This was published in the May 2017 issue of GRAPH. As usual for this feature, it is being posted in 2 parts. In the first part, Maa-sama lists several of her likes and dislikes. (Part 2 here.)
Continue readingThis article about Maa-sama’s retirement in Takarazuka was originally published by Nikkan Sports on September 25th. The original article (with a few photos) can be seen here. (Archive link here.)
Continue readingIn That’s RanKING!, a multi-year Kageki Top Star Q&A feature, the Top Stars rank each other based on various questions. The 2016 version of the column has questions sent in by readers.
This month’s question: Who would be the first to make it out of a giant maze?
Continue readingThis brief report on Asaka’s Takarazuka retirement was released by Sports Hochi on September 25; however, the original article has since been removed with no archives remaining.
Continue readingIn That’s RanKING!, a multi-year Kageki Top Star Q&A feature, the Top Stars rank each other based on various questions. The 2017 version of the column has questions sent in by readers.
This month’s question: Who would be best able to deal with aliens if they appeared?
Continue readingIn That’s RanKING!, a multi-year Kageki Top Star Q&A feature, the Top Stars rank each other based on various questions. The 2016 version of the column has questions sent in by readers.
This month’s question: Who knows the most about bugs?
That’s RanKING! – Who’s in first place?
For 2016’s monthly corner, we use questions sent in from readers and ask each Top Star to rank who most matches each month’s theme by sharing their impressions 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: Who knows the most about bugs? (Question from ‘Elmer’)
Snow Troupe – Sagiri Seina
First place is Maa-kun [Asaka]. That’s because she’s from Saga! [Laughs] There are bugs in Saga, right? They’re in Nagasaki too! …I guess I wouldn’t want to have someone say that to me [laughs]. Michiko-san [Hokushou] seems to have a lot of knowledge about stuff, so even though she says she doesn’t like bugs I feel like she knows about them, so she’s in second. I’m fine with bugs but I don’t know that much about them, so guess I might be third. Fourth place is Masao [Ryuu], and fifth place is Mirio-chan [Asumi]. Masao doesn’t mind bugs but I don’t think she’s interested in them either, and I feel like Mirio-chan hates bugs.
Star Troupe – Hokushou Kairi
First place is Ryuu-san, because she seems she’d know a lot about colorful insects. Second place is Chigi [Sagiri], since I think she would have caught bugs when she was little. I see Asaka-san as being in third place. To tell the truth, I actually detest bugs, and I don’t know much about them so I’m last place. I didn’t hate them so much when I was little, but when I was in the Takarazuka Music School I was cleaning a balcony once, and from a cherry tree, a fuzzy caterpillar—… Of course I couldn’t scream, and I twisted to try and shake it off, but I had to keep going… I kept cleaning while I was practically fainting, so after that I was really traumatized [laughs].
Cosmos Troupe – Asaka Manato
Hokushou-san! If you flipped through the pages of her memory, I feel like she would have a whole page full of memories about bugs, all ‘Oh, so bugs…’ kind of things. Chigi-san is from Kyuushu, which has a lot of nature, and I think she definitely caught bugs when she was little! I’m also from Kyuushu so I’ll be third for the same reasons. A long time ago I used to catch cicadas, but now I can’t stand them. I feel like Mirio would be like ‘Mr. Bug, stay away~’ [laughs]. And I see Masao as having very little interest in bugs. ‘Oh, there’s a bug, huh,’ that kind of image.
Flower Troupe – Asumi Rio
First place is Chigi-san, since I think a bug catching net would suit her. I think second place might be Masaki-san [Ryuu]. She has a favorite bug: she said ‘rhinoceros beetles are really spirited’ so I think she’d be like that [laughs]. Third place is Hokushou-san. She seems to know a lot about bugs, and would be able to tell you ‘in this area these bugs are likely to appear’. Since I grew up in the countryside, if I see a bug I generally know what it is, and I’m not scared of them…but I’m not an expert.
Moon Troupe – Ryuu Masaki
Somebody who knows a lot about bugs…? Maybe Maa-kun. Well, I say she knows a lot, but I feel like if you asked her about bugs she would get really into it and research all kinds of things. Second place is Chigi-chan, since she definitely seems like she fits the ‘outdoorsy’ image. Micchan is in third place. Even if she personally doesn’t like bugs, she knows about a lot of different things so I think she’d definitely be able to tell you about bugs. I can’t stand bugs at all. I think Mirio doesn’t like them at all either. But if there was a bug on my clothes or something, I think she’d have the courage to get it off for me…
This coverage of the press conference for the 2016 production of Elisabeth was published by Crank In on April 15, 2016.
Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato deeply moved by “Elisabeth” lead role: ‘This is the first show I had lines in’
The press conference for the Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe production of Elisabeth: Rondo of Love and Death took place on the 15th, with Cosmos Troupe Top Star Asaka Manato and Top Musumeyaku Misaki Rion in attendance. Asaka is enthusiastic about the role, saying “this show is definitely going to challenge me. I want to completely change my image to perform as Der Tod.”
The original musical uses beautiful musical themes to follow the unfortunate fate of the astoundingly beautiful Elisabeth, who, despite only wanting to live a free, uninhibited life, becomes Empress of Austria. In the Takarazuka version, the lord of the underworld, Der Tod (‘death’), who loves Elisabeth, is made the main character. Since the first performance in 1996, 899 shows have been performed, with a record-setting audience of 2,160,000 people.
Asaka is the 9th actress to play Der Tod. Her black hair gives a sharp impression, and her makeup is reminiscent of a Visual Kei bandmember. Director Koike Shuuichiro said “her Der Tod feels more aggressive than any until now. She will express the violence that ‘death’ is really capable of.”
In her first year as a member of Takarazuka, Asaka took part in the Hanagumi production of Elisabeth, and it was the first time in her career that she was given lines. “I just had one line, ‘People are sick!’1 but I couldn’t even say just that one line well…” When talking about her memories of the show she shows her eagerness to play as Der Tod.
In addition, Misaki Rion, who plays Elisabeth, said “while there is a high barrier in front of me, I want to do my best to perform a new Elisabeth.”
“I’m usually playing cheerful roles,” Asaka said regarding her part of Der Tod, “so generally I would say brightly ‘I want to show a sunny personality’, but this is the exact opposite type of role. I’m going to access my negative side even in everyday life, so I hope I don’t bother anyone…” Asaka’s description of the secret side of role-building gained a lot of laughs.
1 – In the leadup to the song ‘Milch’.
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?
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).
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.
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!!.