#sienne: hoshou dai

[zukalations]

88th Class Ties

This round-robin style talk with all the 92nd class members was published in the May 2017 issue of GRAPH, as part of a series on the more senior classes (those who have been in the company 10 years of more).

In case the tags don’t cooperate, the participants are: Kouzuki Ruu, Asaka Manato, Kagetsu Miyako, Sahana Mako, Kurenai Yuzuru, Hoshou Dai, Yugiri Rai

Kozuki Ruu, Kagetsu Miyako, and Sahana Mako are the only participants still current at time of posting, and Sahana will retire at the conclusion of Snow Troupe’s 2020 show Once Upon A Time In America.

88th Class Ties

Start!

Moon Troupe, Kozuki Ruu

“Alright, I’ll start this off~! Oh, I got Maa-kun (Asaka)!”

Asaka Manato is…

Calm and collected, yet flexible Ever since we were Lower Students she’s been calm and collected, and I’ve never seen her mess up, or seen her cry. But, when we all would get together to goof around, she’d join in, that kind of feeling. In any case, she’s really clever. Also, although she’s the younger one, she has an older-brotherly feeling of ‘Everything will be okay!’, and she’s a really reliable person.

A big eater Although her appearance hasn’t changed at all up to now, I seem to have an image of her eating a lot more in the past… I remember that she wouldn’t be affected by whatever went on around her at all and just steadily kept eating at her own pace… (laughs).

So fast at remembering choreography! Ever since she was a lower student she’s been able to memorize the choreography so quickly! It was the same way in things like Takarazuka Special, and recently when I asked her ‘So how do you learn the choreography?’ she told me ‘I don’t know, I just kind of look at the choreographer and my body moves’, so I wasn’t able to comprehend it at all (laughs). I think she comes by it naturally!

Cosmos Troupe, Asaka Manato

“Ahaha! (laughs) Did I say that about the choreography? I’m terrible, aren’t I! As for being a big eater, I must have been going through my growth spurt back then~ Also, saying I’m clever is going too far! But, Ruu-chan (Kouzuki), thank you!”

Kagetsu Miyako is…

Unchangingly a cute little creature She’s always been just like a little squirrel. Even as her seniority has increased that hasn’t changed at all, so no matter when I look at her I think ‘She’s so cute~’. As for her personality, she’s really laid-back but also has a bit of a mysterious side to her. I want to have a mysterious side, so I’m jealous of that part (laughs).

Sleeps with her eyes open When we were in TMS, she would really sleep a lot. But she wouldn’t close her eyes properly when she slept, so you could never tell if she was asleep or not (laughs). Nacchan (Kagetsu), do you still sleep with your eyes open~?

Suddenly turned into a great actress She’s such a great performer! What an actress! I was so moved by her in Grand Hotel, and her role of the grandmother in Spring Snow was so powerful! I was thinking ‘and that’s Nacchan…?’ I was able to talk to her in the dressing room about performing the other day, and as a senior actress she has such an amazing way of thinking about things, and she has really sharp perception. I’m so happy that the little creature from TMS became able to have such deep conversations! (laughs)

“Nacchan is so cute 💖 ”

Moon Troupe, Kagetsu Miyako

“This is really info you could only get from a classmate (laughs). But...I know I still sleep with my eyes open (laughs). I’ve always had people tell me I’m like a little animal… Maybe it’s because when I get flustered I’ll be like ‘Wa~h!’? (laughs) Being able to talk with Maa-kun after so long, we were each able to learn from each others’ experiences, so that was interesting. Above all, I’m so happy that she became Top Star!

Sahana Mako is…

Able to see things in such an incisive way She’s always been like this, but she sees things in just slightly different ways from other people. Ever since we were in the music school, I picture Kyabii as looking at things from her own point of view and laughing (laughs). Of course it wasn’t in a bad way at all. As we’ve been in the company longer we’ve gotten so close, so as we’re talking about different things, often I’ll realize ‘Oh, she must have been looking at things this way!’ and being surprised. She’s so fun!

Such a skilled actor I love Kyabii’s acting. Perhaps this is related to her unique way of looking at things, but when we were doing the Culture Festival, all she was doing was drinking something and scowling but she had a totally different atmosphere to everyone else. And now that she is bringing that to her current performances, so I really love that sense she has.

Feminine and kind I think she has an image as a really intelligent person, but she is also such a gentle and feminine person. I like that part of her too (laughs). She’s so considerate, like a really reliable older sister, and she’s also so kind, and always sees the good points in people. Basically I just love Kyabii (laughs).

Snow Troupe, Sahana Mako

“I think Natsuko (Kagetsu) is a really unique musumeyaku, so I’m really honored to hear this from her! As our seniority has increased we have gotten into the habit of talking about all kinds of things, and I wish I had something like Natsuko’s totally unique aspects that nobody else can replicate. But that spacey side of her is really healing too. We talk about anything and everything on or offstage, so our relationship has surpassed that of classmates.”

Kurenai Yuzuru is…

She has an odd way of looking at things When we were asked our reasons for deciding to try out for Takarazuka, she said “I want to paint the seats of the Grand Theatre red”. But...they’re red already.

Loves Takarazuka She’s a dyed-in-the-wool traditional Takarazuka fan. Back then [in TMS] she went and wrote in my performance notebook, where I would pour out my passion, that she loved Asazumi Kei-san. But, even though she said she really liked her, she wrote her nickname of Kayoko-san as ‘Kakoyo-san’.

Stoic in her own way Ever since she was a lower student, she would diligently practice the things she was struggling with. But since she was seeing her goal in a slightly different way to other people, it would have the opposite effect, she would end up running away with herself even further. As a result, to come all the way around she would put in even more steady work than anyone else.

Star Troupe, Kurenai Yuzuru

“Actually, at the beginning what I wanted to say was ‘I want to paint the seats scarlet [T/N: ‘kurenai’]’ but she came back at me ‘That means empty seats!’ (laughs). Running away with myself in the opposite direction… (laughs). That’s totally true! I never see what’s close to me. But, I think maybe it’s good that I’m that way (laughs). I’ve been good friends with Sahana Mako ever since we were in TMS. We would pretend we were in Masked Romanesque together and stuff (laughs).”

“Who will I get…”

Hoshou Dai is…

The top dummy of the 88th class! Our classmates always say that me and Dai-chan (Houshou) were about even in terms of being common-sense challenged, but they all say “If we had to choose, Dai-chan was the worst!” so just give up and admit it! (laughs) You’re number one!!

The calm before the storm... This was the day before a holiday, when we were Lower Students. One of the screws in her head must have come loose. She was goofing around on the train station platform, waving her hat around and cheering ‘Ya~y!’ Of course she was promptly spotted in that state by an upper student, and I’ll never forget watching her be scolded like nothing else (laughs).

More of an older sister type in TMS She was talented in Japanese Dance, so she would help you get your kimono on and look after you and such, but once we all entered the company her character totally changed. What’s with that? (laughs)

Snow Troupe, Hoshou Dai

“I don’t want to hear that from Kurenai Yuzuru! We’re equal, aren’t we? Equal! And then, that memory from TMS (laughs). That did happen, didn’t it! Why on earth did I do that, I wonder. Doing a rockette dance while twirling my hat around… Because of me, the commuter students all got horribly scolded...I’m really sorry about that!”

Yuugiri Rai is…

One of the 88th class band of goofballs Ever since we were lower students, Rai-chan (Yuugiri) and Kurenai and I would be the group goofing around (laughs). Although she has a diligent side too, she also has a lot of surprising aspects (laughs). The thing that left the biggest impression with me was when we were taking the entrance exam. During the ‘creative dance’ portion of the exam, she—she was in a volleyball club, you know—next to me she was doing a twirling serve receive (laughs).

So multi-talented! & she loves cute things! She’s so good at drawing, and really skilled at making things. When she was a junior actress she made slippers for a senior actress. She didn’t just put a simple picture on them, but she was so dedicated to making the design! That creative side of her is so cute, and it made me think she had a surprisingly feminine side to her too.

Her voice is the best!!! Ever since we were in TMS she’s had an amazing voice and such good singing skills! She did well in our classical voice class of course, but especially in popular music, her sense of rhythm was really impressive. “So that must be what it’s like to have natural talent~” I thought; it made me jealous.

Flower Troupe, Yuugiri Rai

“I did do that twirling recieve, didn’t I (laughs). Dai-chan, you see me from all different angles, don’t you. Even if you struggle at it, helping other people gives you energy, so I think picturing the other person’s happiness helped me do my best. I’ve always loved singing, so I listened to all different genres of music and learned them by ear. Daichan, do your best! I hope you will continue performing to the end with nothing to regret!!

Kouzuki Ruu is…

A star student! Ever since she was in TMS she had the top grades, and she’s the leader of all of us. Ruu-chan is so reliable, just having her there lets me feel comfortable! No matter what happens, she’ll calmly be able to handle it, and she gives off such a grown-up aura.

She’s just really nice I’ve never seen her being really grumpy or irritable. My strongest image of her is her smiling gently. Ruu-chan is so nice that I’m always ending up relying on her 💖

She loves Takarazuka 💖 She’s always loved Takarazuka, and she knows so much about it, so whenever we asked her about old times she would have an answer—she’s our Professor Takarazuka! I only had superficial knowledge, so she seemed to me like she was really my senior, a powerful individual who even back then had the otokoyaku aesthetics down and a real presence as a Takarasienne (laughs).

Back to Kouzuki Ruu…

Goal!

“I’m not that nice, though~ I have really major emotional swings (laughs). I hated being called a star student ever since I was a junior actress, and I really struggled to break out of that framework… Also, I don’t know about the whole history of Takarazuka (laughs). I probably just said things based on what I knew from when I started watching Takarazuka  (laughs). But, the otokoyaku style and aesthetic hasn’t ever changed! I think Rai-chan’s strongest idea of me is from TMS, so if you looked at me now it might shatter the picture you have of me… (laughs). Thank you for saying I’m grown-up and a star student ✨ Please don’t be disillusioned by the current me either!