This talk feature ahead of Moon Troupe Top Musumeyaku Manaki Reika’s retirement from Takarazuka was published in the November 2018 issue of GRAPH. The farewell talk is an invitation feature, and Manaki chose her partner, Moon Troupe Top Star Tamaki Ryou.
Manaki Reika & Tamaki Ryou – Farewell Talk
Manaki: For my last talk partner, well! I couldn’t think of anyone but Tama-sama (Tamaki)!
Tamaki: Apparently (laughs).
Manaki: Obivously! I feel such a strong bond with Tama-sama. In the Music School we had an Upper-Lower Student relationship, and then we were both assigned to Moon Troupe, and neither of us ever transferred so we’ve been together the whole time until now. And to think that in the end we even got to be a Top Couple together… I joined as an otokoyaku at first, so I’m just thinking, things happened that I never could have pictured. Maybe not even that I would be in Moon Troupe until I retired…
Tamaki: That’s a good point! (laughs)
Manaki: (laughs) It really feels like a miracle!
Tamaki: We met back in Music School, right.
Manaki: Tama-sama, you stood out so much!
Tamaki: There you go again… I totally didn’t.
Manaki: No, you were so wonderful!
Tamaki: Look, there’s that ‘Music School Magic’ thing, right? That thing where to a Lower Student the Upper Students look amazing.
Manaki: (laughs) The first big incident I can think of after being assigned to Moon Troupe was Tama-sama getting the lead role in the junior cast of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL at only ken-3!
Tamaki: Whoever thought ‘let’s let her do it’ had such courage (laughs). Back then, Aasa (Asami Jun) and Chapi (Manaki Reika) were in the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, right. Aasa did my main cast role, and yours was…
Manaki: Yuuki-san’s (Akizuki Saya). I was so happy Tama-sama got a lead role, so I was burning up thinking: even though I’m still a little ken-2 baby I’ve got to support her! (laughs).
Tamaki: Chapi and everybody were so happy for me, I still remember that. Personally, I didn’t have a clue about what I was doing, so I think I was only able to do that performance because the senior actresses dealt with me so earnestly. I was desperate (laughs).
Manaki: So desperate! (laughs)
Tamaki: You were so cute standing tall and giving your all to perform as an man (laughs). In the main cast you played [the Dauphin] Louis-Charles, so you were really self-conscious about looking like a child. “I’m going to be a man!!”: you were raring to go.
Manaki: I was, but looking back on it now, I was so bad at it that it’s funny (laughs).
Tamaki: Me too (laughs). My voice was so high and my movements and makeup were just a mess! And after that…Oh! In the junior cast of Prince of the Land of Roses you played my main cast role!
Manaki: Right!
Tamaki: It was ‘Hummingbird’ and for some reason, even though it was the smallest of the birds, somehow I ended up as Hummingbird even though I was the biggest member of the bird group (laughs).
Manaki: (laughs). We talked about it a lot.
Tamaki: Right, we were so dedicated.
Manaki: ‘Try bending your middle finger a little bit…’ and such (laughs).
Tamaki: Right, right. We both discussed Hummingbird so seriously. Isn’t that cute (laughs). But after that you switched to musumeyaku.
Manaki: Yes. But I don’t remember that time at all (laughs).
Tamaki: Right, for sure. You were given your first heroine role in Alice’s Lover right away, and kept on getting heroine roles, so you must have had just too much to handle.
Manaki: I really couldn’t do anything!!
Tamaki: You loved being an otokoyaku, so I think you must have felt so much conflict about switching to musumeyaku, but since I knew you had first joined the Music School as a musumeyaku I think I was able to accept you naturally. In the junior performance of Edward VIII we were together as leads, right.
Manaki: Yes.
Tamaki: It was such a mature drama, it was really hard~
Manaki: It was too hard…
Tamaki: It was written for Kiriya (Hiromu)-san and Aono (Yuki)-san, and besides that, it was their retirement production, so that put so much pressure on us, it was wild. It was during that production that Chapi’s Top Musumeyaku ascension announcement came out, right. What I’ll never forget is how starting the day after the announcement you wouldn’t look me in the eyes (laughs).
Manaki: I couldn’t look anyone in the face…
Tamaki: You must have been scared of how society or those around you would react. We were all really happy for you, but you seemed so nervous that we were worried.
Manaki: I’m sorry… But even though I don’t remember much [from this time], I remember vividly how the junior cast director, Director Ueda Kumiko, instructed us about how to get deeper into the play.
Tamaki: Do you remember how we did that “her dress gets wet with water from the potted plant” bit over and over?
Manaki: I totally remember that (laughs). Also, I love that final scene in the funeral clothes!
Tamaki: Me too!
Manaki: I’m having a ‘conversation’ with David (Tamaki/Main cast: Kiyira Hiromu) after his death, but he puts his hand on my shoulder and speaks to me. It was my first time doing in-depth acting with Tama-sama, and I was so grateful that you threw so much emotion my way. Starting with Alice’s Lover I started to like acting so much I didn’t know what to do with myself, and this scene made me like it more and more.
Tamaki: I see. But that scene really is wonderful. And that line “Even if I could turn the hands of the clock back, I would choose the same path” is just too good! I remember all through rehearsals, right after that line Chapi’s tears would fall onto my hand.
Manaki: Huh~ I don’t remember that (laughs).
Tamaki: It was a brilliant performance.
Tamaki: After you became Top Musumeyaku we weren’t paired up that much any more, so I was watching over your own desperate battles from a distance…is how it felt, maybe. For the 100th anniversary, the Top Stars of all the troupes made special appearances in a Moon Troupe show, which was so impactful to me, but Chapi, you must have been so nervous.
Manaki: I was. But I was also happy to be there for the centennial, and the commemorative performances and ceremonies were a great memory for me. But, Tama-sama, you were the junior cast head for this productions, and in the junior performance of the revue1 you had the lead…
Tamaki: And there were debuting students too (laughs). That was a really hard time.
Manaki: But even so you didn’t lose your cool at all.
Tamaki: That’s not true. During that show I first got genuinely angry with one of my juniors. I’d never raised my voice before at all, so apparently those in the classes around mine thought “Tamaki broke” (laughs). As for our interactions after that…there’s the time I played your brother in Manon?
Manaki: Still, it’s not like we interacted all that much.
Tamaki: That’s right, I guess… Oh! The ‘Africa’ scene in GOLDEN JAZZ!
Manaki: Africa~!!
Both: (clap their hands and burst out laughing)
Tamaki: I could never do that scene again!
Manaki: Me either!
Tamaki: It demanded so much from muscles I’d never used before, and it was barefoot too.
Manaki: Ah~~! I can remember it now! That scene of everyone collapsing the moment we got offstage (laughs).
Tamaki: Ah~ But after all Chapi’s physically ability was so amazing, I was so impressed!
Manaki: No, no, we all worked hard together!
Tamaki: After dancing so intensely and getting offstage, I had to put a jacket on and go right back out, I just died (laughs). There’s cartwheels and floor work, so if I didn’t really work my muscles I couldn’t keep up with the music. And on the final day of the run, all of us were like…
Both: “It, it’s over!! We made it~!!” (laugh)
Tamaki: It was a huge feeling of accomplishment.
Manaki: I’m grateful to have had that experience but I could never do it again (laughs).
Tamaki: And then finally, starting with La Legende du Roi Arthur, we ended up becoming a Top Star pairing.
Manaki: We were both so shocked…
Tamaki: So surprised! To think I’d be leading a troupe at my year level… But even though I didn’t have the time to psych myself up for it, Chapi had already had such a career so you were so steady onstage, you really saved me.
Manaki: No, no… I kept worrying about what I should do with myself…
Tamaki: I could sense that you were a bit uncomfortable. But I didn’t understand what you were struggling with or what you wanted.
Manaki: Yes… Of course, I wanted to support Tama-sama even with my own limited ability, but to have that duty put on me was so stressful… We had already developed such a strong relation that I didn’t want to break, but one’s Top Star partner is a special kind of being…I kept thinking about that and couldn’t figure out how to interact with you.
Tamaki: I see.
Manaki: I figured you wouldn’t want me coming up saying “Tama-sama~ <3” the moment we were officially partners…stuff like that.
Tamaki: (laughs) I wanted to deal with people just as my own person, and I didn’t want to lie to myself, so I said “I think it’s fine if we just did tings the way we used to,” but maybe that actually ended up stressing you out more.
Manaki: No, no… Personally, I had my own hangups about ‘As someone’s partner I should be like this!’, so I was just struggling within myself, but even so you just kept watching over me as I figured things out…
Tamaki: I was like, Chapi has to get to her own conclusion, so I guess I’ll just wait patiently~ (laughs)
Manaki: I’m so sorry… But then when we did Grand Hotel, my role was one where if I didn’t pull free of those issues I wouldn’t be able to do it, so I thought, oh, maybe it is ok if we’re like this. How do I put it, maybe it’s ok if I’m just twirling around “Ultimate Otokoyaku” Tama-sama as I’m doing all these fun roles…I guess.
Tamaki: That’s right, starting here we did a string of deep shows (laughs).
Manaki: We did. I feel like I started to see, oh, it’s ok if we’re a couple who enjoys that part of things.
Tamaki: I think it might be because we had such a close relationship that we could collide onstage without holding back that people thought of letting us do all these different roles. Thinking that makes me really happy. BADDY being the extreme example there (laughs).
Manaki: BADDY~ (laughs).
Tamaki: Director Ueda [Kumiko], who we had a connection with already, was directing, but to think we’d be working with her on a revue show. And one with a storyline, to boot.
Manaki: When rehearsals started it was really hard to understand.
Tamaki: We were like, what kind of plot is this?? But when we finally got what Director Ueda’s aim was it was so fun, right (laughs).
Manaki: It really was (laughs).
Tamaki: People keep telling me ‘You’re so diligent, you’re so diligent’, but I get such surprising roles if so~.
Manaki: For sure (laughs).
Tamaki: But I’m grateful for it (laughs).
Manaki: I feel so bad that you had a partner like me… I always wanted to do my best, but even though I wasn’t very adept, as my year level increased I just kept piling the pressure on myself, thinking ‘I have to live up to everyone’s hopes!’. And despite it all you still let me have my freedom, but at the critical moment you’d always reach out to me… I’m so grateful I don’t have any idea how I can ever repay you.
Tamaki: Cut it out (laughs).
Manaki: No, it’s the truth.
Tamaki: Chapi, you did so much to help me out too, and earlier I was talking self-importantly about waiting until you had figured out how you wanted to do things, but I also feel like some of that was part of my own internal otokoyaku philosophy.
Manaki: Yes.
Tamaki: I felt like part of the expansive atmosphere I wanted to have was creating an aura where my partner could be comfortable and find her shine.
Manaki: You’re so great…
Tamaki: Not at all. Since you started out as an otokoyaku I watched you putting in even more effort than anyone else as a musumeyaku, and once we were paired up I’ve seen you develop your presence as ‘Manaki Reika’ as you challenged yourself with new things. I feel from the bottom of my heart that you’ve reached such fulfilment, and you’re graduating after giving everything, so I can urge you forward as you leave. Of course I’ll be sorry to lose you, but beyond that I feel “You’ve worked so hard!”, and I want you to keep sparkling into the future. Even though doing Elisabeth as your last role is going to be hard (laughs).
Manaki: I’m receiving new tribulations right up to the end (laughs).
Tamaki: I asked you “Are you OK retiring on a production without a revue?”, but… (laughs)
Manaki: If I was looking at everyone’s sparkling smiling faces I’d start weeping every day, so I’m going to borrow strength from my character until I finally graduate (laughs).
Tamaki: You won’t start crying during your farewell recital?
Manaki: No, I’ll hold in my emotions!! My farewell recital is going to be full of energy!!
Tamaki: So the feeling is like “Thank you everyone!!” (laughs)
Manaki: Yes (laughs). It’s thanks to Tama-sama that I am able to be so happy right now, without any regrets, so I really have nothing but gratitude for you.
Tamaki: That’s too much.
Manaki: I really… (her voice trembles)
Tamaki: (stares at her face intently)
Manaki: I’m not going to cry! Never! (laughs). I really feel like you’re so amazing. I’m going to do my best without crying until the end so please look after me!
Tamaki: Please print ‘without crying’ in bold type (laughs). Let’s do our best till the end.
Manaki: Yes! Thank you so much!
1 – This production was a triple feature (with a Japanese-style revue, a short play, and a western-style revue), so as is common in those scenarios both the play and western-style revue were included in the junior performance, with the same group of performers but different starring cast members for each half.