Author Archives: kittychan

“Rush! Fresh!! Push!!!” – Shizuki Asato and Asami Hikaru with Yumeki Noa

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This talk from the January 1998 Kageki pre-dates the creation of Cosmos Troupe, and features 3 of its future members discussing those prospects.

(Well, in theory, but they quickly get off-topic…)

This feature was translated from Shizuki’s memorial book anthology, but seems to be unabridged.

“Rush! Fresh!! Push!!!” Shizuki Asato and Asami Hikaru with Yumeki Noa

Shizuki: Komu-chan (Asami), you were in Flower Troupe with me for three years, right?

Asami: That’s right.

Yumeki: When I was a ken-1, I was in Flower Troupe for a year because of troupe rotations.

Shizuki: What, really?

Asami: So we were actually in the same troupe together… But there’s still tons of things I don’t know about Zunko-san…

Shizuki: Ask me whatever you like!

Asami: Is it okay even if it’s something serious?

Shizuki: Sure, go ahead.

Asami: Is there something you’re good at cooking?

Shizuki: What’s serious about that! [laughs] I’m pretty good at gooking anything. If somebody says ‘cook this’ I can make anything, but if I don’t have to I won’t cook. I’m best at stuff like curry, stew, and beef stroganoff.

Yumeki: Let’s flip that around, is there something you’d like people to make for you?

Shizuki: Rice! [laughs]

Yumeki: If that’s it I can probably manage.

Shizuki: I’ll be content with just warm rice and miso soup. If anyone would like to cook for me, I’m hiring~!

Asami: If you say stuff like that you’ll get mobbed! [laughs]

Shizuki: Actually, I love eating breakfast. As soon as I get up I can eat steak or anything.

Yumeki: Me too! Cake or whatever is OK!

Asami: Whaaaat!?

Shizuki: When I go to bed at night, I fall asleep looking forward to what I’ll eat for breakfast.

Asami: I don’t get hungry at all until midday. So I don’t believe you.

Yumeki: I like having a bit of a drink before bed; what about you, Zunko-san?

Shizuki: I do too! There’s always gin and such in my fridge.

Yumeki: Same here!

Asami: Are you particular about glassware?

Shizuki: I’m ridiculously fussy about it! But all my nice crystal, like Baccarat, shattered in an earthquake…

Asami: I can see you in a dressing gown with your legs crossed, holding a Baccarat glass…and of course with the lights dimmed…

Shizuki: [laughs] I do like a dark room.

Yumeki: Me too!

Shizuki: We really think alike.

Yumeki: I like scented candles, so I’ll light some and then drink with the lights off.

Shizuki: Same here! We should move in together!

Yumeki: I-if this gets printed I’m in for it! [laughs]

Shizuki: I don’t like bright rooms. So my room is full of ennui.

Asami: So cool! I’m the opposite. If it’s not nice and bright I feel weird. I couldn’t live with Zunko-san…

Shizuki: Bummer…

Asami: You don’t look disappointed at all!

Shizuki, Yumeki: [laughs]

Yumeki: Your room must be nice and neat.

Shizuki: I’m a person who loves cleaning.

Asami: You can cook and clean too! You’d make a great wife!

Shizuki: Actually, I’ve recently decided to reject marriage. [laughs] I like living alone too much, you know?

Asami: That’s right.

Yumeki: When I was in grade school, I wrote an essay in Home Economics about how I would never ever get married, and the teacher got really mad at me.

Shizuki, Asami: [laughs]

Shizuki: You should do what you like, and live how you want.

Asami: At the end I’d like to ask one actually serious question. Now that a new troupe is finally being created, what kind of troupe do you want to make it into?

Shizuki: I want it to be a troupe where it’s as if all kind of things were put in a box to freely mix together. I want to avoid unnecessary separations between junior and senior actresses as much as possible, so that there’s an environment where anyone can mutually discuss anything. At this point, nothing’s really fixed about the new troupe, so I want us to all work together bit by bit to create it.

Asami: Hearing you say things like that makes me really excited, Zunko-san.

Yumeki: I’m really happy.

Shizuki: I’m sure it’ll be hard to start from square one, but I want to “open the door”.

Asami: And then we…

Yumeki: Can leap through it!

Misaki Rion’s retirement press conference: “It went by in a flash”

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This article about Misaki Rion’s press conference for her upcoming retirement was published by Daily Sports Online on August 24, 2016.

Misaki Rion’s retirement press conference: “It went by in a flash”

Cosmos Troupe top musumeyaku Misaki Rion, who has announced that she will be retiring in April of next year, held a press conference on the 24th, at the Takarazuka Revue headquarters in Takarazuka, Hyogo prefecture.

Misaki appeared at the interview wearing Takarazuka’s ‘retirement colors’, a white one-piece dress. “Ever since becoming top musume, I’ve always been aware of [upcoming] retirement,” she said; she was the partner of two successive Top Stars, Ouki Kaname and Asaka Manato.

She seriously began thinking about retirement on opening night of Asaka’s Grand Theatre introductory performance as Top Star, A Song for Kingdoms. “It was a wonderful script, and I had a very large role, and I could feel our power and passion as a unit,” she declared.

After discussing the situation with Asaka, she revealed that “Even in rehearsals and such, I’ve been valuing each and every day still more. If you take it since I entered the Takarazuka Music School, it’s been 10 years. It really went by in a flash,” she said, with tears coming to her eyes as she looked back.

Ouki Kaname’s words, “I want you to be my equal,” had a deep impression on Misaki. Also, she is grateful to Asaka, who “welcomed me with open arms.” Regarding what she will do after retirement, she said with a smile “I’m not thinking of anything about that yet. I want to carry through my life in Takarazuka first.”

Her retirement performance will be Chateau de la Reine/Viva! Festa!, which will run at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre from 2/3/2017-3/6/2017, and at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre from 3/31/2017-4/30/2017.

That’s RanKING! (April 2016)

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In That’s RanKING!, a multi-year Kageki Top Star Q&A feature, the Top Stars rank each other based on various questions. The 2016 version of the column has questions sent in by readers.

This month’s question: Who knows the most about bugs?

That’s RanKING! – Who’s in first place?

For 2016’s monthly corner, we use questions sent in from readers and ask each Top Star to rank who most matches each month’s theme by sharing their impressions and anecdotes. The votes are calculated with First Place as 10 points, Second Place as 5 points, and Third Place as 3 points. Please enjoy the 5 Top Stars’ variety of answers and stories!

This month: Who knows the most about bugs? (Question from ‘Elmer’)

  • Sagiri Seina (27 pts)
  • Asaka Manato (22 pts)
  • Hokushou Kairi (17 pts)

Snow Troupe – Sagiri Seina

First place is Maa-kun [Asaka]. That’s because she’s from Saga! [Laughs] There are bugs in Saga, right? They’re in Nagasaki too! …I guess I wouldn’t want to have someone say that to me [laughs]. Michiko-san [Hokushou] seems to have a lot of knowledge about stuff, so even though she says she doesn’t like bugs I feel like she knows about them, so she’s in second. I’m fine with bugs but I don’t know that much about them, so guess I might be third. Fourth place is Masao [Ryuu], and fifth place is Mirio-chan [Asumi]. Masao doesn’t mind bugs but I don’t think she’s interested in them either, and I feel like Mirio-chan hates bugs.

Star Troupe – Hokushou Kairi

First place is Ryuu-san, because she seems she’d know a lot about colorful insects. Second place is Chigi [Sagiri], since I think she would have caught bugs when she was little. I see Asaka-san as being in third place. To tell the truth, I actually detest bugs, and I don’t know much about them so I’m last place. I didn’t hate them so much when I was little, but when I was in the Takarazuka Music School I was cleaning a balcony once, and from a cherry tree, a fuzzy caterpillar—… Of course I couldn’t scream, and I twisted to try and shake it off, but I had to keep going… I kept cleaning while I was practically fainting, so after that I was really traumatized [laughs].

Cosmos Troupe – Asaka Manato

Hokushou-san! If you flipped through the pages of her memory, I feel like she would have a whole page full of memories about bugs, all ‘Oh, so bugs…’ kind of things. Chigi-san is from Kyuushu, which has a lot of nature, and I think she definitely caught bugs when she was little! I’m also from Kyuushu so I’ll be third for the same reasons. A long time ago I used to catch cicadas, but now I can’t stand them. I feel like Mirio would be like ‘Mr. Bug, stay away~’ [laughs]. And I see Masao as having very little interest in bugs. ‘Oh, there’s a bug, huh,’ that kind of image.

Flower Troupe – Asumi Rio

First place is Chigi-san, since I think a bug catching net would suit her. I think second place might be Masaki-san [Ryuu]. She has a favorite bug: she said ‘rhinoceros beetles are really spirited’ so I think she’d be like that [laughs]. Third place is Hokushou-san. She seems to know a lot about bugs, and would be able to tell you ‘in this area these bugs are likely to appear’. Since I grew up in the countryside, if I see a bug I generally know what it is, and I’m not scared of them…but I’m not an expert.

Moon Troupe – Ryuu Masaki

Somebody who knows a lot about bugs…? Maybe Maa-kun. Well, I say she knows a lot, but I feel like if you asked her about bugs she would get really into it and research all kinds of things. Second place is Chigi-chan, since she definitely seems like she fits the ‘outdoorsy’ image. Micchan is in third place. Even if she personally doesn’t like bugs, she knows about a lot of different things so I think she’d definitely be able to tell you about bugs. I can’t stand bugs at all. I think Mirio doesn’t like them at all either. But if there was a bug on my clothes or something, I think she’d have the courage to get it off for me…

Lyrics: Aventuriers (Lupin III)

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English translation of lyrics from the Takarazuka original production based on the manga and anime characters. (Translation by kittychan with some editing by chemicalperfume.)

Lupin:
If you’re going to be a deceiver, deceive the whole world
If you’re going to steal, go for the world’s greatest treasure

Keep a fire in your heart and a lie on your lips
Sharpen your teeth and claws–that’s a man’s aesthetic!

Ah, doesn’t it make your heart sing?
This adventure…

After all–
We’re only poor Aventuriers
We’re adventurers
We party and make noise and have fun with life
Come along with us!

The world is a limitless playground
Let’s start the game

Jigen:
When I’m holding my hot Magnum
I can have sweet dreams
I’ll cut through the darkness
And seize tomorrow

Goemon:
If you want to protect something
you must fight for it
In every man’s life
There are these moments

Trio:
After all–
We’re only poor Aventuriers
But even so
We won’t forget our desires, hopes and dreams!

Lupin:
Open your eyes
There’s no time to live as if you’re already dead
Come on, the game is starting!

Cagliostro:
Ah~ the passion I thought was gone
Is burning in my heart

Lupin: Come on!

All:
That’s right
We’re only poor Aventuriers
Aventuriers who just want to have fun
Chasing dreams that might be foolish, we’ll live cheerfully
The treasure will be ours!

Lyrics: Why do people love each other? (The Count’s Daughter)

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English translation of lyrics from the Takarazuka production based on the comics.

Alain:
Just as retribution awaits a crime
The withdrawn waves crash down again
Even if I gather up the sand left behind
It dries up and falls away–In the end it all crumbles

Because I loved you, I deceived you
Because I deceived you, I lost you
The scorching hot desert of my infatuation
Is eating away at my heart
Exposing my twisted nature

Why do people love each other?
It’s unbearable pain piercing through me
An unquenchable flame, revealing the truth
Your image is burned into my eyelids
But when I try to reach out and embrace you
You just shrug me off silently

Richard:
A falsehood is before my eyes
I am blind to the real truth
The one I trusted betrayed me
I hurt the one I loved

I finally cut through the darkness I was floundering in
With a sword of light
But I fear that for your heart’s desire
You no longer think of me

Francois:
I shut everything away in dreams
But it was a weak and fitful sleep
A rude knock soon forced me awake

I turned my face to the warmth I had forgotten
But when I tried to stop the wheels that had begun to move
My fingertips ended up stained red

All three:
Why do people love each other?
It’s unbearable pain piercing through me
An unquenchable flame, revealing the truth
Your image is burned into my eyelids
But when I try to reach out and embrace you
You just shrug me off silently
At least let me tell you that this love
Is not a lie

Lyrics: I’ll Spread My Wings (The Count’s Daughter)

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English translation of lyrics from the Takarazuka original production based on the comics.

Corinne:
The scent of marronier1 is all around me–
I’ve never walked on stone streets before!
The Parisiennes all stroll about shattering
And looking down on them is the haughty Eiffel Tower

Below the rooftops of Paris
On the banks of the beautiful Seine
Lovers whisper to each other
As Notre Dame watches over them with a smile

All I see is so entrancing–
Good heavens, how is it all so wonderful!

I’m walking boldly through the streets of Paris
This whole day’s outing feels like a dream!
It’s so new to me…

Just like a bird, I’ll spread my wings
Feel the wind all over my body
I want to soar through the sky of Paris
Perhaps someday I’ll meet someone
Someone looking at this same sky–
Someone who knows who I am

1 – Marronier is the French term for the horse chestnut.

Lyrics: Je t’Aime – I can’t live without your love (The Count’s Daughter)

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English translation of lyrics from the Takarazuka original production based on the comics.

Alain:
The twilight of Paris is all a-glitter
Its glass buildings reflecting bursting bubbles
The perfume fades away, leaving deepening futility
I believed there was someone who could revitalize my heart
I was sure I’d encounter them someday
As I waited for the dawn alone

‘Lumiere’: You are my morning light
Softly embracing me
Awakening to that light
I realized that the world
Was full of radiance

Je t’aime–Je t’aime
Oh, I can’t live without your love

Je t’aime–Je t’aime
Ah, you must love me–deeper, deeper
Now that I’ve caught your hand on the waves of time
I will never let you go, eternally
Je t’aime
Only you–Je t’aime