ESPECIAL TIME was a long-running invitation talk feature in GRAPH, where one sienne is given the opportunity to invite someone else.
Otozuki Kei’s feature, where she invited Shirahane Yuri, was the very first iteration, published in the February 2008 issue. (There were many other invitation talk features in the past, but usually operated on a ‘relay’ system rather than having both parties be new every issue.)
Some of the outtake photos from the back of the magazine are also included.
Especial Time: As You Like It – Otozuki Kei and Shirahane Yuri
Otozuki: Since this is the first installment of a new column, I thought I should pick a stunning musumeyaku for my talk partner (laughs).
Shirahane: Stunning…? (laughs)
Otozuki: Yeah (laughs). So I picked Tonami (Shirahane) (laughs). Well, also, even though we’re classmates, we haven’t had many opportunities to talk like this in-depth somehow, so I thought this might be a good chance.
Shirahane: I see. I’m happy to have been selected (laughs).
Otozuki: Somehow I feel like ‘(laughs)’ is going to take up almost half the transcript, though (laughs).
Shirahane: Probably (laughs).
Otozuki: In any case, why don’t we look back on how we met. (laughs)
Shirahane: Yeah. (laughs) But still, in the Music School…
Otozuki: Our classes and cleaning stations were all different, so…
Shirahane: Yeah (laughs). Kimu (Otozuki) seems quite energetic, that’s about all the impression I had (laughs). I think I had a strong image of you doing jumps in ballet class. It felt like you were jumping constantly (laughs).
Otozuki: I feel like that image hasn’t changed at all over the years…what to do… (laughs)
Shirahane: (laughs)
Otozuki: And for Tonami, I just remember ‘Ah, how pale~’ (laughs)
Shirahane: ‘A pale and round person’? (laughs)
Otozuki: (laughs) As for other things that stood out, maybe the situation in acting class (laughs).
Shirahane: I had such an accent, right (laughs). So I hated acting class (laughs).
Otozuki: There are a bunch of other fun stories (laughs). But I’m not sure how well they could be conveyed in a magazine…
Shirahane: That would be hard (laughs).
Otozuki: We can’t get the exact intonation across (laughs).
Otozuki: After entering the company, Tonami went to Moon Troupe and I went to Snow Troupe, so after our debut we didn’t interact at all for a while.
Shirahane: Yeah. ….Oh? What about the Berlin performance?
Otozuki: I went!!
Shirahane: We went, right!? With Micchan (Hokushou Kairi) and Miho-chan (Maishiro Nodoka).
Otozuki: We went! There were only 4 from our class, right. It must have been when we were around ken-3…We’re all still here now, that’s amazing (laughs).
Shirahane: Oh, that’s right (laughs).
Otozuki: I remember my birthday was actually the exact day we set out, so before we got on the airplane everyone wished me a happy birthday.
Shirahane: Right, right!
Otozuki: But become of the time difference, it was still my birthday when we got to Germany (laughs).
Shirahane: That’s right (laughs). We said happy birthday in Germany too, didn’t we (laughs).
Otozuki: Yeah (laughs). At a German MacDonalds (laughs). Speaking of, while we were over there, the 4 of us bought matching tshirts…
Shirahane: We all went sightseeing together… Now that I think about it properly I have a lot of photos I took with Kimu (laughs).
Otozuki: (laughs)
Shirahane: When it was decided that I’d transfer from Moon Troupe to Snow Troupe, I called a classmate in Snow Troupe, and it turned out that coincidentally all my classmates in Snow Troupe were together so they came on the line one after the other to say something like ‘Welcome!’ or ‘See you soon!’. Their kindness made me so happy. Though maybe you don’t remember this, Kimu (laughs). That was my first time being transferred, so of course I was really uncertain…
Otozuki: But you fit in with everyone right away, Tonami (laughs). It felt like you’d been in Snow Troupe the whole time (laughs).
Shirahane: I took the liberty of fitting myself in (laughs).
Otozuki: (laughs) Maybe Tengu of Love was the first time we acted together? The character you played, O-Yae, was so funny (laughs). It felt like ‘That’s just her, right?’ (laughs).
Shirahane: (laughs). Komu-san (Asami Hikaru) said that too. ‘You didn’t have to create a character at all, did you? she said (laughs).
Otozuki: (laughs) The rehearsals and the performance were so fun. We talked with each other about everything as we were developing it.
Shirahane: That’s right… Oh, I only just now remembered this, but after Tengu of Love ended, I went with Kimu to see a Cosmos Troupe show1…maybe you don’t remember? After the show ended we went to say hello to Mizu-san (Mizu Natsuki), and she told us ‘It sounds like Tengu of Love was really fun. I heard you two were a great couple.’
Otozuki: I remember that, I remember.
Shirahane: Mizu-san went for the Berlin performance as well, right.
Otozuki: That might be why we went to see her after the show.
Shirahane: We took a picture with her in Germany, right (laughs).
Otozuki: Right, right (laughs).
Shirahane: So we had a strange sort of connection (laughs).
Shirahane: Kimu, you’re actually a ball of nerves. Though you don’t look it on first glance (laughs).
Kimu: Is that right (laughs).
Shirahane: During the main cast performance on junior performance days, you’d get so nervous when you were on standby in the wings that your hands felt like blocks of ice… But when it came time for the actual junior performance you really had it together. It made me jealous (laughs).
Otozuki: I don’t know why it was like that (laughs). Speaking of junior performances, we had two where we were the leads together, right, Romance de Paris and In Search of the Blue Bird.
Shirahane: Yeah. …Say, speaking of the Romance de Paris junior performance… (laughs).
Otozuki: (laughs)
Shirahane: My stomach started rumbling, right (laughs). And in the middle of a romantic scene too (laughs). Right at the best bit, right before the kiss, it was like ‘grblgrbl’ (laughs).
Otozuki: Internally I was like ‘What!? Here!? Now!?’ (laughs).
Shirahane: I’m so sorry (laughs). And it was a really un-cute rumble too (laughs).
Otozuki: No, no, it was still cute (laughs).
Shirahane: (laughs) Kimu backed me up so firmly (laughs).
Otozuki: In that moment, I thought, Tonami is really something (laughs).
Shirahane: In Hanakuyou, Kimu’s character of Nobuhiro falls for my character of Lady O-Yotsu, and every single time, during that scene where Nobuhiro weeks thinking about O-Yotsu, I would be thinking ‘I’m sorry’ from my place in the wings…
Otozuki: (laughs) During that show, I got so nervous every day, so much I thought my heart might stop.
Shirahane: There weren’t any song or dance numbers, it was really just acting scenes, so there was nothing to do but put all our energy out there. There wasn’t even any background music beyond the sound of cicadas.
Otozuki: It felt like we had to attune our senses even more than normal in order to be able to do it.
Shirahane: We really learned about so many things during that performance.
Otozuki: Yeah. We had the chance to perform with so many Senka members, and everyone interacted with us so warmly… We went out to eat with them a lot, right.
Shirahane: Yuuchan-san (Natori) held a takoyaki party at her house, right. Tomu-san (Todoroki) arrived with matsutake mushrooms2 (laughs).
Otozuki: Right, right! But Tonami, you saw those matsutake that Tomu-san was kind enough to bring and…
Tonami: I said ‘Wow! Look at those huge shiitake!’ (laughs).
Otozuki: That’s just so Shirahane-san! (laughs)
Tonami: And then Tomu-san said ‘That’s right’ (laughs).
Otozuki: Tomu-san is so cool (laughs). That she didn’t say anything like ‘Um actually, these are matsutake!’ is so cool (laughs).
Tonami: (laughs) But still, it’s amazing to think of using matsutake as a takoyaki mix-in.
Otozuki: Tomu-san really is in a league of her own. Finally, I’m sure I remember that there was some extra minced matsutake we’d cut up for the takoyaki… Tomu-san pan-roasted them in butter, right?
Shirahane: That’s right. It’s really a great memory (laughs). Now that I have the chance, I’d like to take this opportunity to say…Tomu-san, that was so rude of me, I’m sorry (laughs).
Otozuki: (laughs)
Shirahane: In In Search of the Blue Bird, you played a female role in the main cast, right, Kimu? In the revue that went along with it, Takarazuka Dream Kingdom, I thought Kimu felt even more ‘otokoyaku’ than usual. Though I have no idea if it was something you were doing consciously or unconsciously.
Otozuki: I was thinking that during the revue, I had to throw off the femininity I had in the play…so I guess it was a conscious choice. Tonami, you’re so perceptive. I can tell we’re classmates.
Shirahane: (laughs) There are a lot of things that only happen with classmates, huh. There are a lot of things where I think ‘Oh, it’s Kimu, I can ask her that’. For example, sometimes in a play I’ll have trouble deciding objectively whether I should be restraining myself, as a ‘musumeyaku’, or if I should let go of that for the sake of the drama… At times like those, I’ll often consult with Kimu. You help me out so much, since you have a different viewpoint to me, so you’ll answer me honestly from an otokoyaku’s perspective.
Otozuki: You can say that, but the advice you give me as a musumeyaku is also very valuable. After all, you’ll tell me things honestly that you couldn’t say if we were of different seniority. It’s great to have that synergy.
Shirahane: That’s right. I’m able to laugh when I’m with you, Kimu. That’s really a great thing, right. Even if I’m sad or struggling, when I talk over my troubles with Kimu, it always feels like in the end I can laugh about it (laughs). Before I realize it I’m thinking ‘What was I worrying about anyway?’ (laughs). I think it’s so precious to have a relationship like that. Please keep watching over me in the future (laughs).
Otozuki: (laughs). Tonami, you were the first in our class to be in a lead role, right? So I think that was special, and I was so proud. And at the same time, I felt I had to work even harder myself. I’m so thankful to you for making me think that way. I hope you will keep stimulating me to grow more, so please keep on sharing your opinions with me. Maybe sometimes we could talk about ‘What is Otozuki Kei’ or something… (laughs).
Shirahane: (laughs)
It’s an ESPECIAL TIME just for the two of them!
1 – Probably Pierre the Mercenary/The Star Dust Party, which was running in the Takarazuka Grand Theatre at the same time Tengu of Love was running in Bow Hall. Mizu did not transfer to Snow Troupe until several months later.
2 – A very expensive species of mushroom (sometimes running to hundreds of dollars per pound).