PUCK!

Jeez... I’ve done it again! I’ve abandoned my blog for months on end L

I always tell myself I need to find time to write here, but it’s much harder than it seems. Actually I’ve been so busy I’ve had very little time to watch Zuka – though I have watched some, of course.

At any rate, today I feel the urge of recommending and praising a show which has bewitched me in the past couple of months…

PUCK

Please be warned: there might be spoilers!

Puck was staged by the moon troupe in ’92. The top star at the time was Suzukaze Mayo (whom I ranked 5^th in my previous post). Thanks to this show I have come to love Suzukaze Mayo even more than I did before: her acting is so meticulous and at the same time natural! Not to mention her incredible singing.

Anyway, back to the show.

Puck is loosely based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night Dream but the whole focus is on Puck, a cute but somehow clumsy and mischevious fairy, and the way he interacts with a group of humans, in particular a girl called Hermia. There are several sub-plots and interesting characters, such as the king and queen of fairies or the rock-star-to-be Bobby played by Amami Yuki.

The show has both really funny and really moving scenes and is particularly interesting because of the evolution of the main character. At the beginning Puck is just a newborn fairy who knows nothing of the world, innocent and perky. As the show goes on, Puck evolves slowly but continuously, grows into awareness while going through different emotional stages. Honestly, I think that playing such a character must be very difficult and Suzukaze Mayo is so good! She honestly made my heart melt.

Amami Yuki is also really good in this funny role, she made me laugh really hard!

The show was also somehow really original… let’s just mention a pair of roller skates and moving donkey ears!

This show is DEINITELY a must see!

I usually just post links to bits of shows, but I'll just go ahead and post the link to the full show this time.
I know that some people think this is not right, but here's what I think: if there had not been online videos I would not have become a Takarazuka fan and I would not have supported Takarazuka by going to the theatre and buying a bashful amount of goods XD

So, here is the link to the show! Enjoy!

When otokoyaku play female roles... Part I: Ouki Kaname

Sooner or later, all otokoyaku end up playing a female role, whether it be a big or a small role, just for one dance or for a whole play (well, maybe not all otokoyaku, but many :P ).

Opinions on otokoyaku playing musumeyaku roles are varied.

I must say that most of the times I get a weird feeling when I see an otokoyaku playing a female role. I can't really explain why, but I suppose that it might be because I'm so used to seeing them as men that it's weird to see them playing women... even though they are women!

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to have a look at what otokoyaku playing musumeyaku look like, and I decided to start from my beloved Ouki Kaname - my favourite top star at the moment, as you probably already know ;)

Kaname has played various female roles, though mainly short ones. She has probably played more female roles than I know of, but here are four roles I know about, in chronological order, from the oldest to the newest!

1. Queen of the night

Takarazuka's dream kingdom, 2005, Snow troupe

It's a short video, but I think that Kaname looks fabulous. In this dance both Kaname and Ozuki Toma play the queens of the night... sexy! ;)

Here's the video!

2. Cinderella

Miroirs, 2008, Snow troupe

This is a video I never get tired of! Kaname looks fabulous in her Cinderella dress, and I love the fact that in the end her otokoyaku side clearly comes out... :P

Click here for the video!

3. In the desert...

Luna Rossa, 2011, Cosmos troupe

In this dance Kaname is soooo sexy! I honestly think she looks fabulous... though I must say, it's so easy to tell she actually is an otokoyaku ;) But, compared to some other otokoyakus, she is still feminine enough :P

Unfortunately I couldn't find a video for this scene, but here are some screen caps I have taken from the DVD ;)

4. Pineapple Queen

Amour de 99!!, 2013, Cosmos troupe

Over the top but extremely pretty, welcome this year's Pineapple Queen!

It's an unforgettable performance, trust me ;)

Unfortunately there is no DVD yet, so I couldn't take any screen shots, but here's a couple of photos of the Pineapple Queen :D

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 ;)

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!

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!

DRACULA

Uff... it's been a while since I last wrote on here!

Sorry for the absence!

While I was away from the blog, I finally managed to watch a show that I had been wanting to watch for quite some time.

It's not actually Takarazuka, but it's linked to it: the Japanese version of DRACULA, starring Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari (and also Natsumi Abe, who previously was part of Morning Musume).

The show was very good, though I must (reluctantly) admit, that I liked Wao better back in the Zuka days.

Still, the show is definitely worth watching.

I honestly think it's awesome that the golden combi Wao-Hanafusa is still active even though their Takarazuka days are over. No matter what the reason behind it might be, I love that.

I also found out something pretty interesting in an interview with Wao regarding this show: apparently Frank Wildhorn was keeping the part especially for her.

Since this is not a Takarazuka show, there wasn't any need for the main male character to be played by a woman... and yet he picked her.

Most of you probably already know this, but Frank Wildhorn and Wao had met in 2006 because of her last show as a top star, Never Say Goodbye (an incredibly good show in my humble opioion), which was written by Frank Wildhorn himself especially for the occasion.

That was already a great honour, but I believe it's an even greater honour that he kept the role of Dracula for her up til 2011. Apparently (according to the interview I mentioned earlier), Frank Wildhorn had already talked about having Wao as Dracula back in her top star days.

At any rate, Wao makes without doubt a pretty good Dracula and her skills are impressive, even though, as I already pointed out, I wouldn't put it among my favourite performances.

Still, I encourage you to watch it if you have not watched it yet!

Here you can find a video of one song of the show(WARNING: this might be a spoiler!)

And this is the first part of the interview I mentioned earlier.

If you feel like watching this musical, you can find it on tudou.com ... if you can't find it, let me know and I'll help you out!

AQUA5

What would you call a band made of five otokoyaku? A boysband? A girlsband? ... a "Takaband"?

At any rate, call it what you may, it exists! ...or at least, it used to exist, since they have disbanded now.

But you can still find their music and videoclips, and that's what matters!

AQUA5 was a J-Pop group made of five otokoyaku who were in the snow troupe: Mizu Natsuki (top star at that time), Otozuki Kei (current snow troupe top star), Ouki Kaname (next cosmos troupe top star), Ayabuki Mao and Ayana Oto.

They were active from 2007 to 2010, when the lead Mizu Natsuki retired from Takarazuka.

They only released three singles and one album, and they had one live concert in Tokyo.

They also participated in the popular Japanese TV program "Tokyo Friend Park II" - go watch it if you can, you can find the video on tudou.com, it's really funny!

Honestly, I am not really into J-Pop (I prefer rock), but hearing these five great Takarasiennes singing together is still nice.

If you haven't listened to their music yet, then you should give it a go. Takarasiennes are really good singers after all, and it's nice to see them in a different kind of context.

Here are the links to the videoclips for their three singles:

Time to love (absolutely love their look here!)

Aqua Feel, Aqua Soul

Shirayuki (I think it's a really pretty PV)

Hope you'll enjoy this :)

On the Night of the End of the World

If you were a football fan, how would you feel if one of your favourite musicians wrote a song for the world championship?

One of the things I truly love besides musicals is... music. Especially rock, and especially Japanese rock.

So, of course, I am a great fan of X-Japan.

Lately I was looking for some info, so I had a look at Yoshiki's page on wikipedia (which I hadn´t done in a while) and I found out something great!

As one of his many jobs as a composer, Yoshiki has written a song for the 90th anniversary of Takarazuka!

This might not be great news for some of you, as it dates to 2004, but I was thrilled when I found out about it.

The song was performed by Haruno Sumire, flower's troupe top star at that time.

The title is 世界の終りの夜に (Sekai no owari no yoru ni), which means "on the night of the end of the world".

I think it's really beautiful... well, Yoshiki's works usually are.

I have found the videos for two versions of this song, you can find them here and here.

Enjoy!

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?

Hisashiburi - It's been a while!

Huff... Feels like I've been gone from the blog for ages!

Sorry about that, I've had a really busy couple of weeks with guests at home.

I didn't really get a chance to watch any new Zuka lately, but I have been checking the Takarazuka news.

I was hoping to be able to announce the new Cosmos troupe top star in this post, but unfortunately the name has not been made public yet.

I am confident that I guessed right in my previous post, but I'd like to know for sure!

Anyway, during my absence, I DID IT! ... I mean, I subscribed to the Takarazuka Graph! :)

I had been thinking about it for a while, and I finally did.

I should receive it starting from April's issue. I have subscribed for 3 months for now, but I plan on renewing my subscription after that.

I hope that this blog will get more and more interesting after I start receiving the magazines... we shall see.

Stay tuned just in case! (^__^)

Have a nice day!

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!