Jazzy Fairies/Revue of Dreams

Well, today is the last day of February. Yesterday I glanced at the calendar and knew what that meant-- it meant that I had to watch Jazzy Fairies/Revue of Dreams. After all, Jan/Feb of my Yuuhi calendar is from Revue of Dreams, and how can I rip off that page without having seen the show? (Of course, going by this logic, Revue Densetsu needs to appear at my door within the next 8 hours, or the Mizu calendar will remain frozen as well, but we'll ignore that.)

Jazzy Fairies

Sumire Stage Graph

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Err... Hankyu, what crack were you smoking? Who approved this show? I got so very, very excited during the opening dance number, and then... no more cool Irish dancing? That was it? But I'll get back to this later.

Patrick Gael (Candidate for the House of Representatives): Sena Jun
Shannon McNeil (Fairy tale author): Ayano Kanami
Walter Coughlin (Maverick gunman): Kiriya Hiromu
Timothy Callahan (Gossip writer): Ozora Yuuhi
Dan McGovern (Tammany boss): Ritsu Tomomi
Sarah Fitzgerald (Patrick's secretary): Natsukawa Yura
Oberon (King of the fairies): Kouki Subaru
Mick O'Brien (Policeman): Tsukifune Sarara
Pixie (A mischievous fairy): Hokushou Kairi
Rosie Wilcox (Chorus girl): Shirosaki Ai

( Summary from the Official Hankyu English Site: )

What I thought:

The plot was ridiculous, and the fairies were really, really annoying. Really annoying. The only time I liked them at all was during the scene where they admitted to Shannon that she was ill. Whoever thought up their costumes should be fired. Immediately. The dancing in the opening scene was amazing, and it was a nice long number, but that was the only traditional Irish dance number in the whole show, and I was expecting more. The songs were so-so. That ear-splitting "Omae wa sugoi!" song broke my eardrums. I did love Kanami's solo after she found out she was ill. That was lovely, actually, if depressing as hell.

That said, this is Tsukigumi, and it's impossible for them to put on a bad show. Ritsu Tomomi and Asako's scene where they find themselves at odds had me a little sniffly, where Dan admits that Patrick is the son he never had... but he's going to send a hitman after him anyway, because this is politics. Asako's character, Patrick, was disappointingly flat, as most white hats tend to be. Noble, caring, a total gentleman. Urk. Nope. The two best characters in this play were undoubtably Yuuhi's Timothy and Kiriyan's Walter. Timothy was so delightfully low, black-mailing everyone in sight, but then a total softie when it came to helping out Patrick and Shannon. And Walter was so cool and gruff, snarling at Mick even as Mick saved him from being caught and got him a doctor and lectured at him so adorably. (Oh, man, I so want Mick and Walter slash. Yep, I do.) Sarara's Mick was a cute character, and that long leather coat combined with the police cap killed me quite dead, but I wish she'd had a little more screen time. ;_; Sarara~

Revue of Dreams

YAY! This is my Tsukigumi! Asako just lights up like a light bulb when she's on stage -- her charisma is really scary, actually, it's so intense. But everyone else just soaked it up and re-radiated it and whoah! *fans self* And although princesslucia has turned me into quite the current Hanagumi fan, there's nothing like seeing "your" troupe in action, where you can pick out even the lowliest rugrats in the shadows by name. And my baby 'sienne are all grown up and leaving the nest! *sniffles over Hokushou, Ayana, and Mano* Morie (Aoki Izumo) was so cute! I just wanted to pinch her cheeks, which I always want to do.

I haven't seen such tight dancing in a Takarazuka show in a really long time. Everyone snapped their moves out in gorgeous synchronism. Which makes sense, as this was sub-billed as a "dancing revue" (is there any other kind? ;p) Anyway, color me impressed. My favorites were definitely "Dreaming of the Future" (I wish all spacemen had to wear those outfits!) and "Dreams in a Desert," but I enjoyed them all. There was so much Yuuhi love. Aaaand Sarara love! Yay! I'm so very glad that they sent off their beloved daughter (son?) with such fanfare.

( Scene Expl. from English Hankyu Site: )

So this is a tough call. If you're a Tsuki fan, then you need it, of course. I think the revue makes it worth it, but even the revue wasn't really spectacular -- it was the seito who gave it all the sparkle.