希望を捨てるな！The Count of Montecristo / Amour de 99!! (II)

On Sunday the 17th, Monday the 18th and Sunday the 24th of March I went to watch  the new Cosmos troupe show, The Count of Montecristo / Amour de 99!!

I loved it so much! And I must say, I liked it more the second and third time. The first time I was a bit taken aback by the fact that they changed quite a bit the story compared to the novel. I understand it was necessary in order to turn a novel which is over a thousand pages long into a one hour and a half musical, though.

At any rate, the music is first class! The songs got stuck badly in my head, so now I am really looking forward to the DVD and CD!

WARNING: from here on there might be SPOILERS!

The first act, The Count of Montecristo, was a bit difficult to follow at first, but extremely well done. Not only the songs were great (one of the songs actually makes me want to cry every single time I listen to it), but the setting was also really really good. In particular, the scene in which Edmont Dantès is in prison, the stage is really awesome: there are two levels, and on the lower level you can see Dantès getting more and more desperate by the day, while on the upper level you see scenes of what happens in the lives of those who are free (Mercedes, Danglars, Fernand etc).

There were a few extremely dramatic scenes, but also a couple of really funny ones. The scenes in which appeared Bertuccio (Ozuki Toma) and the pirates were often the stress releaf. In particular, there is one scene with Bertuccio, Vampa and the pirates/smugglers which is really funny. I am not an expert of Japanese accents, but I have a feeling that the pirates speak with a Kyushu accent... which would make sense since I believe that Kyushu was an area with quite a lot of pirates in the past. And that was also funny. (I might be wrong though, so feel free to correct me!)

It goes without saying that Ouki Kaname was amasing in the role of the count: every time I see her on stage my admiration towards her increases. Not only is she extremely beautiful, but she's an excellent actress. Her singing might not be one of the best among the top stars, but she conveys such emotions that I get lost for words. She's the best ;)

I must say I was also really really pleased with Misaki Rion: her Mercedes was spot on. In several scenes she moved me to tears. Thumbs up for her! I'm ashamed to say I don't usually pay much attention to musumeyaku (unless they annoy me) but she was so good that I feel it's my duty to spear a few words for her. Just as I thought, I think that Kaname and her make a great combi.

Yumi Hiro, Ozuki Toma, Asaka Manato, Nanami Hiroki, Hasumi Yuuya... there are so many awesome actresses in the current cosmos troupe that I can't possibly talk about all of them. Honestly, great GREAT job sora gumi!!!

The second act, Amour de 99!!, was full of energy and interesting. It was a celebration of Takarazuka which followed its history. The actresses performed dances from several old shows.

Some of the dances were really amasing (there was one with blue costumes which I particularly loved, but I can't remember the name right now, and I don't have the program at hand... sorry).

The most notable part was probably the "pineapple queen" dance, in which Kaname wore the pineapple queen costume and showed her bare legs. She was awesome! I am always amased by the fact that she looks gorgeous both as a man and as a woman. 

I also really liked the tuxedo dance. It was actually very simple, with plain black tuxedos and red roses. I liked the fact that Kaname wore a tuxedo just like everybody else, with no rhinestones on it. It was really very very elegant. At the end of the dance Kaname gave the rose to one of the spectators... and I died of envy ;) every single time!

Another important part was probably a dance in which Ozuki Toma danced with Kaname dressed as a musumeyaku. I must say though that I don't think that Ozuki Toma pulls off the musumeyaku role too well. Somehow, I kept on seeing a man dressed as a woman on stage XD

On a side note, there is one scene in which Kaname has to take off a wig and a fake beard on stage. On the 18th, the beard got stuck and the mic fell off. I was impressed by her reaction: she didn't show any sort of emotion, she went on with her lines as if nothing had happened, and as soon as she could turn around so that the mic side of her face was hidden, she put it back on swiftly. She did so well, that my friends who were not looking through the opera glasses at that moment didn't even notice it. Congratulations Kaname, you really are a pro!

This is about it. Awesome show, definitely a must see. I'm glad I got to see it three times, and I wish I could watch it again. This show is really special to me, not only because I like it, not only because my beloved Ouki Kaname stars in it, but for one more reason... it's going to be my last Takarazuka show in quite some time. :(

Unfortunately, I had to leave Japan on Monday... so now I'm stuck in Europe and I'm missing Takarazuka (and plenty of other stuff) already. I wish I could have stayed, but I like to think of this as destiny: there must be a reason why I had to come back to Europe.

At any rate, even though I'm not in Japan any more, I will do my best to keep this blog updated with interesting news and curious facts.

Unfortunately I only have access to a rather bad Internet connection at the moment, so I cannot upload photos. I am really very sorry, but I don't have a choice. I hope to be able to get a better connection within a couple of months (which sounds like a hell of a long time...)

Thank you so much for reading my blog! :)

P.S. 希望を捨てるな！(don't throw away hope) is a line in one of The Count of Montecristo's songs. Since I was feeling down about having to leave Japan, it touched me deeply...
It also is sort of the message of the whole show :) Great, isn't it?

The Count of Montecristo / Amour de 99!!

Today's a happy day: the sale of Cosmos troupe's Montecristo tickets has started!

I can't wait to go watch this show, in which will of course star my dearest Ouki Kaname together with the gorgeous Misaki Rion.

This is going to be their second show as top stars, let's hope it is at least as succesful as the first!

I have bought tickets for March the 18th, so it's going to be a bit of a long wait...

In the meanwhile, enjoy the promo video ;)

Akatsuki Chisei: this year's Hatsumoude Poster Model

This is Akatsuki Chisei (暁千星) and she's this year's Hatsumoude Poster Model.
Wondering what that is?

Every year the Hankyu corporation picks a couple of people who will go to the first visit to the shrine on behalf of the company and feature in a series of posters.
One of these people is always a Takarasienne who has debuted during the past year, usually the one who has graduated at the top of her class. The 'siennes who are chosen to be Hatsumoude Poster Model usually go on to have a brilliant career, e.g. Hanafusa Mari, Yuzuki Reon, Misaki Rion...
You can find a full list here.

These past weeks the Hankyu Railway stations walls are covered in these posters, and this picture also features on the front page of TOKK (a free information paper published by the Hankyu Hanshin Toho group).

Akatsuki Chisei debuted in Brilliant Days / Climax (Cosmos troupe) and was also featured in JIN / Gold Spark (Snow troupe).
She has not been assigned to a troupe yet (like all other Takarasiennes who graduated in 2012).
It's completely unrelated to Takarazuka, but it might be interesting: she is the daughter of a former pro baseball player (Yamauchi Kazuhiro).

I am looking forward to see how she improves and grows, and I wish her all the best for her Zuka career!

In TOKK was also featured an interview. I hope to get time to translate it soon :)

LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES @TAKARAZUKA

It's been over two months since I last posted something and it feels like a horribly long time.

Honestly, I do have a good excuse for the delay: I have left my job and moved to Kyoto, where I am going to be studying for a while. Moving and saying goodbye to everybody has taken up quite a lot of my time. Now I have almost finished settling in my new apartment, and I can start breathing again.

As you probably already know, Kyoto is pretty close to Takarazuka - of course this is not the main reason why I have chosen to come here, but it has certainly had a degree of influence on my choice of city.

And here come the relevant news: on Friday I have been to the Grand Theater to watch the Legend of the Galactic Heroes!

It has been my first time watching a Takarazuka live, and let me tell you: it's an incredible experience.

I know it sounds obvious, but it truly is so much better than what one can gather from the DVDs that I am at a loss for words strong enough to describe it.

What really is astonishing is that I believe the singing sounds even better live.

It was my first time not only at the Grand Theater, but also in Takarazuka, and I have found both the theater and the city very pretty.

The theater doesn't look that great from the outside, but the inside is actually really nice. I expected it to be a lot more over-the-top, but it isn't. It's elegant and... well, very grand indeed.

But the important part is the show... and I have no clue about how to start.

It has been an amasing, dream-like experience.

To be frank, at first I was a bit sceptical when I heard that they would make a Takarazuka based on a sci-fi story. I must also say that I was particularly displeased as it is Kaname's first show as top star (and as you have certainly already guessed, she is my absolute favourite 'sienne). Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot - curiosity won against my disbelieving side. I am glad it did.

The plot was actually pretty interesting and a lot deeper than I thought -if any fan of the anime reads this, I sincerely apologise: I did thing that it would be just meaningless flying and killing, but I am ready to confess that I was utterly wrong.

The setting was fabulous. They found some very original ways to make the audience feel the movement of the spaceships and to make it credible. Of course, the fight scenes were just a minor part of the show, but those were the scenes that I worried most about. They were magnificent. The truly great thing is that they were also different from anything I had ever seen before.

I don't wish to spoiler too much, but just try imagining screens, laser lights and steam...

...then mix all this with some terrific costumes. They were similar to those in the anime, but with a Zuka touch to them which made them breathtaking. There was the right amount of glitter, the right amount of  swishing capes (only one, actually, but still, it was the right amount), the right amount of stern military uniforms.

Let's not forget the music, which was perfection. There were some really nice tunes, and, as I stated earlier, the voices of the actresses were even better than what I expected. And let me tell you: my expectations were really high on that score.

I was left speechless by the fact that all the voices blended together so well.

I am afraid that this isn't a very complete review of the show, but as I said, I am afraid to spoiler too much.

Let me just add a couple of things:

1. I hope that they will make a sequel... it's not just that it would be nice, I believe that the show actually needs it in order to feel complete.

2. I feel that a huge CONGRATULATIONS must be said to all of soragumi: the new troupe is stronger than I could have ever imagined.

I am also very pleased with Misaki Rion, even though I would have loved for her to have a bit more of space within the show. But anyway, I can now safely say that she's not only gorgeous, she's also an excellent 'sienne.

There would still be so much more to say, but I'm afraid that I might bore you. Besides, it's really late here and I haven't been sleeping much of late due to jetlag.

I might write another post adding details later on, but I can't promise it.

What I am sure I will do, is to publish the pictures of all the goods I have bought :D

As for now, please have a look at the pics of the theater and its surroundings.

There is also a photo of Kaname... though I am aware that it is impossible to recognise her and that the photo is blurred. I shall post it all the same, because it's the only proof I have that I saw her leave the theater ;)

I am sorry for the quality of the photos, I didn't have my best camera on me. I hope you enjoy them anyway!

Cheers!

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?