This Month’s ‘Hana’ is the long-running Kageki column written by former Cosmos Troupe Top Musumeyaku Hizuki Hana.
In this issue she talks about the 2013 Snow Troupe production of Rose of Versailles: Fersen and her rediscovery of the character of Fersen.
(A few paragraph breaks are added to make it more readable.)
This Month’s ‘Hana’ – September 2013
I went and saw Berubara. There it was. Yeah. Fersen Edition.
Yes. I love Andre. I don’t care if you think I’m cringe. I love him, not just talking about the 2D world but looking at every world in every universe. Isn’t that wild? And speaking of, I like Shoukichi from in ‘From the North Country’1. He has that Andre flavor somewhere in him. But I’m getting off topic.
So I was thinking that I would just talk all your ears off about Andre, but then. I realized that this Fersen person is also amazing. Finally.
Not to be annoying but I love Andre. In ‘The Rose of Versailles’, the main characters are Oscar, Marie Antoinette, and then Fersen.
At the start of the original comic, Andre was drawn in with a thick pen2 and had this Eau de Supporting Character, but in the end, he managed to advance so far that if you look up the list of characters on Wikipedia he’s the second entry.
As you can see, Andre is great. And then there’s Oscar, who Andre wouldn’t be Andre any more without. And then Antoinette; without her Berubara wouldn’t be able to start. And among this glittering constellation of characters, when it came to Fersen, I…I…to tell the truth I…was not terribly interested!!
There, I said it. But in Takarazuka Berubara, I like Fersen Edition. So contradictory. I just love that flow from the prison to the guillotine to the finale. The character of Fersen and the people playing him make me fangirl sometimes, but as for supporting him…there’s something. He’s lovely. He’s really great. He dedicates himself to caring for and understanding everything about the Queen. If you try to feel like Antoinette he’s just too much to handle.
But, I don’t know. I just end up thinking like Count Mercy. Sort of like ‘Why don’t you just think about this a little…I get you but what if you look at it from another perspective…’
Ahhh, Count Mercy phrased it really nicely, but with so many people around somebody’s going to let the truth slip out sometime, and then everyone will discover that Oscar is in love with you too…and so on and so on.
So during the intermission I was thinking ‘well that’s Fersen for you’, and enjoying this ‘all about Fersen’ or whatever you want to call it. But. But, is the thing. From the start of Act II…what? He feels so solid. Here I thought you were some fop but you’re a samurai. So, I ended up feeling things I’d never felt before towards Fersen.
He doesn’t waver. From beginning to end he holds fast. This man.
“Farewell, France” and then, “Your Majestyyyy!”, and then vanishing down through the lift as the chorus sings.
I had a flashback to the impactful scenes of Fersen’s final fate in the original comic…heartbreaking…so heartbreaking… This was my first time. Fersen. Feeling these kinds of things about you. I’m so sorry. Andre. I think I might be an unfaithful person.
Sou (Kazuho)-san, Manaka (Ayu)-san, thank you for teaching me these emotions.
And congratulations on your debut performance.
Sorry Andre.
1 – Kita no Kuni Kara is a Japanese drama from the 1980s.
2 – i.e., with less artistic effort in the fine detail.