This article covering Star Troupe Top Musumeyaku Kisaki Airi’s retirement press conference was published by Nikkan Sports on February 6, 2019. The original article with photos can be found here. (Archive link here.)
Continue readingThis GRAPH feature ran in the mid-2000s. Takarasiennes would be given categories to pick their ‘Top 3′ for. Aran’s ran in the September issue.
An outtake from the back of the magazine is included.
Continue readingEvery 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 readingBackstage Journal is a short Kageki feature where very young cast members write anecdotes about what’s going on behind the scenes of the productions. They’re not very deep, being full of emojis and more like blog entries than articles, but they are a good way to get to know the newest actresses in each troupe.
This one is by Star Troupe member Sayaka Rin (of the 101st Class), and was published in the June 2017 issue.
Continue readingMori 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.
ON THE RISE was a 2008 feature for up-and-coming young stars, asking them various questions about their on- and off-stage life. Kazu’s was published in the May issue.
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.
Star Troupe’s Troupe Report has been written by Kisaragi Ren since 2015. The June 2017 edition features questions for the leading members of the troupe and backstage anecdotes.
Continue readingSparkling TIME is a long-running photo/talk feature from Kageki. Hiroki and Chitose’s was published in the September 2016 issue. They are classmates from the 89th class.
Continue readingSince 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.
Nanami’s was published in the April issue.
Continue readingSparkling TIME is a long-running Kageki talk feature which includes a photoshoot (designed by the participants) and talk between performers. Tenju’s and Sumiki’s was published in the October 2017 issue.
Some outtakes from the back of the magazine are also included.
Continue reading