![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/sparkling-time-miya-and-shiiran.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIchijou:<\/em> When we were in Star Troupe together, we would have photoshoots together a lot, so they would call us \u2018Azururi\u2019, right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> I feel like we just spread that around so much that other people started doing it (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> We forced it to happen (laughs). But after we ended up in different troupes, of course we had less chances to meet and that was really a shame, so when I was able to do another photoshoot with Miya-chan I was really happy. This is the first time since \u2018RISING STAR GUIDE 2012\u2019, isn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>Right. At that time, we got really excited about the photoshoot, but today the feeling is a little different. It\u2019s like a \u2018morning sun\u2019 feeling (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em>\u00a0We\u2019re in separate troupes, going down our own paths, and it would be nice if people see us now that we\u2019ve grown up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em>\u00a0Last year, I was able to be in Kurenai-san\u2019s dinner show1<\/sup> in Tokyo only, and it was so much fun. Even though in Takarazuka I was just a cardboard stand-up figure (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> (laughs) In rehearsals it was like we\u2019d gone back in time, and it made me so happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> Even though it was my first time in ages participating in a Star Troupe rehearsal, everything from back then came back to life in a flash and it felt like I\u2019d been there the whole time. Especially with Shiiran (Ichijou), since we were together in the Music School, and were struggling through things together ever since we were ken-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> We were always doing such dumb things, weren\u2019t we (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> The second we saw an opportunity we\u2019d start goofing off (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> Yeah. Star Troupe was strict, but times when we could hang out with a classmate like that helped us get through it, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> \u2018Hang out\u2019 you call it, but we\u2019d just go off somewhere we thought the senior actresses wouldn\u2019t turn up and play things like color tag or \u2018otokoyaku red light green light\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> I\u2019m sure it\u2019d be just as fun if we did it again now (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> I think we developed such a deep relationship because of things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>Currently we\u2019ve both increased in seniority, so how is it? Shiiran is really enthusiastic and sports-minded, so you\u2019re good at guiding the junior actresses, aren\u2019t you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou: <\/em>I guess so\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> Because they even call you \u2018Guts\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> I do think that since I had all of those experiences that I treasure myself, if I see a girl with a lot of guts, or a girl with that kind of attitude, I want to teach them more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> When I was a junior actress, and a senior actress would say just a couple words to me without thinking anything of it, it would make me so happy, so I can still remember what they said to me even now, you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou: <\/em>Right, I can too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> Therefore, if I see a girl who\u2019s also pushing herself to do her best, or a girl who\u2019s steadily putting in a lot of work, I feel like I ought to say something to her. When I went to Moon Troupe, I realized that Star Troupe\u2019s ability to work as a whole was really strong. Everyone would share the same feelings and push forward together, that kind of thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou: <\/em>Yeah, yeah. In Star Troupe, we\u2019re stronger as a group than as individuals. But in Moon Troupe, each and every person does their homework and they\u2019re all incredibly good at making their individuality blossom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>Right, right. It was totally different, so I was really startled. I realized how much I had been helped by the strength of everyone else in the group up until then, so it was like coming to Moon Troupe really gave me a push, and I felt like I had to work harder in order to not cause trouble for everyone else around me. But on the other hand, since I had come from Star Troupe, there were also times when I wanted to convey to everyone how impressive it was when we all worked together as one. I think it\u2019s great that I was able to experience both of those things. Has anything changed for you, Shiiran?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> Let me see. I\u2019ve sometimes thought \u2018is it fine for Ichijou Azusa to just be \u2018Guts\u2019 and energy\u2019, or as there have been more cool otokoyaku around lately I\u2019ve wondered whether it\u2019s a bit lame to just go on \u2018Guts\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>When did you start to think that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em>\u00a0A few years after graduating from junior performances. But then once when an OG came to see a show, she told me \u2018Has something changed about your characterization? You don\u2019t seem to have much energy.\u2019 So then I realized \u2018When I try to be cool it looks that way, maybe I shouldn\u2019t be doing that\u2019. Therefore, I\u2019m not embarrassed about enthusiastically going for it, and I feel I should be \u2018Guts\u2019 since that\u2019s the only way I can be. When I realized that, I was able to be a lot more relaxed about performing onstage, and right now I feel like I want to be the kind of performer where people say \u2018When you look at Ichijou-san, you really feel like you\u2019re watching Star Troupe\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> I see. In my case, although they say \u201810 years to otokoyaku\u2019, when it came to that time for me, I felt like I couldn\u2019t really do anything, and I didn\u2019t know what to do with my characterization, so I really had a negative image of myself. In my first couple years [after the 10-year point], no matter how much I rehearsed it didn\u2019t feel like there was any growth to show for it, and as my seniority increased I started to get really scared. But after having a wide variety of experiences, I realized that what I had been doing up until now to make myself look larger, since I\u2019m on the smaller side, had actually been working in the reverse to make me appear smaller. I\u2019m not like Shiiran, but it\u2019s true that being how I am naturally will let my personality come through more. Like at this point, wouldn\u2019t it just be pointless if I decided to change into a super zealous type (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> That\u2019s right (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>Before, even when an audience member would tell me \u2018I like this about Miya-san\u2019, I would think \u2018but why, though\u2019 and I couldn\u2019t understand it. But now I\u2019ve started to think that if these things are my good points to an objective viewer, then I should recognize that about myself when I\u2019m performing. And so I\u2019ve started to relax and think \u2018it\u2019s fine to be like this\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> And when you can think like that you aren\u2019t scared any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em>\u00a0Yeah. And then, Shiiran did this too, but recently I played a female role2<\/sup>, well, a witch, but that\u2019s still a woman (laughs). At that time, I realized that men and women both have the same kind of heart, and while their manner of expressing things may be different, they are moved by their heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> I thought that too, when I played Mme. Montespan in Le Roi Soleil<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> When I returned to male roles I realized that I had become way more relaxed about performing, so I felt like playing a female role had really helped me grow. I don\u2019t know what kind of roles I\u2019m going to encounter from now on, but right now I think that I\u2019d like to keep a flexible heart and enjoy letting myself be changed, and that it\u2019s good if things change as I perform each role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> In Om Shanti Om<\/em> it was my first time playing an old person, so I was happy to be able to challenge myself that way. It\u2019s really true that no matter what the character is, they all have the same heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou:<\/em> Also, what I\u2019ve been thinking currently is that there are still so many people who don\u2019t know about Takarazuka, so it\u2019s my dream to have even one more person come to see a show while I am still here. Maybe that\u2019s too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya: <\/em>No, not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ichijou: <\/em>Therefore, I\u2019ve been trying to tell all sorts of people \u2018Please come and see a show\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miya:<\/em> That\u2019s wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 –\u00a0Stella Rossa<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 – Morgaine in\u00a0Le Roi Arthur<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sparkling TIME was a long-running Kageki talk feature which includes a photoshoot (designed by the participants) and talk between performers. Miya\u2019s and Ichijou\u2019s was published in the February 2017 issue. chemicalperfume\u00a0kindly assisted me with this translation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,4],"tags":[13,360,110,42,247,164],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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