Update + Buying goods

These last couple of weeks have been so hard!

My laptop broke (twice) so I am currently using my friend's iPad, which I am really not used to.
On top of that I got sick (twice) and still am.

As a further disappointment, I didn't manage to get a single ticket for the Takarazuka show The Stars, which I wanted to watch really badly. It will be held at the Takarazuka Grand Theater on the 21st and 22nd of December and all top stars from all troupes will take part in it. As it's a once in a year opportunity to see them all at once, I did expect it to be difficult to get the tickets... but I didn't expect them to be sold out the minute the sale begun.
What pisses me off most (please forgive my vocabulary, but saying it makes me angry wouldn't fully convey the extent of my irritation) is that some tickets have been put up for auction at incredibly high prices. How can fans do that to other fans? I'm sure that I am not the only one who has been cut off by this unfairness... but hey, nothing can be done about it. Ruthless people can be found everywhere, that's the truth, no matter how sad it is.

I was actually planning to post some nice screenshots of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but since my laptop's dead, I am not able to do that as of now.
So I had to think of another topic. Actually, a comment to my previous post helped me get an idea: how to buy Takarazuka goods?

Well, I suppose that not everybody reads the comments to my posts, so it might be a good idea to write a post about it.

For those of you who live outside Japan, there are two options that I know of: ask a friend who is/goes to Japan to buy it for your or use a shopping service.
Unfortunately I cannot find the website of the shopping service I used to rely on when I was living in Europe, sorry. But I do know it was called TS associates. They have always been very kind and efficient.
At any rate, many shopping services that deal with Japanese products can be found online, so you might want to try asking them if they can provide Takarazuka goods.
Of course, the inconvenient of using a shopping service is that prices will inevitably be higher than the actual price of the goods.
If you are interested in Takarazuka magasines, such as Takarazuka Graph and Le Cinq, I suggest you to have a look at cd japan's magasine subscription services. I used to subscribe to Takarazuka Graph through them and I was pleased with their service.

If you are lucky enough to live in Japan (or to travel to Japan) more options are available.
First of all, you can visit the official Quatre Reves shops. If you do, I advise you to bring with you only a set amount of money... I ended up spending a lot more than I planned when I went there!
There are several Quatre Reves shops: one in Tkarazuka-shi, two in Tokyo, one in Osaka, one in Nagoya and one in Fukuoka.
You can find the full addresses here: http://tca-pictures.com/quatre/shop/
At Quatre Reves shops you can buy all sorts of goods: from CDs and DVDs to postcards and posters, from show-related official goods to top-star official goods and more.

If you are too lazy to go to one of these shops (which, let me tell you, would be a shame) orifice so e reason you cannot go there (which would be a great pity), then it is also possible to buy goods online through the tca website. Usually you need a Japanese credit card in order to buy goods from Japanese websites, but luckily the tca website also accepts foreign credit cards. So, potentially, it is possible to use this website from abroad, but the problem is that I believe they do not accept foreign shipping addresses (correct me if I'm wrong... I'd be very glad to be wrong!)
The website is as follows: http://www.tca-pictures.net/I have ordered some goods from them before and the service was great!

Of course the website is in Japanese, so it might be a problem if you don't know the language.
If you need help, please don't hesitate to contact me!


One more thing: if there is any topic which interests you, please let me know!
Of course I myself still have much to learn about Zuka, but I would be glad to help as much as I can ;)

Now I must bid you good night... I fear that my fever might rise again!
Thanks for reading! <3

P.S. Please forgive me if the format's weird or if there are weird misspellings... I am really not used to using an iPad!

VIDEOS: Roméo & Juliette

I have been thinking for a while about whether I should post link to videos of full shows or not.

On one side, I know it would be helpful to all those who want to learn more about Zuka but don't have much money to invest in it (besides, I would be a hypocrite if I said I don't watch shows in streaming).

On the other side, I know it is not fair towards the actresses and the industry.

If I had never had the chance of watching shows online, I would never have known much about Takarazuka. The DVDs are way too expensive to buy them on a whim, without being sure that you'll actually like the show. Besides, I think that most people (such as myself) don't have enough money to buy all the shows they wish to watch.

So, I have decided to publish the links to the shows.

I want to believe that all those who are interested in Zuka want the industry to prosper and wish to be fair to the Takarasiennes and all other people who work towards the success of the shows.

Therefore, please let me give you just one little piece of advice: even if you watch the shows online, please try to support our beloved 'siennes as best as you can. Set yourself a budget, watch the shows you are interested in and then pick your favourites. Please buy the DVDs at least for those.

Since it's the first show I have written about in this blog, I think that it would be a good option to start with the links to the videos of the Roméo & Juliette shows.

Star troupe version:

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5
part 6
part 7
part 8


 
 Snow troupe version:
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4

 (On a side note, I am looking forward to this year's Moon troupe version as well!)

Please note that the videos are not uploaded by myself, so if a link stops working I cannot upload it again or fix it myself.

However, please let me know if a link does not work and I shall try to find another one - if possible.

Have a great time :)