An invitation talk feature from the September 2017 Graph, where Yuzuka Rei chose to do an interview with former Flower Troupe member Nozomi Fuuto.
Especial Time: Yuzuka Rei and Nozomi Fuuto
Yuzuka: While you were in Flower Troupe, Nozomi-san, you really did so much to help me out…wait, ah…is it okay if I’m the one to start talking, though.
Nozomi: Sure (laughs)
Yuzuka: I didn’t have any ‘fan era’ before entering Takarazuka, so I really learned a lot about otokoyaku and Flower Troupe by looking at you. Since you transferred to Snow Troupe I didn’t have many opportunities to talk to you, so I took this chance to invite you today!
Nozomi: Thank you so much! Wah~ I checked back with them so many times, like, ‘what? Yuzuka Rei-san really invited me!?’ (laughs)
Yuzuka: Ah, what am I supposed to do now…I’m so nervous I’m sweating (laughs). When I looked back on my experiences since I first entered the company, I thought ‘obviously it has to be Nozomi-san’
Nozomi: You performed my roles three times in junior performances, right?
Yuzuka: That’s right. I also have a lot of feelings about Nozomi-san’s Bow Hall, Victorian Jazz, so I was thinking if I wanted to look back at that I need Nozomi-san! Or that sort of…thing… Sorry, I must have been such a bother…
Nozomi: (laughs) When Rei (Yuzuka) was assigned to Flower Troupe as a ken-1 it was when we were doing Rose of Versailles Side Story: Andre Edition, and everyone from my year was in our last year of junior performances, but you must have had such a hard time. Influenza was going around during the performance and people kept being pulled out, so in the Tokyo junior performance Rei and Maittii (Minami) ended up filling in for Gardes Francaises and saying lines, yes?
Yuzuka: That’s what happened. It was the kind of situation where I felt, well, I don’t have any idea what’s going on but I’d better just go for it!
Nozomi: It must have been really difficult doing understudy roles with lines as a ken-1, but the two of you weren’t at all timid and took it on enthusiastically. ‘These two kids will definitely be a big part of the future of Flower Troupe,’ I thought.
Yuzuka: Wait a second, you’re embellishing that a bit! (laughs)
Nozomi: I’m not, I’m not! (laughs) I thought that if such passionate kids had joined our troupe we could really trust them to do a good job. But, well…things were a bit rough.
Both: (burst out laughing)
Yuzuka: You got angry with me a lot (laughs)
Nozomi: The first time you did my role in a junior performance was Frank in Sabrina. I told you ‘If there is anything you’re not sure about, go ahead and ask me!’ so then I seem to remember you were corrected about how you were moving your hands in the independent rehearsal, so you came and asked ‘um…about my hands…what ought I to be doing with them…?’ It was such a vague question and you were way too nervous (laughs) You were adorable (laughs)
Yuzuka: Sorry about that… But honestly, I don’t remember a thing about asking you that (laughs)
Nozomi: Of course not! (laughs)
Yuzuka: I still love the way you use your hands!
Nozomi: You said that on Takarazuka Sky Stage once, didn’t you. I’ve felt a lot of pressure since that broadcast!!
Yuzuka: [speaking to the recording machine] You know, I really love the way Nozomi-san uses her hands! Therefore, you should all make sure to watch closely too! (laughs)
Nozomi: Keep an eye on Yuzuka-san’s hands too, since she inherited that from me!
Yuzuka: On the day of the Sabrina junior performance you gave me a flower-shaped postcard, rather. You’d written ‘Good luck! To little Frank, from big Frank’…
Nozomi: Do you still have that?
Yuzuka: I do!
Nozomi: Wha~t? You should throw that out~ (laughs)
Yuzuka: What, why!? It made me so happy!
Nozomi: I feel like the only other people who really understand the parts I’m playing are the directors and the kid playing my role in the junior performance, so I really like having the chance to talk about my role. I learn a lot from the junior actresses too; things like “what does this person think of this role”.
Yuzuka: If I was able to do something like a junior performance again I’d like to say I’d make sure to talk about the role a bit more thoroughly… But I do still get so nervous and careful about my words that I end up saying things even I don’t understand…
Nozomi: Yes, you do that (laughs)
Yuzuka: I would want to talk about something, but then I would think ‘this is a senior actress’ and start overthinking everything so the words wouldn’t come out. My head would start spinning.
Nozomi: And then you would end up like ‘THAT’S what I ended up saying? That’s not it at all!’ (laughs)
Yuzuka: I would get so shaken up by that that I’d say the wrong thing again, and then I would lose my concentration altogether…
Nozomi: I saw that same pattern over and over (laughs) In the next junior performance, for Saint-Exupery, you played my role again. I don’t know if you got too into the role of Horst or if you were too worried about it, but I felt such an aura of madness from you I began to think you might throw yourself into the Muko River (laughs)
Yuzuka: I’m sorry (laughs) I do remember worrying about it.
Nozomi: On top of that, you had a long speech, and when you get emotional you start talking faster, so I would be like ‘slower! calm down!’ (laughs)
Yuzuka: That’s right…I would end up like I was on fast forward.
Nozomi: But I felt that your energy as you took on the role was impressive.
Yuzuka: Oh come on…you’re making me blush~ What a nice followup statement! (laughs)
Nozomi: (laughs) So after that was…
Both: Ocean’s 11!!
Yuzuka: I was given Nozomi-san’s role again with Benedict.
Nozomi: Because you had had those 2 junior roles of mine before then, I already understood well what kind of person you were, so that was very good for Ocean’s.
Yuzuka: I’m so glad that wasn’t my first time [with Nozomi’s role]. I feel like if it had been the first time, I would have been terribly bewildered and not known how to behave at all… (laughs) But when I went to see the original production by star troupe I thought Benedict was really cool, so when the casting board for the junior performance was posted I was terribly happy and started shouting…though I made sure first nobody outside the room would hear.
Nozomi: If I had to choose, I thought Rei was more suited for the prince on a white horse type of roles, but then you got surprisingly into Benedict’s type as well and when I saw how much you were enjoying it, I thought ‘she’ll be able to do all kinds of roles’.
Yuzuka: No, no, technically it was a big challenge in a lot of ways, but I did enjoy it. That’s why I sang his song in Bow Singing Workshop – Flower.
Nozomi: I never thought you would pick that! You were terribly nervous, weren’t you! (laughs)
Yuzuka: I got really excited and picked a song I’d done in a junior performance, but then Nozomi-san was there…!
Nozomi: Your singing has imrproved a lot~!!
Yuzuka: I’m really sorry about that…
Nozomi: No, no…I don’t know if I’m in any place to talk, really. But you used to have a huge complex about singing.
Yuzuka: I did. At the very beginning I was really scared of using my voice in front of other people. “What? Me? Sing?” kind of feeling.
Nozomi: Whyyyyy did you come to Takarazuka? (laughs)
Yuzuka: (laughs) I kind of got swept in…
Nozomi: In Victorian Jazz, you were central in that really cool cigar number! I thought you would be the type to just be like ‘Okay! Let’s do this!’ but then but then, to my surprise, you were like ‘I can’t even speak…I can’t believe I have to sing too”, and you were shaking quite a bit.
Yuzuka: I really was (laughs) I was so aware it was a cool number, but… Someday I want to do it right and get my revenge!
Nozomi: That would be great!
Yuzuka: I have a ton of different memories about Victorian Jazz, but of course it’s the rehearsals that stand out.
Nozomi: We would all practice the numbers together over and over until we all collapsed and were like ‘no more!’. Back then I was working so hard I didn’t realize it, but looking back I think it was a really happy time for me.
Yuzuka: I was really happy, too. But I keep thinking ‘if only I’d been able to do more’, ‘if it was me now I could have…’, that kind of thing.
Nozomi: I do that sort of thing too. But actually, I think when I was in Flower Troupe I really spoiled you (laughs)
Yuzuka: I think you did!
Nozomi: We only did one junior performance together, but when I as someone from the oldest class saw how hard the very youngest of the junior actresses was working I thought that was really sweet. I would take you out to eat and such. Speaking of that, all of your class eats a ton! (laughs)
Yuzuka: (laughs)
Nozomi: But see, it felt really good watching you eat to your heart’s content so I would be like ‘eat up now!’(laughs) I think you’re all really earnest people too. If there’s something you can’t do, you think over it really seriously, and if you can’t solve it that way you have such serious arguments with your classmates (laughs)
Yuzuka: You were watching!! (laughs)
Nozomi: Recently, I had a chance to watch the dress rehearsal for Exciter!! 2017 from the front row. It was that otokoyaku trio [Azumi, Seto, Yuzuka] number right after the middle showstopper.
Yuzuka: The sighing song (Scene 16).
Nozomi: Right, the sighing song (laughs). Anyway, you came into the audience and I was like ‘Ah~ Mirio’s doing Exciter~ Akira (Seto) has really taken over in Flower Troupe~’ but then at the end…you were trying to reel me in with fanservice! (laughs)
Yuzuka: (laughs)
Nozomi: I never thought Yuzuka Rei would fanservice me like this! I was so moved!!
Yuzuka: You just got carried away.
Nozomi: No, I was really moved. Remember, in the first production, you were one of the little birds!!
Yuzuka: That’s right. I was so happy for the restage; I’d never been more excited to try on the costumes.
Nozomi: And then there was “Marine’s Jr. Company”. I was like “the little chirping bird was actually a corporate heir!?” (laughs) I’ve always been following Rei’s progress, but when I see you doing the same show again after so many years it makes it so clear so that was really interesting. I realized you have become a fine otokoyaku. The bird became human (laughs)
Yuzuka: (laughs) It was really fun!
Nozomi: Wah~ That’s my most recent memory of you. I really got hooked (laughs)
Yuzuka: Sorry…But here and now I can’t believe that really happened.
Nozomi: I get it (laughs). It takes the makeup, and costumes, and being onstage with that music to get the full effect. Actually though, even though I thought Rei was the type to have zero inhibitions and not hold back at all, but when I got to know what you were really like I realized that you were surprisingly naïve. Since you give off such a strong impression on a first glance it’s easy to misunderstand you, maybe.
Yuzuka: Kirari-san [Kayou Kirari] and Nozomi-san would always be so concerned for me…
Nozomi: Yes, yes, we really did worry.
Yuzuka: Even when Nozomi-san had the lead role so obviously you were having the hardest time, you would be so thoughtful about everyone else and give us so much guidance. Recently I’ve been reminded once again that I have that kind of duty as well. If I am so grateful for what has been done for me, I should do just as much for other people, I think.
Nozomi: Ah…you are at that age, aren’t you! By all means, do that!
Yuzuka: When you transferred to Snow Troupe I missed you, and I was sad we wouldn’t be able to be on stage together any more, but I still felt sure that you would go on to be even more sparkling… Recently I was fortunate enough to be able to see one of your shows, and Nozomi-san’s powerful energy and aura was so strong I felt like it was filling the entire stage. The very moment you entered it hit me like ‘bang!’ so I was like ‘whoa!!’
Nozomi: That’s certainly going to look interesting when they write this down (laughs)
Yuzuka: But it’s just how it feels! (laughs)
Nozomi: While we working on shows together, I showed you different aspects of myself and I was also able to see many different sides of Rei, so now when I go to see Flower Troupe shows and see how hard you are working I think I have to work harder as well. And when I see your progress I’m like ‘good for her!’ Even if we are in different troupes, the fact that I feel for you like I would, well, a little brother, that won’t change. No matter when I’ll be passionately watching over you, and if something happens I feel like I can come back at you with ‘what do you think you’re doing!’ since I know you’ll accept it in good faith. I think that if you keep that aspect of yourself unchanged, and keep growing, and enjoying yourself as an otokoyaku, it would be good to show those things to the junior actresses. I have big expectations for you!! (laughs)
Yuzuka: Thank you so much. I feel like the pressure has suddenly increased at the end… (laughs) It’s really true that in people’s childhood…
Nozomi: ‘childhood’ (laughs)
Yuzuka: …in people’s childhood, what kind of environment they’re raised in and what kind of words people use with them directly influences how they turn out. I’m very grateful for what Nozomi-san said to me and the examples I was able to see in Nozomi-san in my ‘otokoyaku childhood’ you could say, the time when I was still putting together my foundations as an otokoyaku and a stage performer. I’m going to continue pursuing the ideal I see in the powered-up Nozomi-san: doing everything required of me thoroughly and working hard to continue the traditions of Flower Troupe.
Nozomi: Go for it!! (laughs)