I'm reading the little blurbs they have for the various troupes in August's Kageki, and am mightily amused.
They were asked to describe their troupe in a short phrase, and here are some examples:
Flower
Haruno: Brilliant flowers
Sakurano: Bright/cheerful/melodious
Sou: Fresh!
Mano: Brilliant and carefree
Natsumi: A fun flower garden
Mochizuki: A seven-colored rainbow!
Aine Harei: Happy flowers
Rika: Fresh!
Misuzu: A thoroughly warm place
Takashou: Bright
Asaka: Spring!
Sakura: A flower garden
Nono: Dokidoki no hanagumi (needs no translation)
Hanagata: Violet (colored)!
Matobu: Full of energy!
Moon
Izumo: A cosmic jewelry box (Aya-san, you do know you switched troupes, right?)
Yoshizuki: Les Bijoux Brilliant
Ozora: Spontaneous children
Sena: A big family
Koshino: The eternal troupe of the God of Laughs
Kiriya: ごちゃ煮 (not sure about this, but I think it's something like: a mixed pot)
Ryouga: A group of spontaneous children
Ayano: All kinds of colors
Kiryuu: Energetic
Aoki: Spirited
Shirosaki: A big family
Seito: Family
Shirahana: A full moon
Yumesaki: Powerful
And after all of these warm-hearted and sweet answers, how do you think Masaki answered? .... Ryuu: Jungle ..... (Oh, my adorable woman)
I haven't read the other three yet. I did read the kumichou and lead otokoyaku interviews for Hana and Tsuki. Hacchi and Osa talked mostly about her off-stage on-stage differences, and how when she goes into work-mode she's suddenly snapping with energy, but when the switch is flipped off she's very easy-going and spacey. Hacchi says the energy she puts into her work is a good example for the underclassmen, and how they're all very chatty together and informal of upperclassmen/underclassmen distinctions while in the break room. And they talked about how glad they were to have been able to work together as kumichou and top star. And they both cried a little. It was very sweet and I got a very gentle, warm impression of the troupe.
Aya and Asako, on the other hand, weren't quite as informal with each other, probably because Aya-san just moved to Tsukigumi. She mentioned how impressed she was by the way the members of Tsukigumi are very crisp and correct in how they speak and move (speaking about greetings and politeness-levels and things, I believe.) I found that very interesting, because that isn't the image I had had of them, and especially contrasted with the Hanagumi interview just before. They also both talked about the pressure of being a role model for their entire troupe, and yet how even they make mistakes, of course. Here they seemed to loosen up a bit, and Aya talked about how she loves to have underclassmen come to get her advice on anything they need it for. She sounds like she would be a very useful dai-sempai to have. They also talked about how all the new members who have recently transferred in (Ryouga & Kiryuu) have brought a new feel with them, and that everyone in the troupe is re-evaluating what exactly Tsukigumi is.
I read an interesting series of articles lately that described the troupes as currently best known for these things:
Hanagumi: Dancing
Tsukigumi: Acting
Yukigumi: Nihonmono (Japanese-style productions)
Hoshigumi: Costume performances
Soragumi: New and fresh
I never thought of Hoshigumi as the costume troupe, but then I sat back for a moment, and... yes. I can see it.