Takarazuka Journal

I watched the DVD of Solomon / Mariposa last weekend with Char.

I *did* like the revue much more on DVD. It's nice when the camera decides where you'll look and you don't get whip-lash. ;) Stiiiilll, that said, it's not a favorite for me. And *that* said, I still love Mizu's dancing in the second half (scene 5?). It's why I fell in love with her, all those years ago. That girl can dance<3

Ozuki Tooma's thug with the crazy laugh was Onagi Mao. I don't think she was quite as crazy in Takarazuka as she was in Tokyo... or maybe she tonned it down for recording night. Mirai Yuuki's guard/aid with the *hilarious* faces (not enough of which are on the DVD, unless there was an Ayabuki Mao angle for that scene -- I didn't check) was Isaki Maoto... who is retiring in a few months after Karamazov.

I was still completely enraptured by the Suits, and the Voiceovers, and the Predictable Political Plot. And that bar scene where Amase Izuru tries (and *completely* fails) to flirt with Ayabuki Mao, and Ouki Kaname tries to make friends with Mizu and Ayabuki. And Shirahane Yuri just generally rocking the stage. And... yes, this show, it is Love.



In completely unrelated news, I think Char and I are on a feed-back loop of Hoshigumi love. We cannot squeal enough. Give us a few more weeks and you'll never hear anything else from us. There may have been dancing in the office. And kakegoe. We may have frightened students' mothers away. It's nice to live near another crazy Hoshigumi fan. <3 More on this subject (and Secret Hunter! and Touko in general!) when I have a chance....

King Solomon's Ring / La Mariposa
Snow Troupe, 2008

Stars: Mizu Natsuki & Shirahane Yuri

[ TakaWiki ] [ Stage Graph ]

I went into this one cautious but full of hope, because I have one of two reactions to Masatsuka-Sensei's shows (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13) ... I either love them to pieces or I find them very dull. However, in general he's my favorite Takarazuka playwright/director. Strangely, the ones that I love are his talky, political ones, so when everyone started talking about how dull the play was, I perked up. And I wasn't disappointed in the least.

But that's jumping ahead, because first is King Solomon's Ring. Ogita Kouichi is another playwright/director that I enjoy. Babylon was the first revue show that I really fell in love with, and Romantica Takarazuka '04 is also beautiful and exotic-feeling. But Solomon... Solomon was like those two revues mixed together on speed.

( King Solomon's Ring: )

( La Mariposa: )

So, I think... Solomon might improve on DVD, but I didn't care for it. Mariposa is probably not going to have many fans among the foreign fan base, and will probably be boring if you don't speak Japanese. But it pushed all of my buttons and I simply adored it.♥

As an addendum, Snow Troupe seems to almost have too many big otokoyaku stars floating about at the moment. They'll need to keep doing original Takarazuka shows if they want to give them all a chance to shine....