Voyage With You was a Kageki photoshoot and interview feature where the Top Combi picked a destination and time period for a photoshoot, as well as having a talk about the location and related Takarazuka shows. Tsukishiro and Umino picked ‘Nostalgic Morocco’ as the setting for their feature, which was published in October of 2022.
Continue readingTroupe Report is a Kageki feature where an appointed reporter will write about current events in the troupe or ask troupe members for questions to answers sent in by readers. Reporters rotate more slowly and in many troupes are only replaced on retirement or transfer, unlike other backstage features that rotate monthly or quarterly. (Moon Troupe sometimes rotates faster.)
Moon Troupe’s Troupe Report was written by Shimon Yuriya in 2015. The May edition focuses on the rehearsals for 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille.
Continue readingThis lengthy special feature on Star Feathers and what they mean to the performers was published in the April 2022 issue of Kageki.
Continue readingThis rehearsal roundtable talk was recorded for the May 2015 issue of Kageki.
Besides Director Koike Shuuichiro, 15 performers from Senka and Moon Troupe participated.
Continue readingEvery year in Kageki, each Top Star and Top Musumeyaku publishes a recap of their year in the December issue. While in the actual magazine, the Top Stars and Top Musumeyaku have separate sections, for posting I am combining the two statements for each troupe. (I have also only translated the statements and left off the rather overwrought advertising-style intro blurbs just to save time.)
Note that Moon Troupe’s statement was taken while they were still in rehearsals for the National Tour that played in November.
Continue readingDecor was a 2021 GRAPH feature in which musumeyaku presented on their favorite costumes, hair accessories, and wigs. Umino’s was printed in the August issue.
Some outtake photos from the back of the magazine are also included.
Continue readingThis photo feature, which ran in GRAPH through 2016, had subjects selecting photos they had taken with other Takarasiennes. This edition features Nanami Hiroki, Ayanagi Shou, Makaze Suzuho, and Umino Mitsuki.
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 Umino Mitsuki was published in the April issue.
Continue readingRen Tsukasa’s column on the members of the 97th class was published in GRAPH through 2018. Her interview with Umino Mitsuki was published in the January issue.
Ren’s columns includes recipes! I haven’t tested them yet so I can’t guarantee results, but I’ve tried to make sure they are understandable.
Continue readingThis is a discussion with the scriptwriter/director of Azure Moment, Harada Ryou, and the three stars of the show: Miya Rurika, Tsukishiro Kanato, and Umino Mitsuki. It took place during rehearsals, shortly before the opening of the production, and was published in the May 2017 Kageki.
Please note: due to the nature of this feature there are some spoilers.
Continue reading