baika Girl’s College) does not seem to currently be meeting in-person (as far as I can tell the campus is operating online at the moment, and their last status update was in February).

Hanayashiki Girl’s Revue has no specific status updates, but presumably has paused operations during the closure of the Hanayashiki amusement park. There is currently no planned date for the park to reopen.

Kagaya Revue has currently cancelled performances, although the onsen resort they are attached to appears to be open with many precautions. There is no information on when performances might resume.

Showjo Revue Project has no status updates since February, at which point they were stating they intended to begin operations in August 2020. Otherwise there is very little information about them apart from pictures and names of their first class of performers.

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

I was confused by how many arthurian musicals there were and how many were available... so I did this

(for a text list, here)

[asakusasisters]

Hi, everyone! This is Asakusa Sisters!!! In April, we went to the show by the Japanese all-female theater OSK Nippon Kagekidan, and in this video, we share our impressions. Shochiku-za Theater, hall, theater merchandise, Top Star's taidan, demachi, and our impressions of the show! We would be very glad to receive your support, likes, and comments! Subscribe to our channel! You can also find us on VK: https://vk.com/asakusasisters Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/asakusasisters

[anime-herald]

Earlier today, Sega hosted their fourth live streaming event for Project Sakura Wars. During the show, three cast members were revealed, along with:

Battle gear for Anasatasia and Azami

Details on a new Combat Revue, as well as three characters

Two new trailers

We break the details down below.

Trailers

Two trailers were revealed: A story trailer and a gameplay trailer. A TV spot was also uploaded, which we’ve provided below.

Story Trailer

Gameplay Trailer

TV Spot

Cast

Three cast members were confirmed:

“Yasha”: Chisa Yokoyama

Iris (Berlin Combat Revue): Nana Mizuki

Margaret (Berlin Combat Revue): Rie Kugimiya

Chisa Yokoyama played Sakura Shinguji in all previous entries of the Sakura Wars franchise and related media.

Yasha

Yasha is a mysterious figure who may have a connection to the Imperial Combat Revue’s past. She wields a samurai sword not unlike the legendary Reiken-Arataka, and pilots a black mech known only as “Shinmetsu,” which is written with the kanji for “Divine” and “Destroy.”

Berlin Combat Revue

Iris and Margaret are members the Berlin Combat Revue, who pilot Eisenkleids on the field of battle. Their character designs were crafted by Strike Witches creator Humikane Shimada.

Iris

Margaret

Battle Gear

The battle costumes, as well as the Spiracle Armors for Anasatasia and Azami were both revealed. You can check these out below.

Project Sakura Wars will hit Japanese retailers on December 12. A standard and Limited Edition are both planned for the project. The Limited Edition will include a soundtrack CD and an artbook. The CD will feature more than sixty songs from the franchise’s history, while the artbook will clock in at contain seventy-two pages of art from the series.

Early adopters will also receive a PS4 theme, though details on this have yet to be announced.

The project will be released worldwide in Spring 2020.

Left to Right: Claris, Hatsuho Shinonome, Seijuro Kamiyama, Sakura Amamiya, Azami Mochizuki, Anastasia Palma

The confirmed voice cast includes:

Claris: Saori Hayami

Hatsuho Shinonome: Maaya Uchida

Seijūrō Kamiyama : Yōhei Azakami

Sakura Amamiya: Ayane Sakura

Azami Mochizuki: Hibiku Yamamura

Anastasia Palma: Ayaka Fukuhara

Sumire Kanzaki: Michie Tomizawa

Reiji Shiba: Tomikazu Sugita

Kaoru Rindou: Yui Ishikawa

Komachi Ooba: Ryoko Shiraishi

Yang Shaolong: Yuuichirou Umehara

Yui Huang: Sumire Uesaka

Arthur: Nobunaga Shimazaki

Lancelot: Manami Numakura

Bleach creator Tite Kubo is providing the original character designs, while Jiro Ishii (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Under the Dog) is in charge of the story structure. Series composer Kohei Tanaka (Sakura Wars franchise, One Piece, Mobile Fighter G Gundam) is scoring the game’s soundtrack. Other staff members include:

Script: Takaaki Suzuki (Girls und Panzer, Strike Witches)

Setting and Scenario Summary: Takanobu Terada

Development Director: Tetsuya Ootsubo

Producer: Tetsu Kitano

Character Visual Setting: Masashi Kudou

Main Mechanical Designer: Mika Akitaka

Executive Producer: Haruki Satomi

Original Concept: Ohji Hiroi

Project Sakura Wars will be set twelve years after the events of Sakura Wars 5: So Long, My Love. In this new entry, the Combat Revues, which previously protected nations from evil while working incognito, are well known to all.

Indeed, the Great Combat Reveue World War is more of a global sporting event, in which the Combat Revues from across the globe gather in Japan’s Imperial Capital to compete in a tournament. These disparate groups then compete to determine which country’s kouma-crushing corps reigns supreme. By the time Project Sakura Wars begins, two such events have already taken place, and the nations are gathering in the Imperial capital for the third. What should be a peaceful event, though, suddenly takes a turn for the serious.

Sega’s email communication describes the story as:

The stage is set in a romanticized version of 1940s Imperial Tokyo. 10 years ago, a cataclysm resulted in the devastating loss of the Imperial Combat Revue of Tokyo, the capital’s global defense force operating out of the Imperial Theater. The theater has since fallen on hard times and risks closure. As captain of the new Tokyo revue, it’s up to you to mend the hearts of your troops and restore the Imperial Theater back to its former glory!

Project Sakura Wars was first revealed on April 14, 2018 at Sega Fes, and was originally tentatively slated to launch prior to March 31, 2019. On April 19, 2019, Sega Holdings President and CEO Haruki Satomi confirmed that the project will be “more than a game.”

A western release was not confirmed until March 29, though Japanese Asian releases were confirmed to be in the works.

On March 27, all-female theater troupe OSK Revue announced that they will host a new Sakura Wars musical in Kyoto. The production which will be an operatic adaptation of 2001’s Sakura Wars Kayou Show story The Sea God’s Villa.

Sakura Wars is an original project by Sega CS2 R&D (later Overworks) and Red Entertainment. Ohji Hiroi (Moeyo Ken, Far East of Eden), Satoru Akahori (Saber Marionette J, Martian Successor Nadesico), and Kosuke Fujishima (Ah! My Goddess, You’re Under Arrest!) are listed as the original creators of the franchise.

The first title appeared on the Sega Saturn in 1996. The initial entry, while released only in Japan at the time, was estimated to have a 200,000 lifetime sales goal. The title sold 205,270 units in its opening week, which was roughly 57% of the launch shipment. At the time, the title was seen as having the largest debut for a Sega title to date. It would go on to move 359,485 copies throughout the Saturn’s lifespan.

Since then, the title has gone on to spawn:

Five main-line titles

Fifteen spin-off games

An anime TV series by Madhouse

Five anime OVA series

Seven manga and light novel adaptations

Sixteen high-profile live stage shows

The final main-line title in the series, Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love was released in North America by NIS America. The title is available on Sony’s PlayStation 2, as well as Nintendo Wii console.

Source: YouTube (Sega)

Thanks to Twitter user @AiddonValentine for the translations on Yasha and the Berlin Revue!

Chisa Yokoyama Plays Yasha in Project Sakura Wars; 3 New Trailers Revealed Earlier today, Sega hosted their fourth live streaming event for Project Sakura Wars. During the show, three cast members were revealed, along with:

[zukadiary]

MESSIAH / Beautiful Garden ~ Flower Troupe 2018

Disclaimer: I’m scraping the bottom of my brain for this one. I saw this show a total of one time a week and a half ago, and when I didn’t have time to write it up immediately I didn’t really plan to review it at all... I don’t love spouting opinions based on spotty information, and Messiah, while not too complicated for me to understand, struggled to hold my attention enough that I didn’t feel super comfortable assessing it after one viewing. BUT, I’ve never not reviewed a Takarazuka performance that I’ve seen live, and I do have specific thoughts about Beautiful Garden, so here we go with an attempt.

Messiah was not a winner for me (though thanks to Wind Over Yamataikoku it’s definitely not the worst thing I’ve seen recently). I actually don’t think it was a bad play, and it portrayed an interesting little slice of Japanese history that I really didn’t know anything about, but I don’t think Takarazuka was the stage on which I wanted to see it presented. I have pretty mixed feelings about Harada; he’s got Sekkashou under him which was utterly fantastic (please do more nihonmono revues, Harada-sensei), and he’s done a few killer small theaters. But I didn’t care for either of his Grand Theater shows that I saw, and between those and the less-than-killer small theaters of his that I’ve seen, I get a vibe that he cares more about his play than the women performing it. All I could think of while watching it was how un-Hanagumi it felt (his second most recent Grand Theater was Hoshigumi’s Berlin, My Love last year, and while I did not see it myself a lot of people who did seemed to think that was similarly a poor fit). Mirio did a solid job making that character look cool, but outside the surface-level pleasure of seeing Chinatsu in an evil mustache and Taso as a prominent bad guy, I can’t think of a single actress who was given a character suited to her strengths. Yuki especially can (and did) act the pants off anything, but I really can’t wait for them to give her a sexier role for a change (looking at you, Ikuta, especially if it turns out to be the last chance). 

I did find the music to be nice, and there was a POWERFUL ensemble number in the middle that genuinely knocked my socks off. Perhaps if Yamataikoku hadn’t existed, Messiah would have at least felt fresh? Since they are visually similar and both on the dull side, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching something I didn’t want to for a second time. 

Beautiful Garden was a trip. Aside from my unconditional love for UeKumi, I don’t think any Takarazuka director has engendered definitive opinions in me quite like Noguchi has. Maybe it’s because after very swiftly graduating from Bow Hall, he’s only done revues in the Grand Theater, and I demand a base level of enjoyment from revues that forces me to hold them to a higher standard. I personally found The Entertainer to be average, and if you break it down, ALL of it’s value came from Micchan’s ability to pull it off—specifically Top Micchan ft. Nibante Beni, a combi the likes of which I don’t think will appear twice in the entire lifetime of Takarazuka past or future. While there is certainly something to be said for knowing your stars, I think if you give that show to anyone else it’s downright bad... and there’s something to be said for that too. I assessed SUPER VOYAGER to be disappointing at the time of my review, and as it’s ripened in my brain since then, “disappointing” has evolved into WILDLY OFFENSIVE... It’s my least favorite revue of all time, and the fact that it was my favorite’s ohirome was salt in the wound. 

When the pre-opening interviews with Noguchi-sensei suggested that Beautiful Garden would contain AWFULLY FAMILIAR-SOUNDING CONTENT, my expectations were pretty much rock bottom. When I re-entered the theater after intermission to find that the very CURTAIN was one of his much-beloved goddamn projections—pixellated, even!—my expectations drilled through the rock and got even more bottom. However, while the show was, in fact, a hot mess, overall I was pleasantly surprised and hopeful that maybe he’s learning.

Once that pixellated projection took us on an animated journey into a forest and the curtain rose onto an actual set, I was actually slack-jawed for a good 3-4 scenes (however many it took to get through the rainy number). The prologue has a bug/flower theme, and the little dancing bug girls who got to flit around for atmosphere before the real action started were en pointe and I LOVED that. Mirio, like every top star in a Noguchi show will probably do for all time, descends from the ceiling on that dumb swing, trying to sing without letting the fear in her eyes show. Then we have a lovely opening with a very Anna Sui aesthetic (it even! features! the top! musumeyaku!). The kickline comes in early, right after the prologue, centered on Maitii and her muscles dressed as a bee (in fact, the very best thing about this show as a whole was the overwhelmingly prolific use of Maitii and her muscles). She does a one-handed cartwheel! I thought this was a real cute number, although a friend told me it was swiped almost as-is from OSK... I cannot personally confirm or deny that. Maitii feels raindrops and the scene transitions to a lovely Rei-centered rainy Paris dance with umbrellas, just as I was complaining at intermission after Messiah that I felt like Rei hasn’t gotten to show off her dancing skills in a while (IMO her best asset). If you pair these scenes with the lovely lavender finale numbers, you have the bones of a GORGEOUS cohesive revue. Unfortunately, we need a middle... 

After the umbrella number, things start to go off the rails. I forgive the first departure because it was a GREAT SCENE despite being a total deviation from the garden theme (but lord knows every revue has at least one scene out of left field). It’s a matador thing, but Maitii is the BULL, and boy was that a good idea. For some reason whenever I mentally tally the top tier dancers in current Takarazuka I forget Maitii, but never again; I don’t think anyone else right now has her raw power. 

Next we have a series of tropical numbers leading up to the chuuzume (including a ~dramatic reveal~ of Mirio in sunglasses, get out of here Noguchi). It was upbeat and fun and there was MORE MAITII, and I guess if it were surrounded by less nonsensical scenes it would have felt a little more appropriate. However, it was followed by a truly bizarre Greek? Roman?? Golden Desert??? scene that I really wish I could just snip out crumple up and throw away.

In a lovely surprise, Yuki then leads what appears to be the kickoff of the finale, singing S’Wonderful (in a little tailcoat and hot pants, if memory serves). A+ if not for the Pavlovian anxiety that song gives me (my brain expects it to be followed by Kizuna). The otokoyaku dance is an equally lovely parade of top hats and sticks. And then... Oh wait! Gotcha!! It wasn’t the finale at all!! Did you think Noguchi wasn’t going to make you listen to a terrible lip synching boyband?? You were wrong!!

Seriously, get out. The sung solo lines don’t make the recorded chorus any less offensive. If I want to watch boy idols, I have a plethora to choose from. That is NOT WHAT I’M HERE FOR.

And now I’m all hot and angry for the actual finale, the aforementioned lovely lavender one. While the fake-out finale numbers were good in isolation, once I saw the whole picture they ruined the flow. Use one, save the other for your next show.

Upset as I still was at parts, I’ll take the progress... anything that makes the prospect of one of my troupes getting him even an iota less than totally hopeless. Even some of the projections were an improvement, but I wish he’d stick to effects (like rain and falling petals) and eliminate the others entirely. Someone tell him they’re invisible in the spotlight.

[yugiri315]

Apparently, OSK is streaming their shows like every other theatre in the world as we fight the plague.  Meanwhile, Takarazuka is rolling in too much money to give us anything for free.  Pandemic or no.

[lightly-salted-nerd]

20 Questions

@bisexualrogerss tagged me and it’s finals week so I’m looking for any excuse to not study,,, here we go,,,

Rules: Answer the questions about yourself and then tag 20 people that you wanna get to know better!

Name: Mason

Nickname: The closest thing I have is my Japanese nickname, Matcha (抹茶). It’s that super concentrated green tea powder that people like to make deserts with. Even though the nickname is based on a shortening of my actual name (Mason-chan to Ma-chan to Matcha) I like to think that I’m a little traditional, a little modern, a little bitter and a little sweet kinda like Matcha is.

Age: 21

Gender: Cis female

Orientation: Straight (but not narrow!)

Height: 5′3″ish (I look shorter, but that’s my official height ala the doctor’s office ruler)

Favourite color: I’m not really sure if I have one anymore? Growing up it was always magenta. When picking out clothes, I prefer red. I avoid white/pastel color palates like the plague.

Book recommendations: This is hard because I feel like books are one of the more personal things someone can recommend, but I think The Hunchback of Notre Dame is good and I’d love someone else to suffer with me and read the thing, dammit. If suffering isn’t your speed, read Freak Show by James St. James. He’s a drag queen who writes books, what could go wrong?

Movie recommendations (not including Marvel lmao): Here’s a little something for everyone- Galaxy Quest, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future, Mononoke Hime, Star Wars VII, Singing’ in the Rain, The Emperor’s New Groove, Kaguya Hime, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Moana, Star Trek IV, Mad Max Fury Road, and Laurence of Arabia.

TV recommendation: I pretty rarely talk about anime on Tumblr, but if you’re looking for the good shit I recommend Princess Jellyfish, One Punch Man, and the original Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Music recommendation: The Gorillaz are my favorite underrated group right now. Give their newest album a listen, it’s really worth your time.

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? Definitely tea, all the way. Hot chocolate is good to chill out, but I need a little bit more kick in my morning beverages than just sugar.

Cats or dogs? Definitely cats. I’m not against dogs, but I wouldn’t exactly want to have one myself.

Favorite meme? That’s a really hard one! I think I’m going to go with “HERE COME DAT BOY” because even without any context it always makes me smile. The dog in the room that’s on fire saying “This is fine” is the meme I find most relatable. I am of course also in love with classic memes (the cake is a lie, all your base are belong to us, that kind of thing) as well as RuPaul’s drag race memes so there’s way too many favorites to get into here.

I want to live long enough to witness:  Female president in America. A unified Korea. Gay marriage legalized in Japan.

Weird obsessions: Really love to hear about people’s plastic surgery journeys (like on youtube). 

Tumblr birthday: I’ve only had this blog for about a year. Dunno when I started off exactly, just a way to get my fix of Star Trek, X-files, and other fandom materials ever since DeviantArt fizzled out.

How many sideblogs: Not a one!

Random fact about me: I’ve gotten really invested in the all-female Japanese theater troupe called the Takarazuka Revue (along with one of their competitors, the OSK Revue). I’ve already been to three Revue performances and I think you can expect to see more content from me about them soon!

Goals for 2018: Make it to 2019.

I’m not tagging anyone because I’m wayyyy to lazy but if you would like to do your own take in this, go ahead!