Talk DX is a long-running GRAPH talk feature where Top Stars and their main otokoyaku co-stars discuss their current Grand Theatre performance before the shift to Tokyo. The City Hunter/FIRE FEVER! talk was published in the November 2021 issue.
Talk DX: City Hunter/FIRE FEVER!
Ayakaze: Now that we’ve passed the halfway point of the show, it feels like since it’s such a fun show, we’re taking care to perform it precisely every day.
Asami: It feels like we really have to focus, right.
Ayakaze: Yeah. Normally, once you settle into the role a bit it’ll start to become closer to your real self and it’s a great part of the cycle. But this time, the show is based on a comic, and the character of Saeba Ryou (Ayakaze) is already defined, so it feels like while I’m onstage I just keep asking myself “I’m not straying away from the character, am I?”
Asami: I have a lot of scenes where I get to move around freely, so some days I’ll find myself regretting that I’ve slipped from Mick (Asami’s character) to closer to my own movements. So I’m always focused on that. But while at first I was just totally intent on the role, gradually it shifted into a more natural onstage communication between fellow actors. I think we’ll get even deeper into it from now on.
Ayakaze: We’re playing characters in a relationship we’ve never portrayed before, since we’re ‘ex partners’, so that’s really fresh and fun!
Asami: It’s fun!
Ayakaze: In the Neko-Manma theme bar scene we’re just goofing around (laughs).
Asami: The way you say ‘Meo~w’ keeps getting more and more seductive (laughs). It’s so fun to watch it happening as Mick.
Ayakaze: The way it starts out, the feeling is, is Mick an enemy? Is Mick a friend? But the truth is Mick is in contact with Ryou by phone from the very start of the show. Maybe I actually find out from Mick that Princess Alma (Yumeshiro Aya) is headed to Japan to hire me?
Asami: Maybe, yeah. After getting the information from Umibara (Natsumi You), I think Mick passes it on to Ryou.
Ayakaze: And then it’s like, “Kaori handles all the tips~” “Whatever you want.” But Ryou probably hasn’t told Kaori about his past as a mercenary. And this Gjamalla affair is really dangerous, so he wants to keep Kaori out of it if at all possible, I think. But then Mick gets involved, so I’m like “Quit going off the script!” (laughs)
Asami: And then Mick makes Kaori into his own parther and has her blasting away with the bazooka, blam blam blam (laughs). That’s really going too far, huh (laughs).
Ayakaze: After the case is settled, the two of us have one of the few really serious scenes in the show, our conversation as love rivals on the Silver Bridge. It’s fun since it changes every day, and it’s where the differences between the two characters come out the most. It’s nice for two fellow otokoyaku to be able to have a conversation like that.
Asami: Yeah, yeah! And I love the airport scene that comes after it. In the background I’m miming splitting up with Kaori while listening to Saki-san singing STILL LOVE HER.
Ayakaze: Is that right!
Asami: We added that in during the dress rehearsals. That song gets Mick in the heart (laughs).
Ayakaze: So that’s why you break up. So, wait, the airplane I’m watching soar away just has Mick in it? (laughs)
Asami: You got it! The way Director Saitou explained it is that Mick makes as if he’s just stopping somewhere for a moment, but the moment Kaori takes her eyes off him he gets on the plane. That kind of classy routine. He’s going to be cheerful to the last.
Ayakaze: Ah…That’s so nice.
Asami: But do the Gjamallans know? (laughs)
Ayakaze: They must assume I’m just seeing their plane off, right? (laughs) Personally I’ve come to really love STIL LOVE HER lately. It’s an ending theme for the anime, so it wasn’t originally intended to express Ryou’s feelings. But the way it comes in for that airport scene, I get so deeply into the lyrics. Komura Tetsuya is really amazing, isn’t he (laughs).
Asami: I think so too!!!
Ayakaze: Like, in the lyrics, that bit “My heart frozen in time/as a two-story bus passes by”.
Asami: That part!!! What does it mean, like a Hato Bus1?
Ayakaze: I also find myself picturing an open-topped yellow bus (laughs). I think the song perfectly suits the emotions of that scene, with the way its lyrics don’t feel too ‘sparkly’, as if they have a little dust on them.
Asami: But it has a rather bracing feeling, right.
Ayakaze: Yeah, it feels like it’s in the space between loneliness and smiling.
Asami: Of course, I love Get Wild too. I always watch it from the wings before I go out on the Silver Bridge, and it’s my daily routine to copy that move where you bend backward and slide your jacket half-off with Ai Sumire before I enter (laughs). No matter how many times I see it or listen to it it still pumps me up so much I get goosebuumps. And so now I feel like I’m getting to experience these feelings together with the audience (laughs).
Ayakaze: There are a lot of video projections used in this production, but we can’t actually see any of them.
Asami: Apparently on the display in the back a magazine turns up called Myousetsu2 rather than Myoujo.
Ayakaze: They have that in the Cat’s Eye Cafe! ‘Myousetsu’
Asami: Wha~t! I wanna see~!!
Ayakaze: It’s just one issue, and while the front and back covers look like a weekly magazine the inside is all GRAPH. And on the back cover there’s an ad for ‘Otome Soap’ (laughs).
Asami: Wha~t, I wanna go to Cat’s Eye.
Ayakaze: It’s fun. Recently Kasumi-chan (Haori Yuuka) has been super assertive, it’s so cute!
Asami: Really!
Ayakaze: In the first scene in Cat’s Eye, I always complain to Umi-chan (Agata) “This coffee’s too weak!”, right. And sometimes Kasumi-chan will say “I brewed the coffee today~”, so it’ll end up going like, “Oh, weak coffee’s my favorite~” “You’re so nice, Ryou <3” And in the final scene at Cat’s Eye, when I say “Shut up, octopus!” Umi-chan will respond “My name’s Umibouzu!” (laughs)
Asami: (Bursts out laughing)
Ayakaze: So I’ll pile on with “Octopus! Squid! Turtle!” (laughs). Those little exchanges are a lot of fun.
Asami: In the scene where I’m introducing Ryou to the Gjamallans, every day we do a different workout exercise. Sara Anna-chan knows a ton, so each day she’ll teach me ‘This is what we’re going to do today’ (laughs). I want to be super buff by the last performance!
Ayakaze: (laughs) The bit where I make a move on Sarina-chan (Himehana) and end up fighting with Masa (Suwa Saki) is also a new adlib every day. I never think of anything ahead of time, so it’s always guerilla adlib tactics (laughs). But Kussuu (Suwa) always plays along with me in that scene.
Ayakaze: The revue is so intense! But it feels like we about have the stamina for it now. Around the time it opened, it felt like I’d passed the limits of my strength. So once it ended it was like, I can’t do that again! (laughs).
Asami: For sure (laughs).
Ayakaze: I’m able to have more fun with it now. First off, I love the Concrete Jungle scene!
Asami: So do I!
Ayakaze: It’s an otokoyaku-only scene, and I love suits with hats unconditionally, and I love Choreographer Mitsui’s structure and choreography. But I always feel nervous about it, so before my entrance I’m always telling myself “Focus!” right before I go on. I have to really conscious of my body’s position, to make sure I’m showing my own personality without going to far. I have to make sure I don’t lose my commitment to the angle of my hand as I stroke my hat, or anything else like that.
Asami: I have a quick-change transitioning from the previous scene, but I love the part of the dance right before I come in, so I’m always pushing myself to finish my quick-change in time to watch from the wings. Even during rehearsals I felt like I wanted to bask in that atmosphere from everyone before making my own entrance.
Ayakaze: When Aasa (Asami) comes in, it’s like “Wow, here’s a really sharp guy!”
Asami: Really!?
Ayakaze: Yeah, it totally changes the atmosphere. The two of us dance together in that scene—we have a lot of duet dances in this show.
Asami: Right, right, we have two duet dances (laughs).
Ayakaze: But the one during the rockette is a lot sultrier (laughs). It was incredible today, right. Aasa, what did you say?
Asami: Today it was like, ‘Aha~n’ (laughs).
Ayakaze: But in a super low voice! (laughs)
Asami: If I used an unnaturally high voice my voice would just end up cracking… I’m doing a lot of guerrilla adlib tactics too, with my romantic words and such.
Ayakaze: The way you cut in and wiggle your shoulders is so intense! Your feathers are vibrating all over! (laughs).
Asami: Recently I’ve been thinking I need to be careful, or I’m seriously going to be hitting Hirame-chan (Asazuki Kiwa).
Ayakaze: You’re kicking her around, huh (laughs). In the last part, I’m surrounded by the 8 beauties, and everyone’s incredible! With junior actresses the feeling is like, oh, look at the fresh smiles on everyone! But when it gets to more senior actresses the attacks become more adult (laughs). While Ayana (Aya Ouka) is clinging to me, then Aasa comes in from behind (laughs).
Asami: I wrap my leg around you (laughs). We’re all on fire!
Ayakaze: The finale numbers are great too, right. It starts with me surrounded by the musumeyaku, really elegant. I try to value the moments I spend dancing with each of the 5 partners I have in that scene. When I look stage left as I come down the stairs, I make eye contact with a different musumeyaku every day.
Asami: Wow!
Ayakaze: And she’ll always respond somehow, so that’s really fun for me. And once it gets to the otokoyaku, I love that choreography on the stairs! It’s a bit relaxed, the perfect atmosphere for a revue’s conclusion.
Asami: It’s choreography that lets you show your own personality. I’m always seeing Ayakaze off until the last moment of your exit, to connect it with the next part! I love that moment where after getting ‘passed the baton’ for the next scene, I shout “One more fever!”. And ending in that triangle formation feels so Takarazuka. Every time I’m full of this ‘I did it!’ sensation.
Ayakaze: And after you’ve ended in such an intense way, I quietly come down the stairs to start the duet dance, but somehow, it feels like while the revue is ending something is still beginning. It’s our debut duet dance in the Grand Theatre, and also, it has a really fresh sort of feeling, like in the lyrics: “A tiny new flame is being created”. Choreographer Hirosawa told us to dance so that we contact each other with equal force, so rather than softly taking each other’s hands, it’s like our spirits are making impact as we dance.
Asami: In the parts where you’re each singing on the stairs, you switch back and forth who is higher or lower, right. It’s like you’re mutually protecting each other, or you’re embracing each other… As I hear you two singing from backstage it makes me feel so purified, and then the parade is intense again.
Ayakaze: In the parade, when we go out on the silver bridge to bow, we’re trying to communicate with the little firework props (laughs). It’s so fun.
Asami: Right, it’s so fu~n! Even in this situation, and while the climate is so unpredictable, if people still come to see us, I want to try and give them a little of Snow Troupe’s energy. And seeing everyone enjoying the ‘fever’ gives us power too. So I want to be totally scorching in the Tokyo run!
Ayakaze: Everyone’s applause and smiles gives us energy too. It’s a cheerful show together with an energetic revue in the same production, so I hope the audience can just enjoy everything and be cheered up. So to achieve that I also hope we can enjoy ourselves to the fullest and make it even better. Summer is ending and autumn is coming closer, so by the time we finish in Tokyo it’ll be practically winter.
Asami: Oh, you’re right!
Ayakaze: The production stretches across the seasons, so as the temperature gets colder and colder, our performance needs to get hotter and hotter! “Snow Troupe’s summer isn’t over!”—I want to keep running until the last day in Tokyo! …Aasa, how was your very first Talk DX?
Asami: I was nervous before it started, but then you bought me milk tea and that kindness helped me relax (laughs). I was able to have fun talking!
Ayakaze: (laughs)
1 – A popular Tokyo-area bus tour company.
2 – A parody of a popular weekly entertainment magazine, replacing the second character with one meaning ‘snow’.
Outtakes
