ekusudei | Entries tagged with 2006

Mind Traveller
Flower Troupe Drama City, 2006

[ TakaWiki ] [ Takarazuka Precious ]

Leads: Matobu Sei & Kashiro Kiho

( Summary: )

( What I Thought: )

I really enjoyed this one. I thought the plot, while predictable, was fun. I liked the characters and their costumes. The crack was amusing; the songs not horrific. There were a lot of lines that had me snickering aloud. I'd recommend it to just about any Takarazuka fan, but of course most particularly to Un-chan and Mattsu fans. Also, to fans of Suzukake Miyuki doing naughty things to Un-chan. <3

Young Bloods!! -Youthful Floral Pattern-
2006 Flower Troupe, Bow Workshop

[ TakaWiki ]

Leads: Kiryuu Sonoka & Miono Seira

I keep meaning to wait until I have time to watch it again and double-check my summary, but at this rate it's never going to happen, so... from memory, from a long time ago... ^^;

( Summary: )

What I Thought:

Loved it. Of all the Young Bloods, this one has my favorite first act. I am a complete sucker for silly high school dramas, and this one was a great spoof. And as much as I like Sonoka, I have to say that Hinata San completely and absolutely stole the show. Her Koujirou-kun with his mix of Englishisms and odd Japanese, self-love, crowd of swooning admirers, and acted-out delusional daydreams.... *g* Other things I loved about this show were the amount of female roles, compared to the other Young Bloods. Suuko and Juri were both integral to the story, and not in a romantic way. Although, of course, what's a time-traveling story without a little romance? I admit, the ending was actually touching. Put that on top of a completely silly show, and I have to take off my cap to Saitou-S for this one.

On the other hand, I really didn't care much for the second act. The costume choices, in particular, were horrifying. I will say, however, that I absolutely and completely love the pair dance. Those lifts! ♥__♥

Across
2006, Kozuki Wataru Dancing Recital

[ TakaWiki ] [ TCA Shop ]

This show, how have I not done this one either? *fail* I love this show! Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I pull it out and watch the first act, and I'm smiling again.

( Read more... )

Takarazuka should do more dance recitals. This is the strength of most of these women; why not take advantage of it? Dinner shows and concerts are all well and good, but let's be honest -- even the talented vocalists aren't usually outstanding when compared to talented, trained women singing in their natural range. But dance? Most of these women have been studying ballet since they could walk. And Wataru's dance? Unbeatable. Her energy, her smiles, her aura really fill up and take over a stage.

So, yes. If you love dance, of all kinds and all flavors, then I highly, highly, highly recommend this DVD. A bit of non-traditional zuka in the first act, and then so many traditional zuka revue cliches in the second you might not survive it. ;) Check out the TCA page for the video clip.

Young Bloods!! -Sparkling Moon-
2006 Moon Troupe, Bow Workshop

Leads: Ryu Masaki & Shirahana Remi

[ Takarazuka Wikipedia ]

I could have sworn I did a review of this show last year, but I did a thorough check when I reorganized my tags last week, and I couldn't find it anywhere. *fail*

( Summary: )

What I Thought:

Masaki and Remi are really the cutest combi ever, and I remain sad that they didn't get paired up for either of Masaki's shinko leads. I really, really can't wait for the Roma shinko to be broadcast in its entirety. <3

That said, the first act didn't really have anything resembling a plot, and what plot there was didn't call for huge amounts of quality acting. I guess they didn't really want to challenge the extremely young cast. Still, it was easy to see here the maturity and professionalism that so many people have remarked upon in surprise when they went to see Masaki's shinjinkouen performances. She's very calm and collected, and not nervous at all. <3 Still, "maturity" might be an odd word choice for the character she plays, as the opening number between the bratty RYU and the bratty REMI reveals. It's a silly show, but with some real gems in the otokoyaku trying to seduce Remi, and the musumeyaku having their competition for Masaki. This is the show that made me notice Kouzuki Ruu, Ryuuki Kazuto, and a lot of other babies.

The real reason I love this performance, however, is the second act. They had some great songs, and it really highlighted Masaki's strong point -- her singing. Her "All That Jazz" makes me weak in the knees. *grin* She doesn't seem like a ken-6 at all. The Indian Dance number is interesting, and Masaki and Mihou Aya's tango is absolute and complete love. In fact, I loved every number to death. The one big weak point was the fact that the rest of the cast was vocally weak, so some of the choruses suffered.

Wa ga Uta Boogie Woogie
2006 Performance

Starring: Makoto Tsubasa, Uesugi Shouzou, Ouka Noboru (New OSK), Sugiura Taiyou, Nakazawa Yuuko, Soganoya Bundou, Nakao Mie, Kusakari Masao

It was a fairly large cast, and I'm too lazy to type them all out, but there were also 12 New OSK ladies as backup dancers, including Asaka Sakurako, Morino Konoka, and Kiryuu Asaya.

[ Takarazuka-an ]

Summary: The life of Kasagi Shizuko (1914 - 1985), called "the Queen of Boogie". It followed her entrance into OSK, her leaving it to start a jazz singing career, her romance with and parting from Yoshimoto Eisuke, the birth of her daughter, and her decision to end her singing career and do only acting. It is interspersed with performances of the songs she made famous.

( Read more... )

Phantom
Flower Troupe, 2006

Leads: Haruno Sumire & Sakurano Ayane

[ TakaWiki Page ] [ TCA Pictures Shop ] [ ENAK Sumire Style Graph ]

Looong summary already on the Wiki, and I think most everyone is familiar with the plot, so I won't repost it here. ;)

So. I don't think it's very surprising that out of the two, I enjoyed Hanagumi's more than Soragumi's. As much as I enjoyed Soragumi's, the cast in Hanagumi's version just seemed to have much better chemistry with each other. It's been a long time since I watched the other, so I can't really compare them point-for-point.

( Read more... )

Scout
Flower Bow Hall, 2006

Leads: Ranju Tomu, Kashiro Kiho

[ TakaWiki ]

I'd been ready to love and adore this show from the moment the poster for it was first put up... and then it never got released on DVD. T_T Thank heavens for Sky Stage.

( Cast: )

( Summary: )

What I Thought:

Dear lord in heaven.

( Jen votes this Best Show From 2006.... Or she would, but that would be disloyal to Masao, so she'll vote it Second Best. )

I loved it all. I don't have a single thing to nit-pick. And to top it all off, it had the Gabe Seal of Approval. He wandered in to see why I was laughing my head off and commenced to make me squee with a constant flow of compliments as he watched the ending with me, starting from "this music is pretty cool" and on to compliment: the costumes (particularly Miwatchi's), the singing, the dancing, and the acting. I even was allowed to rewind it to show him key scenes he had missed. <3<3<3 And referred to Tomu as "he" the whole time.

Fête Impérial
Star Troupe Bow Hall, 2006

Leads: Tatsuki You & Hizuki Hana

[ TakaWiki Page ]

Short-o Summary:

( Read more... )

What I Thought:

( spoilers here too )

I'll admit, the songs weren't tap-dancing fun, but I think fans of waltzes and beautiful dresses will enjoy the dancing. And the plot had some weaknesses, like those odd moments of humor that always seem a little off (although I loved the humorous bits and forgave them their oddness). But I really ended up enjoying this show a lot a lot. And, okay, not terribly surprising, since I'm a Hoshi fan, but I'm not really up to speed on a lot of the younger members, so bear with me as I readjust. ;)

PS - Hankyu, one of the leads in this show is a Top Star now. That means you'll do your duty and release this on DVD now, right? Because you treat otokoyaku and musumeyaku equally, RIGHT?

PPS - Who else thinks Minami Mari might be the one playing opposite Tom in the new Nissay show?

Too Short a Time to Fall in Love / Neo-Dandyism!
Star Troupe, 2006

Top Stars: Kozuki Wataru & Shirahane Yuri

[ TakaWiki ] [ Enak Sumire Style Stage Graph ] [ TCA Pictures Store ]

Too Short a Time to Fall in Love:

Hm. Entertaining and cute, with lots of funny scenes and lots of sweet scenes. I liked the show; the musical numbers were catchy and entertaining (that life-jacket song? Priceless). And yet somehow it didn't completely click with me. I guess I'm always expecting to be blown away by sayonara kouen.

( Read more... )

Neo-Dandyism!:

Oh, so much love! So very, very much love. Enough echoes of the original Dandyism to make me grin, yet enough completely original things to make this show belong to Hoshigumi. And love, as always, for Sha Tamae's choreography.

( Read more... )

I really, really recommend getting the DVD. But I'm one of those loonies who buys things for the revue. ;)

A very, very, very long lunch break. Aka: motivation = -30

Young Bloods!! -Cosmo∞-
Cosmos Bow, 2006

Star: Toki Irisu

[ TakaWiki ]

Julie brought over her copy of Soragumi's Young Bloods!! a couple of weeks ago. I was really impressed. :)

Beware! The bullet points!

* I am not allowed to use the "L" word as related to any particular Soragumi members, for my Cosmos Curse is that any Soragumi girls I like inevitably retire or get transfered. But I shall say that I was very much impressed by the young otokoyaku in this show.
* I see that the wordplay with the characters' names snuck over into the Soragumi YB as well. Mark Tensberg for Toki Irisu, The rather obvious Neo for Souma Neo.... :D

* The show itself was rather cute, and it's nice to have some shows without romance as the main focus. But what, exactly was the point of Mark and Juliet anyway? Blah.
* I liked the musical numbers. *g* Yes.
* The revue show made me terribly jealous. The theme was much cooler than Tsuki's. ;) More fedoras and suits and chair dances.

Err... Yes. I liked it a lot. *grins*

Oklahoma!
Moon Troupe Nissay Theater, 2006

Leads: Todoroki Yuu & Shirosaki Ai

[ TakaWiki ] [ TCA Pictures Shop ] [ Takarazuka Precious Review (photos) ]

I think I'm going to continue this string of lazy reviews and bullet points, particularly since so many of you have already got your own shiny copy for one reason or another...

* I know I'm going against the general consensus here, but I... was actually a little disappointed in this production. Probably because every Takarazuka Broadway musical I see gets compared to Guys and Dolls and falls far, far short. But I thought Tom was miscast as Curly. She did a good job, but didn't have that Tom spark. And the music really didn't seem suited to her voice to me. The music. Ouch. My poor Tsukigumi musumeyaku made my ears bleed. We'll leave it at that.

* I suspect I wasn't supposed to really, really dislike Curly by the end of the show and want to wrap Jud up in a warm blanket and coo at him. For me, Kiriyan stole the show, no question. There wasn't enough of her!

* My other huge love from this show was Ken Ruisu. My love for her has quadrupled! She cracked me up in every scene. *hearts*

* Koshino Ryuu was scary, but I adore Koshino Ryuu, so I'll love her anyway.

* Aoki Izumi was terribly cute, as was Yumesaki Nene. Ai-chan belongs with Kiriyan.

* Okay... the last curtain call during the final night digest? When Ai-chan compulsively throws herself into a startled Tom's arms? And then Kiriyan got into the spirit of things and tore them apart with the most unconvincing grimace? Cutest. Thing. Ever.

I'd say... if you're a Moon Troupe fan, or a fan of Oklahoma! or a fan of Tom or Kiriyan or Morie, you'd count this show as a plus. But if you're debating between this show and another show with any of those components... go with the other show.

PS - On the other hand... almost 3 hours of otokoyaku in jeans with low-slung belts. Ehehe.
PPS - Those lines. "What are you going to do with that [gun]?" "Shot things." *love for broody Kiriyan*

Never Say Goodbye
Cosmos Troupe, 2006

Leads: Wao Youka, Hanafusa Mari

[ TakaWiki ] [ ENAK Sumire Style Photo Album ]
[ TCA Pictures Store ] [ Takarazuka Video ]

( What I Thought: )

Uhhhh~ sleeepy.

Akanesasu Murasaki no Hana
Moon Troupe, 2006 (Chunichi Theater)

[ Taka Wiki Page ]

Shop Pages (Hmmm... this video isn't part of the sale, I see)
[ TCA Pictures Shop ] [ Takarazuka Video ]

You can tell I'm running out of Moon Troupe shows, because I've started watching the Heian/Asuka Period Nihonmono. XD And can I just take a moment to lament that it is NOT FAIR that the national tour of this show wasn't released commercially or on Sky Stage? I want Yuuhi and Masao!

All that said, I still enjoyed this show a lot more than I expected to.

( Cast: )

( Summary: )

( What I Thought: )

I was bitter about the missing Yuuhi until I remembered she was off being an adorable Oscar. And at least I have photos of her national tour Nakano Ooe from Graph....

Rome at Dawn

ENAK Sumire Stage Graph

[ TakaWiki Page ]

Shop Pages
[ TCA Pictures ] [ Takarazuka Video ]

( Cast )

( Summary )

What I Thought:

I criticize what I love. I figured I'd better get this up quickly, before people got the wrong idea from last night's post. ;)

Yes, I think I'm one of the rare few who actually.... really liked this show. Sure, it has it's flaws, but let's be honest, most shows do. Despite the lack of action, the songs grew on me as the show went on. I think "Ai Sareta" will be in my head for weeks now. I loved the hair choices for this show, particularly Kiriyan's complicated 'do (how many hair pins did that poor woman use?). The Roman costumes were an enormous improvement over the ones for Mariko's sayonara show in '98 (Emperor), so I decided to forgive them the white boots, button-sleeves, and odd toga color choices. And I have this soft spot for Zuka doing really simple stage sets. Hayama-sensei's choreography for the musical was rather hit-and-miss, though as usual it made the revue show perfect.

But Jen's top three reason's for loving this show?
3) It's Roman! (I studied Latin for six years in junior high and high school.)
2) Yoshizaki Eri playing Asako's mother and Tom's lover.
1) Yuuhi! Yuuhi everywhere! (In a complete turn-around from the usual pattern, Yuuhi had more stage time and singing than Kiriyan. Well, it was close, anyway.)

( So, the cast was.... )

Les Bijoux Brillants

I thoroughly approved of this one. Mmm, Tom tangoing with Natsukawa-san. Dark!Yuuhi in a pony-tail. Playing Spot-the-Masaki. Asako in a very hot shredded number with chains. Kiriyan in a turban.

Tom as etoile was... bizarre. But I can go with it. Of course, I followed this show with my nine-billionth viewing of BaraFuu, and no one can beat Aria's etoile.

And, lastly, as

wao_wao pointed out... the costumes from the poster appear to have gone missing. I guess they decided not to use them. This always strikes me as amusing. It's like Rika's costume in Kuroi Hitomi: the one in the poster never shows up in the show.

[ TakaWiki Page ]

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[ TCA Pictures ] [ Takarazuka Video ]

Oh.My.God. So, I'm watching Immortal Lovers, and it's ... okay. Rui is a very strong George Sand, and I really like how much her singing has improved lately. Tani is ... excellently disollute, playing a young(ish), too-impulsive, and often-drunken Alfred. However, throughout much of the play I felt the two were trying too hard. I think you shouldn't be able to feel the effort an actress is putting into her role, and their movements were sometimes very stiff. BUT, on the other hand, when they clicked, they clicked marvelously. That scene where Tani is drunk on the floor with her head lolling as George's friend completely blasts her for being a selfish bastard... I LOVED it! And..... that scene. That infamous scene where Tani practically sticks her hand up Rui's skirt. There is.... rolling. And.... gropping of a very un-Takarazuka nature. o.0 They gave Zunko and Hana-chan's Carmen scene a run for its money and left it in the dust, I tell you what.

I probably shouldn't have spent more time adoringly watching Ebira Kaoru, Chiga Teruko, and Itsumine Aki, should I? But all three Senka ladies were very good, and slightly-evil Ebira-san is not to be missed!

Music and dancing didn't leave me wowed, for the most part. There were a few I liked, but some were also rather monotonous. However, there was a piece that I know I know. I could hear theoriginal Enlgish lyrics in my head, just on the far side of that wall of recognition. It's a song from another musical, but what is it?! The title in this show is "Dare mo Inai". I remember lines about trumpets... and siezing the day... damn, this is going to bug me until I can remember, and then I'm going to kick myself for not having remembered earlier.

Also, there was this one musumeyaku whose voice totally and completely blew me away. She's the one who sang "Ai no Yume". I have to look her up. Ah, Kazuno Miou.

This was actually filmed on the final night, so they included the speeches after the show on the DVD. *hearts always-dorky Tani*

ETA: Oh man! Got it! *indeed feels like an idiot* It's from 1776! "Is Anybody There?" *checks the credits* And there's not a SINGLE word about this little bit of borrowing, either. o.0

Shop Pages
[ TCA Pictures ] [ Takarazuka Video ]

I've been a good girl. Lucia, do I get a pat on the head?

So, that's the summary of Appartement Cinéma. For my review: SQUEE!

...Oh, you want something more comprehensive?

1 - Matobu Sei.... still Hoshigumi in my head, but sexy as sin and reminding me more and more of Bun-chan every day.
2 - Chiga-san... you da bomb! *hearts*
3 - Sakurano is unbelievably cute!
4 - Osa... should always be Osa.
5 - Hm. Ayabuki and angst. And yet her dimples somehow survive the experience to make brief appearances.
6 - The ending! LOVE the ending.

Seriously, it has a very interesting plot, and some great characters. It tends to focus on Osa, Sakurano, Yumiko, Un, and Sara the most, so not as scrambled as some of these ensemble shows can get. Chiga Teruko's character was absolute love! Her tai chi scene had me cracking up like mad. My other favorite scene was Wolf and Leonard's first meeting at the hotel. Poor Wolf... Leonard is just too cute for him.

Leonard: Going out this late?
Wolf: ....No.
Leonard: Thanks for earlier.
Wolf: You don't...
Leonard: Everyone carried me to the room, didn't they?
Wolf: Yeah.
Leonard: Thanks to that, I've recovered.
Wolf: That's good.
Leonard: Ah, I'm Leonard Foster.
Wolf: *silence*
Leonard: ...Leonard Foster. Nice to meet you.
Wolf: .... Leonard?
Leonard: Yes.
Wolf: Really?
Leo: I wouldn't lie about my own name. And you?
Wolf: I'm ....... Wolf.
Leo: Wolf. ... Very cool.
Wolf: Thanks.
Leo: If it's all right with you, can we talk a bit?
Wolf: Well, it's fine with me, but...
Leo: Are you going out somewhere?
Wolf: No...
Leo: You've been standing all this time...
Wolf: I like standing.
Leo: I see.
Wolf: Yeah.
*silence*
Leo: You're not very good at conversation, are you?
Wolf: ...You're feeling better?
Leo: All recovered. ... I said that earlier.
Wolf: That's good....

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Page Summary

MIND TRAVELLER
Young Bloods!! -Youthful Floral Pattern-
Across
Young Bloods!! -Sparkling Moon-
Wa ga Uta Boogie Woogie
Phantom
Scout
Fête Impérial
Too Short a Time to Fall in Love / Neo-Dandyism!
Young Bloods!! -Cosmo∞-
Oklahoma!
Never Say Goodbye
Akanesasu Murasaki no Hana
Rome at Dawn / Les Bijoux Brillants
Immortal Lovers
Appartement Cinéma

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Takarazuka Journal

Entries tagged with 2006

MIND TRAVELLER

Young Bloods!! -Youthful Floral Pattern-

Across

Young Bloods!! -Sparkling Moon-

Wa ga Uta Boogie Woogie

Phantom

Scout

Fête Impérial

Too Short a Time to Fall in Love / Neo-Dandyism!

Young Bloods!! -Cosmo∞-

Oklahoma!

Never Say Goodbye

Akanesasu Murasaki no Hana

Rome at Dawn / Les Bijoux Brillants

Immortal Lovers

Appartement Cinéma