In this Kageki feature, the follow-up to a feature published in 2002, a group of younger otokoyaku pick topics from a list and write a short reflection or anecdote.

Monthly Episode! Hyper – February 2003

Last year’s popular ‘Monthly Episode!’ has levelled up into a mini-essay column! Based on their own unique personalities, all of the participants will pick a theme from the list and write for you.

Takashiro Kei (Theme: ‘Letter’)
I’ve received letters from so many people since I entered Takarazuka. Now that email and other kinds of technology are mainstream, the written word is a precious thing, and I think they’re really fun. When I’m reading the letters people have sent, they’ll write about so many different things—Their thoughts on the stage, as well as things that happened at school, at their work, at home–so as I’m reading, I get the strangest feeling that I’m actually there talking with them. Your letters always cheer me up, so please keep sending them!! I’m waiting 💖

Sena Jun (Theme: ‘Emotion’)
You’ll never believe what I did the other day!! I went skydiving!! …It made me so emotional!!
I’ll never forget what it was like to look around as we jumped out over the clouds. My ears hurt a ton, but it was all so wonderful I didn’t care at all. But at the same time, it made me think…what tiny things people are. I don’t think its exaggerating to say it changed my worldview, it was such an emotional!! experience for me.

Shiomi Maho (Theme: ‘Encounters’)
Since my family moved abroad right after I was born, I used to really struggle with reading and writing in Japanese. I couldn’t get used to picture books, and it would take me ages just to get through a book.
However, now I’ve come to love reading. Through reading my powers of imagination have gotten stronger, and I’ve been able to experience many things you can only get in Japanese, like ‘wabi-sabi’, and ‘the beauty and spirit of the Japanese language’. I want to keep encountering more kinds of Japanese.

Aran Kei (Theme: ‘Outer Space’)
When I was little, I often spent nights without sleep thinking about outer space. Japan is on Earth, and Earth is in space, but what is space in? How big is infinity? Of course, no matter how long I puzzled over these things there wasn’t an answer. One day I consulted my father about it and what he responded with was: “Don’t think about all that stuff, just go to sleep!”
Someone, please give me a satisfactory answer!

Oozora Yuuhi (Theme: ‘Photograph’)
You know the phrase ‘no eye for [blank]’? Well, I’ve got no eye for photographs. First off, I don’t even have my own camera, and the disposable camera I bought last autumn is just sitting in my bag with most of its film left… (Since I feel like…I have to at least use it once 😅). And I don’t even know how many cameras I have sitting around full of undeveloped film… So recently I’ve started thinking ‘Oh, thank goodness’ when I’m being photographed for work like I am today (laughs).

Mirai Yuuki (Theme: ‘Books’)
I love reading. There are books all over my house. Or rather, the books that couldn’t fit into my bookshelves are heaped up all over the place.
Books and theatre have something in common. Imagination!! While I’m reading, all the different scenes spring into my mind. And in the same way, when I’m given a script and start reading it, it all starts whirling through my head… I want to keep reading so much my house starts to look like a library!!

Kiriya Hiromu (Theme: ‘Kind of a Pathetic Story’)
The new version has started, huh. I defeated the deadline instantly. Hope you’ll stick with me through the year! I’ve got to figure out a good theme for the first month! But nothing really comes to mind… Hmmm 🍥 Oh, right, the other day, my cactus withered. Everyone! Cacti can actually wither! Did you know that!? It looked like a mummy… Wait, instead of telling a pathetic story am I actually bragging??

Mizu Natsuki (Theme: ‘My Favorite Things’)
You might not think it to look at me but I love sweet things. People tell me my image fits black coffee, wine and cheese, but I love sweets ✨ I can’t live without them. I try not to eat too much but it’s so haaaard!! Once I’m eating I don’t do it by halves 😅 Seriously, during a show, I end up facing down mountains of specially selected super delicious treats…I suffer so much trying to restrain myself 😅 Please don’t add to my suffering too much. I hope you have a nice day 😄

Ayabuki Mao (Theme: ‘Earth’)
The first theme I chose is ‘earth’. Right now I’m playing Rudolf, and when I’m seeing things through his view of the world, I can really understand why he would be considering the world and have such love for it… He wasn’t just thinking of the Hapsburg dynasty, or his own country, he was desperately trying to bring salvation on a global scale. Right now, there’s so much happening all over the world. Sometimes I’ll also think “The world is sinking into darkness…If only I could take the helm…But I can’t do anything…”. But I also feel happy about living in a peaceful place like Japan…

Tatsuki You (Theme: ‘Children’)
When I was a kid, I was basically a little boy. What I mean is, my hair was always short, I was really tan, and I remember I would only play with the boys. Also, what I remember the most is, after I’d take a bath my father would always take his own hairbrush and put my hair in a side-parted pompadour. Is that still affecting me now!? (laughs)

Yamato Yuuga (Theme: ‘Movies’)
Recently I saw a movie called Gosford Park. The story is about the network of relationships between English noble society and the servants who live parallel to them, and I kept being surprised and thinking “Oh~! So this is what English nobility are like!”, so I learned a lot. Everyone is wearing black tailcoats, from the young men to the grandads, so that’s also a must see! Everyone, I really recommend you watch it.
Tani

Matobu Sei (Theme: ‘Companions’)
I have so many friends I’d never have met if I didn’t enter Takarazuka 💖
I love all of them so much 💖
Even though it feels so natural to be with them every day, when I think about how one day we’ll all have to part it makes me want to cry.
But even so, I’m proud of the fact that I have people I can think that way about.
They’re my precious treasure 💖

Sou Kazuho (Theme: ‘Movies’)
Recently I saw a movie called John Q. It’s the story of a father who takes hostages in a hospital for the sake of his desperately ill son. As for the story itself, sometimes it made me want to say to the screen ‘There’s no way this is going to work, you know’, but the way Denzel Washington cried in the role of the father, and the father-child message he gave at his son’s bedside really resonated in my heart and I broke down crying.

Otozuki Kei (Theme: ‘Something I’m into’)
“Cooking”…All of you who think this isn’t something that suits Otozuki Kei! Tsk, tsk, tsk 💖 Recently I’ve gotten into cooking.
Now, this isn’t ‘a man’s cooking’ but ‘an otokoyaku’s cooking’. I’ve done stews and pasta, and recently I even tried cabbage rolls. I can’t make any guarantees about how the end results look or taste, but it’s a great way to change up my mood. So, what should I try making today? Everyone, if you have any nice recipes let me know.
You can address them to the theatre… (laughs).

Ryouga Haruhi (Theme: ‘Fortune telling’)
Recently, during the latest Tokyo performance, I had my fortune told for the first time in my life. I was so nervous…and as for the results…Apparently, my stage name and my birth name are both alright, and as for the rest, it was so much stuff that just made me nod, “right, right”. Just as I thought I could relax, the fortune teller said “Oh, you don’t have a marriage line, do you…”
Huh!! I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so disappointed…and then right away, I asked “So, uh, when does that line appear!!”. It was a very impactful debut into fortune telling.

Tsukifune Sarara (Theme: ‘Parents’)
When I was a student, every day I’d get on a packed train at the same time, and suffer under the pressure of time and people all the way to school. One day, I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I decided to try going somewhere far away. All the students and office workers got off the train, and I arrived at a station I’d never seen before. I was hungry from stressing about so many things, and when I ate the lunch my mother had made for me, I thought “What am I doing…” and started to cry. “Mom, I’m so sorry…” I was 17, it was spring, and I felt my parents’ warm and tender love.

Ranju Tomu (Theme: ‘Nervousness’)
I want to perform comfortably, without feeling too much ‘nervousness’… That’s what I always think, but especially for junior performances, where I only have one shot at it, I get really nervous. When I was a junior actress, people would tell me “You look so confident!” even when my legs were shaking, which was really strange to me. Recently I’ve come to think I can change things by altering how I think about it, so I’m telling myself I want to feel a good kind of nervousness while I’m on stage 😮