This cute comparison Q&A was published in the March 1993 issue of GRAPH. It features 3 of the Top Musumeyaku of the time: Asano Kayo (Moon Troupe), Morina Miharu (Flower Troupe), and Shiraki Ayaka (Star Troupe), classmates who were known as the ‘Young Trio’ after they all ascended to Top Musumeyaku positions very close together.
Continue readingThis interview featuring Moon Troupe’s top couple, Sena Jun and Ayano Kanami, was published in the February 2008 issue of GRAPH.
Some outtake photos from the back of the magazine are included.
Continue readingRANDOM was a Q&A/variety feature for young otokoyaku that ran in GRAPH in 2021. Amahana’s was published in the August issue.
Continue readingTalk DX is a long-running GRAPH talk feature where Top Stars and their main otokoyaku co-stars discuss their current Grand Theatre performance before the shift to Tokyo. The El Halcon/Revue Orchis talk was published in the February 2008 issue.
Some outtake photos from the back of the magazine are included.
(Please note the translator has not seen Revue Orchis.)
Continue readingAshizawa 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 2019 column, which featured musumeyaku only, was called The Lovely Flowers Bloom. This interview with Ousaki Ayaka was published in the March issue.
Continue readingThis talk between Asami Hikaru and her classmate Aran Kei was published in Asami’s final GRAPH issue, published in December 2006.
Some outtake photos from the back of the magazine are included.
Continue readingAshizawa Jin is an illustrator/columnist who seems to have worked for GRAPH since the 1960s (yes, you read that right). His interview column generally gets a new title every year but has been fairly consistent format-wise in recent years. I’m giving him his own tag in the Staff category since he is one of the few interview conductors to be credited by name in the publications.
This interview with Kisaki Airi was published in the July 2017 issue of GRAPH and seems to have been recorded during the production of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Continue readingZUKA LIVE was an ‘advice show’ style column in GRAPH where readers could write in with questions for stars. Houzuki’s was published in the December 2021 issue.
(As with all reader features, there is the possibility that I missed some reference in the pen names.)
Continue readingThis photo feature, which ran in GRAPH through 2016, had subjects selecting photos they had taken with other Takarasiennes. The March installment features Miya Rurika, Sumiki Sayato, Minami Maito, and Kisaki Airi.
Continue readingTo the Future is a GRAPH interview feature for up-and-coming young performers that has gone through various versions over the years. This was published in the February 2010 issue and features Star Troupe performers Toa Reiya and Kitori Mariya.
Continue reading