Tag Archives: Article Translation

Asumi Rio receives Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival’s newcomer award: first for Takarazuka since Yuzuki Reon

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This article was published by Nikkan Sports on December 25, 2015.

Asumi Rio receives Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival’s newcomer award: first for Takarazuka since Yuzuki Reon

On the 25th the Takarazuka Revue announced that Asumi Rio, Top Star of Flower Troupe, was awarded the Newcomer Award for Theatre at the Heisei 27 Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival.

She received the award for her performance in New Tale of Genji, which was performed at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Hyogo and elsewhere starting in October of this year. Asumi’s performance in the restaging, 26 years after the last time it was performed, was praised for her embodiment of the elegant setting of the work.

The presentation ceremony takes place January 21st of next year in the city of Osaka.

According to the Revue, it is the first time a member has received the Rookie Award since former Top Star Yuzuki Reon in 2010.

Ryuu Masaki: “Set free” by retirement announcement

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This article about Ryuu Masaki’s retirement announcement was published by Daily Sports Online on January 3, 2016. (The article title may seem not to entirely fit the content, as it references a section of the interview that was not quoted in the article.)

Ryuu Masaki: “Set free” by retirement announcement

Takarazuka Revue Moon Troupe Top Star Ryuu Masaki, who will be retiring on September 4th of this year at the Tokyo Grand Theatre, agreed to an interview at the Tokyo opening of the Moon Troupe performance “Manon” which concludes performances on February 14th.

It is her first Tokyo performance since announcing her intent to retire on December 15th of last year. At the last performance of “Manon” in Takarazuka, all her colleagues who she had already informed of her retirement “embraced me without a word. It hurt so much it was hard to breathe, but I felt like I had been set free,” she said with a refreshed expression.

After the announcement, “the way the other members of the troupe look at me is even warmer than before. I’m really happy,” she said with gratitude. Regarding the performance, she said firmly “I want to go back to and strengthen my original resolution to give it my all each day.”

Otozuki Kei interview: “The Man in the Iron Mask/Royal Straight Flush!”

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This interview with Otozuki Kei preceding the opening of The Man in the Iron Mask/Royal Straight Flush! was published on Ticket Pia. The original article was written by Kuroishi Etsuko [approximate reading] and can be found here.

(Archived version here, as there are occasional issues loading the original page.)

Otozuki Kei interview: “The Man in the Iron Mask/Royal Straight Flush!”

Takarazuka Revue Snow Troupe’s Top Star Otozuki Kei’s smile is so refreshingly charming that it seems to instantaneously make everything around her more cheerful. It’s been about a year since she became Top Star, and her next challenge is The Man in the Iron Mask, based on the book by Alexandre Dumas which was made famous by the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. We asked her how she is portraying the completely opposite characters of the heartlessly cruel tyrant Louis XIV and his imprisoned older twin brother, Philippe.

Pia: This time you’re being challenged with a double role; how do you feel about it?

Otozuki: When I first received the script, I thought it would be easy to portray them since their personalities and the circumstances they were brought up in were so different. But when rehearsals actually started, I found it really difficult to get into character as Louis XIV. While it’s been 14 years since I joined the Takarazuka Revue, I’ve never had the role of a tyrant before. It takes a lot of imagination so I’m having to fight for it. Also, I want to make sure I’m conveying Philippe’s feelings after being imprisoned and masked for 6 years.

Pia: Since it seems like we’ll be able to see a new you, expectations might be high.

Otozuki: I’m really happy to be able to show the audience different sides of me by portraying opposite roles in the same show.

Pia: In the cast list, there are roles like “(Bowling) Ball attendant*” and “(Moliere’s Troupe) Mito Mitsukuni” so we’re really curious about that! (laugh)

Otozuki: That’s right. (laugh) Louis XIV likes to play and he’s very promiscuous, so the bowling scene shows what his everyday life is like. In performance with all the scenery and choreography, it’s really fun to watch. The show was made to be enjoyed by young and old, men and women, and Mito Mitsukuni is a part of that too. Please come and watch it.

Pia: The second feature is named after the winning hand in poker, “royal straight flush” but can you tell us what’s going to be in it?

Otozuki: I want it to be the kind of show that could only be performed by the current members of Snow Troupe. We’re aiming for it to be a very powerful and energetic show. There are lots of varied scenes featuring different performers, even including the junior actresses.. I think it’s the kind of show where not just us but the audience too will be caught up with it and want to dance with us. I want everyone to really enjoy it.

Pia: Your first year as Top Star has nearly passed: what is your mental state like?

Otozuki: In this play, the musketeers say their motto, “one for all, all for one,” in French. Right now I have everyone supporting me, and I want to work really hard for the rest of my troupe members so I can improve myself as I lead them on. Therefore, this show has perfect timing for me, and I’m really happy to be able to do it.

* As this show went through major changes after opening, this is a reference to a scene that was altered prior to the commercial disc release.

Takarazuka’s Kagami-biraki ceremony features Sagiri Seina’s smile

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This article about New Year’s festivities at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre was published by Daily Sports Online on January 2nd, 2016.

Takarazuka’s Kagami-biraki ceremony features Sagiri Seina’s smile

Takarazuka Revue Snow Troupe’s Top Star Sagiri Seina and top musumeyaki Sakihi Miyu performed a Kagami-biraki* ceremony at the Revue’s headquarters, the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Hyogo, on the 1st.

“I’m happy to meet so many members of the audience this early in the new year,” Sagiri said as she smiled at the fans packed into the lobby of the theatre. “Since this year is the Year of the Monkey, we’re going to put on shows with that kind of ‘ukkii, ukkii’ [T/N: monkey sound effect] feeling,” she said, making a strained pun.

“I’m going to work hard so that lots of people will come to love Takarazuka in its 102nd year,” Sakihi stated, showing her ambitions.

Starting February 2nd, Snow Troupe will be performing Rurouni Kenshin, based on the famous hit manga by Watsuki Nobuhiro which sold more than 59 million copies. While the musical is still in the middle of rehearsals, Sagiri showed her faith in it as she said “I think those who don’t know the manga at all as well as those who love the manga will enjoy it.”

The popular New Year’s performance of Lupin III which Sagiri starred in in 2015 created a precedent for adaptations of 2-dimensional works. “When Sagiri wore the red kimono during rehearsals, I felt like Kenshin was really there in front of me,” Sakihi said, staring at Sagiri in fascination.

* Kagami-biraki is a celebratory ceremony where a sake barrel is broken open and shared. More info here.

Takarazuka Grand Theatre: Grand Stairs featured in every scene for first time in 33 years!

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This article about the opening of Cosmos Troupe’s Shakespeare/Hot Eyes!! was published by Daily Sports Online on January 1st, 2016.

Takarazuka Grand Theatre: Grand Stage featured in every scene for first time in 33 years!

The opening performance of Cosmos Troupe’s Shakespeare/Hot Eyes!! took place at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Hyogo on the 1st, adorning the beginning of the Takarazuka Revue’s 102nd year.

The play is a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of British playwright William Shakespeare. It features excerpts of many of his works, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as portraying the love between Shakespeare and his wife Anne. “I’m really happy to be able to perform starting on New Year’s Day, but I’m a bit tense as well,” Top Star Asaka Manato said with a smile.

Moreover, during the revue, for the first time in 33 years the Grand Stairs—which are normally reserved for the finale—are being used in every scene. “We’ll be a lot closer to the audience members on the balcony,” said Asaka. She seemed to be enjoying herself in this slightly different scenery. “Since I’ll have to climb the back stairs [in order to descend the Grand Staircase] just as much, by the time the performances are over my legs will be in really good shape,” she said with a playful smile.

Takarazuka stars of all troupes gather for traditional year-end performance

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This article about the 2015 Takarazuka Special was published by Daily Sports Online on December 20th, 2015.

Takarazuka stars of all troupes gather for traditional year-end performance

On the 19th, stars from 5 Takarazuka Revue troupes gathered for the traditional year-end performance Takarazuka Special 2015, held at the Umeda Arts Theatre in Osaka. Excluding Flower Troupe’s Top Star Asumi Rio, who was performing in Tokyo, there were 4 Top Stars performing: Moon Troupe Top Star Ryuu Masaki, Snow Troupe Top Star Sagiri Seina, Star Troupe Top Star Hokushou Kairi, and Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato, as well as Todoroki Yuu of Senka and 50 up-and-coming young stars from all their troupes.

Moon Troupe’s Ryuu Masaki, who announced her retirement yesterday, said “This is my last Takarazuka Special. I’m going to give it my all.” Star Troupe’s Hokushou Kairi, who is participating in her first Takarazuka Special as Top, said “I have my learner’s mark on,” as she displayed the learner’s permit mark emblazoned on the back of her jacket, which gained huge applause from the audience.*

In each troupe’s segments, they performed parodies of their Grand Theatre shows of that year. Since it’s not ordinary to see the actresses being so silly, the audience was in a whirpool of laughter. Also, this year there was audience participation, since at one point the actresses descended into the audience and taught the choreography for the new song “New Century, Next Dream” composed for this year’s performance. With the audience and the stage performers in unison, everyone was excited.

Finally, Todoroki Yuu stated “for Takarazuka’s 101st year, we want to create our Next Dream together with everyone.”

* (as far as I know not having actually seen the show) Hokushou Kairi is referring to the sticker that new/learning drivers in Japan have to put on their cars. Example below.

Yuzuki Reon working towards first solo concert since Takarazuka retirement – “What is a non-otokoyaku concert like?”

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This article about Yuzuki’s first REON JACK press conference was published by Sanspo.com on December 11, 2015.

Yuzuki Reon working towards first solo concert since Takarazuka retirement – “What is a non-otokoyaku concert like?”

Yuzuki Reon (36), ex-Star Troupe Top Star who retired from the Takarazuka Revue in May, held a press conference about REON JACK, her first solo concert since her retirement, on the 11th.

For Yuzuki, who held her position as Top Star for 6 years–an exceptionally long time by recent standards–a solo concert not as an otokoyaku, but as ‘Yuzuki Reon’ is a challenge. “I asked everyone ‘what is a non-otokoyaku concert like?’” While the concert is still in the planning stages, she said that she plans to perform a new song: “I wrote it about my mental state after retirement, like my worries and how I hit a plateau.”

She began performances for her first post-retirement musical, Prince of Broadway in October. In order to rehearse, she stayed in New York for three months starting in July.

“While I was in New York, everything around me was advancing so fast that I didn’t realize that I myself had stopped.

She wrote her internal conflict of that time into song lyrics. After retirement, she was constantly asked things like “are you going to wear skirts? Are you going to wear your hair long?”

“But while I was in New York, I thought there wasn’t anything where ‘I have to do things this way’. If I want to grow my hair out, I’ll grow it out then. I’m glad I can become more feminine in my own timing. I want to show everyone how I am in real life,” she declared about the change in her way of thinking.

The concert will have singing, talk sessions and acting. “On Broadway, I wanted to convey the fun I was having onstage. For this performance too, I want to enjoy myself together with the audience,” she said for PR. Yuzuki is taking her first steps down a new path.

Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato’s first tour: “I want to share the charm of Takarazuka freely”

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This brief article about Asaka Manato’s Melancholic Gigolo/Citrus Breeze III tour was published by Sankei News on October 25, 2015.

Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato’s first tour: “I want to share the charm of Takarazuka freely”

Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato’s national tour of Melancholic Gigolo–the Dangerous Inheritor (written and directed by Masatsuka Haruhiko) and Citrus Breeze III (written and directed by Okada Keiji) is currently in the midst of performances. The tour continues until November 8th and visits 15 locations, going as far as Hokkaido.

This is Asaka’s first national tour after ascending to the position of Top Star in February. During curtain calls on the first day of performances (on the 10th, at Osaka’s Umeda Arts Theatre), Asaka smiled and said “I want to share the charm of Takarazuka freely with everyone who doesn’t know Takarazuka, so every day I plan to go onstage with a fresh feeling.”

This is also Asaka’s first double feature show as Top Star. In this musical full of comedy touches, Asaka plays a free-spirited gigolo who ends up in a get-rich-quick scheme. The jaunty show refreshingly displays Cosmos Troupe’s rebirth.

“It makes me really happy to put on a show that warms people’s hearts and can be said to represent Cosmos Troupe without exaggerating,” said Asaka. About the audience’s constant laughter, she said “the warm applause and laughter I heard became my strength. I think that the laughter gives a fresh feeling as well and is important to create the show.”

After this, the show tours Tokyo, Chiba, Nagano, Yamanashi, Niigata, Fukushima, Yamagata, Akita, Iwate, and Hokkaido. Asaka smiled and said “pick up your suitcases and come with us!”

Moon Troupe’s Tamaki Ryou becomes most junior supporting star

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This article about Tamaki Ryou’s ascension to second supporting star was published by Daily Sports Online on November 13, 2015. (This was prior to Ryuu’s announcement of her own retirement, but her quotes in the article seem to foreshadow it.)

Moon Troupe’s Tamaki Ryou becomes most junior supporting star

On the 17th, when the first day of performances of Takarazuka Revue Moon Troupe’s “Manon/Golden Jazz” took place at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Hyougo prefecture, Tamaki Ryou appeared onstage as second supporting star. Up until then, she had shared the position of supporting star with Nagina Ruumi and Miya Rurika, but during the finale she was dressed differently from all the other troupe members in an eye-catching spangled suit, and descended the stairs with Top Star Ryuu Masaki and Top Musumeyaku Manaki Reika wearing huge feathers.

Tamaki debuted in 2008: it has been 8 years since her debut, making her ken-8. Joining Flower Troupe’s Serika Toa (ken-9), Snow Troupe’s Nozomi Fuuto (ken-13), Star Troupe’s Kurenai Yuzuru (ken-14) and Cosmos Troupe’s Makaze Suzuho (ken-10), Tamaki’s appointment makes her the most junior second supporting star in all the troupes.

Tamaki is 172 cm in height, and her strong point is her dynamic dancing. So far, she has had 3 junior performance leads as well as Bow Hall lead roles. After graduation from junior performance roles, it was clear that the company had high hopes for her as she played Amami Yuuki’s role in the restaging of “Puck”. She has made marked improvement in singing and acting, and now she has officially become second supporting star.

Starting March of 2016, she will be playing the lead role in the national tour of “Passion–Jose and Carmen/Apassionado!! III” with Manaki as her partner.

Current Top Star Ryuu gave a hint of her confidence in the improvement this would make for the troupe, commenting “right now there are lots of positions for young actresses. It’s time for Moon Troupe to change.”

A-“R”ex star Sena Jun: “I want you to see it the way it feels to you”

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This is an excerpt of a longer paywalled interview for Takarazuka Precious about the Moon Troupe show A-“R”ex. The original article was published on December 19, 2007 (archived link).

A-“R”ex star Sena Jun: “I want you to see it the way it feels to you”

The Moon Troupe production A-“R”ex, staring Sena Jun, opened at Umeda Arts Theatre Drama City on December 14. Ogita Kouichi’s pop musical-style play about the brief life of King Alexander III of Macedonia opens with a scene of actors rehearsing the show “Alexander”. In that setting, the story of Alexander/Alex and the people surrounding him develops. Sena Jun told us a bit about how she handled the unique world that Ogita had constructed for the play.

About Sena Jun:
Sena Jun, from Tokyo, is the Top Star of the Takarazuka Revue’s Moon Troupe.
She debuted in 1992, in “This Love Until the Cloudy Horizon”. In 1993, she was assigned to Flower Troupe. In 1998, she had the lead role of the Shinjinkouen production of “SPEAKEASY”. She had the lead in the Bow Hall show “Manon” in 2001. She was transferred to Moon Troupe in 2004, and became Top Star of Moon Troupe in 2005.

From the interview:

So the story develops as a play-within-a-play?
No–while it starts out that way, the whole thing isn’t a play-within-a-play. It isn’t really determined that the borders of the story go from ‘here’ to ‘there’. Therefore, it’s the kind of show where the audience has to determine for themselves whether my lines are being spoken as Alexander or as the actor playing him. It’s really interesting because depending on how you take it, everything could be from the actor’s point of view, or everything could be from Alexander’s.

That definitely sounds like Ogita’s kind of world. Are the costumes like the “hippie” style we saw in the poster?
It’s not all like that, and I have a few different kinds of outfits, but I don’t have any costumes that could be called “ancient style”.

On reading the outline of the story, it looks like the fighting takes place in the background, but are there also parts about political battles and struggles for power?
While there are no tangible battle scenes, as I explained earlier, I think it’s up to the audience to perceive what is what according to their own imagination. Nothing is defined clearly enough to say for sure “this scene is a battle”, “this scene is a squabble with his mother”. I think it should be felt as more than just following the story of Alexander, but as reflecting the conflicts of humanity at the time, or the thoughts of people living at that time.