#touka yurino

[harunoosa1987]

The Great Gatsby(Moon 2008)-Part 2

[arysavignaniacchan]

Goodbye Touka and Chapi.

Your class and attitude will be greatly missed.

Photo courtesy: twitter @star___91

[ilovetkrzuka]

Tsukigumi Taidansha Announced:

憧花 ゆりの Touka Yurino 愛希 れいか　Manaki Reika -すでに発表済- 2018年11月18日（月組　東京宝塚劇場公演千秋楽）付で退団 　　

[zuka-themed-username]

zuka-themed-review: Elisabeth 2018 chapigumi

This trip has been an absolute whirlwind - I cannot believe that I saw Elisabeth only last week! But, with my hastily scribbled notes in hand I present an out of order bullet point list of things I thought were interesting, what worked for me and what didn’t, and some rhetorical questions.

- Manaki Reika (Chapi) and Tsukishiro Kanato (Reiko) were AMAZING. Voices were on point, Reiko had fantastic riffs and vibrato

- I know that Lucheni is a bit of a standout role by design but I am so looking forward to what Reiko does next

- I am late to the Chapi stan party but with this performance and BADDY boy do I STAN now

- The orchestra live is so powerful and complex. There is a bell line in the duet after Franz and Sissi’s first meeting that I swear is new. I am going to listen back to old recordings and check

- Never paid attention to the dad character but Kizuki Yuuma was so stylish I was like ‘oh hello sir’. She took the role and made it fashion. 

- Are people actually in the dressers in the beginning that get lifted up or do they wait behind them? Because that lift looked terrifying.

- There are far more raised arm salutes out of range of the recording angles and it honestly threw me for a loop.

- There’s a bass clarinet or bari sax doing the real work in certain scenes that does not come through on recordings. If I didn’t play bass myself I would almost say it was too powerful, but then again there’s no such thing as too much bass. 

- Watashi Dake Ni (Elisabeth’s big ol’ solo) finally makes sense seeing it live. Ngl I usually skip pieces of it but here I was captivated. 

- With Watashi Dake Ni in mind I was actually upset I couldn’t clap longer, and that Tod literally steps in front of her for a solo. Slow your roll Tod it’s only Act 1.

- Friendly shout out from a distance to Sophie’s maid squad / Elisabeth’s travel team. I wouldn’t want to get to close and risk Touka Yurino’s smooth wrath lol. They’re in such sync I though the Revue finally got some good projectors going (jk looking at you Castle of the White Heron)

- Everything is much more colorful live. Reiko’s pink jacket for Kitsch was legitimately blinding.

- Seeing the full stage for the wedding / reception scene makes Tod’s final flourish and glass crashing sound at the end of Last Dance make sense. The walls literally rotate, throwing the pair of them into a mirror world that I didn’t before in recordings. Props to everyone for standing behind those walls to keep up the appearance that they are still on the other side instead of just exiting. 

- The black angels are doing so much in the background I want a star angle for them. I think legitimately one of them hit themselves in the face they kicked so high.

- Shout out to the musumeyaku that slipped and ate it center stage as the “Elisabeth reveals her Hungary dress” scene was setting up. The recovery was as effortless as it could be, I hope you’re ok! 

- The woman who sat on my right promptly fell asleep but rocketed awake in time for the finale of Watashi Dake Ni. Ma’am I’m sure you’ve seen the show 10+ times but I have no idea how you fall asleep when the music is so loud. I salute you.

- I guess I should mention Tamaki and Miya at this point huh? :D 

- Tamaki’s costuming was really cool to see live. The wig was blond with a dark teal top that looked great with the finale costumes. The Last Dance military look was especially striking. 

- She made Tod a soft and sympathetic force of nature, one that really reflected what Chapi was desiring at different times - love, peace, a respite from the world, etc. I genuinely appreciated the take on the character but it leads to my #1 complaint with the show:

- The stage direction needs to change. Tamaki’s interpretation of Tod did not match the staging she had to hit, which came across in the way she sang the line “ai to shi no rondo” soooooo sweetly, but then she still had to have the “shineba ii” scene be creepy and aggressive. I would have liked to see a sweet, more nurturing/supportive take on that line so that Elisabeth would be more wholly tempted to go through with it.

- I also would have liked to have heard Tod’s songs in a different key. While I fully understand that there are a plethora of reasons for why Elisabeth’s direction does not change, Tamaki was struggling with intervals and certain high notes (though not all of them, which I thought was interesting.) It’s nearing the end of the Tokyo run and she is giving it 150%, but I would have loved to see what this Tod could have been like with some altered staging and 100% security in the vocal performance. 

- That being said, the way Tamaki sang “ai to shi no rondo” made me sigh and think, ‘tbh I’d trade places with Elisabeth’. Then I thought about Sophie and I very quickly backpedaled. 

- There was also an amazing effect when Tod is leaving Elisabeth as she wakes up where the center state is covered in fog and rotating extremely fast, and Tamaki has her left foot lifted and angled slightly such that from my seat it looked like she was floating away. I was floored. 

- Justice for folks playing Franz! It’s a brutal role designed to be disliked and potentially sympathized with but I forgot that Miya was playing it. She did a great job, sounded great, etc. But boy is Franz not all that present. The Madame scene was fun but again, not a whole lot to do. I was so glad to see her in the finale crushing it like the badass she is. 

- As I was on the first floor I didn’t see the disco ball starting up so I legitimately jumped when the kickline started. It was straight fire though. 

- The duet dance between Tamaki and Chapi was GORGEOUS. That one dance put tons of context and emotion into their relationship as Tod and Elisabeth. I would have liked to have seen it in the main show. 

- I need to see a Moon Troupe show live now with a full revue, as that snippet of a finale really blew me away.

All in all, mad props to Moon Troupe and this production of Elisabeth. Chapi is a true tour de force and I look forward to seeing what she does after her taidan. I also cannot wait to see where Moon Troupe goes from here - I think Anna Karenina and On The Town will both be fantastic.   

If you liked this scattershot format look forward to reviews of My Fair Lady, Castle of the White Heron, Thunderbolt Fantasy and Phantom soon! 

[okaneganai-no-rondo]

Elisabeth Tsukigumi 2018 Review

So let me preface this with the fact that calling this a review is probably a lie. This is more me needing to vent all of my emotions into the semi-anonymous void of the internet. This is gonna be real long and rambling, and more personal than actual review. You could call it a stream of consciousness gushing coming from a new fan.

A little (another lie) backstory on me. I like Elisabeth a whole heck of a lot. It is probably my favorite musical ever, and has been for about eight years. I learned about Takarazuka and Elisabeth simultaneously, associating the Takarazuka Revue in my head as pretty ladies who perform Elisabeth and also The Rose of Versailles. This was a simpler time. I had no real knowledge of or access to any resources about Takarazuka. But yet, the idea of this show intrigued me to no end. I have always been a huge history buff, and it seemed to me that this show checked all of my boxes. So what did I do, at fourteen and full of all of these questions? I turned to YouTube, and while I found very little Takarazuka content, I did find an incomplete subtitled version of the 2005 Vienna Revival of Elisabeth. I devoured it. I watched it like a TV show, waiting anxiously for each new section to be translated and uploaded. I was in love with every aspect of it; the cast, the characterizations, the staging, everything. I talked to everyone who I thought would even be the least bit interested about it. It consumed me and my interests as much as I did it. I watched it at least ten times a year for five years, until it was removed from YouTube for copyright. Understandably. By this point I've accepted it, I have the translations almost by heart so I can get by with the soundtrack. I still really enjoy a lot of media influenced by the Takarazuka Revue, but have no real idea where to start consuming any of that material.

Flash forward to this year. I'm accepted into the JET program and placed in Hyogo prefecture. One of the first things I look up is how far away Takarazuka is. It might as well be down the street. I check the upcoming shows. Elisabeth, a month after my arrival. I stalk the English ticket page, with a desperation previously unknown to me. This was my chance to see Elisabeth live, an impossibility up until now. And I got the tickets, for a weekend show towards the end of the run. The most stressful ten minutes of my life, when my computer decided it didn't want to reload the page. But I got them, and I was going.

I started to latch onto any information about Takarazuka and their productions of Elisabeth that I could. And honestly? I was a little disappointed. It seemed so far from what I knew Elisabeth to be. The alternate or omitted songs really got to me, and so did the characterization of Death as more of a romantic hero (when contrasted with Maté Kamaras' forceful, sadistic Der Tod). But, I decided to give it an open mind. Especially since I had spent so much money on tickets, and had waited so long. So I found a friend to give my extra ticket to, and we made a plan to go.

We ended up taking the Hankyu line to Takarazuka, so I definitely made the joke that we fell right into a trap made by a 1910's Japanese businessman. That Mr. Hankyu is crafty.

I would say, that up until we crossed the Muko river from the station, that doubt in my mind still lingered. But the second we touched that bridge, something inside me changed. I got infected with the aura surrounding the theater. There was some magic in the air that just hooked its claws into me and told me to stay. There was something about the energy surrounding the place, that I really can't describe.

By the time the curtain rose I was hyped. And rightfully so. The next few hours were some of the most memorable performances I've ever seen staged.

Manaki Reika, whose voice I wasn't a fan of in the trailers I had seen, was spectacular. The parts of her performance that I hadn't enjoyed in glimpses ended up blending and evolving throughout the show as her character aged and matured. Her scene in the insane asylum struck me in particular, but her whole performance had an air of grace around it most deserving of an actress of her caliber. I am saddened that this is the only memory I'll have of her live on this stage.

Touka Yurino's Sophie was also a standout. She disappeared into her role, fully embodying it. I loved her voice, and the commanding presence she had on stage. I dearly wished that they would have given her "Bellaria", instead of whisking her off to her death mid-song. But alas, this is not that staging.

This performance was the morning of September 22nd, the first day of Miya Rurika's absence. But, due to me not reading postings at the theater/not having great Japanese comprehension all of the time, I had no idea until several hours after the performance. All of the switched roles blended flawlessly, still meeting all of the expectations you have for the characters beat for beat. And that blew my mind and really drilled into me how talented, trained, and rehearsed all of these women are. How do you go from playing Luigi Lucheni to Franz Joseph in one night? I was wowed throughout the performance by every actor, from the top stars to the smallest roles in the crowd. The effort they put into this craft is unimaginable to me, and they pull it off in the most magical of spectacles.

Finally, I want to talk about Tamaki Ryou. Her Tod bewitched me. Every scene, no matter where she was or what she was doing, I couldn't help but watch her helplessly. The best way for me to describe the characterization of death in this show as I understand it in my head, is that this Elisabeth and the Vienna staging I hold so closely to my heart are two sides of the same story. The Vienna revival is Elisabeth's story, plain and simple. She is tormented by death, his dark shadow leaving its wake upon everything in her life from the moment that she first spoke to him. Takarazuka is Death's story, him giving voice to Elisabeth's tale. He pines for her, she continues to rebuff him no matter how many options he gives her. He frames her narrative, but without the maliciousness. Does that make any sense? I'm not sure. Either way I spent probably $130 on pictures of Tamaki Ryou's face so who am I to talk? I've probably listened to the demo CD they were selling of three songs from the show about 50 times now, and every strain of Tamaki's voice in "Ai to Shi no Rondo" cuts me like a knife. The song that I thought I was going to hate became my new favorite, a fresh insert to the show that is constantly reframed by its reprisals. I love it, and I love her.

If I have one complaint about the show, it would have to be the omission of the death of little Sophie. I feel like that small part really sets the tone for the rest of the show. Like Death is here, and even if you have your small victories you will not outrun him or outlast him. But that's just my take. Otherwise 10/10, would stand in line for five hours to watch another performance if I had the time. Also will trade left kidney come November for dvds.

[zukadiary]

Company/BADDY ~ Moon Troupe 2018

Welp I'm in Japan again, for a bizarre trip considering none of my so-called faves are doing anything I'd normally clamor to see live... There are multiple reasons for that, but a big one is I let the idea of this show seduce me completely. I pegged it my most highly anticipated Grand Theater of the year pretty much as soon as the blurbs came out, anticipated it even more after I read and loved the novel, and pretty much lost my mind as soon as the first BADDY tweets surfaced back in February. So I braved Golden Week crowds in Hibiya to squeeze two viewings out of the last week of the run, and I'm quite pleased with my choices.

COMPANY

I summarized Company and its characters a bit before so I won't do it again; they stuck to the premise well enough.

I'd call Company cute and very pleasant; I thought everyone did a wonderful job and any qualms I have are with Ishida-sensei. My love of the book definitely enhanced my appreciation of the show because I went in already attached to the characters, but it also set me up for disappointment in a few places where Ishida fell flat. It's a bit of a long book though, and overall I think he cut exactly what needed to be cut to fit it into one act.

What I LOVE about the play as a whole is the modernness of it; Takarazuka almost never does shows set in present-day Japan, and its shows set in present-day elsewhere often come awkwardly tinged with an uncool dad vibe (LET'S TAKE A SELFIE FOR FACENOTE a la Vampire Succession, for example). Company felt totally natural and it was really refreshing. That said, something bugged me about the line delivery in pretty much the entire show; it was kind of stiff and hammy. I'm inclined to believe it was the direction, but I do wonder if it was just Patented Takarazuka Acting™ and it happened to stand in greater contrast against a modern play (and I also wonder if that's why they shy away from such stories).

Tamakichi was so beautiful it hurt to look at her. Her character Aoyagi's backstory was changed by absolute necessity; the book opens with his wife leaving him, but in the opening song of the show he tells us she's died from cancer two years back. Book Aoyagi is a nobody at work and pretty much a total loser in general at the beginning, and goes on a real journey of self love and improvement. I am a little sad we didn't get this angle because I think Tamakichi could have done an absolutely heartbreaking job portraying that particular transformation, but I also completely understand that including all that simply wasn't possible. Instead we have Cool Good-Looking Senpai Aoyagi, reliable leader from start to finish, whose journey is injecting some joy back into his life and beginning to heal from his wife's death. Tamakichi is so good at the wholesome everyday hero I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. My biggest takeaway from her performance, other than that she slays in a basic clean-cut suit, is that she has blossomed and is such a top star. NO SHADE to Tamakichi up till now; she's done nothing but impress me since assuming office. But while what stood out to me in Grand Hotel and All for One was the balance of the troupe and how perfectly they allowed their other wonderful players support her, SHE stood out to me in Company all on her own; her presence and confidence were incredible. They kept Chapi the exact right amount of time.

This could be Chapi's most typical top musumeyaku role since Tamakichi took over, but it's still unique in that she's the pursuer in their romance and I love that. Minami, while less confident in her ballet/work life than Stage Aoyagi seems to be in his work life, is slightly more confident in their personal interactions—always trying to joke, lighten the mood for him, drop hints—and it's a lovely dynamic. Her portrayal was probably the most faithful to the book. Chapi is bright and cheery and the smoothest actress, and every bit of real ballet we get to see her do is a blessing.

I had the greatest attachment to Haruka (MiyaRuri) and Yui (Umi-chan) going in. My absolute favorite aspect of the book was the slow burn surrounding everything Haruka: his relationship with Yui especially, but also with Aoyagi and the others. Of course I totally understand there is no room for slow burn in one act. Aside from that, Miya was exactly the Haruka I imagined and that was a joy to watch (her costume and countenance in the Dark Gay Swan Lake scene in particular is a VISION). Yui is another refreshing atypical musumeyaku character and Umi did a great job. It's a pretty good show for musumeyaku roles in general; Sara (Wakaba) and Noa (Touka Yurino) are also pretty big parts. I loved Kumichou in particular, she had some amazing one-liners.

My biggest disappointment was in Ishida's handling of Nayuta (Reiko). Reiko did just fine, but I felt that Ishida sucked all the life out of the character. Book Nayuta is a hot-headed asshole who underneath all the strutting and crude commentary cares a lot about his performing. A lot of that comes from him being a trainee idol and trying to prove that he has a place among his equally hot-headed senpai whereas Stage Nayuta is the star of the group, but it's NOT AT ALL HARD TO IMAGINE that a star idol might be kind of a hot-headed asshole. Stage Nayuta was just kind of pretty and there, and as a result the drama surrounding him joining Dark Gay Swan Lake in the Prince role felt flat to me. This is one change I really think could have been made in the given timeframe. (Trivia bit: in the understandably zuka-fied Final Drama where Nayuta injures Sara on stage with a lift gone wrong, Nayuta locks himself in the bathroom at intermission and won't stop crying from guilt. In the book, he feels his finger slip between her ribs during the lift, and dwelling on the sensation makes him so ill he can't stop throwing up).

Toshi is a VERY cool idol group leader; Ari is, as I predicted, herself; and Ruu, Shimon, and Mayupon are a pretty funny group (boss and salarymen), with Mayupon in particular also absolutely WEARING the normal suit look. Everyone else was pretty light on the stage time.

BADDY

BADDY is a triumph. If you still have the opportunity to watch it sans spoilers, I recommend it, I'm jealous, and I would love to know what that's like. However I can also say that I read almost everything about it before seeing it and I felt no less impact from its brilliance.

It's completely ridiculous, but the balance it strikes in its ridiculousness is absolutely sublime. Simplicity combined with absurdist randomness; both using and upending traditional Takarazuka elements JUST enough; it strikes the perfect note.

There's so much to unpack.

For one thing, it's SO META. We open in Takarazuka City on the Peaceful Planet that has seen no disturbance in 103 years, and down comes the Baddies' spaceship with a thunk. Following the thunk, Tamakichi declares "Looks like you've been waiting quite a while for this," RIGHT BEFORE going into the standard opening announcement—"written and directed by Ueda Kumiko," etc—and I am sure that's her sticking in her own jab about Takarazuka waiting 103 years before letting one of their female directors do a revue. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if the ENTIRE THING was a reference to this; I mean we're in TAKARAZUKA CITY where COOL BADDIES infiltrate a BORING LAME SOCIETY THAT HASN'T CHANGED IN 103 YEARS and then they BLOW EVERYTHING UP and EVERYONE GOES TO HEAVEN. That's bold, UeKumi.

There are smaller amusing references too... Reiko commenting that Amashi Juri's character looks new (she just switched to musumeyaku), Tamakichi kidnapping Reiko and giving her to Miya saying "here you're in charge of improving this person's general everything" which I'm pretty sure is Miya and Reiko's IRL relationship.

(Amashi Juri is so cute I can't stand it, help).

Another thing, it flows so beautifully for a revue with a plot (not a theme, a plot... the only other example of which I can recall at the moment is Nova Bossa Nova, which does not flow like this). Despite the scenes connecting perfectly into one cohesive story, they are still individual scenes that feel like standard revue scenes, with variety and costume changes and great music and really fun choreography.

Chapi is given the queenly treatment she deserves; she's as much the star of the revue as anyone else. The rockette with her in the center might be my personal highlight, and it's the perfect example of what I mean by both using and upending Takarazuka traditions. We've got typical rockette-style costumes, synchronized kicking, the works—but we've traded the high-pitched KYAA for YELLING ABOUT HOW ANGRY THEY ARE in unison with some really badass choreo. It's the perfect balance of respect and rebellion; it works because the rockette is such a standard part of our fan lexicon, and the small differences make us open our eyes wide. Crushed velvet kuroenbi. Ray Bans during the parade...

The duet dance also—passionate and angry and LITERALLY fiery, as Tama and Chapi dance and eventually descend through the floor with one long hard kiss surrounded the entire time by swirling flames. I mention that in case the flame effect (like the starlight during Maa's Chopin in HOT EYES) does not show up on the DVD, which would be tragic.

As beautifully and wholesomely as Tamakichi carried herself in Company she pulled out all the stops and slayed in BADDY. Dynamic (and dangerous) radiantly glowing top star. Miya is downright erotic.

Mayupon is just an alien, in the background, through costume changes, the entire time.

There was a fun amount of gender fluidity presented in sort of a nonchalant? way?? Like not the gratuitous otokoyaku-in-drag situation we usually get; paired with the free-flowing top 4 love quadrangle, it felt, dare I say, progressive.

I had an extra fun experience at my first viewing... TSUKI MATSURI! Tsukigumi has a tradition where one day per run (though I imagine not every single run) they all wear afro wigs in one scene and adlib it to hell and back. Since it was my first time and this did not seem at all out of place against the backdrop of BADDY I didn't even realize until after, but what lucky timing.

I can't wait for UeKumi's next show, and I went into QR and came out only with Tsukigumi bromides, I don’t know myself. 

[harunoosa1987]

The Great Gatsby(Moon 2008)

[arysavignaniacchan]

Goodbye Chapi and Touka chan. 

You will be greatly missed.

photo courtesy of yahoo japan

[unrivaledsun]

Bobby Appreciation ~~ 

@marie-isidore

[thamychan]

I was watching Lupin with some friends today and inspector Ganimard really steals the show!

[oksana810000]

Sweet & Chic

[dream-dragon]

Tsukigumi musumeyaku look so lovely in Japanese clothes.

[zukadiary]

All for One ~ Moon Troupe 2017

This was my first live Tsukigumi since Puck. And really, the only Tsukigumi I’d seen at all since then was Aasa’s A-EN and part of one Arthur stream... so yeah, long time no see, Tsukigumi. I’m not sure anything can beat HOT EYES!! in terms of how far past my expectations it flew... but this is a really close second.

All for One is an original Koike-sensei fantasy involving the Three Musketeers. It’s 2 acts, and I was concerned that it would be presented in a questionable state of doneness and not interesting enough to hold my inevitably sleep-deprived attention. I was very wrong!! The first thing I did after leaving the theater on Tuesday was hunt down a good seat for today, and now I’m kind of desperate for a third chance. This show presses buttons I didn’t know I had (but apparently denim capes and barrel throwing are real turn ons for me). 

--BRIEF SUMMARY, WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS!--

The story is very silly even for a comedy, and nearly all the punchlines are pretty groan-worthy. Chapi is not actually Louis XIV but his twin sister; she was supposed to be tossed aside when they were born but they gave away the wrong baby, and raised her as a boy while frantically searching for the real Louis to no avail. So she’s assumed the role of king, and meets d’Artagnan (Tamakichi) when he’s brought in to give her fencing lessons. d’Artagnan gets overexcited and knocks her down, she gets upset (mostly from being compelled to fence in the first place) and orders him to leave the Musketeers. Later, sick and tired of pretending to be a man—especially now that her mother is trying to concoct a plot marry her off to the Queen of Spain (Umino Mitsuki) despite this lie—she puts on a dress and wig and goes out to mingle. She sees d’Artagnan in a bar drowning his sorrows with the other Musketeers, and starts engaging him in conversation in hopes of drawing his feelings toward “the king” out of him. They fall madly in love! Meanwhile, everyone else in the bar starts making fun of Cardinal Mazarin (Itsuki Chihiro), whose nephew Bernard (Tsukishiro Kanato) is the captain of the royal guard. Bernard and some guards walk in just in time to see this, and the Musketeers are ordered to disband as punishment. They find the real Louis while visiting Porthos who has taken another job as an actor, and the rest of the show is just kind of a general hullabaloo of Chapi trying to figure out how to avoid marriage and be with d’Artagnan, and the Musketeers trying to get the real Louis into the palace and their band back together, while Bernard continues trying to ruin everything. Act 1 felt more polished; it has some really big impressive musical numbers (and I’m always wowed by Tsukigumi’s overall vocal level when I see them live). Act 2 felt like Koike ran out of steam a little; it was more generic Takarazuka, and the final chaotic series of fights on the rotating stairs reminded me an awful lot of the end of Kenshin. He’s also clearly still really excited about sword noises (not complaining... so am I).

It’s not the story that I fell in love with as much as the incredible balance this troupe has APPARENTLY DEVELOPED WHILE I WASN’T LOOKING, and I think Koike’s biggest success here was putting every little piece in exactly the right place to maximize that balance. We all joke that Chapi is the real top star of Tsukigumi, but in All for One she essentially was. MiyaRuri and Toshi are so obviously more polished than Tamakichi, but they don’t hold back, and instead of showing her up it highlights her purity. Reiko definitely doesn’t mesh yet, but Bernard is a ridiculous character, so she’s free to be awkward for now and still totally succeed... plus she’s a type that I think really adds something to the troupe. Ari has the challenge of being overly masculine and funny, and she’s still finding her feet but it’s a great time to make her try this. The energy of the troupe overall has gotten so much less competitive and more FUN AND HAPPY since the last time I watched them. I did not think making Tamakichi a premature top star would accomplish that, but it seems it did, and I’m so glad I was wrong... this Tsukigumi is truly a delight, and I hate them a little for making me want to continue throwing them my money. 

My highlights...

Manaki Reika as Louis XIV/Louise: Completely the star. Every time I see Chapi I think about that 2012 Christmas TV special where she barely knew how to talk, and every bit of growth makes it harder to believe she’s the same person. It’s so fun to see her dance, order people around, do a boy and a girl and both voices (and SING in both voices) all in the same show. I also love that they don’t make her do the standard musumeyaku only-think-of-your-partner thing, and lower herself to raise Tamakichi up; it was so much fun with them both at the center.

Tamaki Ryou as d’Artagnan: I found Tamakichi SO COMPLETELY CHARMING in this, she has the overgrown puppy appeal dialed up to 1000. I just LOVE that they’re aware of her youth and USING IT instead of trying to hide it, and lord I hope that’s not a one-off thing. Having her play the wide-eyed hopeful pure hero/young man IN LOVE (circumstances be damned) worked so well, especially coupled with her very imposing stature—it was adorable. It’s kind of a weird feeling, because she’s definitely not my type, but I still loved watching her so much, just with like... a completely energizing and not life-ruining happiness. IMAGINE THAT.

Miya Rurika as Aramis:

You know that feeling, when you see that one role, played by someone who you *like* but who isn’t *yours* or anything, and you can’t even say “this was a brilliant portrayal because of xyz,” but you’re like, ok, this is just the trash can where I live now, please forward my mail...

That’s all I’m going to say, lest I risk descending into impurity. 

(RIP the lady she targeted during her solo today, with a last second lunge, several rows back from her usual spot)

((Also, she just seems so much more comfortable with both Kacha and top stardom (?) out of the picture. I guess I don’t know if it’s just 3 years’ growth or if a weight really has left her shoulders, but either way it’s made her lethal x1000))

(((Also, her lips are like a Rococo painting. Who looks like that??)))

Uzuki Hayate as Athos: Not generally being a watcher of Tsukigumi, this is probably the first major thing I’ve ever seen Toshi do (although one time I took an internet quiz and it said she’d be my boyfriend). I do know this was kind of a big deal role for her to land, and I loved her in it very much. Her LOOK is ON POINT, and she really completed the chemistry of the main-4 group as the serious one. I particularly liked the dynamic between her and Ari, when they paired them—”SIGH, don’t drink that,” etc. 

Akatsuki Chisei as Porthos: Ari still has a lot of growing to do, but her youthful exuberance and the fact that she’s a giant person worked really well for big, strong, (perpetually drunk?) Porthos. She also had some of my favorite individual scenes, featuring the hurling of shockingly large objects at her troupe mates. I’m glad she’s getting a role that’s forcing her to stretch herself, and I think more than anyone she’ll get better and better as the show progresses. 

Tsukishiro Kanato as Bernard: Predictably, Reiko is completely Yukigumi... but in her favor, she BROUGHT THAT SHIT TO THE SWORD FIGHTS, dear lord girl. Bernard is a safe stretch for her, if that makes sense... it’s a comedic role, which is not her forte, but he’s ridiculous enough that she can go over the top with it, which I think is easier than finding subtlety. And she looks DAMN GOOD all in black, and consistently flanked by Kizuki Yuuma *swoon* and Chinami Karan, who also look damn good in their dark metallics and wildly colored hair (this show really is looks for days). Reiko has also adopted Chigi’s exact furrowed eyebrow smolder face for finale numbers, which is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and VERY WELL suited to her particular brand of otherworldly beauty. 

Saou Kurama as the Dutchess of Montpensier: I’m here for Lady Koma. She’s in love with Louis and determined to teach him the joys of indulging in women until she figures out what’s really going on. It’s not a huge role and not strictly necessary, but it definitely adds another layer of charm and silliness to the story, and it is what it is specifically because it’s Koma. 

I also particularly enjoyed Touka Yurino as Chapi’s mother. 

I think I could watch this every day until I leave. I’m not even sure why I love it so much... it’s pretty dumb. But I love it. Tsukigumi, this was not our arrangement, you were supposed to leave me alone. 

[mrmstanaka]

Magee broke Ryuu and Suzuna XD

[luthienmpl]

Finally watched Tsuki RomiJuri

FUCK YEAH MAGEE. GODDAMN. ALL THE FUCKING AWARDS.

FUCK YEAH CHAPI.

FUCK YEAH SUZUNA.

FUCK YEAH MASAO (but only in the second act. She plays suffering Romeo so much better than happy and in love Romeo, it's kind of amazing. It's like when Mercutio died her brain went SHAKESPEARE MODE: ON.)