Misaki Rion: Phantom Shinjin Kouen

I have been looking for a show starring Misaki Rion to watch, but I could not find any.
I remember a while ago I accidentally found a video of Canaria but didn't watch it. Now I can't find it anymore and I regret not watching it back then...

Anyway, all I could find was a video with some scenes from the flower troupe's Phantom 2011 Shinjin Kouen (version of the show played by younger and less known actresses) in which Misaki Rion played the role of Christine.
Unfortunately, the video is rather short, but I must say that I am pleased with what I have seen: she's pretty and she seems to have a really good voice as well.

 I am really curious to see how well she matches Ouki Kaname, hopefully they'll make a wonderful top star couple!

You can find the video here.

OUKI KANAME + MISAKI RION are Cosmos troupe's next top stars!

Ladies and Gentlemen, great news: Ouki Kaname is going to be Cosmos troupe's otokoyaku top star starting in July!
I am overjoyed! I honestly believe she fully deserves this, I like her a lot. She's great at singing, dancing and acting - and she looks amasing.

As for the new musumeyaku top star, it's going to be Misaki Rion. I must admit, I know nothing of her since I haven't watched any recent flower troupe shows. I hope that she will be a good match for Ouki Kaname, it would be a pity otherwise. If she is, then I think we will witness a new golden combi like Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari.
Wouldn't that be great?

"I want to become a Takarasienne!"

No matter how much I would love to become a Takarasienne, I am perfectly aware that it's impossible to me, so obviously this entry  is not about my dreams and aspirations.

While aimlessly browsing through youtube, I have found a very interesting documentary called "I want to become a Takarasienne!".

As you might imagine, this documentary is about some girls who train for the entrance exam of the Takarazuka Music School and follows their story until after the results are announced.

Only girls who are 15 to 18 years old can enter the school. Each year about 1000 people apply, but only 40 to 50 are actually accepted.

It is really interesting to see how hard these girls work in order to pass the exam. You can really tell how passionate they are.

Unfortunately, there are no English subtitles, but if you know at least some Japanese it's not difficult to understand.

Even if you don't understand Japanese at all, I think that it can still be interesting to watch it - I'm sure you can grasp quite a few things with images alone.

If you need some help to understand parts of it, I would be glad to help, you just need to ask! :D

The documentary has been uploaded in six parts, you can find the first one here.

Enjoy!

Picture taken from the Asahi Shinbun, article announcing the results of the admission exam for this year. 

Salon de Takarazuka

I found out something I was totally unaware of.

I wonder why I never paid attention to the Salon de Takarazuka section of the official website... it's really REALLY interesting!

This morning I decided to have a better look at the official page - I'm usually rather lazy and, since it requires an effort to properly read the contents, all I had ever done before today was just to flick through the pages. Besides, I usually just have a quick look at the goods page and rely on the Takawiki for info.

I'm glad I decided to make the effort to actually pay attention to the contents!

As I was saying, the Salon de Takarazuka section is extremely interesting.

When I saw the name, I wondered what it would be. The first thing that came into my mind was that it could be a coffee shop or "salon de thé" within the premises of the theater, or maybe some kind of chat room.

I was completely wrong.

The Salon de Takarazuka features a "Petit Museum": an exposition of stage costumes, props, photos and more (admission fee is 400 yen, roughly 4 euros).

Exciting as this might be (I will definitely go the next time I'm in Japan), it's still not the most exciting part.

At the Salon de Takarazuka you can actually get a couple of very unique services.

Stage Studio: in the Stage Studio you can try on Takarazuka style costumes and have your picture taken. The costume rental fee is 2625 yen (roughly 24 euros). The price of the printed photo varies depending on the type and size: 500 to 3675 yen (roughly 5 to 34 euros).

You can also choose to have a photomontage of you and your favourite top star made and printed out and/or made into a mobile phone strap. Prices go from 1050 to 1575 yen (roughly 10 to 14 euros).

Stage makeup service: my favourite! Ever wondered about what you would look like if you were a Takarazuka star? Well, you can find that out with a full Takarazuka makeover!

This service includes full Takarazuka style makeup, dressing in Takarazuka style costumes and a photo session.

It takes about 2 hours and an appointment is needed. Appointments can be made either through the internet, on the phone or on location. 

The price is rather high if compared to the Stage Studio, but I bet it's worth it: 11000 or 12000 yen (roughly 100 or 110 euros) depending on the size of the printed photo.

On the stage makeup service page of the website,  you will find the list of the different steps of a Takarazuka style makeup. Interesting, isn't it?

I would definitely love to try all of these things out.

I think I would pick an otokoyaku outfit, probably a Phantom one if available.

I guess that wearing a musumeyaku dress would also be awesome though... argh, this is a hard choice.

Maybe I could go twice?

What about you? Would you like to try it out? (^__~)