Ranking Talk Resurrected! (Snow Troupe – Mirai Yuuki, Sou Kazuho, Otozuki Kei)

Ranking Talk was a Kageki feature from the mid-2000s where young otokoyaku stars would rank each other in various categories. This one was published in the October 2005 issue and features Mirai Yuuki, Sou Kazuho, and Otozuki Kei.

Continue reading

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 2 Chapter 11 – I always want to convey these feelings

Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible.

It’s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!

For a table of contents with links to all the chapters, go here.

Continue reading

Which side are you on 2: Hyper! (May 2009)

The Kageki Top Star feature for 2009 was a spinoff of the 2008 feature, where Top Stars were asked to pick a side on a question. Unlike the 2008 edition, which had 2 questions, the 2009 version only has 1 question, and the stars are then asked to predict everyone else’s answers.

The May question: Do you prefer…
A – Traditional sweets?
B – Western sweets?

Continue reading

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 1 Chapter 10 – Totally numb in 7th place!

Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible. 120% Darling has around 24 chapters, and I plan to post one every Friday.

It’s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!

For a table of contents with links to all the chapters, go here.

Continue reading

Debut Roundtable Talk: 104th Class – Let’s bloom as diversely colorful flowers!

Every year, the Top Star of the show in which the new class of Takarasiennes debuts will hold a roundtable talk with the 5 students who graduated with the highest grades. In 2018, the 104th class debuted during the Star Troupe production Another World/KILLER ROUGE, and Kurenai Yuzuru hosted the talk which was published in the June 2018 issue of Kageki.

(Please note that 2 of the students in the talk have very similar last names, Mashiro/Mahiro, so keep that in mind while reading)

Some outtakes from the back of the magazine are also included.

Continue reading

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 2 Chapter 9 – What it means to be scolded

Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible.

It’s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!

For a table of contents with links to all the chapters, go here.

Continue reading

Sparkling TIME – Asami Jun and Sakuragi Minato

Sparkling TIME is a Kageki talk feature which includes a photoshoot (designed by the participants) and talk between performers, often classmates. Asami’s and Sakuragi’s was published in the March 2017 issue.

Continue reading

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 2 Chapter 8 – The Severity of Reality

Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible.

It’s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!

For a table of contents with links to all the chapters, go here.

Continue reading