Ocean's 11

This year the Flower troupe is playing Ocean's 11, which was already played by the Star troupe in 2011/2012.

I went to watch it with some friends on February 17th. Honestly, I wasn't sure whether to go or not at first, since Ranju Tomu is not among my favourites, but then I decided that it was worth giving it a shot.

At first the plan was to buy standing tickets, but since they had not sold out all the seating tickets we could not do that. So we ended up buying B seats with a discount, which on one side was good, and besides, that's also a new experience.

I actually enjoyed the show very much. It was extremely funny and the songs were catchy.

I had never seen any show played by the current Flower troupe and I was impressed by some of the actresses.

I still don't particularly like Ranju Tomu, for some reason, but I was pleasantly surprised by Nozomi Futo, towards whom I felt an instinctive dislike but turned out to be an excellent actress. I don't particularly like her features, but her singing is high class and she played her role extremely well.

I also liked Harukaze Misato, Seto Kazuya and Taiga Rin (though she only played a small part, but I loved her voice!).

Overall, I think that most of them were excellent.

However, I was rather disappointed in Hanagata Hikaru: I felt that her singing wasn't very accurate and her voice wasn't powerful at all. I am no expert, though, so maybe that's just how I feel about it.

Ranno Hana is an excellent performer with a great voice, though she doesn't do as good as I expected in the high notes.

At any rate, it was a really enjoyable show and we all laughed like crazy. I'm glad I decided to give it a shot!

We also went to the Petit Museum, in which this time they had the Saint Exupéry / Conga! exhibition.

Unfortunately I haven't seen that show, but after seeing the costumes for Saint Exupéry I definitely want to watch it. The Little Prince costume is the cutest thing ever!

I don't feel as enthusiastic about Conga!, though. I have only seen some bits and pieces while at the Petit Museum, but I thought that the costumes were too over the top and the music... well, just not very appealing.

The museum was fun and we got to play around with some props. I think it is really worth it to go to the museum every time they get a new show. Seeing the costumes is always a great experience.

It was a great day all in all, and I can't wait  for the next show!

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 :)

Angel's Ladder (Pride and Prejudice)

I am a huge (really huge) fan of Jane Austen's.

I've read all of her books, some of them several times.

I've watched all known movie and TV series productions of her works.

So, honestly, I was really thrilled when I found out that star troupe's Angel's Ladder (天使のはしご, Tenshi no Hashigo) is a version of my beloved Pride and Prejudice.

A combination of Takarazuka and Jane Austen sounds enthralling to say the least!

I believe that its romantic atmosphere fits perfectly the Takarazuka style, and it could be really interesting to see what they come up with to render the intrinsic irony of the story.

Of course i am also really looking forward to find out how they render the characters.

One extra point in favour of this show: Suzumi Shio (who is unfortunately retiring in august) is the lead.

I liked her performance in Romeo and Juliette and I am really curious to see her in the role of Darcy.

I have high expectations of her.

Unfortunately I have not been able to watch the show yet (I think that the video might just not be available yet), but I have found a teaser video that has quite frankly made the wait even more unbearable than it already was.

I fervently advise you to have a look! Here's the link. ;)

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).