Tag Archives: Decade: 2010s

Introduction of New Moon Troupe Members: 101st Class

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These are some brief statements from the 101sts who were assigned to Moon Troupe. They’re perhaps a little formulaic but very sweet. I included links to all their TakaWiki pages so you can see who they are.

Introduction of New Moon Troupe Members: 101st Class

  • Self-introduction
  • One phrase that sums up their current self

Amashi Juri
“I’ll push forward!”
I’m Moon Troupe’s Amashi Juri! Since I had the privilege of debuting at a Moon Troupe show, I’m really happy to become part of Moon Troupe.
I’m aiming to be a splendid otokoyaku and carry on the traditions of Takarazuka I’ve inherited from the upperclassmen. I will keep the sun in my heart and a sparkle in my eyes as I push forward, only looking ahead!! Please be good to me~

Yui Karen
“Like a piece of pure white drawing paper…”
I’m full of happiness every day. The wonderful upperclassmen have taught me so many things, and I’m busy studying what I’ve learned every day. I hope to continually advance and I’m working hard to be a lovely1 musumeyaku: I wonder what color I’ll end up being. I hope to be in a lot of shows that will convey ‘happiness’ to everyone!

Ayaoto Sena
“The only way is forward!”
My name is Ayaoto Sena and I’ve been assigned to Moon Troupe. I love Moon Troupe, so being able to rehearse with them every day and go onstage with them makes me so happy. I want to make the audience happy with my dancing, since that’s my favorite. While of course I have a long way to go, I hope you all will be kind to me in the future.

Reika Haru
“I’ll treasure each moment”
I’m Reika Haru of Moon Troupe!
Since I was able to watch a lot of Moon Troupe shows before joining Takarazuka, and then Moon Troupe took such good care of me when I debuted at one of their shows, being able to rehearse every day with all the upperclassmen I respect is like a dream come true. I’m going to dedicate myself to improving with each show I’m in, so I hope you will all come to know me as ‘Moon Troupe Otokoyaku, Reika Haru’.

Hanatoki Maika
“I’ll give it all without forgetting my gratitude!”
I’m Hanatoki Maika and I’ve been assigned to Moon Troupe. I want to be a musumeyaku who can take on any sort of role and sparkle on my beloved Takarazuka’s stage!
I’m going to work with all my heart to convey dreams and emotion to everyone in the audience.
Please be good to me!

Koumi Natsuho
“Advancing every day”
My name is Koumi Natsuho and I’m going to be a member of Moon Troupe. I want to learn lots of things from all the wonderful upperclassmen and keep advancing every day. As I perform on my beloved Takarazuka’s stage I will be cheerfully giving it my all in order to become my own kind of otokoyaku, so please support me in the future.

Yoshino Yurika
“Love is the most important thing”
I’ve loved being able to express myself since I was little. When I discovered Takarazuka, I thought it would be the best way to become able to express myself skillfully. I want to be a musumeyaku who can express even the things that are deep inside. And I won’t forget that love is the most important thing…

1 – The word for “lovely” she uses here is written the same way as her stage name, “Karen”.

That’s RanKING! – November 2015

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In That’s RanKING!, a multi-year Kageki Top Star Q&A feature, the Top Stars rank each other based on various questions.

This month’s question: Who do you think is most likely to keep active until late at night?

That’s ranKING! – who’s in first place?

For 2015’s monthly corner, we ask each Top Star to rank who most matches each month’s theme and share images and anecdotes. The votes are calculated with First Place as 10 points, Second Place as 5 points, and Third Place as 3 points. Please enjoy the 5 Top Stars’ variety of answers and stories!

This month’s question: Who do you think is most likely to keep active until late at night?

  • First Place: Sagiri Seina – 31 points
  • Second Place: Asumi Rio – 16 points
  • Second Place: Asaka Manato – 16 points

Sagiri Seina (Snow Troupe)

I really like staying in the rehearsal room until it’s so late at night they’re about to throw me out, so I guess I might be the most nocturnal of us. It’s not that I really have nocturnal habits, but it seems like the darker it gets, the better my body can move (laugh).

Maa-kun [Asaka Manato] seems to keep up the same pace from the time she gets up to the time she goes to bed, so I put her in second place.

In third place is Michiko [Hokushou Kairi] since she’ll decide “This is when I’m going to bed!” and then make all her plans for the day around that.

Masao [Ryuu Masaki] and Mirio-chan [Asumi Rio] seem like the type to do everything at their own pace and just think “I’ll go to sleep when I feel like sleeping.” (laugh)

Asumi Rio (Flower Troupe)

Recently I’ve become way more of a night person, so I think I might be first. My mind is really active from around 11pm to 3am, and even when I return home I’ll end up thinking about my roles for a while and my engine just keeps running (laugh).

I put Masaki-san in second place. When she was doing shinjin kouens, she would always stay up really late rehearsing by herself, so I think she can keep going even at night.

For third place…hmmm, I have an image of her being really passionate, like “I won’t sleep until I do this!” so I think it’s Chigi-san! [Sagiri Seina]

Asaka Manato (Cosmos Troupe)

I think first place is Chigi-san. I feel like she’s always doing everything really efficiently so she would just keep going that way even late at night.

Mirio is in second place. I don’t know if she’s really full of energy, but recently she was saying “even though I have to sleep, I can’t.”

I don’t feel like Ryuu-san or Hokushou-san really stay up that late, so I guess third place has to be me. Even in the middle of the night I’m still pretty energetic. But I can’t handle mornings. Even though I’m called ‘Asaka’1 (laugh).

Hokushou Kairi (Star Troupe)

Ryuu-san is in first place, since I see her as a night person.

Second place is Chigi, I think. She said once that she stayed up watching television and by the time she realized the time it was midnight! (laugh)

I’m in third place: since I have tons of things I need to do, a lot of times I end up staying up until late at night. But since I always wake up early in the morning, I’ll run out of energy at around 11pm, and when I get up I’ll be fighting drowsiness.

Ryuu Masaki (Moon Troupe)

I think first place might be Maa-kun. I always picture her as being energetic even when it’s late.

And then…since Chigi-chan is the type to think “I’ll do what I need to get done” until it ends up getting late, she’s second place.

Since I see Mirio-chan as getting into situations where once it’s night she realizes “Oh, I forgot that!” (laugh) I think she’d definitely end up staying up late a lot, so third place.

I think Hokushou-san would finish everything early, so she probably wouldn’t stay up late very much.

I wouldn’t be able to stay up late, I don’t have enough concentration ability (laugh).

1 – Asaka’s stage name contains the character for ‘morning’ (朝, asa).

Yuzuki Reon “Biohazard” Promo Video

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Official promotional video for the musical adaptation of Biohazard with text transcript translation. Please note I know very little about the Biohazard franchise.

Hello, everyone! I’m Yuzuki Reon.

(onscreen) Enthusiasm for the upcoming musical

Since I haven’t been in a play1 since retiring from Takarazuka, I’m really looking forward to being able to perform in this show. And then since it’s a musical of Biohazard—everyone knows about Biohazard—I’m really interested in how Biohazard would be as a musical. Since Biohazard is something everyone’s familiar with I’m sure you will all enjoy it!

(onscreen) What does the plot seem to contain?

Well, this work is…well, Biohazard has a lot of action, and there’s the image of a really cool woman. However, along with that there’s eventually a feeling of love, and I think at the end you might feel like your heart has been calmed.

Everyone, we’re making a musical adaptation of Biohazard, so please come and enjoy it! I’m working hard!

1 – Meaning a plotted dramatical work, not a prose play; Yuzuki’s first post-Takarazuka performance, Prince of Broadway, was more of a revue styled show.

Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe’s Top Star, Asaka Manato: the great playwright is “honest and charming”

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This promo article for the Tokyo run of Shakespeare/HOT EYES!! was published in Sankei News on March 5, 2016. The original article was written by Hashimoto Nami and can be found here.

Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe’s Top Star, Asaka Manato: the great playwright is “honest and charming”

Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe’s Top Star, Asaka Manato, is performing until the 27th in the musical Shakespeare: The Sky Filled With Eternal Words, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and the revue show HOT EYES!! at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre. Asaka said “I want to show his honesty and his charming side.”

Shakespeare “has the innocence of a child in adult form,” Asaka declared. “I can understand that, because in this job I want to hold on to my childlike heart and just let myself go sometimes.”

This musical about the Elizabethan playwright who wrote the four great tragedies (such as “Hamlet”) intertwines historical fact and dramatization. The story is about Shakespeare himself, his older wife who was his muse, and his patrons.

At the end of the year before last Asaka went to England for work and visited Leeds. “It somehow has a really natural feeling. Since he was raised in a rural area I wonder if he had that kind of atmosphere too. When I saw a picture of the house he grew up in I ended up getting lost in my imagination,” Asaka said with a laugh. She was also dedicated to her character’s appearance and used her hairstyle to present his wild side. “It’s not a hairstyle I’ve ever done before. It’s because he has tempestuous personality traits that can dominate him.”

On the other hand, the revue show uses the Grand Stairs in every scene for the first time in 33 years. All the performers say it’s like getting a leg workout. “Before we can come down the stairs there’s another staircase [hidden from the audience] with the same number of steps. So naturally we’re growing more muscular.” Cosmos Troupe’s power is increasing.

Looking Back on 2015: Asumi Rio

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One of the yearly retrospective features from the December 2015 issue of Kageki, featuring Flower Troupe Top Star Asumi Rio.

Looking Back on 2015: Asumi Rio

January’s production of Ernest in Love was difficult since it was a comedy, but the whole theatre had a really warm atmosphere and I’m glad we had it as our introductory performance with a new Top Combi.

Embraced by the Seas of Calista was my first original production since I became Top, so I had some concerns, but I took on the challenge with the hope of seizing hold of the audience’s feminine emotions through Ms. Ooishi’s script1. Takarazuka Fantasia was rather hard to perform, but it had the message that the reconstructed Flower Troupe would spread its wings. During the middle of the show when I saw everyone’s smiles as they watched, I was really moved. When we received the annual Group Award for this production2, my emotions were split between tears and happiness.

Since I was performing as Fersen for the second time in the Taiwan production of Rose of Versailles: Fersen and Marie-Antoinette, I figured out some new things and tried to get deeper into the character. During the performance of Takarazuka Fantasia I felt united with the Taiwanese audience members, which made me really happy. I was able to get over my uneasiness about performing in a foreign country since I had all my friends with me, and our bonds deepened as if we were all meant to be together.

The Takarazuka Traditional Japanese Dance Recital was really difficult since I was performing Japanese dance by myself for a long time, but I feel like it was a valuable experience.

Since we had been split into the Taiwan group and the Bow Hall group doing various great things, when we all reunited after a long time for New Tale of Genji the rehearsals were really lively. I was really worried about playing Genji, to the point where I said it was the hardest role I’ve had so far, but I want to work on the performance scene by scene and hopefully by the time the last day comes around I will have a deep understanding of the character. Melodia: A Warm and Lovely Melody has various scenes where everyone gets to shine, even the junior members, and it will be very energetic. Every day we’re working on how to present each scene.

While performing, I make new discoveries about how I consider the stage and how I ought to conduct myself, as well as deepening my connections with the other members of the troupe. I’m really happy that I have such trustworthy friends, and I hope to be someone who can lead them well.

1 – This production was one of two (as of time of posting) written for Takarazuka by Ooishi Shizuka, a non-Hankyu-employed screenwriter who mainly writes for television.

2 – In the Takarazuka Annual Awards, Flower Troupe received the Group Award for scene 10 of Takarazuka Fantasia, “Sakura Fantasia”.

Looking Back on 2015: Ryuu Masaki

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One of the yearly retrospective features from the December 2015 issue of Kageki, featuring Snow Troupe Top Star Sagiri Seina.

Looking Back on 2015: Ryuu Masaki

My first show of 2015, Gone With the Wind was a restaging of the production from January of last year, so it was the first time I was challenged with taking the same role and starting over from a blank for a restaging. In order to give the show a fresh atmosphere once again, I threw out all the feelings I had absorbed from the first time and worked on creating new ones. It was even harder than making a new role from scratch, but it was a good experience for me as a performer.

Then in April was the opening of 1789: Lovers of the Bastille. Looking back on it now, I feel honored at being able to perform in such a masterpiece, and to be honest I’m glad I did it. But at the time I was working so hard on it that even saying I poured all my energy out on stage wouldn’t cover it. I didn’t have enough left over to even think about anything else. My role of Ronan was rather unusual for a Top Star as he is a commoner, and it seems that a big topic was how I would establish myself among everyone else on stage while handling the challenge of putting together this new kind of role. Another major thing was Director Koike giving me one of the show’s themes as my own song, so I was even more aware than usual of how I was presenting myself while singing.

Dragon Night!!, in September, was my first concert-style performance, and while making sure the audience enjoyed themselves was the main goal, I of course enjoyed myself as well! I let myself run free and enjoyed myself from the bottom of my heart.

The last performance of this year is Manon and Golden Jazz. My role in the play, Charles, has a really complex life, and I feel like it might be the first time I’ve encountered a character like him. It’s the kind of role where I think afterwards I will have grown as a person. Director Inaba wrote the revue show Golden Jazz for me since he said jazz suits me, so I’m really happy about that.

When I think about all the characters and shows I encountered this year, it makes my heart beat fast. It was a year where I confirmed once again how strong the support from the rest of Moon Troupe is. Next year I’ll make sure not to forget to let myself enjoy things, and I hope it will be a year that challenges me even more.

Looking Back on 2015: Asaka Manato

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One of the yearly retrospective features from the December 2015 issue of Kageki, featuring Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato.

Looking Back on 2015: Asaka Manato

This year I received a lot of things and I feel a sense of accomplishment. At the beginning of this year was the Tokyo performance of Oath of the Midnight Sun and Phoenix Takarazuka!!. This was Rika’s [Ouki Kaname’s] retirement show, and a lot of other Otokoyaku who were close to my year were retiring, like Oozuki Tooma and Kazehane Reia. It created a really strong feeling in me that I had to take over the Cosmos Troupe that Rika had put together. Despite his limited scenes, my character of Carl feels real, perhaps because his conflict is connected with everything else. It was a long time since we’d had an original revue show, so everyone was really into it. I felt a lot of responsibility as nibante.

In Top Hat there were a lot of things I had to do, especially tap dance, which I was basically a beginner at. It was really hard to get a feeling for it, but somehow I managed in time (laugh). Perhaps because they could tell that while I was enjoying myself I wanted to surpass my own limits, all the troupe members worked hard to put me at ease.

At the pre-event festivities before the opening of A Song for Kingdoms, I felt all the love the OGs had for the work, and once again felt I had to be worthy to take over those feelings. I was really nervous that day, but on opening day I was able to concentrate on performing. While I was performing as Radames I had a really odd feeling, like I wasn’t able to tell any more if I was myself or Radames. While I had some concerns since there were some confusing songs, I felt like everyone else in Cosmos Troupe supported me. I’m really glad that I had this work as my introductory performance.

In September, I appeared in the Takarazuka Japanese Dance Recital, and it was a wonderful opportunity to be able to participate in Japanese dance.

The national tour performance Melancholic Gigolo was another show by Director Masatsuki after a long while, and besides that my character’s relation with Yurika’s [Makaze Suzuho’s] and Misaki’s characters felt really fresh. In Citrus Breeze when we were performing “Energy for Tomorrow” I felt like the intensity and power of everyone backing me up was actually entering me.

Next year we open on New Year’s Day1, and I hope we are able to be a splendid highlight to the start of the year. Since the play is about Shakespeare, it’s a topic that people from many different areas are particularly interested in. For both the play and the revue show, we want to put together a good performance without making any compromises.

1 – This was the 2016 production Shakespeare and HOT EYES!!.

Looking Back on 2015: Sakihi Miyu

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One of the yearly retrospective features from the December 2015 issue of Kageki, featuring Snow Troupe Top Musumeyaku Sakihi Miyu.

Looking Back on 2015: Sakihi Miyu

In Lupin III–Chase the Queen’s Necklace!, which blended Takarazuka with Lupin III, I played Marie Antoinette, who is a frequent character in Takarazuka, but that show looks at her from a very different angle from Rose of Versailles, as a woman with her own human weaknesses, so my impression of Marie Antoinette really changed. In Fancy Guy! every scene had different themes so I was challenged with different songs and dances and learned a lot.

For the part of Tamayuu in the Hakataza production Man of Starlight, the biggest challenge at the beginning was the Kyoto dialect. I played a woman older than Sagiri’s character of Okita Souji, and I had a lot of people teaching me how I should act and the atmosphere I should have. I really gave it my all. While it gave me a lot of trouble, it’s a part I’m very fond of now. Also, I feel like I was more deeply into Fancy Guy!, perhaps because I’d been performing it a long time starting with the Takarazuka Grand Theatre performances. It was wonderful to be able to spend time performing in my beloved Kyuushu.

The character of Sen in One Night of Stars changed the ideas about musumeyaku roles that I held until then. It was a role I had to take on as a new woman. Director Ueda [Kumiko] told me a lot about the things she thought were important while putting the show together. La Esmeralda has a really escapist feeling so it was a show that was very fun to perform.

The national tour performance “Sorrowful Cordoba” that I’m rehearsing for right now is really a struggle. I’m fighting to display burning passion not just on the outside but from my core. La Esmeralda is a complete change from that so I really want to show everyone what a real Takarazuka revue show is like.

For next year’s Rurouni Kenshin we’re working to not just reproduce the visuals of the manga, but to show its deeper aspects in our performance.

Looking Back on 2015: Sagiri Seina

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One of the yearly retrospective features from the December 2015 issue of Kageki, featuring Snow Troupe Top Star Sagiri Seina.

Looking Back on 2015: Sagiri Seina

To be able to perform on New Years’ with the first show of Takarazuka’s 101st year, as well as have the first Grand Theatre show for new Yukigumi, and have so many people come and enjoy the production of Lupin III/Fancy Guy! is, I think, the best start we could have asked for. Since everyone was so familiar with the original work, pressure was high, but I feel like I was able to adapt to the setting and to the character of Lupin. Everyone in Snow Troupe joined in with ideas to make a show with a strong comedy element.

Fancy Guy! is a really grown-up, dramatic revue. Since this production was Daimon’s [Nozomi’s] first show as a member of Snow Troupe and also my classmate Yumeno Seika’s retirement performance, I thought it was a performance that could only have happened at that time. And during the Hakataza performances, everyone from Kyushu was very happy to see a lead couple who were both from Kyushu.

In Man of Starlight I was able to play the Shinsengumi swordsman, Okita Souji, which I was really happy about, of course. Fancy Guy! was very different as at times it seemed like I was pushed really close to the audience, so I think it had a fresh kind of sensation.

One Night of Stars clearly emphasizes the emotions of the characters, so starting with putting together the character of Haruoki it all felt really difficult. But I think I learned a lot from it. Completely different from the play, La Esmeralda expresses the energy of the performers through song and dance. I feel that having such a difference between the play and revue must have been fun for the audience.

The national tour performance that started in November, Sorrowful Cordoba, had wonderful songs, and I hope Elio was memorable to the audience. La Esmeralda gave all the performers a chance to display their appeal to the audience, and I hope that it will make some of them want to see us in the Grand Theatre.

Next year’s production of Rurouni Kenshin is based on a manga. While I think we will live up to the audience’s expectations for the visuals and the story, I want to surpass that in satisfaction, and I’m giving it my all to not lose to a man* in my performance.

* Potentially a reference to Satoh Takeru, who played Kenshin in the films and at that point was the only man to portray the character.

Takarazuka Revue Snow Troupe’s new Top Combi’s introductory performance is The Count’s Daughter

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This article about Sagiri Seina and Sakihi Miyu’s first show as Top Stars was written by Harada Junko [approximate reading] and published by Ticket Pia on August 26, 2014. (Archived link here.) Some paragraph breaks have been inserted.

Takarazuka Revue Snow Troupe’s new Top Combi’s introductory performance is “The Count’s Daughter”

Snow Troupe’s new Top Combi, Sagiri Seina and Sakihi Miyu, take their position on September 1. Their introductory production The Count’s Daughter – Je T’aime; I can’t live without your love begins performances at the Nissay Theatre in October.

It is based on the popular manga of the same title by Hosokawa Chieko. The story is set in Paris at the end of the 19th century, and is about the young heir of a Duke, Alain, who is also called ‘The King of Journalism’, and an innocent young girl named Corinne, who was raised in an orphanage. They overcome many barriers in order to be together.

Sagiri Seina plays Alain, who has a strong sense of justice but will sometimes use force to get what he wants. “I haven’t had a part like this before, so I have a bit of inner turmoil at taking on such a formidable role,” she said. “But because of that, the process of getting into character is a lot more interesting, and due to my struggles I feel attached to him. It’s a performance where I will try to show different aspects of my appeal as an otokoyaku.”

Ever since the first promotional performance, Sakihi has turned completely into the adorable Corinne. “I want to make a fully fleshed-out character based on the original work,” she said. “I’m still inexperienced but I want to take on this role as an actress. Corinne is a wonderful girl, so I think the most important thing is that I understand her.

As this work is set in the lovely time period in Paris called “La Belle Epoque”, the visuals such as costumes and sets are made with all the splendour Takarazuka can provide. Furthermore, the finale will be reminescent of a Parisian revue, with a French can-can number.

Sagiri said “it’s a work that incorporates so much of the charm of Takarazuka, isn’t it? Since Flower Troupe is in the middle of performing Elisabeth at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre next door, it’s a great chance to see two really different Takarazuka shows both in Hibiya District.”

“In the Takarazuka version, Alain, played by Chigi-san [Sagiri] becomes the main character, so I’m really looking forward to it,” Sakihi said hopefully.

The new Top Combi charmed the audience excellent acting and beautiful appearance onstage, proving themselves worthy inheritors to “Drama’s Snow Troupe”.

Sagiri said “like those who said ‘we want you do to this kind of show, we want to see Snow Troupe put it on’ I want to keep looking ahead and work together with everyone.”

Sakihi also declared that “as a member of Snow Troupe I want to give it my all as I follow Chigi-san’s lead.” Her attitude is already perfect.