#sena jun

In honour of the newly announced Hanabeth (2026) I am going to be doing semi-regular elisaposting (watch me descend right back into the hell I come from XD)!

For a start! Costume comparisons! Sisi: Opening-Watashi Dake Ni. There's an interesting development in the way the costumes change over time and who does and does not get unique ones! Lets have a look:

Prologue/Possenhoven Dress

The possenhoven dress is the same one for '96 and '98, which makes sense because that's both O'Hana (Hanafusa Mari) as Sisi. '97, '02 and '07, while all yellow, are all unique and different from one another, but '07 still fits in with the yellows of the earlier period, while Sena Jun's 05 dress shifts to the later more common pink. It is however a completely different cut from the later pink dresses. The '09 dress is the same as the '18 dress, which makes sense because Chapi (Manaki Reika) originally started as an otokoyaku so Kacha (Nagina Ruumi)'s costume fitting her best makes a lot of sense. Similarly, '14 and '16 are also the same costume. Makes me wonder, will we stick to pink, go back to yellow, or will 2026's Sisi wear a completely new dress?

Ai to Shi no Rondo Dress

This dress stays notably more similar than the previous one but does go through a few interesting iterations. O'Hana ('96 and '98) wears the same dress twice again, and with the exception of '97, which is pink, and '05, which is blue, they are all a variation of yellows and greens. Midori's (Otori Rei, 2002) wears a dress clearly patterned after the one before, but that is a slightly different colour. The 2007 dress is the only one that has long sleeves, and is notably lighter in colour than the others. Once again, Kacha and Chapi wear the same dress, which is clearly patterned after Tonami's dress from the previou scene, but not the same dress as Tonami wore, as the ribbons are noticably thicker:

The '14 and '16 dresses also follow this pattern, but are each a different colour with more white in their patterns. It happens a couple of times in this show where a costume migrates from one scene to another, and this appears to be one such occasion, which I personally find quite interesting to see. It also makes sense to me that they shifted the prologue costume to pink eventually, it makes the contrast between outfits and hence the indication of passage of time a lot clearer.

Bad Ischl Dress

While these dresses too went through a colour shift, at least they are predominately blue. The two times the dress was not blue is for '05 and '09, both of which are a tsuki Elisabeth and both fo which feature an otokoyaku as Sisi. This time we actually see O'Hana in two slightly different blue dresses (the '98 dress doesn't have the same white lace at the top as the '96 dress does), but the '98 dress does get re-used for '02. Tonami (Shirahane Yuri) is once again one of the odd ones out; while her dress is the same colour blue aas the '14, '16 and '18 dresses (which are all the same dress), hers has a V-shaped pattern on the neckline, rather than the rounded lace the later dresses all share, easier to see here:

Letzte Tanz Dress

This is one of the more consistent dresses in the show, though it is still a number of different costumes. Once again O'hana ('96 and '98) wears the same dress twice, but the '97 dress is uniqe, with a very different skirt in three layers instead of the heavier layer at the top that O'hana has. Midori ('02) and Asako ('05) also wear unique dresses, although Asako's is clearly based heavily on Midori's, her skirt is slightly different with the ruffled top of the skirt going further down.

Tonami (07')'s dress is also unique, with a shorter whilte lace sleeve and wide skirt in three tiers. The '09, '14 and '16 dresses are all the same, clearly based on '07 but with far longer white lace sleeves and a less voluminous skirt. Overall, Ranchan (Ranno Hana, '14) and Mirion (Misaki Rion, '16) share a lot of costumes. All four of these though use a lacy fabric with rose patterns.

Chapi ('18)'s dress is unique, and also takes a completely different approach, without white lace on the sleeves, which are now also much poofier, and a differently tiered skirt. The bodice also looks completely different. The colourof this dress is darker and it also has a different fabric, more velvety than lace.

Ich Gehor Nur Mir Nightgown

This outfit is both consistent (always a nightgown with a robe), but also always unique. The robe is shared between a number of siennes, but all the gowns are different. O'Hana's outfits are also both different (although both are pants that look like a skirt):

Download the subs here: wtheckzukasubs.tumblr.com/shows

I rarely work on more than one version, but for some reason I felt like I should try to do it. Maybe because it was Tamo's taidan show, and the script only really made sense in that context. Plus, how can you not love the three together one last time? Tamo, Midori and Charlie.

So here you go!

The subs were timed for the VHS/DVD day, but using the Sky Stage broadcast, so you'll need a bit of retiming for it to work with your video. Let me know if you need help with that!

Elisabeth: The Rondo of Love & Death by Moon Troupe (2009)

the rondo of love and death

ICYMI, I was celebrating my blog’s 10th birthday by streaming 10 of my favorite top stars and now I am celebrating its 11th anniversary because I can't get shit done to save my life :)

Profile #6: Sena Jun

Cheating a bit because while Asako is pretty distinctly top 10, this is also a 3-for-1; nibante of Asako-era, Kiriya Hiromu, is battling a few others for a spot on this list, and Ayano Kanami might be my favorite top musumeyaku of all time. Combi moe aside, a few things I love about Asako:

Look at her. She's hot.

The spectrum of otokoyaku types I appreciate is fairly broad, but if I had to pick one type to be top of every troupe for the rest of time to stop the world ending for some reason, it would be hard to beat the Asako vibe: sultry, broad-shouldered (comparatively), can do comedy and drama with equal fervor, hot. Classic otokoyaku.

Although it fizzled into utter chaos at the end, overall I loooooooove her Tsukigumi era. Great vibes, great shows.

Did I mention she's hot? (This might be my shallowest pick)

Top Asako memories:

Asako has the honor of being the star of my very first live theater experience in Japan! I saw her as Reno in Anything Goes approx. 12 hours after landing in Tokyo in 2013, painfully delirious but blissfully happy.

Stream #6 will be Ernest in Love (Moon 2005)

WHEN: Thursday, June 13 at 9am ET (That’s NY time)

WHERE: DM me for link (please don’t be shy!). If you’ve attended one of my streams before, it will be at the same link.