Akechi Kogorou's Incident Report -The Black Lizard- / Tuxedo Jazz

[ekusudei]

Akechi Kogorou's Incident Report -The Black Lizard- / Tuxedo Jazz
Flower Troupe 2007

Leads: Haruno Sumire & Sakurano Ayane

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I'll spare you a summary, since there's already one on the wiki. ;) And also, I have no intention of giving away the ending. Trust me, that would take away all the fun.

Impressions of 'Black Lizard':

The first time I watched it, I forgot to rent opera glasses. Which means I only managed to pick the very, very, very familiar faces out of the crowd: Osa, Sakurano, Un-chan, Hatchi, Sou. Poor Miwatchi and Mattsu tended to blend in with all the other uniformed officers. I felt great love for Osa and Ayane. These were some great roles for them, and it's always nice to see a strong female lead. Who would have thought the little Ayane had it in her? I admit, I had some misgivings at first about her playing the Black Lizard, but she was marvelous: sharp-tempered, sly, arching her little eye-brows all over the place. Osa's role was rather complexely played, and I think I'll have to wait until I see the DVD and can get the full range of her emotions, but from the glances I stole during my second viewing, she was amazing. Certainly, her voice was in top form. Oh, it was marvelous to be surrounded by her voice! And she was given some great songs for her range and power. I've mentioned this already in my other journal, but I think this is now my favorite Osa show, even over her Elisabeth.

But why, you ask, did I not see more of Osa's expressions? Well, one of the reasons is called Matobu Sei. I think I spent 40% of the second viewing with my glasses glued to her lovely face. So angsty! She reminds me more and more of Emao Yuu every day. In any case, I was very impressed by her as well in this show. Another 40% of my viewing time went to a bit of a surprise... It started out as a lark to get something to report to all of the Mattsu fans, particularly since I doubted as much of her role would make it into the DVD close-ups as the leading ladies'. And then she had me giggling uncontrollably and I didn't dare take my eyes off of her for fear I would miss something. It started during the sofa scene, well, just before. When Sanae offers to marry anyone who can entertain her and the police fall over themselves trying to entertain her. So... Why was Mattsu hitting on her fellow police officer instead of Sanae, like she should have been? And just after all the police have dragged the terribly "drunk" Amamiya out of the house, Mattsu wanders around making faces at her sleeve (one can only imagine what Amamiya did to it), and shoving it under other people's noses. I was enchanted. Instant Mattsu love. ;)

Sou. Well. Sou grows on me. She does have a lovely voice.

My favorite scenes include the car double-duet "Yomigaetta Jounetsu" (Oh, Un-chan, you can light my cigarette anyday!), and all the renditions of "Propose" (*hearts*), and the ending. Oh, what a marvelous ending! Though I rather wish they hadn't hinted at things so heavily throughout the rest of the show, I suspect non-Japanese speakers will be able to avoid spoilers right up until the end. :D

Impressions of 'Tuxedo Jazz':

Oh, I liked this revue show very much. Very much. I'm afraid I wasn't as enchanted by the Cab Scene as some others, but Mano Sugata made a lovely wheel, so I spent most of it watching my little ex-Moonlet. Tuxedos and jazz music can never go wrong. Nor can angsty, dark alleys. The tailor scene! OMG! Osa outdid herself in this scene. *dies laughing* She... she.... *g*

And the pair dance was very sweet. :) And then there is Un-chan in a red suit and matching fedora. Oh, yes, I approve. Oh! And Osa and Yashiro Kou singing scat at each other. This was rather lovely. And! Oh, the cutest tap dancing number (well, it was fake tap-dancing), wherein Mattsu reveals she is terrified of tap-dancing, but gets dragged into it anyway. And then the real tap-dancers take the stage and.... line dance! Tap-dancing line dance! Takarazuka, you have finally found a way to make me enchanted by a line dance. XD Someone told me that rumor had it that Ogii (Ogita-sensei) didn't like the line dances, but I suspect he just wants to be able to add his own unique touch to every aspect of his shows.

And then it was all over too soon. T_T

Iri/Demachi:

ZOMG, Hatchi is hot. Ze End.