For her retirement issue of GRAPH in September 2010, Mizu Natsuki held a roundtable talk with every single otokoyaku who had performed one of her roles in a junior lead production.
The 5 otokoyaku participating are Saou Kurama, Daigo Seshiru (pre musumeyaku switch), Renjou Makoto, Karyou Shizuru, and Ayakaze Sakina.
One outtake photo from the back of the magazine is also included.
Mizu Natsuki Farewell Roundtable
Participants:
Mizu Natsuki
Saou Kurama
Daigo Seshiru
Renjou Makoto
Karyou Shizuru
Ayakaze Sakina
Mizu: I was able to gather everyone who played my role in a junior performance since I became Top Star. Although we were able to have some conversations back then, it’s been quite a while for some of you, so I thought ‘there might be things you’d like to say at a time like this.’ So I had you all summoned… (laughs)
Saou/Daigo/Renjou/Karyou/Ayakaze: Thank you very much!
Saou: Wow, so many of us have played Chika-san’s (Mizu’s) roles!
Mizu: Right. I don’t think it ends up being 5 people hardly at all.
Saou: It just goes to show how many productions you’ve done in the grand theatre, especially since it changed to 1-month runs during that time1.
Mizu: Yeah. Seven shows.
5 junior leads: Wow!
Mizu: Alright, let’s start with those of you who have graduated from junior performances. What do you think now…?
Saou: I was given the chance [to play your junior performance role] in Elisabeth, but back then I didn’t really know you, so even though I was standing right next to you I still couldn’t really make conversation…
Mizu: Probably because it was my debut performance too, and I was having throat problems.
Saou: No, no. I often think about how if I was able to play one of your junior leads with the relationship we have now, it would turn out so much differently.
Mizu: Right, it would~
Saou: But there were so many moments that I was able to see from right next to you, like “Now she’s going to descend the Grand Stairs for the first time a Top Star”… I’m only now realizing that I didn’t understand at all that this was ‘learning by observation’. Besides that, since I was still really junior when Bun-san (Emao Yuu) and Komu-san (Asami Hikaru) were Top Star, so the first Top I really felt proximity to was Chika-san… I’ll never forget those few months of Elisabeth.
Daigo: I also didn’t really get to talk to you…
Mizu: You didn’t talk, right, Seshiru (Daigo).
Daigo: Because during La Mariposa, you were hardy in the wings at all.
Mizu: Oh, that’s right (laughs). I was basically on stage the whole time (laughs).
Daigo: I’m bad at talking to people in the first place, so I didn’t know what it would be okay to talk to you about, so that’s part of it too. And then even when you did happen to be in the wings, I’d just end up thinking “What should I even say?” or “I probably shouldn’t say anything to her right now”.
Mizu: You were being considerate (laughs). You were ken-7 back then, right?
Daigo: Yes.
Mizu: When I did a junior lead at ken-7, of course I was learning a lot from the main cast lead, but I also wanted to develop things in my own way too, even if that was still beyond me… So I figured it was fine if Seshiru was taking things in her own direction. And then since you put things together so well, I didn’t end up having to say much in the end.
Daigo: Koma (Saou) said this too, but thinking about it now I wish I’d talked to you more.
Mizu: So do I. That show had a ton of dialogue, and even filler words like ‘ah’ or ‘hm’ had a lot of weight, so you must have had a hard time, but I think it was a worthwhile challenge for you.
Daigo: Yes. But I still wish I could do it one more time, if that were possible. I feel like there are different ways I could do it…
Mizu: Yeah, I get that… I expect everyone thinks that. How about you, Kingu (Renjou Makoto)? You did 2 shows [as junior lead].
Renjou: When I did Je t’Aime and then Russian Blue, my mental state was…
Mizu: Totally different, right?
Renjou: Yes. During Je t’Aime, I didn’t have a clue what I should be doing. I at least was desperately trying to absorb every bit I could while I had the chance to be near you… Thinking about it now, I hadn’t even figured out how I wanted to do it by the time it was over.
Mizu: I was really worrying about you back then. (laughs)
Renjou: You came to watch me in rehearsals so many times… I’m so sorry for everything.
Mizu: (laughs) But when I was watching the runthrough rehearsal, and you turned around [for the first time] in the prologue, I thought ‘Ah, she’ll be okay’.
Renjou: When it came to Russian Blue, I was ken-7 by then, so I felt more responsibility as a senior, and I thought I couldn’t just settle for being like ‘sorry about this, please take care of me~’. Chika-san, you also told me that I was at a year level where I had to put things together in my own way, so I went into it hoping I could make it the culmination of my time as a junior actress.
Mizu: Well, currently all of you are performers who can get focus in the main cast, too (laughs).
Saou, Daigo, Renjou: We’ll do our best!
Mizu: No, no, you’re already ‘doing your best’. In the continuous form (laughs).
All: (laugh)
Mizu: Gao-chan (Karyou Shizuru), you’re still a junior actress. How is it going?
Karyou: I was able [to perform the junior lead] in ZORRO: The Masked Messiah, but…
Mizu: That was so tough, right~ (laughs).
Karyou: But in terms of my Takarazuka Life…
Saou: ‘Takarazuka Life’, she says (laughs).
Karyou: I think it was kind of a turning point… Even though when I think about it now I want to cry… (tears up)
Mizu: (laughs)
Karyou: I never expected I’d be given a junior lead, so first of all I was shocked… And then I wanted to make sure it was all perfect by the time we got to the final runthrough rehearsal, so I thought that for a first lead I was really doing my best. But then the morning of the actual junior performance, when I went to do my courtesy greeting2…
Mizu: I got really upset with you and told you ‘You have to think about what it actually means to be playing the lead role!’. I always try to be considerate in the timing when giving people advice, and I know doing it right before the show will add a lot of pressure, so I don’t normally do that. But you were wonderful in the actual performance! So I thought, ‘Ah, I’m glad I said that’.
Karyou: My awareness of things changed with that. Up until then I’d really been doing my best in my own way, but in a way all of my thinking had been surface level… I realized that whether it’s a role or just a bit of choreography, I have to drill down to get to the deeper meanings.
Mizu: I see. How about you, Saki-chan (Ayakaze Sakina)? You did the junior lead in Dawn at Solferino.
Ayakaze: Yes. When I saw the cast listing, even above being excited that I was being given a lead role, I was thinking “What do I do, it’s happened” and my whole body started shaking. You told me “First, watch me and absorb as much as you can of my emotions and movements, and then try doing it your way.” So I was just thinking “I’ll watch Chika-san”…I was desperate. You were willing to talk to me so much. I guess I had tons of questions… (laughs)
Mizu: Yeah. She had the most questions of all of you (laughs).
All: (laugh)
Mizu: I think all of you had a lot of things change after performing a junior lead. Well, some of you, like Koma, are already graduated from junior performances, and Gao-chan too…[even though you’re still in junior performances] somehow you already feel like you’re already a ‘veteran’ (laughs).
Karyou: People have been telling me that since I was ken-3 (laughs).
All: (laugh)
Daigo: Maybe you have that kind of gravitas? (laughs)
Karyou: I come off as weirdly calm. People keep telling me to get rid of the facade, but I don’t know how, it’s really hard…
Mizu: But I think just realizing that there’s something you don’t understand about yourself is a step in the right direction, so you can continue the process of finding that answer even after you become a senior actress… I still have issues that make me think ‘well this sucks’, but I think the important thing is to keep facing them down without giving up.
Saou: Chika-san, you’re a really intense person, so while you’d be giving us advice in the wings, you tend to get so caught up in it that you forget your entrance (laughs).
Daigo: Yeah, yeah, you totally do (laughs).
Saou: So us having to be aware of Chika-san’s entrance time was passed down as generational knowledge (laughs).
Mizu: (bursts out laughing) So like, your keyword was ‘entrance check’ (laughs).
Saou: That’s it (laughs).
Mizu: (laughs) I’m way more senior than all of you, but since I’ve talked to you so much I feel like I actually trust and rely on you a lot. So because of that I don’t feel the need to put on airs, so I can let you see all of me, including my dorky side where I’ll end up late for my entrance and stuff like that (laughs). I’m grateful for that.
Renjou: I’m glad I was able to see that side of you. Until I was able to spend time with you, I felt like you were a perfect being… So I was like, ‘Oh, Chika-san’s human too’ (laughs).
Saou: Right~
Renjou: Being able to be near Chika-san was such a happy time for me…
Mizu: Kingu, you were right next to me the whole time during Solferino recently, right. (laughs)
All: (laugh)
Saki: You were definitely there (laughs). Koma-san was there too (laughs).
Saou: I just want to be next to Chika-san (laughs).
Renjou: Exactly. Even though I’d be looking at Saki and thinking ‘Sorry, I just can’t shut up’ (laughs).
Saou: (laughs) But really, having one of Chika-san’s junior leads is such a huge thing for me …and really, I think that’s true for all of us. Since the 5 of us were able to be be near Chika-san, I want to take pride in that, and carry the time I spent with Chika-san with me into the new Snow Troupe.
Mizu: Please do… Actually, I totally forgot just now that this was actually a ‘Farewell Talk’ (laughs).
All: (laugh)
Mizu: In ROCK ON, one of the song lyrics is ‘It’s time for the last farewell’, and when I heard that word ‘last farewell’, which means [in Japanese] ‘the eternal parting’, I finally started to feel the reality that Takarazuka is a world you can never return to [once you leave]. And so when that happened, all of this time that I’d been spending as if things were totally ordinary started to feel so precious… So even if your own ‘limit’ hasn’t been decided yet, I hope you’ll all treasure the ‘ordinary times’.
Ayakaze: Now that you’re retiring…I keep thinking, I’m so glad I met Chika-san… (tears up)
Mizu: Oh dear… (laughs)
Ayakaze: I was so happy to be given the opportunity to learn so many things from you directly, and I’m just full of gratitude… But just after I first realized my goal was to be like Chika-san, you announced your retirement, and I was so sad (cries), but I want to treasure these feelings right now and work even harder than before. You are my goal, and my dream, and I’m just so glad to have met you (cries).
Mizu: That’s too much (laughs).
Karyou: I always used to have a part of me that was just…enjoying singing and dancing. But learning so many things from Chika-san made me see a goal up ahead. I’m going to keep all the important things you taught me in my heart…and try to strip off my facade…
Mizu: Get rid of the facade, right (laughs).
Karyou: Yes. But seriously, I’ll never forget that incident in all my life. Your whole face changed, for real!
Mizu: Really? (laughs)
Karyou: There was so much intensity in your eyes, and I’d never seen someone’s eyes look like that before. Thinking of how your eyes looked then motivates me to work harder. Right, Kingu-san?
Renjou: Ah…I’m gonna cry too (tears up). I had actually given up on myself at one point…but even so, Chika-san told me not to give up, and made me realize how naive and irresponsible I was being… It’s thanks to you that I had that shift in awareness. I wanted to be able to follow you even more, so I’ll miss you (cries). I hope I can pass on what you taught me to my juniors, and not just hold on to it… I’m crying too much, right, I’m sorry.
Mizu: (laughs)
Daigo: …(tears up) I’m not generally one to cry, but… (cries). Mizu-san, you’re the kind of person who basically will say exactly what you think, so when you first came to Snow Troupe I was a bit hesitant. But when you give advice, you really think about how it will benefit the other person when you say it, so it makes me think you’re a really sympathetic person… I don’t know what I’ll do with myself now that you’re retiring… (cries). Earlier, when you said you trust and rely on us, I felt that right in my heart, and I was so happy…’happy’ is such a simple word, but I was thinking, ‘Mizu actually thinks of us like that’. Of course I’ll retain what Mizu left with Takarazuka within myself, but I also really want to pass it on to my juniors as well. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. Ah, no, just, thank you very much! I’d rather put it that way, I don’t want it to feel like it’s all over today (laughs).
Mizu: (laughs) Seshiru, you actually confronted me directly when you couldn’t accept some of the things I’d been saying to the troupe, right. I was so happy about that. That doesn’t happen that often, does it?
Seshiru: You are so senior to me, so to say that…
Mizu: You must have needed such strong determination.
Daigo: But I thought, since Mizu-san will speak her own mind so directly, I should also tell you what I’m actually feeling…
Mizu: Yes, that’s totally right. I think it’s fine not to put on airs, and fine to talk things out if you have an issue. I hope we can all trust each other mutually and put everything out there.
Saou: I’ve been really talkative ever since I was a junior actress (laughs), but I’m actually pretty bad at interacting with people.
Mizu: So that’s why you actually talk so much?
Saou: That’s right. Since I’m not confident enough to convey what I actually want to say very well, I guess… So among all that, I’m so happy that you’re always so transparent, and think seriously about everyone in the troupe, giving even the most junior girls advice on the level of equals and recognizing them as actors in their own right. Since you love everyone so earnestly, and don’t try to hide anything whether you feel happy or conflicted, it makes me want to help carry Snow Troupe even further myself. I’ll treasure the way you taught us to confront each other seriously…I’m just so grateful. Even after you retire, I’m sure when you come to see Snow Troupe… (laughs)
Mizu: I think I’ll definitely end up saying ‘Hang on, what was up with this part [of the show]?’ (laughs)
Saou: (laughs) I’m going to keep following you until the end. Thank you very much.
Mizu: Yes (laughs). I’ll be totally serious for a moment. …As senior actresses retire, there will be less people left of those who guided you, right. As that goes on, now you’ll have to look at yourself objectively, and find your own goal to work towards. If you give up then, or start playing it safe, you’ll stagnate, so keep looking towards the possibility beyond where you think your limits are, and don’t lose the energy to give something one last try. I’m doing the same thing right now. Please stick with me to the end.
5 junior leads: Thank you very much!
Notes:
1 – While there was no announced change in policy, in general Takarazuka show schedules shortened around 2008.
2 – It is traditional in junior performances for junior performers to perform courtesy greetings to their role’s main cast performer (information is a little unclear, but possibly both when the junior roles are announced, and on the actual day of the performance).
Outtake photo
