{"id":2500,"date":"2022-11-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/?p=2500"},"modified":"2022-11-13T05:46:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T12:46:34","slug":"berubara-and-i-anna-jun-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/18\/berubara-and-i-anna-jun-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Berubara and I \u2013 Anna Jun (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This book, which is something of an \u2018oral history\u2019 of Takarazuka\u2019s Rose of Versailles<\/em> adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. Since the book is derived from transcriptions of interviews taking place often many decades after the fact, there may be discrepancies between accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that the term appearing through the text as \u2018theatre-comic\u2019 is translated from the Japanese term gekiga <\/em>[\u5287\u753b]. Although this term is described as applying to mainly male-oriented comics in most English-language sources, this is no longer accurate. The definition of this word has changed to also include sweeping, romantic female-oriented works with Rose of Versailles being arguably the most famous of theatre-comics. Takarazuka even published its own magazine of theatre-comics in the 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapters have been split in two to make them more readable without too much scrolling to reach the explanatory footnotes. Some paragraph breaks have also been added for ease of reading in English. I have also included some images printed in the book as well as sourcing many other archival images to illustrate the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Anna Jun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Portrait of Anna from Berubara and I<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

1947<\/em> – Born in Osaka, July 29
1965 <\/em>– Entered the Takarazuka Revue, debuting in Esquire Girls<\/em>
1975 <\/em>– Played Oscar in The Rose of Versailles<\/em>, becoming Flower Troupe Top Star
1978 <\/em>– Retired from the Takarazuka Revue with Gone with the Wind<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable works:
The musicals FAME, Nine the Musical, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris<\/em>, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-retirement activities:
She works on stage, including in The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables, Sakura Fubuki Tanuki Go-Ten,<\/em> etc., as well as television and recital performances. Her books \u201cBattling with Collagen Disease: My Rebirth\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Doing Life Right\u201d are currently on sale. This year she celebrates her 40th year in the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ball felt amazing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, if I\u2019d chosen the \u2018international performance\u2019, I might never have been able to be in Berubara. It was like a fork in the road of my destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was an international performance scheduled at the same time, so they asked me \u201cDo you want to go abroad, or remain in Japan?\u201d. I didn\u2019t like traveling internationally so I said \u201cI\u2019ll stay in Japan\u201d, and the domestic performance was Berubara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when I was first told about the production, I was going to play Andre. It was Oscar and Andre, and Haruna Yuri-san, who had already performed as Oscar in the original production, was coming to perform in Flower Troupe, so naturally she was going to be Oscar and I was going to be Andre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then I said \u201cLooking at our sizes, wouldn\u2019t that be a little weird?\u201d\u2026 (bitter laugh) I was a really \u2018good girl\u2019\u2014I\u2019d agree to whatever came my way\u2014so I rarely brought up opinions like this, but I just thought the balance would be a bit strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have a point there,\u201d the director responded. And in the end they decided Haruna-san would play Andre, and I would play Oscar.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Haruna and Anna as Andre and Oscar (photo from La Rose de Versailles Souvenir Book 1)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

After they decided I would play Oscar, I read the original work by Ikeda Riyoko. Andre is so amazing! He\u2019s a woman\u2019s ideal of masculinity, and anyone who reads the original work will end up falling in love with Andre. It would be so nice if there were any real men like Andre\u2026but there aren\u2019t! (laughs) Haruna-san\u2019s Andre was so lovely too. She was so slender back then (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oscar the person died in battle at such a young age, so I think that\u2019s a shame, but her whole life was condensed into the end of it, so I think that in a way she was also happy. Andre\u2019s thoughts were concentrated on her up until the end, after all. And finally she says \u201cVive la France!\u201d as she dies: I think her whole life was contained in that [phrase].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as a role for a performer, Oscar is a bit\u2026complicated, I guess. At the beginning I struggled quite a bit. I had \u201cOscar is a woman<\/em>\u201d stuck in my head. Personally, although I had performed female roles in revue shows, in general I only did male roles, so how was I supposed to play Oscar, who was \u2018raised as a man\u2019? So if I played it in a feminine way just because it was a \u2018female role\u2019, it would turn out strange\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, I finally reached the conclusion that if I displayed my \u2018true essence\u2019, I suppose you could say, if I just performed it frankly without overthinking anything, it would turn out well. After that I could finally move forward (laughs), so to tell the truth I didn\u2019t struggle much with creating the character of Oscar, and I didn\u2019t think much about any difficult aspects, I just worked hard every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you think of Oscar, of course you picture that splendid uniform outfit, but in reality that was such a struggle! First was the wig. Back then we didn\u2019t have the kind of wigs we have now, instead, they were made from metal. A metal cloche would be made to fit the head, and the hair would be set into that, so it was like a helmet, and just an incredible thing to wear. My head would sweat so much and it was just awful! Generally I\u2019d have really short hair underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The uniform also had a standing collar going up my neck, so it would get soaked with sweat and my neck would get chafed a lot. The boots went up to my knees so my legs were always weighed down. The sword was pretty heavy too, since it wasn\u2019t made of wood either, it was made properly out of real metal. I was thin, and it really hurt when the sword would bang against my hipbones, and it was so heavy! Gosh, I felt like I was going to collapse sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then in the middle of that, to come out in a dress for that ball scene, oh, that just felt amazing! (laughs) It\u2019s her one time (!)1<\/sup> in female costume, right. Her hair is in ringlets, her white dress is ornamented with roses, her skirt is billowing out around her, and when she comes out fluttering her handkerchief there\u2019s such a commotion in the audience, everyone murmuring \u201cWhoa~\u201d That especially made me think \u201cThis feels great!\u201d (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that scene, Oscar arrives in women\u2019s clothes and falls in love with Fersen at first sight, and I think her awareness of romance springs up there, just a bit. It\u2019s not like she\u2019s using her feminine wiles, but she deliberately drops her handkerchief (laughs). And then, once Fersen vanishes, while still wearing that amazing elaborate dress, she suddenly goes straight back to acting like a boy again, and starts up arguing with Andre again. I loved that scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I\u2019d never worn those sorts of clothes, so despite my appearance I kept slipping into masculine speech, you see, so somehow this moment of \u201cchanging back into a boy from a woman\u201d was something I really liked. I discovered what I could really release, and it was a side of myself I couldn\u2019t display in other shows, so that moment of straddling the \u2018border between man and woman\u2019 was so fun for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, at the start I\u2019d grumble a lot, since I had way too much stage time. It\u2019s kind of a pain the more appearances you have, right? (laughs) \u201cDon\u2019t complain!\u201d the director would scold me, but the most tiring thing was how many quick changes I had to do. And because of that issue, one day, a ridiculous event happened!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the transition to the scene where I\u2019m nearly poisoned, I have to change from the white uniform in the previous scene to a white blouse and purple half-trousers with white tights\u2014Oscar\u2019s loungewear, you could say, or the style of a young nobleman\u2014in an \u2018extreme quick change\u2019 So, while I was trying to change and go back out, not only was it dark in the wings, but my vision isn\u2019t very good, so I ran into some lighting equipment and fell over, and the lights all came down as well, completely shattering with a huge \u201cBam! Crash!\u201d. Since it was dark I couldn\u2019t tell what state I was in, but I still had to make my entrance, so out I went on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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GRAPH, December 1976<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In that scene, Andre and Oscar\u2019s mother and her nurse are already on stage acting, but when I came in, this murmur started up from the audience\u2026 Everyone in the orchestra pit also stood up to look at me, and everyone including the actress playing the nurse seemed a bit thrown off, so I thought \u2018this is weird\u2019, but I had to act, so I did my scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, once that scene ended, I rushed off stage for my next quick change, and to my shock! My trousers were torn! Apart from the inner waistband, it was all torn from the center and completely open. The fabric was all dangling down. The tights I was wearing underneath were visible, too. I felt like wearing tights had saved me at least (laughs), but I must have looked so strange!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even worse, my knees were bleeding\u2026 I was in the most dreadful state. I was thinking \u201cAah~!!\u201d but I still had to get dressed for the next scene and I felt like crying. I didn\u2019t want to walk openly out of the dressing room door that day\u2026 So much so that I don\u2019t remember how I actually left at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I myself was the only one who hadn\u2019t noticed. I think it was actually best that I didn\u2019t notice. If I had, I would have forgotten all my lines and retreated from the stage in a panic, I\u2019m sure. I only heard about this later, but the nurse was wearing an apron, so apparently she even considered taking it off and putting it around me (laughs). \u201cWouldn\u2019t that have just looked weirder?\u201d I said, and afterwards this just became a funny story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 – Emphasis in original.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This book, which is something of an \u2018oral history\u2019 of Takarazuka\u2019s Rose of Versailles adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,26],"tags":[255,394,395,495],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500"}],"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=2500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2504,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2500\/revisions\/2504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}