Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 2 Chapter 3 – Being a man is really hard!?

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.

(In this chapter, she spends a while talking about her views on marriage and the relationships between men and women – please bear in mind that she grew up in the 1970s and this book was published in 1993. Also, please note that as far as I can tell Mori has never married.)

Continue reading

Heartpounding and Exciting #1 – Ashizawa Jin interview with Maaya Kiho

Ashizawa Jin is an illustrator/columnist who seems to have worked for GRAPH since the 1960s (yes, you read that right). His interview column gets a new title every year but usually the format is fairly similar. The 2018 column was called Heartpounding and Exciting, and this interview with Maaya Kiho was published in the February 2018 issue.

Continue reading

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 2 Chapter 1 – Dear My Family

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

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 1 Chapter 11 – Once again: I LOVE TAKARAZUKA

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

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 1 Chapter 10 – I’ll soar!

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

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 1 Chapter 9 – The process towards 120%

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

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 1 Chapter 8 – A kiss to the floor

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

Mori Keaki – 120% Darling: Part 1 Chapter 7 – The core is vital to being a ‘man’

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

ABOUT ‘100’ – Ayanagi Shou, Snow Troupe

Since 2018 was the 100th year of Kageki being in publication, there were various commemorative events and features. In this feature, stars answer questions with the number 100 in them, and also describe their own personalities in terms of percentages.

Ayanagi’s was published in the April issue.

Continue reading