All Zuka all the time

I love this little moment during the Roget raku when Mizu purposely stopped off center (you can see the white dots on the stage that mark the center of the stage, they're supposed to be between Mizu's feet but her left foot is on the row instead, putting her off center) and then tugs Kimu to the center position instead. It was just such a sweet gesture to give Kimu a chance to step into the center spotlight.

During the final speeches after Mizu's farewell show they briefly talk about it and Kimu expresses how surprised she was to end up in the center. If you watch the DVD version of the show from Takarazuka you can see Mizu is supposed to stop over the center line and she does not put her left hand around Kimu's waist during that segment. But on the Tokyo raku video from Sky Stage (above) you can see Kimu look down to make sure she's in the correct spot right before Mizu pulls her a half step over the center line with the hand around her waist. (Her little smirk while she does it is pretty good too XD)

It was written and directed by Koike and former Hanagumi otokyaku Juri Sakiho provided the voice of the Nutcracker (but did not perform the actual role). Tsukigumi's former otokyaku Wakao Risa did the choreography for it. Takarazuka also lent them one of their costume designers (Arimura Jun) and one of their composures to help with the music. There were male actors in the show so it wasn't like 100% Takarazuka but they copied a decent amount of stuff.

It was released on DVD if you really need it in your life.

Y'all remember when Sanrio decided to partner with Hankyu to produce a Takarazuka mini-revue using the Hello Kitty characters?

Cause I sure do.

It haunts me to this day XD

Y'all I was not mentally prepared for der Koma. Even though I DID KNOW SHE WAS IN IT, time had completely erased that from my memory and omg was I not ready to be reminded!

And now all productivity has gone out the window while I am just screaming into the void over Koma from 16 years ago again. XD

Worth it for that smile during her end speech though.

So I moved back from Japan in 2017 and since I was obviously busy with moving stuff I missed a couple of the early shows. One of those shows I missed was Chateau de la Reine, but my Maa-kun fangirls hooked me up with the DVD. <3

I was familiar with the movie it's based off of so that helped a lot though they definitely changed a couple of characters up. That said I enjoyed it. It was silly but also serious when it needed to be and the slapstick Scooby Doo room switching thing didn't really get into the way of it which was nice. Because it was also fairly mindless fun it was a good way to ease back into catching up on some missed Takarazuka shows since I could just sit back and enjoy what I was seeing without worrying too much about the small bits of dialogue I had difficulty understanding. For example I was a bit lost on what was going on with the old couple. I get the woman was dying and I guess one was the teacher of the other couple but I'm kind of fuzzy on what was going on there. Fortunately you didn't really need to fully understand their dynamic/backstory to get the main plot. Plus I do like comedies so I'm always down for a good laugh.

I found most of the songs kind of "eh", like they were there. Did they need to be songs? Probably not but it's Takarazuka so things are going to get song-i-fied whether they needed to be or not. That said I did enjoy Makaze's "Diana" song. The rest was kind of forgettable to be honest.

Surprisingly I think the Louis backstory was the strongest part of this show for me. Which is funny because I'm not the biggest Makaze fan but she did a solid job in that role and I really liked how it played out so respect. Maa-kun was a bit over the top at the start but again, it's kind of a slapstick comedy so I get it. It did tone down as the show progressed and I ended up liking her character more by the end.

Sakuragi Minato was good as the morally conflicted other tour guide. I would have liked to see a more gradual change in that character as he got more and more stressed out over the situation but again, I acknowledge they only had an hour and a half to tell the story (less when you cut out all of the time the songs eat up) so she did well with the time she had.

Misaki Rion was great. I liked that her last show was all about smiling and laughing and getting others to do the same. It mirrors the typical sayonara speech/vibe well. I am hoping the revue let's her shine a bit more but again, I am pretty happy with this being her farewell show.

Imma give it a 7.5/10. I enjoyed seeing it, wouldn't have minded paying for an S-seki ticket, may give it a second watch but not something I'd want to see a bunch more times.

Wow, it's been 4 years since I have posted on this site! Could not for the life of me even remember what email address I had used to log into it so just getting here was an adventure!

I'm doing really well and I hope you all are as well!

I did get out of Takarazuka for a few years while I worked on furthering my real life career. I've participated in some really cool opportunities that I have been able to use in conjunction with my current job and while I've been working really hard to land those spots it's been absolutely worth it.

I see a lot has been going on with Takarazuka and it's going through a big change right now with all of the retirements. I hope the new fans enjoy the fresh faces coming up! I might pick up a few of the newer DVDs from the last 4 years to see what's been going on. We'll see.

Day 14: My favorite piece of merchandise is .... the Shibuki Jun “Francis” doll from “Seal of Roses”. (Photo not mine, my doll is in a storage box right now and I just don’t have the energy to go dig it out right now XD)

Day 13: I ..... have no idea. Umm ... it’s honestly been awhile since I’ve watched a Takarazuka show due to real life stuff. Looking at the external hard drive near my computer I’d have to assume it was Yukigumi’s “Russian Blue / Rio de Bravo”. 

I really enjoy Russian Blue, even though it’s a very odd show. Basically Mizu plays this American politician wannabe who decides to go to Moscow during like the Cold War or whatever in the hopes that it’ll increase his political fortunes. To grease his way he uses a love potion on this woman who has been assigned to watch him and his troupe. Meanwhile she also has a love potion made to get him to tell her what he’s really there for (they think he’s spying) and it’s just super bizarre romantic comedy where wizards and witches were persecuted and supposedly killed off but really have just gone into hiding and of course the politician and the lady are a wizard and witch unbeknownst to the other. It’s a good time XD. The interactions between Yumiko as the suffering butler/right hand man and Mizu as the flighty politician is comedy gold.

Day 12: My golden combi is Mizu Natsuki and Shirahane Yuri.

I liked how they played off of each other in Zorro and Je’Taime and I really think Tonami’s maturity and experience helped Mizu out as she became a top and worked on finding her style. I also adored both of them in Elisabeth and how they portrayed those characters. I just think they both worked very well professionally and that did a lot to help build up the Yukigumi I enjoyed throughout the late 2000s and into the 2010s. I was also really happy I got to see them do Elisabeth together again in one of the more anniversary shows. It really gave me chills to see them together again!

Day 11:  Uhhhh I’m so behind on current Takarazuka I legit had to look up who was in senka now XD. After doing that I am going to go with ... Miho Keiko!

I love her. I love seeing her in things. I love hearing her sing. I just love everything about Miho Keiko and I hope she never retires and just keeps on being awesome for many years to come! I mean, Takarazuka wouldn’t feel like Takarazuka without Miho Keiko sashaying out and just killing us all with her awesome, you know?

Day 10: “People Who Have Wings”

It was a hard call because in addition to this show I LOVE the revue “Phoenix Takarazuka” but between Gustav and this show .... This show wins. So I’m going to officially pick “People who Have Wings” (but will also strongly suggest everyone go enjoy Phoenix Takarazuka as well XD)

Day 9: The Scarlet Pimpernel (2008)

Day 8: 

Ugh this is so hard. There are so many good Yukigumi shows, it’s hard to pick my favorite! But ... if I had to pick one I would have to pick “Lucifer’s Tears / Tarentella”. 

This role was so perfect to Komu and I loved everyone in it. Watching all the characters change throughout the show, including Lucifer, was really heart wrenching and I just loved every moment of this show. The final dance between Lucifer and Lillith was beautiful and sad and it was just ... so good. The shinko is also important to me because it introduced me to actresses I would enjoy watching grow and become top stars on their own. So ... yeah, I would have to say this show is my official favorite Yukigumi show. 

Day 7: Prince of the Land of Roses / One

Now, this is most likely not the best Tsukugumi show ever made but I’ve always been a sucker for Beauty and the Beast and I love Kiriyan and Marimo so putting the two together made my personal favorite Tsukigumi show. I really appreciate how much effort it must have taken to perform in that beast suit every day while still making it look effortless and putting on such a touching performance. I had been nervous about it going into it but came out of seeing it really happy! It made me laugh, it ... didn’t make me cry but I could feel sad for the Beast ... and it made me smile at the end.