Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 4 – “Is it that great to be Top?” My long spell as second supporting star

This book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.

Paragraph breaks have been added to make it more readable in English.

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Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 3 – “Growing my own way” as a junior actress

This book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.

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Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 2 – My goal! To be a Takarasienne!

This book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.

Some paragraph breaks are added for ease of reading in English.

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I was told “You’re too small for an otokoyaku”… – Asumi Rio speaks about her time in Takarazuka and post-retirement

Additional interview content with Asumi Rio, published by anan on January 8, 2021. In this portion, Asumi talks about her experience of the difference between being an otokoyaku and an actress, and her time on the set of morning drama Ochoyan. The original feature, written by Mochizuki Risa [estimated reading] can be found here. (Archive link here.)

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Asumi Rio challenged again with musical The Poe Clan – ‘I was uncertain at first’

Asumi’s first post-Takarazuka stage performance, the co-ed revival of Koike Shuuichiro’s The Poe Clan, opened today (January 11th, 2021) in Japan. Asumi did this promotional interview with anan on January 7, 2021. The original interview, written by Mochizuki Risa [estimated reading] can be found here. (Archive link here.)

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Aran Kei – Aran: Chapter 1 – “One day I’ll fly away from here!” – What I swore in my heart during my childhood

This book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.

Some paragraph breaks have been added for ease of reading in English.

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Aran Kei – Aran: Foreword

This book is a memoir of Aran Kei’s time as a member of Takarazuka, as well as her post-Takarazuka career and memories of her childhood. It was published in 2010 to commemorate the 20th year of her stage career. It also features messages from Takarazuka classmates and other colleagues and theatre artists she has worked with.

I have collected many archival images from various sources to illustrate the book.

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Ex-Takarazuka otokoyaku star Nanami Hiroki is a huge mandarin lover!? Her “fave mandarin” is…

This fun interview about OG Nanami Hiroki’s favorite fruit was published for Japan’s ‘Mandarin Orange’ day (one of two, even!) on December 3, 2020. The original article was written by Ayaji Nobuko [approximate reading] for Domani—click through for many photos of Nanami! (Archive link here.)

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Former Takarazuka Top Star Sagiri Seina reveals her struggles 2 years post-retirement

This interview with Sagiri Seina, former Top Star of Snow Troupe, was published by Oricon on October 5th. (Archive link here.) The original article was written by Uehara Kahori, and there are many pictures on the original website, so please click through!

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Sagiri Seina, star of Takarazuka ‘Lupin III’ mourns Monkey Punch – “His words gave me courage”

Monkey Punch, the manga artist who originally created the Lupin III franchise, passed away on April 11, 2019, at the age of 81. Sagiri Seina was asked to make a statement. The original article was posted by Daily Sports Online on the 17th. (Archive link here.)

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