Who will be the next Cosmos troupe top star?

I was quite frankly crushed when I found out that Oozora Yuuhi (current Cosmos Troupe otokoyaku top star, picture on the left) was retiring.

Though I realise that she is probably not one of the most technically skilled singers, or the best looking otokoyaku, I still like her very much.
She is an excellent actress: as far as I have seen, she always is spot-on in her character interpretation, no matter whether she portrays a stern historical character, a silly young man or a mysterious adventurer.
Probably, the fact that I totally love Shangri-la's Sora is also one of the reasons why I like Oozora Yuuhi. Thinking that I can't see her in such roles anymore makes me a bit sad.

After the first shock, I started thinking: who will take her place as Cosmos troupe top star?

Some time ago, when she got the lead role in The Journalist and the Emperor, I feared that Hokushou Kairi (picture on the right) might take Oozora Yuuhi's place. That would have been a real disappointment for me, since I don't like Hokushou Kairi at all. To me, she has not enough charisma, nor the appropriate looks. Her voice is ok, I guess, but nothing extraordinary.
But it has been announced that she is going to enter the Senka troupe (a group formed of elder actresses who do not wish to retire and take on various roles as support for other groups instead), so she will not be Oozora Yuuhi's successor. I feel relieved.

I have a new guess as to who will be the new top star and, if I am right, I shall be very pleased. Not because I would have guessed right, but because I like the candidate.

So, here we go: my guess is that Ouki Kaname (picture on the left) will take on the top star role in Cosmos Troupe. How is that?
Well, probably it is a very obvious deduction, but still.
She joined the troupe in spring 2011, just after Ranju Tomu (at the time the main candidate, I think) left Cosmos troupe to become Flower troupe's top star. Honestly, I doubt that's a coincidence.
The fact that Ouki Kaname is going to get the lead role in Robert Capa also hints that way, doesn't it?

I think it would be awesome if it really happened and I probably would regret a bit less Oozora Yuuhi's retirement.
I know I've said it before, but, even if I haven't seen her perform much, I really like her. I loved her Tybalt in Star troupe's Romeo and Juliette and I am eager to see more of her, especially in prominent roles.

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Higher than the Sky of Paris

Two friends of mine got married in Paris on Saturday the 18th.

For anybody who is not from there (such as myself), a wedding in Paris sounds like the most glamorous event ever. Honestly, it was really nice.

The church was gorgeous (église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont) and both of my friends were really well dressed - he looked like a 19th century gentleman, and there is nothing I like better!

The dinner was awesome as well. The location was the Pavillon Royal in the Bois de Boulogne: doesn't just the sound of it give you frissons of excitement?

Traveling to Paris is glamorous, and doing so by train adds to its old-fashioned appeal... besides, at least from where I live, it is cheaper than going by plane.

Once the means of transportation had been chosen, my next concern was what to do to kill time on my way there.

I tend to sleep on trains and planes, I fall asleep the instant I sit down, but when going to Paris one has to keep an air of dignity (sleeping on the train with my head twisted at an odd angle and my mouth wide open would have definitely ruined the air of glamour surrounding my journey).

I quickly found an excellent option to slumber: watching a Takarazuka. It's always an excellent option to almost anything, I believe.

But of course, the show had to be chosen carefully. I came across one that fit perfectly the profile that I wanted my journey to have: "Higher than the Sky of Paris". Could any show fit any better?

*MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS*

"Higher than the Sky of Paris" is a comedy about two swindlers who meet Gustave Eiffel.

It was enacted by the Moon troupe in 2007.

The main actresses were Sena Jun, Oozora Yuuhi, Kiriya Hiromu and Ayano Kanami: Sena Jun and Ayano Kanami were top stars at that time, Oozora Yuuhi and Kiriya Hiromu are the current top stars of Cosmos and Moon troupe (though both of them are going to retire soon).

Seeing these great actresses on the same stage is definitely worthwhile.

They are really different one from another, but they all are equally talented.

I guess you could say that "Higher than the Sky of Paris" is not your typical Takarazuka - or at least, it's not the most popular kind of Takarazuka.

It is not my favourite kind of story either, but I must admit that it was entertaining.

In this show, you will not find great romance or intense, dramatic scenes, but it is definitely worth watching if you feel like having a laugh.

The plot is rather simple yet unexpected (two swindlers helping Gustave Eiffel to build the famous Tour Eiffel, isn't that unexpected?) and interesting.

It gives room to quite a few funny, and in some cases moving, moments.

I like the fact that the swindlers, Armand and Georges Jacquet (Sena Jun and Oozora Yuuhi) at first seem to be rather ruthless, though silly, but prove to be quite sensitive (and even dumber than they seemed) as the story goes on.

One thing that I didn't really like is that most of it was acted out, but not sang.

There were two main songs plus a few other little tunes, but nothing extraordinary. Catchy, though, very catchy. I kept singing over and over the main songs for a couple of days.

It honestly is a pity that there were not more songs, because all of the actresses are really great singers - especially Kiriya Hiromu, her voice is amasing.

Despite the fact that there was not enough music for my taste, they acted so well that I didn't get bored at all. The three main characters were great.

I especially liked Georges Jacquet (Oozora Yuuhi) and Gustave Eiffel (Kiriya Hiromu), the first for its funny stupidity, the second because of its awkwardness. It was really effective.

I had already seen Oozora Yuuhi in some other performances, but never in this kind of role. She did a lot better than I thought she would. Since I was used to see her in more serious roles (such as my beloved Sora in "Shangri-la") I honestly didn't expect much from this character... but I loved it. She performed really well: the tone of her voice, her facial expression and her movements, they all were really convincing.

As for Kiriya Hiromu, I must admit her looks don't really appeal to me so I had not watched any show starring her yet. Unexpectedly, her dishevelled Eiffel was great. She really looked like some kind of mad scientist and the way she stuttered was really funny. Besides, as I said before, I was really impressed with her voice, probably the best out of the three main characters.

Sena Jun was, of course, really good. I had only watched her in "Elisabeth" before so I couldn't really imagine what she would be like as Armand Jacquet - a character so different from Der Tod! I was pleased, though I liked her better as Der Tod... but I guess that's because "Elizabeth" is closer to my taste.

Ayano Kanami's character, the flower-girl Mimi, didn't really stand out much. She didn't have a lot of importance for the main stream of the plot, though she was essential for the development of a few side scenes that were both moving and funny.

Anyway, she's cute and her voice is good, but there's not much more to say about her performance, I think.

I believe it's also worth mentioning Izumo Aya's performance. I had already seen her in some shows ( I mainly recall her in "Phantom" and "The Rose of Versailles") and I have always liked her very much. She's really skilled and her voice is simply awesome.

Overall, it was a really refreshing show.

The songs and dances that were performed before the beginning of the story (which actually startled me... aren't this kind of scenes usually played at the end of the show?) were nice. The song "Champagne" was a bit stereotypical (it does seem like Japanese people often associate France with Champagne, romance and glamour, doesn't it?) and the fact that the couple dance was a Pasodoble confirmed the fact that sometimes Japanese people really have a confused idea of what Europe is like - what's a Pasodoble got to do with France??

Anyway, it's not one of my favourite shows but, as I said earlier, it is worth watching if what you're looking for is a show that will make you laugh.

Besides, the quality of the performance is high, so I do not regret watching it at all :)

Roméo & Juliette -videos-

I've been thinking that yesterday's review might be difficult to understand if you have never seen any version of this show, so I have decided to link some videos of a few scenes in Romeo and Juliette.

The first video shows some bits and pieces taken from Snow troupe's version.

I couldn't find a similar video for Star troupe, so I'm linking two videos: the first scene of the show and the first Romeo-Juliet duet.

Enjoy!

Roméo & Juliette

*MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Since yesterday was Valentine's day, I thought there would be no better way to celebrate than to watch something utterly romantic.

So, of course, I picked one of the most romantic, well-known love stories: Romeo and Juliet. Does anybody ever get tired of this story? I don't.

Anyway, I picked the 2010 Star troupe version (pic on the right), since I had already watched the 2011 Snow troupe version (pic on the left) some time ago... and way more than once.

As I have watched two versions of Roméo & Juliette by now, I believe a comparison is unavoidable.

First of all, though, I would like to give a general assessment and to point out some things that were in both versions and that I particularly liked.

No point talking about the plot, it's a masterpiece, that goes without saying.

The music is awesome, that's a good start. But not only the music is good, the costumes are rather original, not the usual Takarazuka style, and (generally) very beautiful.

The way the stage was set up was also nice, with a rotating part that made it possible to switch from Juliet's balcony to the front door to Father Laurence's place in the blink of an eye.

I totally loved the parts in which Love and Death danced together and/or with the characters. The musical would not have been as good without that. In some situations it really helped to understand what was going on, what would happen and how the characters felt. Simply gorgeous.

By the way, did anybody notice that Death and Elisabeth's Der Tod look really similar? I wonder if it is just a coincidence...

As I said earlier, I watched the Snow troupe version first and I think that's a factor to take into account: I have the tendency to like best the first version I watch, even though that does not always happen. So please bear this in mind while you read on ;-)

Let's start from the first main characters that appear: Tybalt, Benvolio and Mercutio (respectively Ouki Kaname, Suzumi Shio and Kurenai Yuzuru in the Star version, Ozuki Toma, Misuzu Aki and Sagiri Seina in the Snow version).

I loved both versions of Tybalt and I believe they were rather similar. They acted in a similar way and they had the same hairstyle and pretty much the same clothes. Both sang well, but I liked Ouki Kaname's voice best and I overall preferred her Tybalt. Whilst I only liked Ouzuki Toma's Tybalt, Ouki Kaname made me completely fall for her character.

Misuzu Aki didn't really impress me, but I must say her voice was good... which, I'm sorry, I can't really say about Suzumi Shio. I liked the looks of Star troupe's Benvolio better than in the Snow troupe version, but the singing... nope. In the part in which Benvolio sings about how he should tell Romeo of Juliet's supposed death, I didn't like the way Suzuki Shio sang, but I remember that, when Misuzu Aki sang that part, my eyes almost filled up with tears.

As for Mercutio, Kurenai Yuzuru seemed just plain to me. The look was nothing out of the ordinary, her voice not very powerful, her acting good but not excellent. I dare say her performance was a good one, but not up to the standards of some other actresses.

Segiri Seina, on the other hand, was extremely convincing in her role. Her hair made her look a bit insane, which I believe really fit with Mercutio's image. She acted a bit over the top, but I think that's also a characteristic of Mercutio's. I didn't like her voice that much, though, not very powerful and not too precise in my opinion.

Then, of course, I cannot but talk about the main characters, Romeo (Yuzuki Reon for the Star troupe and Otozuki Kei for the Snow troupe) and Juliet (Yumesaki Nene for the Star troupe and Maihane Mimi for the Snow troupe).

Let's start from Juliet.

From my point of view, both actresses are good but neither one is stunning. Yumesaki Nene probably has a better voice than Maihane Mimi (she seemed to struggle a little with the highest notes) but I don't like the way Yumesaki Nene looks in general, so I honestly couldn't love her performance. Besides, Maihane Mimi looks younger, or maybe just more "fresh", so to me the role of a sixteen years old girl deeply in love suited her best.

Anyway, I don't have anything especially bad to point out for either one - nor anything especially good, for that matter.

There's one other thing, though, even if it does not concern the actresses: Maihane Mimi's dress in the balcony scene... yuck! That combination of weird green and pink was absolutely yucky. Yumesaki Nene's dress was better, lacy white and pink, though not outstanding either. At least it was bearable to look at. As for the dress Juliet wears at the masked dance, on the other hand, they were similar, but I liked Snow troupe's best. The small hat slightly tilted on the head was really cute.

Romeo... well, what can I say about Romeo?

Actually, there is one simple word that can be used to describe both performances: WOW. Honestly, WOW.

Both Yuzuki Reon and Otozuki Kei are excellent actresses and awesome singers. It's been hard to pick my favourite, and I have swayed a few times, but I managed to make up my mind. Just like what I said regarding Maihame Mimi, I believe that Otozuki Kei looked closer to the image of Romeo - at least for me. Young, fresh and desperately in love, lively, with a slightly crazy air at times. Her smile was so open and sincere that it made my heart shrink.

Yuzuki Reon, on the other hand, had a completely different aura. I wouldn't know how to put it into words, but I think that she would suit better some other kind of role, something more... adult, maybe?

I don't know either Otozuki Kei or Yuzuki Reon well, so I can't be sure, but that's the way I felt about their performance.

There is one more thing, but a tiny one, about Yuzuki Reon that I didn't like. I noticed that she tends to twist her mouth slightly while she sings and, though I know it is only a very small and rather irrelevant thing, it grew a bit annoying by the end of the show. Sorry Yuzuki Reon, you are definitely awesome, but not my favourite.

It's not of much importance, but I liked better Otozuki Kei's clothes than Yuzuki Reon's. Oh well.

I will not analyse all characters, but I wish to say that I also liked Paris and the nurse better in the Snow troupe's version.

When Paris and Lord Capulet agree on Juliet's marriage, I loved the way they bounced about and looked so silly in the Snow troupe's version. It was more comical than in Star troupe's version.

The same also goes for the scene in which Lady Capulet and the nurse try to convince Juliet to marry Paris. It was really funny!

Well, I think you might have already guessed, but I overall preferred Snow troupe's performance.

However, they both were really good and it wasn't that easy to pick my favourite.

I would honestly advise to watch both, if you like the story and the music, because I loved them both and I would watch them again thousands of times!

Welcome to the world of Takarazuka!

宝塚の世界へようこそ！

Whether you are a "veteran" fan of Takarazuka, a new adept or even if you know nothing about this colourful world, I hope you will enjoy reading my thoughts and reviews!

There are so many different aspects to Takarazuka ("Zuka" in short) that one just never knows enough about it, and it is very difficult to decide where to start from when explaining what it is.

Honestly, when I start talking about my passion for Zuka to people, they don't really get what I find so fascinating about it and they sort of freak out.

I guess that to understand the charm of this world you need to watch some of its shows first.

Maybe you also need to have some kind of natural inclination towards androgen characters, kitsch costumes, grand atmospheres and aesthetics that don't belong to your own culture (as far as my knowledge goes, the aesthetics of Takarazuka do not really fit into Japanese aesthetics either, so it could be considered "foreign" even to them).

But first things first: what is Takarazuka?

Takarazuka is a Japanese type of theater that features musicals played only by female actresses.

Having only male actors is something that most people have heard of (think of Kabuki or even of European theater up to the XVII century), but having only female actresses is a lot more rare.

So in Takarazuka you have women playing both female (musumeyaku) and male (otokoyaku) roles.

The actresses attend a special school during two years in which they have dancing, singing and acting classes.

During that period, the stage sex of the actresses is decided according to their physical appearance, skills and (though it is not as important a factor as the others) personal preference.

Once their stage sex is decided, they will stick to it (even when they are not on stage) until they leave their troupe.

It is rather rare to have actresses play both female and male roles, but it is not unprecedented.

There are five Takarazuka troupes:

花組 - Flower troupe

雪組 - Snow troupe

星組 - Star troupe

月組 - Moon troupe

宙組 - Cosmos troupe

Actresses often switch from one troupe to another at some point, they sometimes switch between several of them during their career.

Each troupe has its own top stars: one otokoyaku and one musumeyaku.

The top stars play the lead roles in the shows of their troupe with few exceptions.

The "real" top star is only one, though: the otokoyaku top star. The otokoyaku have a higher status compared to the musumeyaku and they usually have a wider fan-base as well.

The musicals played in Takarazuka are often set abroad, mainly in Europe, and the genre is predominantly romance.

Some of them are based on famous manga (such as "The Rose of Versailles"), others on existing musicals (such as "Elisabeth" or "Romeo and Juliette") and some are original Takarazuka productions (e.g. "Never say goodbye").

The costumes are stunning, sometimes getting to a pitch of kitsch-ness that is almost unbelievable. They love sequins, rhinestones and feathers.

You might wonder now about what is there to Takarazuka that fascinates me so much.

1. The actresses are incredibly skilled. Of course, some are "better" than others and I do have my favourites and my, let's say, "not-so-favourites", but overall the level is amasingly high.

I am not a singing, dancing or acting expert, so I cannot go in detail, but my impression is that they do extremely well in all these fields.

2. The otokoyaku. Their mere existance is one good reason to watch Takarazuka. Some of them are so good at what they do that I can't get myself to think of them as women - given that their purpose is precisely to enact men, isn't that a wonderful thing?

I must say, their "male" performance is strongly stereotyped (and so is the musumeyaku's "female" performance) but still, there is some kind of "magic" to it that is difficult to put into words.

The musumeyaku are not one of the reasons I like Takarazuka, though for some people they are. Don't misunderstand me: I believe them to be excellent at what they do, but somehow I am not as impressed with them as I am with the otokoyaku.

3. I love musicals. I guess that, if I didn't, I probably could not stand Takarazuka. But, given that I am absolutely a huge fan of musicals, I really appreciate the variety of their shows: they go from comedy to drama, from sci-fi to traditional stories. Besides, they perform about 3 shows per troupe every year! One can just never get bored.

4. I loooove romance, and I like it the "old-way". Yes, even when it's cheesy.

Of course, everyone has their own reasons to like Takarazuka and I don't mean to say that your reasons for liking it should be the same as mine.

I simply hope that, if you were not sure whether to plunge into the world of Takarazuka or not, I have motivated you to go for it!

Last but not least, if you want to learn more about Takarazuka, I suggest you to visit the TakaWiki. You'll find loads of interesting information there!

P.S. The picture I have uploaded for this post is of Wao Youka, my absolute favourite otokoyaku, in the show "Phantom" (2004).