This is a translation of Sports Hochi’s article on the opening of My Hero, with some statements from star Serika Toa. It was published March 16, 2017, however, the original article has since been removed from the website with no archives available.
A mysterious hero goes into battle on the Takarazuka stage! Flower Troupe star Serika Toa’s action-packed opening night
On the 16th, the second rank star of the Takarazuka Revue’s Flower Troupe, Serika Toa, performed in the brilliant opening night of her lead musical, My Hero at the Tokyo/Akasaka ACT Theatre.
According to writer and director Saitou Yoshimasa, this is the first ever tokusatsu1 hero show in Takarazuka history. The story is about a popular actor, Noah (Serika), who after being embroiled in a scandal gets a job as a ‘faceless’ suit actor for the tokusatsu hero ‘MASK-J’. In the process, he tries to find himself.
During ‘transformation’ sequences, her beautiful face—selling point for a Takarasienne—is hidden behind the hero mask, which is a bit out of the ordinary, but the action sequences where she mows down her enemies are also a sight to behold. “The suit is easy to move in, so that’s fine, but the mask gives me tunnel vision which is a bit scary,” says Toa. She went to hero shows at amusement parks and behind the scenes at film sets to learn how to time punches and kicks.
“My finishing move is the ‘Wink Shot’. I spin around and the Shockers2 are all blown away. It’s the kind of move where I’m like, what the heck is this doing in real life! [laugh]” says Toa, who is enjoying this chance to perform with a less Takarazuka-like viewpoint. “There’s lines that are totally hero of justice-ish, and we’ll see if I can use Takarazuka magic to get your heart pounding a bit! If you’re like ‘ahhh, that’s so cool!’ then I win,” she says.
Also, Houzuki An and Ayaki Hikari showed off their costumes as ‘Blue MASK-J’ and ‘Silver MASK-J’.
My Hero runs until the 23rd in Tokyo. The Osaka performance lasts from April 2nd-10th at the Umeda Arts Theatre’s Theatre Drama City.
1 – Japanese special effects and superhero cinema, most stereotypically featuring in-camera effects with stunt actors in masked or other full-coverage suits. Famous examples are Kyouryuu Sentai Zyuranger (adapted for the US as Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers), and the Gojira film franchise.
2 – Enemies from the Kamen Rider franchise (though the term is not used in the show script the design is very similar).
