Every year in Kageki, each Top Star and Top Musumeyaku publishes a recap of their year in the December issue. While in the actual magazine, the Top Stars and Top Musumeyaku have separate sections, for posting I am combining the two statements for each troupe. (I have also only translated the statements and left off the rather overwrought advertising-style intro blurbs just to save time.)
Looking Back on 2022 – Snow Troupe
Ayakaze Sakina
The cancellation of ODYSSEY: The Age of Discovery, which had been scheduled for the start of the year, was such a huge deal, I got so depressed I was wondering if I’d ever had such a painful experience in my whole life.
Emotionally, after that, I had trouble approaching the next show in some ways, but Yumesuke and the 1000 Ryo is such a warm and uplifting show, so I was really saved by the character of Yume-san and his kindness towards others. All of in Snow Troupe, together with Yuu-chan (Natori Rei) were able to have fun performing. The revue, Sensational! was very energetic and bright. Ever since I was assigned to Snow Troupe, every single Top Star has been given a revue by Director Nakamura Kazunori, so his show reminded me once again I was Top Star and how happy I was for that.
The summer run of ODYSSEY, like the one [planned for] the start of the year, had Miho Keiko-san join us from Senka. This performance really shook me. I was so happy that we got through it without 1 single day of cancellations, and when the audience was waving the flags from their seats it was like they were cheering us on… I over-committed to that time to the point that after the show closed I felt so empty inside I spent the whole day crying: but being able to put my soul into something to such an extent also makes me happy as a performer. I wished I could keep singing and dancing in that show for the rest of my life.
My last performance of the year is Pleiades in the Blue, which is running right now1. We have such special people joining us from Senka, and this show has taught me that while life can be a struggle, it’s still important. This is connected to the pain COVID has caused, and also how I feel through my character as I look at the rest of Snow Troupe… I think ending up with this show was some kind of fate. Since Asazuki is retiring with this production, I want to show the full culmination of all we’ve done together, and I think the end of the show, where despite the fact that their paths may be different Wenxiu and Linlin walk into the future together, feels like it was destined for me seeing Asazuki off.
This was a turbulent year for me, that had a lot of tears and struggles, but just as much happiness. Next year starts with BONNIE AND CLYDE. Yumeshiro (Aya) is becoming my partner, and I want to ‘power up’ personally as well and bring you a new Ayakaze Sakina.
Asazuki Kiwa
When the performance of ODYSSEY at the start of the year was completely cancelled, I had such a painful realization that I couldn’t take being able to go onstage for granted… But the time we all spent in rehearsals together wasn’t wasted, and I feel strongly that we were able to bring that time with us into the next performance.
In Yumesuke and the Thousand Ryo, I play a quirky lady pickpocket. That last scene, where they return to Odawara together, gave me such a strong feeling of ‘people are so warm’, and I’ll never forget the scene I saw from the stage and the warmth from the audience as we were doing the clapping pattern together. In Sensational! the theme was ‘musumeyaku are cool too!’ (laughs), and in the duet dance, where it was like the collision and give-and-take of love, I was focusing on how I could respond to Saki-san’s (Ayakaze)expressions as I danced.
As for the July run of ODYSSEY, my heart was full of joy that we were able to do it. The moment I hit the first pose on opening day, the applause and the atmosphere on stage had me shaking…even when I went into the wings I couldn’t stop trembling, and I was full of joy that our Good Ship ODYSSEY had been resurrected, and thoughts for the cancelled January performance…it was a production full of all kinds of emotion for me.
In Pleiades in the Blue, which we are performing right now1, I feel like it was fate that I met the character of Linlin for my last Takarazuka show. I got to do a child role again for the first time in so long, and Linlin, with her strong will and earnest faith has helped me mature as a person.
2022 was a year where I kept wanting to give something to the audience. My learning as a musumeyaku, a Takarasienne, and an actress, will never end, so I want to keep absorbing as much as I can, and even if my progress is slow I want to keep going forward step by step until the day I retire.
1 – Please note that this feature was recorded well before ex-director Harada Ryo was removed from rehearsals/banned from Takarazuka facilities and thus the performers would not have known the full extent of the complaints about him at this point apart from his egregious behavior towards the cast.