This feature was published in the March 2017 Graph.
Due to length it is posted in two parts; Part 1 features Sagiri’s likes and dislikes. Part 2, a Q&A feature, is in a separate post here.
Continue readingAnything: Sagiri Seina (Part 1)
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Tag Archives: Sienne: Sagiri Seina
That’s RanKING! (April 2017)
In 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 readingThe countdown starts from the moment of becoming Takarazuka’s Top Star: Sagiri Seina’s retirement
This is an extremely interesting article about Sagiri Seina’s career and the Top Star system as a whole. It also discusses her unique partnership with Sakihi Miyu.
The original article was written by Murakami Kumiko and published in Nikkan Sports on June 11, 2017. (Archive link here.)
The countdown starts from the moment of becoming Takarazuka’s Top Star: Sagiri Seina’s retirement
The Takarazuka Revue is surrounded by a ‘violet-colored’ veil. Its greatest charm, if described in the words of the Japanese seasons, is that just like the sakura, it is most beautiful because it is fleeting. No matter how popular or outstandingly talented the Top Star, nearly all retire within an average of 2-2.5 years. This countdown starts from the moment of ascending to the position of Top Star.
Sagiri Seina, who said her farewells to the Revue’s home theatre in Hyogo Prefecture on May 29th, had the 2550-seat Takarazuka Grand Theatre operating over 100% capacity for all 5 of her Grand Theatre shows. She retires having achieved a new record.
In the 103-year history of Takarazuka, achieving unprecedented numbers is not so out of the ordinary. Plays are chosen to suit the character of the Top Star, and for original shows a system of ‘writing to the star’ is in place. Thus, the Top Star has an extreme level of responsibility: it is not going too far to say she bears the full responsibility for ticket sales.
Besides the obvious preparation for shows, the Top Star has a wide range of duties, from fan events to business promotions, as well as creating an atmosphere in the troupe that produces the best shows possible. The effort and motivation this requires has a limit of about 2-2.5 years. Sagiri Seina herself said at her retirement announcement conference that ‘while if I could maintain this level of energy I would love to continue being an otokoyaku forever, that is impossible, so I have to leave.’
During this limited time of being Top Star, her affinity with her partner musumeyaku also has a great influence on her path. Top Musumeyaku are not installed in their position because of their still in singing, dancing, or acting. Their potential compatibility with the Top Star is considered most important, but until they actually perform together it is impossible to know how well they actually work together. The excellence and synergy of Snow Troupe’s Top Combi of Sagiri and her partner musumeyaku, Sakihi Miyu, caused an explosion of popularity.
It is a partnership of equally talented actresses. Sagiri always aimed to put Sakihi on equal footing with herself, which, in the world of Takarazuka where the otokoyaku always comes first, meant that Sakihi also bore a great deal of responsibility. The fans, knowing the two were also close in their private lives, happily supported them.
In the ‘Farewell Recital’ performed on the final day of the last show at the main theatres, the Top Star is generally the sole focus for around 70% of the show. However, in the case of this combi, around 40% of the songs were duet numbers, an unprecedented amount. Sagiri said ‘I decided on this set list after conferring with Sakihi.’ A Top Star ‘conferring’ with their musumeyaku partner is also unprecedented. As a symbol of this trust, there was also a succession of duet dances. Their partnership’s ‘bonds’ were fully displayed, leaving nothing behind on their departure from the Grand Theatre.
Sagiri Seina’s #1! (part 2)
Conclusion of the Snow Troupe survey feature about Sagiri Seina published in the June 2016 issue of Graph. (Part 1 located here.)
Continue readingSagiri Seina’s #1! (part 1)
In this Graph feature from 2016, the troupes were surveyed about their Top Stars with the results ranked. Sagiri’s was published in the June issue.
Due to the length, this feature is posted in 2 parts. The second can be found here.
Continue readingThat’s RanKING! (April 2016)
In 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’)
- Sagiri Seina (27 pts)
- Asaka Manato (22 pts)
- Hokushou Kairi (17 pts)
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…
That’s RanKING! – November 2015
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).
Looking Back on 2015: Sagiri Seina
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
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.
Takarazuka’s Kagami-biraki ceremony features Sagiri Seina’s smile
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.