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Queen Naoko Takeuchi spotted in 2026!! She looks amazing!! Naoko recently went to the 100th Shining Theater Shinagawa Tokyo live show and gave the performers flowers 💖🌹

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I think it's obvious how much of their relationship in the movie revolves around this idea of doubling and replacement, culminating in their final performance together.

They train together and perform together as a duo, and as a duo they are presented the exact same to the audience. A pair of maidens, a pair of cranes etc. However there is still a separation between them in their names, they perform as the "To-Han" duo, which means that Kikuo's name comes first. This separation becomes clear when Kikuo is chosen to replace Hanjiro in a performance. They each finally verbalize their sadness and envy over their differences (I want to drink a cup of your blood vs I want to be a real actor) and Kikuo taking the stage alone for the first time marks their separation. Hanjiro's choice isn't just about who replaces him (though of course that's a large part of it), whomever he had chosen... it would have marked the end of the the To-Han duo and their shared identity.

So then when they both return to performing together, both having reached their lowest lows (though Shunsuke's low is only alluded to) they begin performing as a matching duo again, but now they are the Han-Han duo. It no longer matters who comes first and they are able to double for each other again.

So when Shunsuke asks to perform as the heroine in Love Suicide (I think that's the title?), he says it's not about envy or being competitive (don't remember the exact words) he just wants his last performance to be of the performance that made him who he was and I do think he's being honest there. Then when they perform together again, it's suddenly in two different roles. Shunsuke as the heroine and Kikuo as the hero and that's the first time it feels like they are properly acting out their love for each other because they're acknowledging each other as a separate individual within the context of loving each other rather than in the context of envying each other. So their love isn't just about their "sameness" and shared traits, it's transcended that. Which is super interesting within the concept of them being soulmates (which is something the film explicitly states).

I recently watched Kokuho (National Treasure), a Japanese film about the son of a yakuza boss trying to become the number one kabuki actor in Japan, playing onnagata (male actor in female roles).

It is an amazing film. Beautiful, artistic, tragic. Also the actors are hot.

There are so many wonderfully complex elements to analyse, from the meta storytelling of the kabuki performances, to the ever-swining dynamic between winning and losing between the two leads, and there's also probably something to be said about the sad parts the women play in a film about men acting in female roles. But today little old me is gonna talk about blood because when the premise of the film became clear to me, all the little pieces of the textual integrity puzzle started falling into place and I was *excited*.

So now you get to witness me fangirl about it.

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING pls watch the film it is so good

and DISCLAIMER: I only watched the film once so I have very likely missed some things in my list and the quotes may be off. Also I only have passing knowledge of kabuki and have not watched any traditional kabuki before (ask me about which non-traditional kabuki show I watched).

“Heron Maiden: the act features a heron in love with a man, who turns herself into a young woman and dances to express her love until she dies.”

Its 3 hours of a fated homoerotic friendship/soulmate-ship set in the world of an unforgiving historical art form where the characters battle with the idea of family ,destiny, honour , legitimacy , masculinity and the performance of gender , death and fatherhood set against exquisite scenery with the most beautiful background scoring.

It is also possibly the most extraordinary acting I have seen come out of Japan in the last 5 years atleast [ and I say this as a HUGE Drive my car fanatic ]

Kokuho will rip your still beating heart and unmake you down to your atoms. You will feel blasted apart in the best possible way. You will feel like the most exquisite violence has been done to your heart and soul and you love this film for it.

If you care about Art [ and especially if you love Japanese art at all] do yourself a favor and watch the damn movie.

国宝 kokuho (2025) dir. lee sang-il

정년이 jeongnyeon: the star is born (2024) dir. jung ji-in

เคียงมังกร the invisible dragon pilot (2025) dir. yossinee nanakorn

霸王别姬 farewell my concubine (1993) dir. chen kaige

KOKUHO 国宝 (2025, Lee Sang-il)

you were the sun ✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚⋆ 𖤓 ⋆˚࿔

and i was the moon ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

but together, we made the stars