Takarazuka Forever

Truth be told, I don’t watch many performances because I don’t really have the attention span nor do I have 2-3 hours of nothing to do at a time and once I take a break from something, I often never return. (Also, DVDs are mad expensive, but I digress.) I’m also a bit more interested in the Takarazuka world in its somewhat more organic off-stage activities than the musicals. But now that my Japanese is slowly improving again, my accumulated ChigiMiyugumi stuff is sitting around, and ChigiMiyu is leaving soon, so I just NEED to watch all the ChigiMiyugumi things. I’m trying to make up for the time I lost busy with school.

I don’t even know where to start with Hoshiai Hitoyo. I didn’t read the synopsis until maybe 15 minutes in, and from the get-go the melancholy was STRONG. I knew that this was going to be super sad from the beautiful prologue in the pitch black theater with the ChigiMiyuDaimon dance and Chigi’s song. Chigi! Yes! I wish she would lay off the vibrato more often. She sounds wayyy better without it. The ChigiMiyuDaimon trio song in the tower was beautiful :’) Yuumi’s short harmony in contrast with the tutti part was beautiful.

I also try to stay away from sad and angsty movies, TV series, etc. but Hoshiai Hitoyo was SO worth the emotional turmoil. Because I’ve watched very very few Chigi shows and I think I’ve mostly seen snippets of just the comedies (not Hoshiai Hitoyo, Kenshin, etc.), Chigi’s acting surprised me a lot, as did Yuumi’s. And Daimon’s too, haha. Chigi’s such a jokester IRL with a quick wit and I think I usually just think of her as an adolescent boy. But man, did I really feel for Kinosuke (and Genta and Sen). There were a couple times where Chigi seemed to be trying too hard with the “stormy” expression and was aiming a bit too high with the personal turmoil. Might be a byproduct of watching a recording rather than being in the theater live. And regardless, she was generally as natural and subtle as she is goofy and douchey in Lupin and in The Count’s Daughter (based on the few clips that I’ve seen for those shows). Occasionally, forcing her voice so deep sort of took me out of the moment. Mostly during the ending Kinosuke/Sen scene. But I loooooved her main shogun council costume. Ugh, so handsome.

Yuumi, Yuumi, Yuumi. This is the second performance of hers that I’ve seen, the other being “The Merry Widow.” I loooove Yuumi because she is such a demure princess off stage (although that itself is sometimes a frustrating), yet can be so FIERCE or confident or tragic on stage. Chigi mentioned the gap between Yuumi’s off-stage personality and on-stage personae before and I agree 200%. I love her Sen and how she stood up to Kinosuke on multiple occasions despite her attraction to him. Her scene with Kinosuke on the tower near the end irked me, though. [SPOILER-ISH] “I’ve only ever loved you,” and suddenly she more or less dismissed how horrible Kinosuke has been? It seems like she even contemplates life with Kinosuke. What?? Obviously a writing issue rather than an acting one. But this seriously bugged me. Or maybe it’s just because I haven’t experienced a love that strong where I’d stick with that person throughout all of that crap. Or maybe your interpretation is different! Feel free to let me know what you thought about this part![/SPOILER] She really made me feel for Sen’s constant battle between attraction and loyalty. She has a quiet strength some times throughout Hoshiai and a very present strength at other times, and I loved it.

Look at those literal sweat and tears. I forced my non-Zuka fan friend to watch this, and I self-indulgently gave her a ChigiMiyu primer by showing her all the random SkyStage clips I’ve collected. (Having her watch Hoshiai was more of a ruse to gush over ChigiMiyu.) My friend was also super surprised at Yuumi’s acting chops and on-stage confidence.

Daimon! She does starry-eyed adolescent and weary adult very well. I think most of the performance stuff that I’ve seen Daimon in were revue otokoyaku dances, in which she obviously channels a whole different persona. So lovely and heartbreaking to see this side of her acting with numerous heart wrenching facial expressions.

+1 for such a convincingly real performance. The facial closeups during the end of the Kinosuke/Genta conflict just shattered my heart.

Other random shoutouts:

Fight scene was A+

Reiko, is quite handsome, I must say. And she’s been getting lots of big roles recently. Oh ho ho ho, let’s see what happens, shall we?

Saki as Chobiyasu is SO LOVABLE.

Seshi! Yas, you fierce scarecrow.

The princesses’ song and dance was so pretty <3

In theory, it felt a little weird to watch Takarasiennes play kids, but they were great. Convincingly adorable.

I wish I could experience being part of the stage crew. Or if I could just hang around backstage during musicals, I would love that too.

The revue was meh, in my humble/honest opinion, as far as Takarazuka revues go. A couple of catchy songs, but it was a bit too glittery and all-over-the-place for me. “But it’s Takarazuka!” you say. I know, but still. Chigi and Miyu don’t even have a proper duet dance. A proper duet dance, in my mind, consists of just them two on stage with a nice finish and bow. “La Esmeralda” is, however, the complete opposite Hoshiai Hitoyo, thank goodness.