WINGS is a periodically revived Kageki feature where a few young actresses answer questions about themselves and Takarazuka. This issue’s column includes Misora Maru, Kishou Kazuto, Ruo Ria, and Ayaji Yurina.
Continue readingThis Kageki feature from 2011 has the results of a survey of all the troupe members of the time, asking their impression of their Top Star through various questionnaires.
Otozuki’s was published in the November issue, and the survey seems to have been done during the performance or rehearsals for The Man in the Iron Mask/Royal Straight Flush!.
Continue readingThis offstage fashion overview published in the July 2016 issue of Kageki features Kurenai Yuzuru, Miya Rurika, Nozomi Fuuto, Shimon Yuriya, Ayakaze Sakina, Yuzuka Rei, Seo Yuria, and Urara Reimi.
Continue readingSenka Top Star Todoroki Yuu wrote this blog-style column in Kageki for many years until her retirement (first as ‘Talking to Myself’, then ‘Talking to Myself With Photo’ and finally as ‘Talking to Myself With…’).
In February of 2013 she wrote about weddings, among…other things.
Continue readingThis book, which is something of an ‘oral history’ of Takarazuka’s Rose of Versailles adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. Since the book is derived from transcriptions of interviews taking place often many decades after the fact, there may be discrepancies between accounts.
Please note that the term appearing through the text as ‘theatre-comic’ is translated from the Japanese term gekiga [劇画]. Although this term is described as applying to mainly male-oriented comics in most English-language sources, this is no longer accurate. The definition of this word has changed to also include sweeping, romantic female-oriented works with Rose of Versailles being arguably the most famous of theatre-comics. Takarazuka even published its own magazine of theatre-comics in the 1970s.
Chapters have been split in two to make them more readable without too much scrolling to reach the explanatory footnotes. Some paragraph breaks have also been added for ease of reading in English. I have also included (or will include when time allows) some images printed in the book as well as sourcing many other archival images to illustrate the text.
Continue readingThis is a diary-styled feature from Kageki accompanied by the star’s personal photos. Tatsuki’s was published in the June 2008 issue.
The dates are unspecified (and sometimes she isn’t talking about things that happened that actual day), but going by the events she described this was recorded during late April/early May, during the break after Le Rouge et le Noir 2008 and the start of Scarlet Pimpernel rehearsals.
Continue readingThis book, which is something of an ‘oral history’ of Takarazuka’s Rose of Versailles adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. Since the book is derived from transcriptions of interviews taking place often many decades after the fact, there may be discrepancies between accounts.
Please note that the term appearing through the text as ‘theatre-comic’ is translated from the Japanese term gekiga [劇画]. Although this term is described as applying to mainly male-oriented comics in most English-language sources, this is no longer accurate. The definition of this word has changed to also include sweeping, romantic female-oriented works with Rose of Versailles being arguably the most famous of theatre-comics. Takarazuka even published its own magazine of theatre-comics in the 1970s.
Chapters have been split in two to make them more readable without too much scrolling to reach the explanatory footnotes. Some paragraph breaks have also been added for ease of reading in English. I have also included (or will include when time allows) some images printed in the book as well as sourcing many other archival images to illustrate the text.
Continue readingThis Month’s ‘Hana’ is the long-running Kageki column written by former Cosmos Troupe Top Musumeyaku Hizuki Hana.
In this issue she talks about her own journey to understanding the character of Carmen better and the 2024 production starring Hoshizora Misaki and Towaki Sea.
(A few paragraph breaks are added to make it more readable.)
Continue readingThis book, which is something of an ‘oral history’ of Takarazuka’s Rose of Versailles adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. Since the book is derived from transcriptions of interviews taking place often many decades after the fact, there may be discrepancies between accounts.
Please note that the term appearing through the text as ‘theatre-comic’ is translated from the Japanese term gekiga [劇画]. Although this term is described as applying to mainly male-oriented comics in most English-language sources, this is no longer accurate. The definition of this word has changed to also include sweeping, romantic female-oriented works with Rose of Versailles being arguably the most famous of theatre-comics. Takarazuka even published its own magazine of theatre-comics in the 1970s.
Chapters have been split in two to make them more readable without too much scrolling to reach the explanatory footnotes. Some paragraph breaks have also been added for ease of reading in English. I have also included (or will include when time allows) some images printed in the book as well as sourcing many other archival images to illustrate the text.
Continue readingTroupe Report is a Kageki feature where an appointed reporter will write about current events in the troupe or ask troupe members for questions to answers sent in by readers. Reporters are generally only replaced on retirement, unlike other backstage features that rotate monthly or quarterly.
This edition was written by Sahana Mako, and talks about events backstage of The Rose of Versailles: Fersen.
(Sahana consistently refers to otokoyaku with male pronouns and honorifics; this is not a translation error but her personal writing style, as is the various bold text, strikethroughs, etc.)
Continue reading